Intergenerational Dialogue Opens Doors for Change 

In communities where traditions are passed carefully from elders to youth, change rarely happens overnight. In Ethiopia’s Somali Region, however, a new approach is helping communities confront some of their most deeply rooted harmful practices—together.

International Solidarity Foundation has implemented a new method in Ethiopia’s Somali Region in Harawa and Degahbour: Intergenerational Dialogues (IGD). The method is a community-led approach that brings different generations into structured conversation around sensitive social norms. ISF has started working in Ethiopia’s Somali region in 2023 and recently its two partners, Community in Action Against Poverty (CAAP) and Relief and Development for Vulnerable (RDV)  have begun applying IGD in their community work. 

Being an inclusive and easily adaptable tool, IGD has become one of the key methods utilized to address deeply rooted harmful practices, such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and child marriage. The urgency of this work is clear: the prevalence of these practices in Ethiopia’s Somali region remains among the highest in the world. Nearly half of girls are married before adulthood, and an alarming 98.5% of women aged 15–49 have experienced FGM.  

At the end of 2025, the German development coordination organization GIZ organized a two-day regional conference on intergenerational dialogues crossing borders. The conference brought together partners and actors from across the Horn of Africa. ISF was represented by Ethiopian country director Tesfaye Nigusu, Field Coordinator in VAWG prevention Kaltoum Hussein and Senior Adviser on gender-based violence prevention Suvi Lensu. The conference emphasized the value of intergenerational, community-led strategies, showcased early successes, and identified areas for adaptation to strenghten the final phase of implementation.  

A platform for addressing sensitive topics

Lensu notes, that the intergenerational dialogue sessions provide a platform for communities to address sensitive topics, including women’s economic roles, gender norms, and cultural practices. This aligns closely with one of the conference’s core messages: awareness alone does not bring change, but building consensus does. When entire communities participate in dialogue, accountability becomes shared—and change more sustainable.

Intergenerational dialogue is a long-standing practice in African societies, where different generations share knowledge, resolve conflicts, and strengthen social cohesion. In development and peacebuilding work, this practice has been adapted into a structured approach to address peacebuilding, social norm change, and inclusion. Its first systematic use to support the abandonment of FGM took place in Guinea in 2001. Building on this experience, GIZ later formalized it as a community-based methodology now used in several African and Asian countries to facilitate culturally sensitive discussions on issues like FGM, child marriage, and gender norms.

Through a series of moderated sessions—starting with separate groups for younger and older generations, then joint meetings and public events—the method fosters mutual understanding, challenges harmful practices, and encourages locally led solutions. By providing a safe space for dialogue and collective decision-making, the approach empowers communities to take ownership of change, building social cohesion and sustainable transformation, Lensu states. 

A space for women’s voices

Suvi Lensu visited CAAP’s project communities in Harawa, Somali Region Lensu observed early results that were both positive and encouraging. “In 2024 ISF established the first dedicated women’s and girls’ space in Harawa providing a physical location for women and girls to speak freely, share experiences, and attend training on violence prevention”, says Lensu.  

While the space initially raised suspicion among men in the community, continued dialogue helped shift perceptions. and communities began understanding the purpose of the women’s space. “We felt that we were included for the first time and realized that the women’s house was built for good purposes”, noted one of the male champions of IGD.  

This sense of ownership is one of the method’s greatest strengths. As it provides a simple, yet versatile, method for bringing people together, creating discussion and crossing borders, it is a suitable tool to be implicated when dealing with sensitive topics, including women’s economic roles, gender norms, and cultural practices. Rather than confining these conversations behind closed doors, IGD brings them into the open—making them collective community concerns rather than private issues.  

Potential for enabling lasting change

ISF sees strong potential for both local commitment and expansion of the IGD method to other operational areas, including Somaliland and Western Kenya, where FGM prevalence is high. In these contexts, elders often act as the primary custodians and gatekeepers of long-standing traditions—making their engagement essential for lasting change. 

In the field of violence against women and girls (VAWG) prevention, structured and practical methodologies remain limited. Intergenerational dialogues provide a practical platform for both comparative analysis across different contexts and for developing context-specific content. Most importantly, they offer insight into how communities themselves lead change—demonstrating what works, what can be adapted, and how progress can be sustained from within.