Somali and Ethiopian Diasporic Engagement for Peace in the Horn of Africa

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 conflictridden 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.