Abstract

For the last thirty-eight years, Agri-Service Ethiopia (ASE) has engaged in rural development in Ethiopia. Recently, ASE has realized the effect of violent conflict on its development work. To sustain the development program, ASE in partnership with Mercy Corps Ethiopia (MCE) began a Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CP & R) Interventions program in May 2005. The project launched several programs including capacity building, outreach, a small grant schemes project and mainstreaming. This study assessed the type of CP & R methods used by ASE and its impact to promote peace in the targeted community. Structured questionnaires, secondary document analysis and the researcher’s own experience were employed as the major research methodology. Twenty- eight respondents from ASE, MCE and stakeholder groups participated in the research process.

The major findings of this study revealed that ASE used culturally appropriate conflict resolution methods that increased the participation of the community and enhanced the sustainability of the intervention. The research also highlighted how the Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CP & R) interventions cultivated a culture of nonviolence in the community, encouraged participants to think positively about each other, built a peace constituency and improved the participation of the community in resolving conflict in their daily lives. The war that broke out between the targeted community and their neighboring Woreda was the major challenge faced by the program participants. The results of the research also indicated that tribal modalities/indigenous conflict resolution methods were effective in preventing and resolving conflict. How to merge contemporary Conflict resolution (CR) methods with traditional approaches requires further investigation. Moreover, this research contributes to the sustainability of CP & R interventions in the areas that ASE operates.

Disciplines

Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

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