Selam Ahun! “Peace Now” In Ethiopia, which has a highly diverse population, conflict threatens to challenge peaceful coexistence and the stability of the country in which over 51% are women. Since ethnic and religious violence has caused instability in most of the country. Disunity and intolerance are on the rise. The crisis has led to the destruction of houses and community infrastructure, disruption of livelihoods leading to massive displacement.  If left unchecked, the conflict will drive the country into deeper poverty and fragility. In this, the impact on society will be detrimental and women will lose the most, as they become prime target for political violence. They will not only suffer from increased gender-based violence but also undergo traumatic experience during conflict-induced displacement. 

 

Access to justice has formally been recognized as an important constitutional and policy issue in Ethiopia. But the implementation has been inconsistent in serving women, children, and other vulnerable groups. The formal law enforcement and customary dispute resolution mechanism are often male dominated in that women are largely excluded from key decision-making process. Besides, there are some cultures and practices that still allow harmful and discriminatory practices against women.  

 

Women’s justice needs and experiences may, however, be different from men due to higher levels of poverty and power dynamics in the family and community. Building on the UNDP’s definition of access to justice, the mapping report on non-conflict settings defines women’s access to justice as: “Access by women, in particular, from poor and disadvantaged groups, to fair, effective, affordable and accountable mechanisms, for the protection of rights, control of abuse of power, and resolution of conflicts. This includes the ability of women to seek and obtain a fair and just remedy through formal and informal justice systems and the ability to influence and participate in law-making processes and institutions.”  

Long before formal justice system is introduced, Ethiopia had traditional institutional mechanisms as well as cultural resources to uphold the values of peace, tolerance, solidarity, and respect for, and of, one another. These structures were responsible for “peace education, confidence-building, conflict prevention and conflict resolution”.  

These mechanisms were effective in managing conflicts caused by dispute over land, chieftaincy, and matrimonial fallouts and their decisions were binding on all parties. The role of the chiefs, elders, family heads and others, who take leadership is highly regarded. Women have specific role especially on identifying conflict risks and take part in mediation as their male counterparts, but their role did not come out strongly to complement other conflict resolution mechanisms. The project will closely work with traditional justice structure to strengthen their role in conflict management and peace building. 

Traditional institutions where women in Oromia region play significant roles in conflict resolution and protection of their rights called “Siqee”, these groups do not have formal legal body but will be closely supported by Oromia region culture and tourism affairs office. The traditional community governance system called “Gadaa” system provides the women with their own institutional arrangement in which the Oromo women participate in the socio-cultural activities that protect their rights. These institutions helped the women to mobilize themselves for various causes among which that harm their group identity. They also clearly showed the place women had in the religious, social, and cultural settings of the Oromo people. 


Ethiopian women play a central role in the social domain, but their voices and perspectives are very limited heard and shared in the political domain. Even though there is now a 50% representation in the ministerial cabinet, they have limited leadership roles in the lower and middle level public administration and informal justice structure so as to influence the agenda towards peace in the country.  


Women in Ethiopian also face a problem in getting access and utility to the formal  justice sector. Even the situation is getting worse after the outbreak of COVID 19. The United Nation in its May, 2020 assessment report in Ethiopia  describes that " In times of crisis such as an outbreak, women and girls may be at higher risk, for example, of intimate partner violence and other forms of domestic violence due to heightened tensions in the household.  They also face increased risk of other forms of gender-based violence including sexual exploitation and abuse."1 . (United Nations Ethiopia, One UN assessment on Socio economic Impact of COVID 19 in Ethiopia , May 2020).Therefore, it is timely and necessary working towards enhancing access and utility to justice sector for women and girls. 

Using the  recent opening up of the government for CSOs to be engaged in peacebuilding as a window of opportunity, this project plans to contribute to women becoming more involved in peacebuilding at the community as well as regional level women’s initiatives in their localities will play a critical role in national discourses on peacebuilding, tolerance and nationhood following the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The project will assess capacity gap and provide specific support to build the capacity of informal justice structure in order to make their services more effective in conflict resolution and peace building.  

In addition, Cordaid Ethiopia plans to work in partnership with the Ministry of Peace, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and local administration. The entry point at the local level will be through informal traditional justice mechanism. Such institutions act as vehicles for socialization and support, which reaches both women and youth This project primarily aims to improve and sustain protection of women’s right and their involvement on conflict prevention  and  increase women’s access and utility of the formal and informal justice structure. - Women and men in Addis Ababa and other regions of Ethiopia
- Direct- 2364
- Indirect- 80,000 and communities in 9 Kebelles of Yabello woreda. 


     The direct beneficiaries are Women In Oromia region, In Yabello woreda where there is an existing conflict.  And also, Women in Addis Ababa and other regions who will be reached through free legal aid services and most vulnerable women who will be provided with survivors' fund for transportation and court fees. 
The Indirect beneficiaries are Family numbers of beneficiaries, youth, men, and other communities in 9 Kebeles of Yabello Woreda in Oromia region.