Challenges that hinder the Awura Amba community to exchange its gender-friendly values with neighboring villages, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

This research was conducted in Woji-Arba Amba Kebelle of Fogera Woreda where the Awura Amba community is located. Despite this community has a widely recognized humanistic beliefs and presumed gender equality practice, it still lacks a strong relationship that would allow it to disseminate its extraordinary values to the surrounding community. Therefore, this study aimed at to investigate why the community was unable to share its values and experiences with the surrounding community to promote gender equality. The researchers have made the analyses based on the data that were obtained from key informant interviews and survey questionnaires. The results showed that there are a number of challenges the Awura Amba community has been facing in spreading its gender-friendly values and experiences to the neighboring community. Among other reasons, the abnegation of the surrounding community towards the Awura Amba's community; the Awura Amba's community lack of interest and willingness to take lesson from good values and experiences of the adjacent community; cultural and normative value contradiction with the surrounding community; mismatch of theory and practice regarding Awura Amba community; and lack of local public institution to create common stage for the two communities are the key challenges that induced the weak socio-economic interaction of the two communities at large and absence of sharing gender-friendly values in particular. Consequently, 12.9 % of the local community is not aware of the Awura Amba community's alleged extraordinary values. The study also indicated that member's year of residence was statistically significant to the level of economic status among Awura Amba community members and the nature of ex-family's interaction at p<0.05. Finally, the research suggested that the Awura Amba community should unlock its door to the neighboring villages' to know well what extra ordinary values and sharable experiences it has. Besides, in collaboration with Peace and Security offices and other concerned bodies, the regional and local governments shall prepare peace and moral education in the form of workshop and training for the two communities and establish independent institution that might promote exchange of experiences between the two communities. Above all, the Awura Amba community shall amend its values and give a room for new members' to exercise their aboriginal religion and preserve their values.