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Pact wins USAID contract to foster sustainable peace in Ethiopia
USAID has awarded Pact a new peacebuilding contract in Ethiopia. The five-year, $21M contract, Sustainable Peace Activity, will create a platform where USAID/Ethiopia can assist Ethiopian stakeholders in demonstrating greater resilience to prevent and respond to destabilizing manifestations of conflict.
The Sustainable Peace Activity will strengthen Ethiopia’s conflict resolution and peacebuilding system, comprised of individual actors, formal and informal institutions, and communities experiencing conflict at the local, regional and national levels. The contract seeks to strengthen legitimate structures and processes to effectively and nonviolently manage national, regional and local conflict issues and will expand collective awareness, access and willingness of Ethiopians to utilize nonviolent systems to address grievances and mediate interests without violence.
The work will build on the successes, lessons learned and partnerships developed under Pact’s longstanding work in Ethiopia, particularly strong relationships with civil society organizations, community-based organizations, and federal, regional and local government offices.
“We have been working in Ethiopia for nearly 30 years, empowering communities, organizations and the government to promote peace, prosperity and an enabling environment for sustainable development,” said Amanuel Dibaba, Pact Director for the Horn of Africa region. “Our adaptive, data-driven, evidence-based approach has already helped Ethiopian communities to respond to, manage and minimize conflict, both within the country and across borders.”
Aspects of identity, such as gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status, impact how people, social groups and institutions relate to and experience conflict. To advance more inclusive peacebuilding interventions and balance power disparities, the Activity will utilize approaches that are responsive to the unique experiences of marginalized groups, including women, persons with disabilities and religious minorities.
By the end of the contract, an anticipated 80% of conflict resolution institutions supported through Sustainable Peace Activity will improve their responses to conflict, 90% of supported communities will improve their social cohesion with conflicting communities and nearly 40 entities will be better able to rapidly respond to emergent conflicts in hotspot areas.
Pact will lead a consortium of partners that includes Ethiopian Institute of Peace, Center of Concern, Positive Action for Development, Wasafiri, Acacia Global Consulting and Search for Common Ground.
“Effective, responsive and inclusive governance systems that can manage and mitigate conflict are fundamental building blocks to local development,” said Caroline Anstey, President & CEO of Pact. “With the wealth of local conflict resolution expertise that Pact and our partners bring to the table, we believe we can contribute to a more peaceful and prosperous society for all Ethiopians.”