Somalia has experienced decades of conflict, political instability, and social fragmentation. These challenges have been driven by a combination of civil war, clan-based rivalries, terrorism, weak governance structures, and competition over resources. The prolonged conflict has deeply affected the social fabric of Somali society, leading to distrust, displacement, and cycles of violence.

Peace building and reconciliation efforts in Somalia are essential for creating sustainable peace, restoring social cohesion, and rebuilding the nation. These efforts involve a broad range of actors, including traditional elders, local communities, government institutions, civil society organizations, and international partners.

Reconciliation in the Somali context goes beyond political agreements. It includes restoring relationships between clans and communities, addressing historical grievances, promoting justice and healing, and empowering citizens—particularly women and youth—to take part in peace processes.

Key components of peace building and reconciliation efforts include:

• Community Dialogue: Facilitating open conversations between conflicting groups to build trust and address grievances.

• Traditional Conflict Resolution: Leveraging Somali customary law (Xeer) and the role of elders in mediating disputes.

• Inclusion of Women and Youth: Ensuring that peace processes are inclusive and representative of all groups.

• Capacity Building: Strengthening the abilities of local peace committees, civil society actors, and government institutions.

• Addressing Root Causes: Tackling underlying drivers of conflict such as land disputes, resource competition, marginalization, and unemployment.

• Transitional Justice: Exploring mechanisms for accountability, truth-telling, and redress for past atrocities.

Despite many obstacles—including insecurity, political tensions, and lack of infrastructure—peace building in Somalia has seen positive developments. Local reconciliation initiatives, state-building progress, and the resilience of Somali communities continue to provide hope for a more stable and united future.

Peace is an investment; the peace of today not only allows for production and consumption today, but also creates expectations and culture of peace for tomorrow. By definition, sustainable development includes consumption and economic behaviour today that does not negatively impact on future generations, therefore positive, peaceful development today is sustainable development. 

IDRAC research in this initiative examines the relationship between peace and different measures of prosperity, giving particular focus to the conditions that bridge between conflict management, prevention and resolution and how that can lead to peace. This project also assesses the levels and kinds of investments in peacebuilding and sustainable development, including aid flows and the measure of effectiveness in development, particularly related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.