Search for Common Ground Angola

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
July 2007

Women from Grupo Ekolelo, Angola's first multi-party, multi-faith women's society, participate in a theater performance during a Peace and Solidarity Festival. Photo courtesy of Search for Common Ground - Angola.

DRL supported a Search for Common Ground (SFCG) program to build the capacity of Angolan civil society organizations (CSOs) and political institutions to increase national reconciliation in Angola following 27 years of civil war positively impacting over 13,000 participants, including 3,500 women. Over the course of the grant, SFCG engaged local CSOs, government officials, community members, including a large representation of women, in community dialogues, workshops, training sessions, local solidarity events, and regional conferences to identify the root causes of conflict and develop strategies for appropriate intervention. The program's objectives were three-fold:

• Increase the capacity of Angola's civil society to develop, implement, and evaluate reconciliation programs in their communities;
• Create and strengthen vertical linkages between civil society and political institutions, including political parties, the government, and security forces; and
• Increase the ability of the future generation of security forces to understand and apply Common Ground principles, including non-violent conflict resolution and human rights concepts.

The project fortified important linkages between civil society, government, political parties, and security forces, leading to the establishment of the first multi-party, multi-faith women's society, Grupo EKOLELO in Bailundo, Huambo - a huge milestone for the country. SFCG's trainings with the future members of EKOLELO served a dual purpose: to build trust and relationships between women, as well as to build their skills as peacemakers. Recently, the group has focused its efforts on promoting civic education surrounding the election process and reaching out to male CSO groups to work jointly on activities that improve peace and security throughout the electoral process.

Grupo EKOLELO is the first "mixed" women's association in Bailundo and features women from different political and religious backgrounds. The group formed as a direct result of SFCG's training efforts. Before participating in SFCG's trainings, the women from the different churches and political party women's branches (OMA and LIMA) could not act as peace builders as they were effectively part of the social divisions that existed as a result of the war. SFCG's trainings with the future members of EKOLELO served a dual purpose: to build trust and relationships between women, as well as to build their skills as peacemakers. The trainings also provided the women with a common experience and presented them with some tools to help them cross the divisions that existed between them.

One student from the Institute 17 de Dezembro (one of the local high schools where trainings were held), after participating in a SFCG training, used his newly learned techniques to facilitate a community meeting with neighbors in his bairro, which resulted in two successful community campaigns: mobilizing youth to clean up the trash in the bairro and, more importantly, collecting arms from youth gang members, which were then handed over to the Municipal Police headquarters.

Women from Grupo Ekolelo, Angola's first multi-party, multi-faith women's society, sing a song during a Peace and Solidarity Festival. Photo courtesy of Search for Common Ground - Angola.