works. Since the fall of the Siyad Barre regime in
1991, Somalia has functioned without a national
government. Somali women came together, both
locally and in exile, establishing organizations for
peace and reconciliation (Hussein 1995). One of
the most prominent organizations is Save Somali
Women and Children (SSWC), founded by Asha
Hagi Elmi. This group has been instrumental in
Somali peace negotiations, demanding a seat at the
table at international level peace talks. This organ-
ization is open to all Somali women willing to work
outside of strict clan alliances and was vital in
ensuring women were at the peace talks in Djibouti
in 1998. The work of SSWC and other women’s
organizations has ensured that women will occupy
25 percent of parliamentary seats in the new Somali
government. Somali women’s organizations have
held numerous peace demonstrations and marches
throughout Mogadishu and Hargeisa, bringing
together warring factions and presenting a united
front against war and the continued violence.
Wajir Women for Peace (WWP) began in July
1993 to discuss ways for women to help mitigate
the conflicts among women traders in the market
place and on a broader clan level throughout the
Wajir district in northern Kenya. The organization
began because interclan feuding and cattle raiding
had become so severe it had spilled into the trade
sector, making it impossible for women to bring
their goods to market and trade without fighting.
However, when these women got together and
began to discuss conflict resolution they realized
a much broader mandate was required. Mama
Fatuma became first chair of WWP. Also leading
peace negotiations and establishing grass roots
peace initiatives were Mama Halima and Mama
Zainab. WWP eventually expanded to include
other members of the community including elders,
businessmen, religious leaders, and non-govern-
mental organization representatives and renamed
itself Wajir Peace Group (WPG). In 1995 WPG
became a member of the Kenya Peace and Devel-
opment Network, linking the local efforts to a
national organization.
Delegations of women have been very active in
the ongoing peace negotiations between the Afar
and the Issa, two ethnic groups living in northwest-
ern Ethiopia. There had been low-level conflict
over land and water resources between these two
pastoral groups for many generations. Delegations
of women from each group visited the opposing
communities to establish an initial dialogue for
peace. Among the Afar and Issa, if a group of
women go and visit an opposing community and
are treated well and given good hospitality it indi-
sub-saharan africa: the horn and east africa 549cates the opposing side is serious about peace. If the
women are not treated well it indicates the oppos-
ing side is not willing to engage in serious dialogue
about conflict resolution.
Ethiopian Muslim and Christian women are
working together in the eastern highlands to build
up conflict resolution skills in their shared commu-
nities, promoting increased understanding and
stronger community strength across religious lines.
In Sudan, women’s groups have formed to facilitate
communication across religious lines so women
from the predominantly Muslim north can main-
tain dialogue with women from the south. Among
these organizations is the Sudan Women’s Voice for
Peace organization, which seeks to establish peace,
democracy, and women’s rights in the new Sudan.
Women working for peace in these regions have
adopted the position that peace is a collective
responsibility and women must take an active role.
Women of any age can work in peacemaking roles,
but in most cases it is older, respected women who
do this work. Respected women peacemakers are
seen as wise, broad-minded, and diligent about reli-
gion. They are considered truthful and concerned
about the welfare of all people, not just their own
family or clan. They take the initiative and are able
to mobilize others.
Women working in public peacemaking on the
Horn and throughout East Africa are committed to
ending violence and restoring peace in their society.
These groups generally work across clans, and
often encounter early hostility from leaders in their
society. Many have gradually been accepted and
have become important contributors to the ending
of conflict in their communities. “Women’s peace
groups assume that the individual people involved
in a conflict situation are responsible for working
toward non-violent resolutions of the conflict.
Peacebuilding cannot and should not be solely left
to the leaders and/or outside interventions” (Elmi
et al. 2000, 133).Bibliography
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