A community initiatives facilitation and Assistance CIFA, a local NGO for peacebuilding that supports locally-led initiatives, has urged community living in borderlands to share resources amicably in order to foster peace.
The organization believes that through the consultative forums, the residents will be able to seal any loopholes that may stir disunity among the citizens and promote peaceful coexistence.
In the past years, the region was a hotbed for tribal clashes with local NGOs in support of the county and national government holding a series of peace meetings.
The clashes have resulted in loss of lives, properties, thousands of animals and displacement of families in the recent past.
The forum agreed for the community to directly engage government officials and peace actors in cross-border peace initiatives to harness peace activities on the border and sensitize the community on the benefit of promotion of Cross-border trade.
The cross-border meeting also afforded the concerned community an opportunity to analyze trends of conflicts and advise on mitigation measures.
CIFA with support from partners uses a conflict system-based approach to address the multiple causes of conflict in cross-border areas and promote peace-building, conflict management and conflict resolution capacity at the community and cross-border levels.
CIFA Kenya project officer Halkano Abkula told the communities that there was a need to have collaboration between all sectors so as to have peace as an enabler for development.
He noted that every step must be taken to create lasting peace and tranquillity saying this is a prerequisite for progress and prosperity.
"If there is anything we should fight it's the unity, let us all be united. We must all be ready to embrace change in the way we think and our attitudes towards one another," said Halkano
He called on the community elders to always consider bringing the communities together with an aim to promote peace and dialogue as means to resolve disputes at all times whenever it arises.
Halkano said, his organization strives to promote participation and representation of women, recognizing that peace initiatives will be flawed if they exclude women.
"Women play important roles in peacebuilding and are essential to creating long-term and sustainable peace. We have seen how women's peace initiatives transcend the boundaries of nationality and socio-economic in their work for peace. Empowering women in cross-border areas has also had a positive effect on poverty reduction and economic growth," he said.
In its second consultative meeting to strengthen peace between border communities, CIFA Kenya project coordinator Mr Simion Abduba urged communities to find a middle ground to cross-border conflicts.
He said investment in peace is a critical piece of the durable solutions puzzle for turning cross-border from fragile areas into a hotbed of opportunities.
He said their focus is to promote dialogue, trust and consensus building with an eye on the end game to resolve border conflict and promote peaceful coexistence.
Abduba said the cross-border peace initiatives dubbed Women for Peace call for the promotion of peace and reconciliation among the border communities for the realization of development and to allow the residents to go on with their activities uninterrupted.
He added that the communities had resolved to end conflicts and embrace peace which was a crucial ingredient to development.
CIFA Ethiopia project officer Garbicha Nura said the programme dubbed cross-border sustainable peace and development seeks to end hostilities among the border communities by promoting non-violent interactions and collaboration in order to reduce tensions resulting from access to shared resources such as water and pasture.
Tari Bule, project team leader of Swiss Church Aid HEKS/ EPER, whose organization facilitated the engagement in collaboration with Action for Development works said communities in the border town of Kenya and Ethiopia have agreed to implement measures that will cement peaceful coexistence.
"This is an opportunity to bring together all communities in the border town who share a common ancestry. We must respect one another as one people. The conflicts over resources have to an end." he said
Butiye ward administrator Tume Doti advised residents against gender-based violence insisting that the vice can be brought to an end if the society joins hands and decides to fight the monster head-on.
He reiterated that in Kenya, the constitution protects the right and dignity of all genders against various forms of abuse which are inclusive of physical, mental and sexual violence.
She said Governor Mohamud Ali is committed to ensuring that there is peaceful coexistence and to having a county where everyone regardless of their differences can live in harmony.
"Governor Mohamud's mission has not only to empower locals economically but to ensure that they live in harmony. He wants our people to cultivate the habit of resolving issues amicably as well as doing away with vices that promote violence," she said
Deputy county commissioner Saningo Jonathan said the interaction of communities depending on their levels of acceptance and recognition is distinct and unique.
He added that the coexistence of communities in disregard to administrative boundaries is quite instrumental in realizing the goal of development.
He said the approach involving community elders and women will play a significant role in addressing cross-border conflicts among the border communities.
The administrator said the peace-building initiatives have borne fruits for the border communities to coexist peacefully and noted that both governments are committed to supporting the peace-building efforts by ensuring that the team meet regularly to lay the foundation for sustainable peace in the region.
"Peace is not only important for the sake of it, it's a necessary condition for the promotion of trade and culture between the border communities who also share cultural ties," he said
He described the Women for Peace project as robust in enhancing efforts towards the realization of lasting peace aiming at cross-border communities.
Ethiopian's administrator Boru Jattani asserted that the Ethiopian Government were committed to implementing resolutions.
He said the involvement of women in peace meetings will greatly reduce the likelihood of conflict emerging as well as the prospects for the peaceful resolution of existing conflicts.
Deputy Sub-county administrator Halima Ibrahim said the peace and development programme will assist in transforming the border region from a conflict zone to an area of progress and development.
She encouraged parents to invest in the education of their children to give them a strong foundation for prosperity saying education is the only inheritance children can obtain from their parents.
She also challenges parents to give equal opportunity of education to their children, noting that it's time to change perception and include the boy child.
"The issue of gender mainstream should not only be used to promote girls. Attention should be paid to boys as well," she said
She emphasized the significance of women's role in conflict resolutions saying women must play a larger role in peace-building and resolving conflicts.
"As women leaders and mothers, our role in peacebuilding is to continue saying no to the culture and structures of violence on innocent victims," said the administrator
She stressed the importance of collective responsibility to unite in order to resolve conflicts, break cycles of violence and address fragility.
She said young people would play an important role in pushing a narrative that promotes cohesion and if they involve in these cross-border peace initiatives they feel recognition and participate in promoting cohesiveness.
"Engaging young people in peace efforts and decision-making provides an opportunity to constructively influence areas that directly impact their lives," she said.
The three years Women for Peace project which was funded by Austrian Development Cooperation and Swiss Church Aid HEKS/ EPER and implemented by both CIFA Kenya and Ethiopia strengthens systems and institutions to peacefully manage and resolve conflict on the borderlands.
