Close
The Center for Development and Governance (CDG) in collaboration with Overseas Volunteers Organization (VSO) played a major role in the establishment of Miyo – Slolo Cross Border Peace Committee on March 6, 2024. Again, the CDG and its counterparts, HODI, from Kenya facilitated the joint meeting for the establishment of this Ethio – Kenya Cross Border Peace Committee at Moyale Ethiopia (Koket Hotel).
Participants from Miyo and Sololo Districts, observers from the local government offices, Moyale – Moyale Cross Border Committee members and others that make up a total of 36 were involved in the establishment meeting. The objective of the project, “Integrating Peace Building Development and Humanitarian Effort- (IPDHE) already under implementation is to support establishment and the sustainable functioning of cross border joint peace committee. The project also aims to strengthen capability of the cross-border communities in conflict management, peace and resilience building.
Trainings were provided to the participants in the respective districts prior to establishment of the Committee followed by review meeting of the project performance that involved key stakeholders. The CDG-VSO and HODI (Horn of Africa Development Initiative) provided extensive support to the program to discuss the security and resilience issues and strengthen their cross border collaboration as demanded during the successive training sessions.
The Chairperson of the Committee who is from Ethiopia and the Vice Chairperson from Kenya shared their experiences on duties and responsibilities such committees as input to the expected success. They also gave briefs about organizational set-up, mechanism of peace building and conflict resolution, and the challenge experienced so far.
The Miyo-Sololo Joint Cross Border Peace Committee consists of eight members (Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and four members). The Committee agreed to meet on regular basis every month to work on resolving the security and resilience challenges identified during the review meeting.
One of the objectives of IPDHE project is enhancing organizational capability of indigenous and government institutions thereby support peace and resilience building endeavors. Accordingly, CDG has conducted various assessments including capacity of the indigenous and formal institutions pertinent to peace and resilience building in which it identified gaps and community’s interest to design community led action for capacity development.
The assessments indicated multiple capacity gaps like the absence of joint cross-border committee that can closely monitor conditions and seek solutions for cross border security issues. As this grassroots institution is effective in cross-border peace and resilience building they need to be refocused and capacitated through joint meetings and dialogue.
Meskel Square Science and Technology Building 5th Floor
Mon – Fri: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Get latest CDG news, articles, and resources, sent straight to your inbox every month.