Center for Conflict Resolution and Peace Building at the University of Hargeisa

The university partners worked with the people of Somaliland—a semi-autonomous region of Somalia—to promote peace and stability within their society by employing traditional mechanisms and best practices in global conflict resolution.

Eastern Mennonite University's collaboration with the University of Hargeisa established an Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies and strengthened the institution’s research capacity, especially in the areas of indigenous conflict resolution. This approach blends Somaliland’s three different justice systems—traditional, Islamic, and secular.

The partners recruited professionals to enroll in the Institute’s new postgraduate diploma program in Peace and Conflict Studies, and the program has recently admitted its third cohort of students. Past participants include former members of Somaliland's Parliament, former military generals, as well as staff from Somaliland's ministries of Education, Defense, Aviation and Telecommunications. Other participants included employees of the United Nations and CARE International. In addition, the faculty at both institutions are conducting joint research and co-publishing their findings. They have also established the Somalia Peace and Conflict Journal.

University of Hargeisa faculty attended Eastern Mennonite's Summer Peacebuilding Institute to develop curriculum for the Institute and co-teach courses with Eastern Mennonite faculty. In exchange, Eastern Mennonite faculty traveled to Somalia to help strengthen faculty teaching and mentoring skills at the University of Hargeisa.

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