June 23, 2026
Photo: Ethiopia
For many young people growing up in Ethiopia's Amhara Region, mistrust between neighbouring communities has become part of everyday life. Years of conflict, disputes over land and resources, and broader regional instability have strained relationships between the neighbouring Mekdesa and Gerbi communities. Young people who live only a short distance apart have had few opportunities to meet, play sports together, or build friendships across community lines.
The consequences extend far beyond the school yard or sports field. Conflict disrupts education, limits livelihood opportunities, affects farming and trade, and weakens the relationships that communities rely on to prosper.
Recognizing that lasting peace depends on young people, Kinvia's local partner, the Organization for Child Development and Transformation (CHADET), worked with communities across the North Shewa and Oromo Special zones to rebuild trust through dialogue, community meetings, radio programming, and local peacebuilding initiatives.
As relationships began to improve, communities looked for opportunities to bring young people together in a different way.
They chose football.
More than 100 young players from four neighbouring woredas took part in an inter-community football tournament designed not simply as a sporting event, but as an opportunity to build relationships across long-standing divides.
For many participants, it was the first time they had met or spent meaningful time with other young people from neighbouring communities they had previously viewed with fear or suspicion.
Through football, we were given the opportunity to know and understand one another better. We came here to replace hatred with love, respect, and peace.
The tournament quickly became about much more than the matches themselves. Community members came to cheer for teams from both sides, encouraging young people to participate and celebrating the opportunity to come together peacefully.
The atmosphere of fair play and mutual respect challenged long-held assumptions about what relationships between neighbouring communities could look like.
As the tournament ended, many players exchanged contact information and expressed a desire to continue meeting, playing together, and strengthening both their football skills and their friendships.
Football creates friendship, unity, and lasting peace among communities. We came here not only to play, but also to strengthen peace among ourselves.
Community members described the event as inspiring and viewed it as an important step toward rebuilding relationships between neighbouring communities.
Dereje hopes the tournament is only the beginning. He urged organizers to look for “additional platforms like this to bring young people together and strengthen peace within all communities.”
Youth engaged in the tournament not only as players, but as peace ambassadors who promoted messages of unity, respect, and non-violence during the match and related community events.
For communities rebuilding trust after years of conflict, the tournament demonstrated that peace is not built only through formal meetings and negotiations. Sometimes it begins with something much simpler: young people meeting on a football field, discovering common ground, and choosing to see one another as teammates rather than opponents.
The initiatives described in this article are generously funded by The Slaight Family Foundation's NGO Emergency Support Initiative. We are grateful for their support.
