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Gradually, pasturelands are being converted into other land uses or enclosed for exclusive uses under various national laws or policies. Resilience of pastoralist communities to the changing environments – ecological, economic and political – has great potential to protecting and conserving the pastureland landscapes or waterscapes. Such resilience is more talked in context of climate change and its impact on the herder communities surviving in marginal environments. In the view of widespread regional and national policy failures and modernity-catalyzed societal rejection of transhumance and nomadic pastoralism, International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 declared by the United Nations General Assembly is a grand opportunity for all to revitalize the least-external-input driven systems of livestock raising and mobility across the continents. This international blind peer-review journal, ‘Pastures & Pastoralism’, will contribute to the science, policy and practice across the world by providing a novel platform to seasoned, budding and young scientists, experts and practitioners, including the pastoral community members.
Asmare Shetahun Alemneh
Department of Political Science and International Relation, College of Social Science and Humanities, Arba Minch University, Ethiopia. Email: asmare.shetahun@amu.edu.et, asmareshitahun@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4405-9236
*Corresponding author
Pastures & Pastoralism, 03, 78-86. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0305
Received: 18 September 2024
Reviewed: 19 March 2025
Revised: 29 March 2025
Accepted: 25 April 2025
Published: 15 May 2025
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The South Omo zone of Ethiopia is conflict-ridden, and efforts are being made to build peace. This paper indicated that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play a great role in peacebuilding and in encouraging grassroots peacebuilding initiatives. This study examines the role of NGOs in promoting peacebuilding among Hammer, Dassanech, and Nyangatom communities in the South Omo zone using a case study research design to get the experience and beliefs of non-governmental organizations that engaged in peacebuilding activities to reduce destructive or violent conflicts in the study area. The conflict affected the communities' harmonious relationships and traumatized the residents. NGOs have contributed to peacebuilding activities such as promoting conflict resolution and psycho-social healing through peace education and by participating in conflict reduction programs. The study recommended, NGOs come up with conflict intervention mechanisms for peacebuilding, such as participating in economic empowerment and livelihood diversification programmes. In addition, the government peace apparatus should work with non-governmental organizations at the local level to take action on the spoilers of peace
Peacebuilding; Conflict; Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs); Pastoralism; Agro-Pastoralism; Pastureland
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Alemneh, A. S. (2025). The Role of NGOs in Peacebuilding in the Pastoralist and Agro-Pastoralist Communities of Nyangatom, Hammer, and Dassanech Community of South Omo, Ethiopia. Pastures & Pastoralism, 03, 78-86. https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0305
Alemneh, A. S. (2025). The Role of NGOs in Peacebuilding in the Pastoralist and Agro-Pastoralist Communities of Nyangatom, Hammer, and Dassanech Community of South Omo, Ethiopia. Pastures & Pastoralism, 03: 78-86. Doi: https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0305
Alemneh, A. S. The Role of NGOs in Peacebuilding in the Pastoralist and Agro-Pastoralist Communities of Nyangatom, Hammer, and Dassanech Community of South Omo, Ethiopia. Pastures & Pastoralism, 2025, 03, 78-86. https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0305
Alemneh, Shetahun Alemneh. 2025. “The Role of NGOs in Peacebuilding in the Pastoralist and Agro-Pastoralist Communities of Nyangatom, Hammer, and Dassanech Community of South Omo, Ethiopia”. Pastures & Pastoralism, 03: 78-86. https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0305
Alemneh, Shetahun Alemneh. 2025. “The Role of NGOs in Peacebuilding in the Pastoralist and Agro-Pastoralist Communities of Nyangatom, Hammer, and Dassanech Community of South Omo, Ethiopia”. Pastures & Pastoralism, 03: 78-86. https://doi.org/10.33002/pp0305
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