Horn Peace works with grassroots community leaders and elders to promote the protection of human rights within Somalia's traditional systems for the most vulnerable people - women, children, marginalised groups, IDPs and refugees.
Horn Peace chooses to work with traditional leaders (elders, Aqils or chiefs and Sultans) because, historically and symbolically, they are seen by communities as traditional resolvers of conflict and peacebuilders. This is due to the fact that they laid the foundations for peace and stability in Somaliland. In this context, Horn Peace believes that a bottom-up approach to peacebuilding and working with those traditional community leaders is the best way to transform conflicts in Somaliland and Puntland.
Clan based conflicts including land disputes, revenge killings and other violent activities threaten the lives of communities, especially in the rural areas of Somaliland and Puntland. Horn Peace facilitates dialogue between the different clans and sub-clans to resolve conflicts and bring perpetrators to justice. Peacebuilding activities include inter-community collaboration, dialogue and the re-exchange of looted properties. Horn Peace also mobilises and encourages community policing so that individuals can preserve peace in their own communities and continue to work with the authorities.
Competition for scarce resources between pastoralists has been a major source of conflict in the region. Therefore, Horn Peace works to educate communities on the management of grazing lands and other natural resources while also implementing practical changes such as building barracks for the sustainable use of resources and water by pastoralists.