The Elbarta Conservation Council was established in 2014, and is a group of elders and warriors who are key spokespersons for their communities. They are responsible for promoting peace and mediating conflict; engaging immigrants to plan their movement within the area, including grazing, water use and location of temporary settlements; and creating awareness within their communities on conservation, peace and law enforcement. In 2016, by popular demand from the elders and warriors who sit on the ECC, another key demographic was added to the council – women. The local women were picked by their communities with no bias regarding ethnicity. The women felt that their inclusion in the ECC would be very beneficial to the peace process. In their own words, “Women are peace builders. We can be effective in delivering peace messages as we can control our anger and we are patient”. They added that although resolving conflict can be a hard and complex process, they wanted to do something worthwhile rather than ignoring the problem.
