Negotiating peace in Ethiopia

For more than two decades, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has been fighting for self-determination for Somalis in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia (also known as the Ogaden region.) In 2018, with support from Conciliation Resources, the ONLF signed a peace deal with the Government of Ethiopia.

Peace talks began in 2012, led by a team from the Kenyan government. Conciliation Resources was invited to support these talks, providing technical advice to the Kenyan team and the conflict parties throughout the six years of negotiations. This included training in preparing for negotiations, advising on the wider peace process and helping to draft the final peace deal.  The deal was signed in October 2018 in Asmara, Eritrea. It brought an end to hostilities and paved the way for the ONLF to return to the region and pursue its political objectives through peaceful means. 

Transitioning to peace

Since the signing of the peace deal, we’re now supporting the conflict parties in the transition to peace. This includes arranging learning trips to Northern Ireland and the Basque Country, so that ONLF leaders can learn from other conflicts about transitioning to a political organisation. We’re also working with the newly formed Ethiopian Federal Reconciliation Commission, sharing learning from truth and reconciliation processes in Kenya and South Africa.

Inclusive peace

Alongside our work helping conflict parties to reach and implement a peace agreement, we’ve also been working with different groups, helping them to feed their ideas and experiences into the peace process. This includes diaspora communities, young people and women living both within and outside the Ogaden region, as well as elders and academics.