This activity focuses on educating pastoralists about democracy.

It consists of:

• holding training and consultative meetings to raise people’s awareness of democratic ideals and principles: tolerance, reason, the rule of law, and harmonization of interests, as defined in this policy (p.68):
  • • Tolerance under democracy is to listen and respect the ideas of others even where they contradict one’s own;
    • Reason/rationality means when an idea is supported or held or rejected, it should be based on reason and such culture and behavior has to be developed;
    • Harmonizing interests refers to a give-and-take principle where one may pursue one’s interests by respecting the interests of others too;
    • Rule of law refers to the idea that the rules of the game that are agreed by all apply to all;
• using regular education to increase awareness about democracy and its role in the country’s affairs amongst the youth;

• establishing ‘a system that enables women as women to elect in groups or individually; or the youth may decide to support the ideas of age-based organized groups or individually [sic]’.

The last point is unclear in the original text. It is based on the premise that ‘in a democratic system each and every group or individual elects on the basis of their interest’.  It might refer to establishing a system that enables women to vote as a group (e.g. as women) or individually; and that, similarly, the youth may decide to support the ideas of age-based organized groups, or vote as individuals. The explanation in the policy emphasises that ‘In pastoral areas, this could be implemented in line with clan belongingness or structure’. And that ‘the gedda election system in Oromia, Borana area; and in Ethiopia Somali region, the practice of electing women and youth to leadership positions are important experiences. The best practices could be adapted to local reality in harmonization with the Constitution’ (p.69).

b. Work on conditions of democracy (p.69) »