Somali and Ethiopian diasporic engagement for peace in the Horn of Africa

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Periodical article

Title:	Somali and Ethiopian diasporic engagement for peace in the Horn of Africa
Authors:	Hoehne, Markus Virgil Feyissa, Dereje Abdile, Mahdi
Year:	2011
Periodical:	African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review (ISSN 2156-7263)
Volume:	1
Issue:	1
Pages:	71-99
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Ethiopia Somalia
Subjects:	diasporas peacebuilding remittances
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/africonfpeacrevi.1.1.71
Abstract:	This article examines the complexities and multiple layers of diasporic engagement in homeland peacebuilding in Somalia and Ethiopia. The study challenges the negative perception of diasporas as conflict drivers and unscrupulous long-distance nationalists. It identifies three major contributions of diasporic engagement to peacebuilding in the conflict-ridden Horn of Africa. First, remittances from the diaspora enhance family economic survival, community stabilization, and economic activities in the absence of effective State institutions. Second, diasporic engagement enhances the space for greater contestation of ideas and broadens the range of political options for the homelanders. Finally, direct and indirect diasporic peace initiatives in the homelands, especially at the local level, have the potential to induce moderate social and economic development and hope for a brighter postwar future. This gives people a stake in their polity and contributes to peace. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]