Ten years ago in south-western Mauritania, relations between ethnic communities were non-existent, and the conflicts over land ownership seemed intractable. After ten years of intensive peacebuilding work by Concordis in the region, tensions are much reduced, communities now use their resources collectively, and inter-community marriages have become commonplace, in a way that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.

Excitingly, it’s not just attitudes between the communities that have been transformed – men and women now see each other’s roles quite differently as well.

In six villages, the communities, who once refused to speak with each other, collectively decided to entrust the contested land to a multi-community women’s cooperative in the village. These women own and cultivate the land, providing food for the whole village and sharing in the profits. This initiative embodies a remarkable shift from a land of strife to a “common ground” which nurtures and gradually anchors social cohesion.

Previously, although women in Mauritania were legally entitled to own land, this legal right was very rarely exercised in practice – women were prevented from owning land by traditional stereotypes around gender roles. Lacking land, women also lacked financial autonomy and the right to influence decisions in the village that affect them.

The creation of these cooperatives supports women’s growing autonomy and independence, both financially and socially – the organisation of collectives of women has enabled them to take on a greater role in decision-making in the household and in the village. Significantly, it has also changed men’s attitudes towards women owning land.

This development was born out of years of investment by the Concordis team, and proactive engagement and ownership of the project by people from all sections of the community. The resulting social cohesion gave rise to the idea of shared land and made it possible to put it into practice.

Today, the communities are so bound together by economic, social and familial ties that a return to conflict as it was a decade ago is hard to imagine. The formation of multi-community women’s cooperatives emerged from community representatives themselves. Concordis helped them to make this vision a reality, without taking away ownership from its creators.

The programme was always about conflict transformation and attitudinal change, making this possible by bringing rival communities together through years of carefully facilitated dialogue. The Concordis team is delighted that the project also led to changing attitudes between men and women and transformation of their respective roles and responsibilities.

Both changes led to the wider society being economically better off, as well as being able to live together in peace.

Find out more about how Concordis conducted these consultations, and other insights and recommendations from the report, by reading the full report (French Version / English version), the short booklet version and the mapping summary.

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United Nations Secretary-General, An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peacekeeping: Report of the Secretary-General Pursuant to the Declaration Adopted by the Summit Meeting of the Security Council, January 31, 1992.
John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Institute of Peace Press, 1997), 20