Interpeace's three local partners, the Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC), the Academy for Peace and Development (APD), and the Center for Research and Dialogue (CRD), completed a Peace Mapping Study on peacebuilding initiatives and reconciliation in the Somali region. The Peace Mapping Study is unique in its focus on the peace achievements that the Somali people have made rather than on conflict as is usually the case. The research documents the peacebuilding processes that have been carried out in the Somali region such that lessons can be learned from both successful and unsuccessful initiatives and then applied to future peacebuilding processes.

Recognizing local capacity

Through focusing on positive developments, the Peace Mapping Study fills an important void in past research by highlighting the often understated experience and capacity of the Somali people to conduct peace processes locally without relying extensively on external actors. This emphasis serves to empower the Somali people and allows for future peacebuilding processes to better grasp the local context through applying lessons learned from traditional peace processes to other local conflicts as well as to the national scale. The published reports and the video posted below provide examples of locally-driven peace processes through documenting instances in which clans peacefully mediated the end to violent conflicts and resource disputes. The Peace Mapping Study also captures lessons from workshops, conferences, and national reconciliation processes in order to address the important question of 'who represents who' in Somali peace talks.

Building on past peace initiatives

L' regional studies and more specifically the synthesis report (PDF) provide lessons from a rich body of Somali experience that serve as an important reference point for the current local reconciliation and political reconstruction efforts in the newly accessible areas of the Somali Region – especially in South-Central Somalia.

The relevance of Peace Mapping goes far beyond Somalia. Both the methodology and lessons gained from the research can be applied in other contexts.

This film summarizes the findings of the Peace Mapping.