Ghion Peace, Reconciliation, and Development Association (GPRDA) conducted an evaluation workshop for its USAID-funded project on May 20, 2024 in Gondar City.
The workshop was attended by 17 participants from various community sectors, including local peace actors, sub-city representatives, the communication office, local charities (such as Kalen Binakafil and Mena), and four GPRDA members.
During the workshop, the project’s initiation, implementation methods, milestone activities, and their respective outputs and outcomes were presented. Discussions focused on lessons learned and challenges faced. Notably, the post-training engagements of local peace actors were impressive, demonstrating the effectiveness of the capacity-building training in revitalizing local peacebuilding initiatives.
An elder representative from Azezo Sub-city shared that local peace actors in their area have been instrumental in preventing the escalation of interpersonal conflicts and kidnapping cases into broader community crises. They have worked to control retaliatory actions following a kidnapping and killing incident in their locality.
A youth participant from Zobel Sub-city reported that he and his peers had been involved in resolving more than six conflict cases after participating in the capacity-building training. Among these, they successfully addressed harassment and ethnic-based negative portrayals among youth playing football in the Zobel area, preventing subsequent quarrels.
It was noted that the trained participants were actively engaged in local peacebuilding and conflict resolution activities, some of which were significant in not only resolving immediate interpersonal violence but also preventing the escalation of group-based violence.
