Women are known to play a unique and crucial role in mediation and peacebuilding in the Somali Region, thanks to their access to special communication and exchange channels. However, when a conflict becomes particularly protracted, even this negotiation mechanism can eventually break down, as was recently the case in the inter-clan conflict between Ali Saleban and Musse Saleban.

Poetry conveys messages of peace

This did not deter the women of the Bari region of Puntland in their pursuit of peace though. Together with the mobile Audio-Visual Team of Interpeace’s local partner, the Puntland Research and Development Center (PDRC), they brought their creativity into play to convey messages of peace among the two separate communities and help bring the warring clans back to the negotiation table. The women wrote and performed their calls for peace in the form of poetry and song, which was captured on film and compiled into short video clips by PDRC and then shared in several villages of both communities.

Video documents successful peacebuilding effort

Through these videos, the members of the two communities clearly demonstrated to each other that they shared the desire to break the cycle of animosity and suspicion and live in peace. This original initiative laid the foundations for a successful outcome of the reconciliation process. A moving video clip documenting this successful peacebuilding effort has recently been produced by PDRC and can be viewed here.

Women, Poetry and Video: The Success of an Inventive Peacebuilding Tool in Puntland from Interpeace on Vimeo.

Made possible with the support of the European Commission and the contributions from DANIDA, Norway, Sweden, the Swiss Confederation and USAID Somalia.