Once peace had been brokered in the Oromo-Somali confict, there was a sig nifcant shift in the role of the Qeerroo and space for adolescents and youth to participate. A key theme that came up during the GAGE midline research in late 2019 and early 2020 was the role of the Qeerroo in encouraging young people’s development:
There is support both among the youth and the parents for the Qeerroo! The people do not denounce what the Qeerroo promote… This year, for example, they have infuenced youngsters to stop shegoye [an adolescent only all-night cultural dance that has been associated with child mar riage and school attrition]. Qeerroo also have infuence by collaborating with religious leaders… Religious leaders support abandoning shegoye, because of Sharia law. They say that youngsters who participate in the dance are defying Sharia and should refrain from the behaviour.
In some communities, the Qeerroo also played an important role in mobil ising support for people displaced by the confict who have been living in chronically under-resourced host communities:
Government arranged for displaced people to get free medications… It was the Qeerroo who convinced the government to deliver this… When poor people become sick and do not have money for transportation and medication, the Qeerroo raise money from the community. When a person is sick and needs emergency treatment and when an ambulance does not come, the Qeerroo raise money from the community and take that person to a health facility immediately…
However, interviews with adolescents showed that while the Qeerroo can be very infuential and play a pivotal role in reshaping community norms and practices, the modality has been top-down rather than democratic and participatory. This may have substantial implications for modes of political participation for young people in the coming years, especially as discontent between the movement and the reformist government groups over time.
Qeerroo is widely acceptable within the community… Qeerroo is more acceptable than religious leaders. Youths accept advice from Qeerroo. For example, giving up shegoye because it reduces productivity – adolescents who participate risk wasting their education and it reduces work time as they need to sleep if they have been dancing the previous night.
Qeerroo is so omnipotent! They beat up anybody that rejects their words because they are Qeerroo…. They hold demonstrations. They can shut down businesses when they think that the people should struggle for Oromo’s rights by putting aside their personal activities… They made us demonstrate when it was said that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent security forces to the residence of Jawar Mohammed. We were made to come out of schools and demonstrated by crossing our hands as a sign of resistance… Mothers whose husbands have left them will report the case to Qeerroo group and… [they] will make the husband cover the needs of their children. Qeerroo settles such issues and addresses problems.
The research also found varying levels of Qeerroo support for local devel opment and emergency assistance. For example, in some places, internally displaced people reported receiving only limited support and assistance from the Qeerroo. Some former Qeerroo members were also becoming dis illusioned, as there was a crisis of leadership. These issues underscore the challenges of sustaining youth movements beyond the urgency of confict afected contexts.
I used to go to meetings… but now they are disorganised here… There is no chairman. They didn’t agree because the neighbourhood is big and the population is big. I am also Qeerroo but I want Qeerroo that works. They don’t have a programme and time to discuss… They just waste your time. They will not come if you call for a meeting. You only get few people. In the meantime you miss what you do. Youths don’t come on time… Last year they constructed houses and did farming for displaced people. They became disorganised after that… They even used to work on getting children back to school. They are not like that now. Those in the leadership in the past are not active now.