Organizational studies and monographs
These materials come from both international NGOs and local organizations with relevant experiences in conflict-affected societies. They are focused on particularly issue areas or focused on efforts to address conflicts in specific countries or regions.
Resource Library
Navigate through our resource library, search for the terms you are interested in and the table will populate automatically with matching results.| Title | Authors | Subject Keywords | Abstract | Link | Country Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breaking the Mold: Lessons from Sixteen Years of Innovative UN Political Engagement in Nepal | Rebecca Brubaker, | United Nations, peace processes, locally led | UN political engagement in Nepal between 2002 and 2018 has long been considered a successful example of sustained and innovative support to a critical peace process. Many governments in the broader region, however, have largely eschewed international assistance in resolving conflicts, perceiving it as an unnecessary infringement on state sovereignty or a threat to regional balances of power. This paper looks at lessons the UN could learn from its political presence in Nepal. It summarizes the four periods of the UN’s involvement, highlights best practices, and reviews the challenges faced and how they shaped the range of actions available to the UN. | https://www.ipinst.org/2021/02/lessons-from-sixteen-years-of-innovative-un-political-engagement-in-nepal | Nepal |
| If Victims Become Perpetrators: Factors Contributing to Vulnerability and Resilience to Violent Extremism in the Central Sahel | Luca Raineri | Violent extremism, Central Sahel | This study focuses on young Fulani people in the regions of Mopti (Mali), Sahel (Burkina Faso) and Tillabéri (Niger), and analyses the factors contributing to community vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism. One of the key findings of this research is the assertion that violent extremism in the central Sahel is primarily a response to local conflicts, and that the link with international jihadism is more rhetoric than reality. This study shows that the most determining factor contributing to vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism is the experience (or perception) of abuse and violation by government authorities. On the other hand, the study shows that strengthening social cohesion, supporting young men’s and women’s role in their communities, and mitigating social and gender exclusion could strengthen community resilience. The research also identifies strategies to deploy to curb violent extremism in the central Sahel. To restore trust between marginalised citizens and their governments, international partners need to prioritise efforts aimed at supporting state accountability towards its citizens; improve access to justice, especially transitional justice, and ensure inclusive governance; improve supervision of the armed forces; and promote youth employment, including through migration. | https://www.international-alert.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sahel-Violent-Extremism-Vulnerability-Resilience-EN-2018.pdf | Mali |
| Supporting Social Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa : Lessons from Transitions | Bousquet, Franck; Thindwa, Jeff; Felicio, Mariana: Grandvoinnet, Helene | Governance: Reforms, Governance: Transition | Social accountability is increasingly recognized as a way to make governance reforms and development efforts more effective in responding to the needs of citizens. Supporting initiatives that strengthen social accountability at the regional and national levels is consistent with the priority the Bank places on social and economic inclusion, citizen participation, and the quality of governance. The longer paper provides a brief overview of some experiences in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) Region and international experiences from Indonesia, Turkey and the Philippines supporting social accountability during political and economic transitions. The full paper was prepared for a conference around the 2011 Annual Meetings in Washington, DC and included high-level policy makers from Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines. A panel of civil society organizations from the MNA Region exchanged perspectives about social accountability in the region, emerging opportunities and remaining challenges in making government more effective through an informed and engaged citizenry. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12781 | Middle East |
| Evaluating Peacebuilding: Not Yet All It Could Be | Cheyanne Scharbatke Church | Project Evaluation, Design, Monitoring and Evaluation | This handbook assesses the quality of peacebuilding evaluation work being undertaken in a rapidly professionalizing field. The author gives several examples of good and bad practice and suggests that current evaluation practice is failing to foster accountability and learning quite as well as it could. She explores reasons why evaluation may fall short of established quality standards or stray from its explicitly stated purpose, offering recommendations for improvement to researchers, practitioners and donors alike. | https://berghof-foundation.org/library/evaluating-peacebuilding-not-yet-all-it-could-be | Worldwide |
