Traditional conflict resolution – A way out of the crisis?

Insights on traditional institutions and the prospects for peace in Mali

Since 2012, Mali has tried hard to move forward out of its worst security and political crisis. To date, massive international and national stabilisation efforts have failed to produce fundamental improvements. However, other potential solutions, such as the application of indigenous, home-based countermeasures, through which disputes and violent tensions were prevented and resolved in Mali’s past, have hardly been considered. The paper tries to fill this gap and seeks to analyse the role indigenous practices, administered by customary authorities, play in contemporary Malian society. It also examines the extent to which traditional institutions can be used to contribute towards the improvement of the current multidimensional crisis. The author concludes that, despite the challenges and inherent deficiencies of traditional institutions, (e.g. representation of vulnerable groups and democratic rules), they offer an opportunity to effectively support the ongoing peacebuilding process by facilitating meaningful development at local level.