Choosing Dialogue Over Retaliation

Thirty-one stolen cattle could have sparked conflict. Instead, they prompted a call for peace through the Cross-Border Peace Committee. In May 2026, 31 cattle belonging to pastoralist families in Ifadin local administrative unit, Doba district, in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region, were stolen. Their tracks led across the regional border to Ruki local administrative unit in Afdem district, Somali Region. 

For communities that have experienced years of inter-communal violence, the incident carried a familiar risk where livestock theft could trigger confrontation, retaliation, displacement, and loss. But this time, instead of escalating the situation, Abdella, a member of the Cross-Border Peace Committee from Doba, reached for his phone and called Aden, his counterpart in Afdem. On a border where mistrust had long made communication difficult, the call represented a significant change. 

A border shaped by conflict 

Communities along the Oromia–Somali regional border have experienced recurring violence driven by ethnic tensions, unresolved territorial disputes, competition over scarce resources and incidents such as livestock theft. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), clashes in the area have caused mass displacement. More than one million people were displaced by mid-2018, many of whom remained in prolonged displacement. Following a period of relative calm, renewed inter-communal violence from July 2025 displaced more than 288,000 people, according to inter-agency multi-sector initial rapid assessments. 

Behind these figures are families forced from their homes, livelihoods disrupted, and communities separated. Children are among those most affected, sometimes losing their homes, leaving school or witnessing violence, with emotional and psychosocial effects that can continue long after the immediate danger has passed. Communities of Ifadin and Ruki share this history. In the past, livestock stolen across the border could lead communities to mobilize, sometimes through armed retaliation. One incident could quickly result in loss of life, destruction of property, and displacement. In May 2026, that pattern could have repeated itself, but community members had another option. 

A phone call away 

Abdella had received training in conflict prevention, mediation, negotiation and peacebuilding as a member of the Cross-Border Peace Committee established through SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia’s Practice Peace and Live in Tranquility project, implemented with consortium partners Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW) and Population, Health and Environment (PHE)-Ethiopia Consortium and funded by the European Union. The training prepared committee members like Abdella to respond when tensions rise, and communities face a choice between escalation and dialogue.  

“Before participating in the Cross-Border Peace Committee and attending the project training, we did not look for the peaceful return of stolen cattle. Everyone simply picked up a gun and tried to recover the livestock through conflict,” Abdella said. 

For Aden, receiving the call from Abdella demonstrated how much had changed. 

“As soon as I received the phone call, I was very happy and listened carefully. This would have been impossible in earlier years. Back then, we neither listened to one another nor returned stolen livestock,” he said. 

Instead of allowing anger to spread, Aden mobilized fellow Cross-Border Peace Committee members, local peace promoters, community elders and local government representatives. Together, they agreed to respect the existing peace agreement and work to recover the cattle peacefully. Community members in Ruki helped trace the scattered animals. Through dialogue, coordination, and persistent engagement, 25 of the 31 stolen cattle were recovered and safely returned to their owners in Ifadin. Although six could not be recovered, the return of the 25 cattle, however, represented more than the recovery of livestock. It demonstrated that a dispute between communities on opposite sides of a regional boundary could be resolved without violence. 

Breaking the cycle 

For communities affected by conflict, preventing one violent incident can protect far more than property. It can help children remain in school, families stay in their homes, and parents continue earning a living instead of fleeing. The peaceful resolution did not erase years of mistrust, but it gave the communities a new experience to build on, with proof that cooperation can work where retaliation once seemed inevitable. According to Cross-Border Peace Committee members, this approach is increasingly being used beyond livestock disputes. The committees are helping communities address historical grievances that have divided them for generations. Regular community interaction sessions bring residents and peace committee members from Ruki to Ifadin, with similar exchange visits taking place in Ruki. 

These gatherings create opportunities for communities to meet not as opponents, but as neighbors. As interactions have increased, community members have increasingly turned to the Cross-Border Peace Committees as a first option for resolving disputes. The change is not only that communities have learned new conflict-resolution techniques. They are beginning to recognize that they have alternatives. 

The response to the stolen cattle was possible because relationships had been built before the crisis. Through the Practice Peace and Live in Tranquility project, SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia has established 11 Cross-Border Peace Committees across border communities in the Oromia, Somali and Afar regions, eight at district level and three at zonal level. The committees bring together respected elders, religious leaders, community representatives, and local government officials. Members receive training in conflict prevention, mediation, negotiation, and peacebuilding. Regular cross-border dialogue forums and community interaction sessions also help build relationships and trust. That investment matters most when tensions rise. When the cattle were stolen, Abdella did not have to establish a new relationship with Aden. The relationship already existed. When Aden received the call, he knew who was reaching out and why. And when communities needed to act, a structure for peaceful response was already in place. 

A different tradition taking root 

Conflict can become a learned response. When generations grow up seeing disputes settled through retaliation, violence can begin to feel inevitable. But peaceful responses can also be learned. Implemented from 2024 to 2027 by SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia with consortium partners DSW and PHE-Ethiopia Consortium, the Practice Peace and Live in Tranquility project seeks to strengthen peace and resilience across the Oromia, Somali and Afar regions. 

The initiative aims to directly reach nearly 46,000 women, young people, community and religious leaders, government representatives and wider community members, while indirectly benefiting more than 782,000 people. It focuses on strengthening inter-regional understanding, improving natural resource management, building institutional capacity to identify emerging conflicts, and increasing community mobilization and awareness. The experience of communities in Ifadin and Ruki demonstrates a central lesson that sustainable peace is not built only when conflict is resolved. It is built beforehand, in the relationships, trust and local institutions that allow communities to choose a different response when the next crisis comes.