| The six principles of Adaptive Peacebuilding | ACCORD | Adaptive peacebuilding, fragile states, locally-led, theory of change | Adaptive peacebuilding is an approach that can help navigate this delicate balance between international support and local self-organisation. Peacebuilders, together with the communities and people affected by the conflict, actively engage in a structured process to sustain peace by employing an iterative process of learning and adaptation. The adaptive peacebuilding approach is aimed at supporting societies to develop the resilience and robustness they need to cope with and adapt to change by developing greater levels of complexity in their social institutions. | https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/the-six-principles-of-adaptive-peacebuilding/ | South Sudan |
| Pursuing disaster risk reduction on fractured foundations: the case of Chad | Katie Peters, Anne-Lise Dewulf, Veronique Barbelet, Colette Benoudji, Virginie Le Masson | Climate and Conflict, Food Insecurity, Governance | Conventional disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts tend to focus on mitigating risk related to short-term, extreme events associated with high-visibility catastrophes such as earthquakes, floods and landslides. However, some of the most neglected and unreported humanitarian crises around the world are caused by long-term conditions such as drought. The effects of slow-onset disasters are particularly devastating when compounded by conflict, fragility and violence, but this aspect of DRR has generally been neglected in mainstream thinking and practice. Known for its vulnerability to drought and food insecurity, Chad illustrates how conflict can undermine the foundations of development and economic growth. This case study challenges conventional thinking on how to promote DRR in a situation of conflict and poor governance. Instead of pushing forward with recommendations for more financial resources and technical capacity, the research questions whether an alternative, more politically astute approach could be taken to ensure systematic integration of risk into development decisions. Simply put, this framing would employ a ‘networking’ strategy applied through a conflict lens. Starting with what already exists, it would recognise where political traction could provide a viable entry point to advance progress on DRR and disaster risk governance as part of overall efforts to adapt to climate change and promote sustainable development. | https://odi.org/en/publications/pursuing-disaster-risk-reduction-on-fractured-foundations-the-case-of-chad/ | Chad |
| The Impact of COVID-19 on Peace and Confict Dynamics: A Case Study of Korogocho Informal Settlement, Nairobi, Kenya | International Alert | Social cohesion, inter-communal conflict, COVID-19 | The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a major impact in Kenya, not just through illness and deaths caused by the virus, but also due to the effects of measures put in place to limit its spread. Kenya’s economy has contracted and household food insecurity has increased markedly. Many women, young people and members of vulnerable groups are worst affected by the socio-economic impacts. This research looked at the impact of COVID-19 not just on people’s livelihoods, but also on social cohesion in Nairobi’s informal settlements, with a focus on the Korogocho informal settlement. Korogocho was known to have a history of conflict and experienced particularly high levels of violence following the 2007 general election. It was also thought to be less ‘researched’ than some other informal settlements in Nairobi. | https://www.international-alert.org/publications/impact-covid-19-peace-and-conflict-dynamics-korogocho-nairobi-kenya | Kenya |
| Strengthening local and national infrastructures for peace in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and South Sudan | Nontobeko Zondi, Wandile Langa | Conflict Management, peacebuilding, conflict prevention | In 2016, ACCORD outlined its 2017–2021 Six-Pillar Strategy, which seeks to contribute to sustainable peace, security and development in Africa by mitigating conflict. One of the critical pillars of the Strategy is Pillar 2, which focuses on strengthening local and national infrastructures for peace. This Policy and Practice Brief aims to reflect on the practical experiences, challenges and lessons of ACCORD in advancing the concept of local and national capacity for peace, in the period 2018 to 2019. The preliminary reflections are drawn from ACCORD’s work in four countries, namely, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho and South Sudan. | https://www.accord.org.za/publication/strengthening-local-and-national-infrastructures-for-peace-in-burundi-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-lesotho-and-south-sudan/ | South Sudan |
| ENSURING CONFLICT SENSITIVITY IN PROMOTING THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES | Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization | Conflict prevention, indigenous rights, integration. | The real or perceived inequitable distribution of aid can increase tensions among neighboring communities, governments, or private industries. The PRO-IP Policy highlights examples of conflict and violence sparked by development actors’ inappropriate engagements with Indigenous Peoples. These conflicts feature insecure land tenure rights and natural resource management, displacement, exploitative or unsupportive actions of private industry and local government, legal marginalization, political violence, and well-intentioned, but potentially harmful, donor-funded initiatives. | https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Conflict-Sensitivity-in-PRO-IP-Technical-Guidance.pdf | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Untangling Conflict: Local Peace