Cross-boundary initiative for peace project (CIP) is USAID-funded conflict mitigation and peacebuilding project which has been implemented by the Ethiopian Institute of Peace (EIP) since March 2020 in the administrative boundary areas between East Hararghe and Fafen zones of Oromia and Somali Regional States, respectively. The goal of the project is to Ensure Peaceful coexistence and social cohesion among conflicting communities in the two neighboring Woredas namely Tulu Guled and Chinakson of Fafen zone and East Hararghe zone, respectively. Since the inception of the project, EIP has planned and performed different conflict mitigation and peacebuilding activities in the project operational areas. In order to assess the progress of the project, an annual project review workshop was organized on August 14, 2021 in Dire Dawa. The annual project review workshop brought together the key stakeholders from the federal, the regional, the zonal, and the woreda administration and security lines, higher learning institutions as well as representatives of the communities in the project operational areas.
The objectives of the regional workshop were to:1) review activities planned and performed during the second project year, 2) exchange achieved results, lessons learned, and challenges encountered, and 3) discuss the annual implementation plan of the third project year, which will be from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022. During the workshop, the performed activities were presented along with the annual implementation plan. Following the presentation, the workshop participants discussed in detail the relevance and effectiveness of the project activities to ensure peace and stability in the administrative boundary areas between Chinakson and Tulu Guled woredas. The project enhanced local experts’ capacities and inter-institutional collaboration to mitigate violent conflicts in the administrative boundary areas. Since its inception, the project has been supporting people-to-people interactions in 20 conflict-prone kebeles of Tulu Guled and Chinakson woredas.
