Sustainable community approaches to peacebuilding in securitised environments: case study of Somalia

Community-based groups – such as community action forums and district peace committees – can play a critical role in peacebuilding and conflict resolution in communities in Somalia, helping to prevent conflict and fill a void in areas with limited or no access to formal justice systems. Saferworld, Conflict Dynamics International and the Knowledge Platform Security and Rule of Law Secretariat organised a learning event in Nairobi to share experiences on sustainable community approaches to peacebuilding and to explore the relationship between community-level work and accountable policing in securitised environments. This paper presents findings from the event and recommendations for how the government and community-based structures can work together.