Agreements in Contemporary Armed Violence | Jan Pospisil, Laura Wise, Christine Bell | Peace Agreement, Locally-led Peacemaking Initiatives, Problem-Solving Workshop | This article seeks to understand the proliferation of local and sub-national peace agreements negotiated and signed in recent years. While such agreements are not a new phenomenon, local negotiations in violent conflict seem to be becoming increasingly better documented and formalized. This development may be caused by the comparably easy availability of electronic means of documentation and communication, even in remote areas. Local peace processes and resultant agreements have also gained more attention from national, regional, and international actors, in part due to their increased visibility. Interest in local agreements is also driven by the changing dynamics of conflict and peace. Structural shifts at the international have often resulted in a decreasing likelihood of comprehensive peace processes at the national level. The model of the traditional ‘peace process’ at the national level assumes the existence of a state actor who is internationally recognized, and one (or more) armed opposition groups. Often, however, conflicts are more complex. Some conflicts may be understood as contests about the control of the central state and others evolve from a complex interrelation between the national level and a variety of localized conflict settings that are largely based on context-dependent fault lines. In other cases, local agreements seem to play an important role across diverse conflict, in ‘untangling’ forms of conflict, that often operate as complex local-national-transnational-international conflict systems. This report presents the finding of two workshops focused on local peace agreements, their negotiation, the actors involved, and their impact and modes of implementation. Compared to national-level agreements, local peace agreements are considerably shorter and issue-centered. They deal with a wide variety of contextualized topics around the predominant aim of managing local patterns of armed conflict and violence. In their variety, local peace agreements represent the diversity but also the splintered nature and patchiness of what is contemporary armed conflict. Key conclusions are that local peace agreements cannot succeed where negotiations at the national level fail. They can even weaken motivations and incentives for power-sharing deals and provide pathways for contested regimes to sustain their rule. Armed non-state actors engage in such processes based on their strategic political interests. As in peace negotiations at the national level, parties continue aiming to reach their goals through peace talks. The negotiation of local peace agreements will usually reconfigure power relationships and may also undermine and, in some instances, even disrupt ongoing armed conflicts in ways that build confidence for wider peacemaking efforts. Such agreements provide a glimpse into what might be local agendas for peace and the management of conflicts, local forms of deliberation over power-relations, and how civilian and military actors come to an agreement. | http://hdl.handle.net/1920/12904 | Worldwide |
| People-to-people Peacebuilding: A Program Guide | USAID Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation | Peacebuilding, community-building, development, conflict sensitive. | This guide, developed in consultation with scholars and practitioners, provides specific guidelines on the implementation of people-to-people peacebuilding programs for use by USAID and its development partners. These programs, conducted in some of the most difficult and challenging environments, require special care to ensure impact, capture learning and advance a Do No Harm approach. The guidelines aim to assist program designers and evaluators in how best to do that by describing the state-of-the-art in people-to-people peacebuilding. Its purpose is to assist USAID staff at Missions, as well as others working in development and peacebuilding, to implement high-quality people-to-people programs. The guide is structured around fourteen guidelines grouped into three stages of the program cycle: design, implementation, theories of Change and monitoring and evaluation. The bibliography serves as an extensive reference for further research and learning. While the guidelines described in this guide would likely be applicable to most conflict mitigation programs, the focus of this document is specific to people-to-people programming and conflict-sensitive international development. The guidelines were identified based on extensive review of existing people-to-people programs and interviews in March-April 2010 with scholars of conflict resolution noted for their expertise in people-to-people approaches. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12752 | Worldwide |
| National Election Response Groups as infrastructures for peace | Reuben J.B. Lewis | election violence, state-building, locally-led | In West Africa, National Elections Response Groups (NERGs) are being developed as response structures to mitigate election-related conflict, and their operationalisation is proving to be successful in a number of countries that have held elections – including, most recently, in Sierra Leone. NERGs are designed as infrastructures for peace, and serve as platforms for peaceful dialogue and shuttle diplomacy with political parties during national elections. NERGs also respond to incidences of harassment, intimidation and violence; work towards keeping communities calm and organised; and engage with all political groups to keep the peace. This article discusses the development and operationalisation of NERGs as an infrastructure for peace during recent elections in some West African countries. | https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/national-election-response-groups-as-infrastructures-for-peace/ | Sierra Leone |
