Research

Documenting the Settlements: The Burao and Borama Conferences Revisited

Published
18 March 2026
Author
MAAN Research Desk
Length
74 pages

Abstract

A structured documentation of the conferences and local settlements that ended Somaliland's civil conflict — convening authority, financing, participation, sequencing, and enforcement — assembled from primary accounts and participant interviews, and assessed against the international peacebuilding literature.

Key findings

  1. 01Local financing of the conferences was decisive for ownership and for the durability of the outcomes.
  2. 02Duration was a feature rather than a failure: legitimacy was built through exhaustive consultation.
  3. 03Integrating traditional authority into the constitutional order prevented a parallel-power problem.
  4. 04The absence of external guarantors removed the possibility of externally driven collapse.

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