Module: Conflict Management

The Conflict Management module will provide students with an overview of local, national, and regional initiatives to manage conflict and promote peace in the Horn. From this module, students will learn how communities have used traditional mechanisms to prevent the escalation of local conflicts and how national governments have responded to such conflicts once they do erupt. Students will review the role of regional initiatives, such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), to which all Horn countries belong. They will also examine those initiatives promoted by non-governmental actors, including NGOs and religious organizations. One case study will explore how traditional and non-governmental strategies have been combined to resolve conflicts among the pastoralist groups that inhabit Kenya’s northern districts. Another case study will explore the development of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Federal Affairs and a federal police force to deal with the outbreak of ethnic conflicts throughout the country. A related exercise will prompt students to use the module’s lessons to identify the challenges involved in developing effective policy responses to conflicts that cross borders, as they often do in the Horn.

Picture: The Negele Peace Accord in Ethiopia's Somali Regions, Photo by Mercy Corps, for USAID. 8 June 2011