| Youth as Agents of Peace : Somalia | World Bank; United Nation | Economics and Conflict, Youth | This paper is the first joint country study conducted by the United Nations and the World Bank aimed at translating into practice the principles of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2250, through direct and local engagement with young people and their communities in one of the most fragile and conflict-ridden areas on the African continent. Focusing on young people is particularly meaningful as Somalia’s population is the youngest of the African continent overall. Against a backdrop of continued conflict, insecurity, and violent extremism facing Somalia, the study offers a positive vision for defining peace as articulated by young women and men. It concludes by offering an operational framework for supporting youth in peacebuilding. The report’s recommendations postulate a comprehensive understanding of youth, peace, and conflict going beyond solutions based solely on increased employment. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12770 | Somalia |
| National Election Response Groups as infrastructures for peace | Reuben J.B. Lewis | election violence, state-building, locally-led | In West Africa, National Elections Response Groups (NERGs) are being developed as response structures to mitigate election-related conflict, and their operationalisation is proving to be successful in a number of countries that have held elections – including, most recently, in Sierra Leone. NERGs are designed as infrastructures for peace, and serve as platforms for peaceful dialogue and shuttle diplomacy with political parties during national elections. NERGs also respond to incidences of harassment, intimidation and violence; work towards keeping communities calm and organised; and engage with all political groups to keep the peace. This article discusses the development and operationalisation of NERGs as an infrastructure for peace during recent elections in some West African countries. | https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/national-election-response-groups-as-infrastructures-for-peace/ | Ghana |
| Peace Education | Mari Fitzduff; Isabella Jean | Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DM&E), Training, Locally-led Peacemaking Initiatives | This report is a result of an initiative to reflect on developments, contributions, and prospects in specific areas where USIP grantmaking has been concentrated. The authors were commissioned to review the state of the field, to identify the lessons learned, and to contemplate future directions of work in the area of peace education, with reference to USIP grantmaking. | https://www.usip.org/publications/2011/11/peace-education | Worldwide |
| When disasters and conflicts collide: improving links between disaster resilience and conflict prevention | Katie Peters, David Keen, Tom Mitchell | Climate and Conflict, Food Insecurity, Natural Resources and Conflict | This report focuses on the links between conditions of vulnerability and risks associated with the nexus of natural disasters, conflict and fragility. It also recognises that any given context will be mired by an even more complex array of intersecting risks. For example, in 2011, drought, and food and political insecurity in East Africa contributed to a full-scale humanitarian crisis. A combination of natural hazards, conflict and fragility provided a recipe for human suffering. The evidence base for the ‘natural’ disasters-conflict interface is challenging: it is fragmented and contested, with a number of studies highlighting directly opposing lines of arguments. This suggests that the complexity of conflict and disaster dynamics can only be understood when grounded in specific contexts. Examples are therefore provided in the report from disaster risk reduction in Afghanistan, resilience building in the Sahel region, community based risk reduction in Karamoja and national risk reduction in Nepal. | https://odi.org/en/publications/when-disasters-and-conflicts-collide-improving-links-between-disaster-resilience-and-conflict-prevention/ | Worldwide |
| Ceasefire monitoring: Developments and complexities | Cate Buchanan, Govinda Clayton, Alexander Ramsbotham | Peace Agreement, Ceasefire, Monitoring/Verification | Ceasefire monitoring can make a crucial contribution to transitions from war to peace. Yet significant variation in the characteristics of ceasefires and monitoring approaches, and the differences across contexts in which they occur, limit attempts at comprehensive analysis and development of standardised guidance on ‘what works’. To support critical reflection, Conciliation Resources convened a set of four joint analysis workshops in October 2020, which brought together practitioners, policymakers, donors, conflict parties, civil society leaders and researchers to reflect on some of the challenges and recent developments in ceasefire monitoring. This Accord Spotlight is not a definitive guide to ceasefires or monitoring missions, but a presentation of some of key reflections that emerged from the workshops, intended to inspire fresh thinking and further contemplation for those attempting to provide more effective support for ceasefire implementation processes. | https://www.politicalsettlements.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Ceasefire-monitoring-Developments-and-complexities.pdf | Worldwide |
