Traditional Conflict Resolution in Awi Society, Northwest Ethiopia: Practices and Challenges in the Contemporary World

Bioethical Implications of Vulnerability and Politics for Healthcare in Ethiopia and The Ways Forward

“…For example, one ethnographic study investigating the tradition of conflict resolution in the Afar region of Ethiopia reports that "there are assemblies run by council of elders representing different clans in north Afar selected on the basis of age, wisdom, honesty and proper knowledge of local conditions" and that "inter-ethnic conflicts were better addressed by the indigenous institutions because of their participatory, transparent and flexible nature" while government legal institutions such as courts play a facilitating role to complement these traditional structures (Tafere 2013, 57). Similarly, other qualitative studies (Tenaw 2016;Mengstie 2022;Genet 2021) conducted in other regions of the country report the benefits of traditional structures in preventing and resolving intra-ethnic conflicts and suggest that government institutions collaborate with and strengthen such traditional systems. A full discussion of Indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms lies beyond the scope of this paper, however this brief summary of the roles of traditional structures provide an indication of the relevance of local moral underpinnings to address armed conflicts and their consequences on healthcare in Ethiopia.…”

The role and challenges of indigenous conflict resolution mechanism: The case of aboled in Borena Woreda, northeast Ethiopia

“…The number of the Aboled varies from three to five elders. As we understood from the participants of FGDs and key informants, 5 or more elders may become Aboled members as other indigenous conflict resolution institutions [ [3] , [4] , [5] , 9 , 10 ]. The number of Aboled members, however, could not be large as in Awi society even if the conflict is violent or severe.…”

“…The number of Aboled members, however, could not be large as in Awi society even if the conflict is violent or severe. According to Genet [ 10 ], in Awi society, up to 20 elders may take part in the reconciliation of difficult conflict cases like homicide. As with other indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms [ 5 , 10 , 36 ], women could not be a member of Aboled.…”

“…The findings of the studies in Ethiopia [ [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , 10 , 33 ] also showed the wider acceptance of ICRMs than the formal justice systems. For example, Bouh and Mammo [ 33 ] reported that 87.5% of the respondents preferred to resolve their conflicts through indigenous mechanisms.…”

“…Different studies were conducted related to ICRMs role and the process of ICRM [ [5] , [6] , [7] ]; the types of conflict resolved [ 4 , 6 , 7 ]; its contribution to the restoration of peace [ 4 ] and the impact of westernization on ICRM [ 8 ]. Most of these studies revealed the imperative contribution of ICRM in resolving [ 3 , 6 , 9 , 10 ], preventing conflicts [ 6 , 11 ], peacemaking [ 6 , 9 , 12 , 13 ] and restoration of harmony [ 6 ].…”