Good Practice: Coun­ter­act­ing vi­ol­ence with wo­men's peace fora

In the region of Oromia, Ethiopia's largest regional state, inter-community conflicts and violent clashes are recurring. Conflicts between communities over access to and use of land and resources have been going on for decades. They often take place along ethnic and religious lines and are exacerbated by political interests.

Conflict dynamics and gender roles also reinforce each other: in the conflict communities, women are often culturally, economically and politically marginalized. For example, in Oromia the ownership and acquisition of land is male-dominated and women's access to land use is limited. With conflicts across Ethiopia intensifying , conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has also increased in recent years. Sexual violence is used by conflict parties throughout Ethiopia as a weapon of war. Cases of domestic violence and harmful traditional practices such as early and forced marriage, adolescent pregnancies and female genital mutilation (FGM) are widespread. Young people, women and girls as well as marginalized groups are particularly exposed to conflict and violence due to their intersectional vulnerabilities, yet boys and men are also affected by sexualized and gender-based violence.

The marginalization of women and young people to voice their interests and perspectives in peace and dialogue processes remains a major barrier. Discriminatory social norms and patriarchal gender roles and expectations, SGBV, and a lack of capacities and resources prevent women and young people from actively participating in decision-making and peace processes.

Between 2018 and 2022, the CPS programme "Dialogue for trust-based land and resource management in the Oromia Region, Ethiopia" implemented by GIZ together with its partner organizations Association of Pastoralist Community for Change (APCfC), formerly Oromia Pastoralist Association (OPA), and Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), was committed to strengthening the meaningful participation of women in local dialogue and peace processes in Oromia and cross-border areas, contributing to conflict transformation.

The CPS’ most recent programme "Infrastructures for Dialogue (I4D) Programme (2022-2025)" builds on the learning experiences and structures of the predecessor programme and aims to promote inclusive spaces for peace dialogues that encourage women and young people in particular to participate in peacebuilding in Ethiopia across various levels.

As part of the CPS programme, local peace actors in Ethiopia have been supported since 2018 through capacity development, resources and guidance to resolve local conflicts non-violently and inclusively. In order to create spaces for the participation of women, so-called Women Peace Fora were established and strengthened together with the partner organizations. The women's peace fora discussed general issues relating to cross-border land and resource conflicts, but also addressed gender-specific topics. The aim was for the women's peace fora to see themselves as active co-creators of dialogue and peace processes and for the women to take on an active role as peace actors in their communities. An important part of the programme was therefore to strengthen the  capacities of the fora in topics such as conflict transformation, dialogue, early warning and response, self-organization, collective and strategic action and networking.

The topic of gender inequalities and violence was not only taken up in the women's peace fora, but also discussed together with men from local peace fora and religious and government institutions. The aim was to bring together the gender-specific and diverse experiences, perspectives, and challenges of  men and women and to jointly develop ways to achieve greater gender justice in the communities. In safe spaces, female and male community members first exchanged views separately on the topic of gender inequality and the role of masculinity. This was followed by dialogues across genders in order to jointly develop concrete strategies and action plans. The action plans addressed issues such as women's access to and ownership of land and resources, girls' education, the fair division of household labor and women's participation in local decision-making processes. Finally, the dialogue s also served as a space not only to discuss gender-specific dynamics within the community, but also to bring bordering communities closer together.

As part of the current programme, the CPS in Ethiopia is also working explicitly with women-led and feminist civil society organizations.

The overarching dialogue formats on gender roles and expectations were rated as particularly positive by the participating community members. The results of a survey following the dialogue formats showed, for example, that for the first time, men explicitly listened to the experiences, perspectives, needs and priorities of women in the respective community, and that they themselves came to terms with their own power and privileges. Participants felt empowered by the dialogue formats to demand their rights. At the same time, women increasingly recognized their scope for action to help shape dialogue and peace processes actively. Capacity development contributed, among other things, to participants organizing themselves strategically in two conflict settings and persuading key stakeholders in their communities to return stolen livestock or divide inheritance equally between male and female family members.