| Engaging Civil Society Organizations in Conflict-Affected and Fragile States : Three African Country Case Studies | World Bank | Citizen action, Locally-led Peacemaking Initiatives , Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DM&E) | Civil society organizations (CSOs) play a prominent role in conflict-affected and fragile states. In the absence of capable or credible public institutions due to conflict or weak policy environments, CSOs tend to substitute for public institutions and become primary providers of basic social services. At the same time, the international donor community has increased its involvement in countries affected by conflict and instability, often relying increasingly on CSOs to reach the poor. While the prominent role of CSOs in social service delivery and other development activities is often seen as an interim solution, it may extend for years, even decades. Recognizing that reliance on CSOs is likely to prevail for the foreseeable future in many countries, there is a need to consider how to make CSO engagement more effective and sustainable. The objective of this report is to identify approaches to more effectively engage CSOs in the context of weak public institutions in conflict-affected and fragile states. The report will: 1) Examine the roles, strengths, and weaknesses of CSOs in terms of service delivery, community development, advocacy, peace building, and governance; 2) Identify the factors that influence CSO effectiveness in performing these functions; 3) Assess donor influence on CSOs and their indirect influence on governance by supporting CSOs; and 4) Discuss the relationship between CSOs and government including their changing roles, weak communication, and government efforts to coordinate and regulate CSO activity. Key findings are presented from pilots of the Civil Society Assessment Tool (CSAT) in Angola, Guinea Bissau, and Togo. The pilots were conducted from January 2004 to February 2005. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12772 | Africa |
| Reflecting on the Role of Regional and International Interventions in Resolving the Post-coup Crisis in Sudan | Clayton Hazvinei Vhumbunu | Citizen Action, Monitoring/Verification: Regional Organization, Governance: Transitition | A coup brought to Sudan a change of power after the 30-year governance of the former president Al-Bashir, which was followed by a crisis as there was no effective transitional governance. Following these lines, regional and international interventions influenced Sudan in its post-coup crisis, creating a pathway towards a more stable transition and settlement. External actors -- some regional and international institutions -- have had implications in African conflicts. Taking into account the accomplishments and limitation, the role of regional and international actors were key to addressing conflict and tensions in Sudan and the subregion. The transitional governance in Sudan provides an example of enhanced sustainability and broader involvement by external influences on the continent. This article focuses on the main influential external actors, which include the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Ethiopia (under the Ethiopian Initiative), the African Union Commission (AUC), the Arab League, the Sudan Troika (of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Norway) and the United Nations (UN). Coordinated interventions such as this one — leading to civilian-led government and stability — provide insights towards the role of external institutions upon peace and stability in the continent, which are worth reflecting on and considering for further action. | https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/reflecting-on-the-role-of-regional-and-international-interventions-in-resolving-the-post-coup-crisis-in-sudan/ | Sudan |
| Local engagement with armed groups in the midst of violence | Sophia Haspeslagh, Zahbia Yousuf | Dialogue, Armed Non-State Actors | This report moves beyond the question of whether or not to engage in dialogue with an armed group and explores the spaces in which armed groups operate and their relationships with the people who live there. While local populations are not just passive actors in conflict zones, simply coerced by armed actors, it is equally true that armed groups do not merely exploit or abuse communities in areas in which they operate. Three in-depth case studies from Colombia, northern Uganda and Syria, as well as a shorter analysis from Northern Ireland, illustrate how communities have tried to influence the behavior of armed groups away from violence, and the factors that have affected their interactions – most of which took place in advance of more formal negotiations and often in situations of intense violence and embedded conflict. These local “spaces in between” fighting and talking shed light on the possibilities for more upstream engagement with armed groups and the variety of peace efforts involved in shaping their decisions. The case studies illustrate that reaching out to armed groups does not have to legitimate their tactics or even ambitions. They also show how active community engagement with armed groups can make an important contribution to local human security and peacebuilding. The experiences documented confirm that local peace actors face huge security risks – unprotected by diplomatic immunity or the security of the state. Armed groups often have a blatant disregard for civilian security, or worse, purposefully target populations. Local populations also face security threats from the state, which often views communities close to armed groups as complicit. Active contact by a community with an armed group risks exacerbating perceptions of association. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12750 | Worldwide |
