Somali Peace Line (SPL) is a non-profit and non-governmental local organisation established in 1995. It works to bring lasting and sustainable peace in Somalia. The organisation’s mission is to empower Somali people, providing them with the knowledge and skills that can enable them to solve their internal problems. In particular, SPL is committed to protecting the human rights of vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as children, women, ethnic minorities and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

SPL has successfully implemented numerous trainings and workshops on conflict resolution, peace consolidation, capacity building, and human rights education inside and outside Somalia. SPL works with a wide range of groups, including traditional elders, youth, women, Imams, artists, teachers, children, and IDPs. In 2012 more than 538,100 people benefited from these trainings.

SPL is currently implementing a five-year project on conflict resolution and mediation skills, to train 29 teachers and 580 students from 29 schools in Mogadishu. The aim is to reduce violence in school and promote non-violent conflict resolution.

SPL has also promoted the creation of a large network known as “Civil Society in Action”, an umbrella organisation which comprises more than 60 potential civil society groups, mainly based in Mogadishu.

Other projects and achievements of the organisation include:

• A collaboration with Somali artists to compose dramas and poems on the topic of peace, with the aim of inviting people to reflect on the ideas of stability in Somalia and to support peace processes.
• Mediation in a number of conflicts across Somalia. As a result of its intervention, most of those conflicts were ended peacefully.
• Organising a meeting in Mogadishu between the elders of armed and non armed clans. For the first time in 15 years, elders from minority groups had the opportunity to air their grievances. The representatives from armed clans apologised for their wrongdoings, agreeing to respect each other’s rights in the future and to establish a committee to promote further dialogue.