A Regional Gateway to Evidence on Women, Youth, Peace, and Security

The study investigates the roles, contributions, and structural constraints shaping women’s participation in peacebuilding in Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera counties. Drawing on empirical literature, county monitoring reports, civil society assessments, and recent Women, Peace and Security (WPS) analyses, it highlights how women occupy central yet often undervalued positions in conflict prevention, mediation, and community resilience.

Women actively engage across both informal and formal peace infrastructures. They mediate clan and household disputes using culturally grounded reconciliation practices, contribute to early warning systems through extensive social networks, and provide critical psychosocial and economic support to survivors of violence.

Devolution has created new opportunities for women’s engagement through county peace committees, gender desks, and conflict resolution platforms, supporting a gradual shift toward more inclusive governance and locally grounded peacebuilding processes.

The article presents the experience of Taalo Saan, a civil society organization in Djibouti that harnesses creativity, peer engagement, and leadership development to prevent gender-based violence and promote human rights. Supported by the European Union, the initiative empowers more than 700 young people—including girls, boys, and youth with disabilities—to challenge discriminatory social norms and promote positive masculinities.

Through participatory workshops, artistic expression, and youth-led awareness sessions, young people are equipped to serve as community focal points who disseminate prevention messages, support survivors, and encourage open dialogue in safe spaces.

Evidence from the field shows meaningful shifts in awareness, confidence, and reporting, with young women gaining leadership skills and young men increasingly engaging as allies. The initiative offers scalable lessons for the IGAD region, demonstrating how youth creativity and co-creation can drive norm transformation and strengthen inclusive peacebuilding grounded in local realities.

By paying attention to Kenya’s digital heartbeat, the article reveals something powerful unfolding within timelines, comment sections, and live streams. Amid the noise of online spaces, ordinary citizens are actively weaving peace—one voice calming another, one truthful message steadying entire communities.

The story follows individuals who are shaping peace in unconventional spaces, particularly on social media platforms where conflict can easily escalate. Through everyday digital interactions, these peace actors challenge misinformation, promote dialogue, and model responsible online engagement.

By highlighting peacebuilding efforts taking place on mobile phones and digital platforms, the article underscores how digital spaces can serve not only as arenas for division, but also as powerful tools for peace, connection, and community resilience.

The article highlights the peacebuilding journey of Dut Riak Juma, a South Sudanese youth and refugee peace advocate who has transformed conflict into dialogue through community-based mediation. Drawing on his experiences with UNMISS and the Clingendael Institute, the narrative explores two key interventions that demonstrate the power of inclusive participation in preventing violence.

These include the peaceful mediation of the Mabior Stream conflict between the Chueibet and Rumbek Centre communities, and youth-led dialogue initiatives supporting disarmament processes in Upper Nile. In both cases, young people played a central role in fostering trust, encouraging dialogue, and promoting local ownership of peace.

By integrating insider mediation, cultural understanding, and negotiation skills, Dut’s work illustrates how grassroots peacebuilders are redefining the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) agendas across South Sudan and the wider Horn of Africa.

The brief shares insights from an inclusive and participatory global consultation conducted by Women for Women International in July and August 2024, ahead of the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda.

The consultation engaged participants from six African countries and focused on the four pillars of the WPS agenda: participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery. It provides an overview of the main findings and country-level priorities identified through the process.

The paper also highlights key policy and advocacy outcomes, demonstrating how the findings and recommendations have been shared in regional and global fora and how they are contributing to policy influence and action on the WPS agenda.

determination to contribute to peace and governance despite deep-rooted social norms, economic barriers, and weak institutional support. Afar revealed fragile gains where women’s roles remain informal. Tigray showed how conflict reversed earlier parity in leadership, leaving women excluded from recovery processes. In Harari, women face cultural conservatism and skepticism about their competence, limiting participation despite progressive laws. Benishangul-Gumuz showed growing but under-supported women’s involvement in peacebuilding. Common challenges included male-dominated leadership, economic dependence, early marriage, and weak policy implementation. The consultations underscored that women are already leading peace efforts and called for institutionalized representation, economic empowerment, stronger training, and accountability—lessons relevant for IGAD’s regional WPS agenda.

Institution: African Women Peace and Security Institute

The article underscores the importance of strengthening women’s and youth engagement in the digital space, and calls for Africa to keep pace in the global technology race. It also emphasizes the value of sharing everyday experiences and peace messages responsibly on social media to inform, inspire, and protect communities.

During the workshop, Workneh Gebeyehu, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), urged young people across Africa to engage responsibly in the digital revolution, noting that technology is one of the greatest opportunities for youth—if used to protect themselves, their communities, and their homelands.

The IGAD region continues to experience complex and protracted conflicts driven by political instability, competition over resources, border disputes, and internal displacement. Within this fragile political and security context, women and youth have emerged as central actors in peacebuilding efforts.

Despite their limited participation in formal decision-making spaces, women and youth consistently demonstrate resilience, innovation, and leadership in conflict prevention and resolution. This article reflects on evidence drawn from their interventions and outlines practical solutions that can be integrated into IGAD’s regional development and peacebuilding frameworks.

Contributions of Women in Peacebuilding – Grassroots Mediation and Community Dialogue
Women have played a critical role in resolving pastoralist and inter-clan conflicts, particularly at the community level.

Case Example – Kenya (Marsabit and Wajir):
Women peace committees in northern Kenya have successfully mediated inter-community conflicts among clans and helped prevent retaliatory violence. Working alongside elders, their position outside rigid clan hierarchies enables them to move between rival groups, broker ceasefires, and negotiate peace grazing agreements.