| Rapid Assessment of Conflict Prevention | Christopher Cramer, Jonathan Goodhand, Robert Morris, Helena Pérez-Niño, Benjamin Petrini and Joshua Rogers | Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DM&E), Peace Processes, Conflict Prevention | This Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) has found that there is only a weak body of evidence published between 2010 and 2015 on conflict prevention and violence mitigation: there is no medium- to large-scale body of evidence on specific interventions with clear findings on ‘what works’ grounded in moderate or high quality research (as assessed in terms of the principles and indicators of good evidence adopted in the REA). While there is only a limited extent to which the search uncovered ‘what works’, there were some clear signals about ‘what doesn’t work’. 27 studies had clear findings that interventions had been ‘ineffective’ and six of these were high quality studies. The best of these studies highlighted the dangers of ignoring political drivers of conflict, the need to consider the distortionary effects of different aid modalities, and the specific design features that may render some forms of intervention (e.g. CDD) more vulnerable to attack than others. The REA suggests that there remains a large gap between the demand for evidence by policymakers/practitioners and the supply of research by researchers and evaluators in the field of conflict prevention and mitigation. The stubbornness of this gap raises questions about how policymakers can help researchers to overcome barriers to supply and provide incentives for improving the body of evidence about what works. | https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/58245e85ed915d7ad500001a/effectiveness-conflict-prevention-interventions1.pdf | Worldwide |
| South Asia's Nuclear Challenges: Interlocking Views from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States | Lora Saalman, Petr Topychkanov | Nuclear posture | This study provides an overview of views on nuclear postures and escalation affecting South Asia, based on 119 interviews conducted in 2020, without attribution, with military, nuclear, political and regional experts from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States. These discussions revealed a number of interlocking points that offer building blocks for both official and non-official engagement on such issues as no first use (NFU), lowered nuclear thresholds, conventional and nuclear entanglement, escalate to de-escalate, and emerging technology development. | https://www.sipri.org/publications/2021/other-publications/south-asias-nuclear-challenges-interlocking-views-india-pakistan-china-russia-and-united-states | China |
| The six principles of Adaptive Peacebuilding | ACCORD | Adaptive peacebuilding, fragile states, locally-led, theory of change | Adaptive peacebuilding is an approach that can help navigate this delicate balance between international support and local self-organisation. Peacebuilders, together with the communities and people affected by the conflict, actively engage in a structured process to sustain peace by employing an iterative process of learning and adaptation. The adaptive peacebuilding approach is aimed at supporting societies to develop the resilience and robustness they need to cope with and adapt to change by developing greater levels of complexity in their social institutions. | https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/the-six-principles-of-adaptive-peacebuilding/ | Central African Republic |
| South Asia's Nuclear Challenges: Interlocking Views from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States | Lora Saalman, Petr Topychkanov | Nuclear posture | This study provides an overview of views on nuclear postures and escalation affecting South Asia, based on 119 interviews conducted in 2020, without attribution, with military, nuclear, political and regional experts from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States. These discussions revealed a number of interlocking points that offer building blocks for both official and non-official engagement on such issues as no first use (NFU), lowered nuclear thresholds, conventional and nuclear entanglement, escalate to de-escalate, and emerging technology development. | https://www.sipri.org/publications/2021/other-publications/south-asias-nuclear-challenges-interlocking-views-india-pakistan-china-russia-and-united-states | United States |
| Sharing the Burden: Lessons from the European Return to Multidimensional Peacekeeping | Arthur Boutellis, Michael Beary | European engagement, peacekeeping, task force | Since 2013, after years of near absence from the continent, a number of European countries, along with Canada, have again deployed to UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. The European presence in UN peacekeeping in Africa is now nearly at its largest since the mid-1990s. These countries provide much-needed high-end capabilities, as well as political and financial capital, to UN peacekeeping operations. Nonetheless, securing and sustaining European contributions to these types of peacekeeping operations remains an uphill battle for the UN. This paper draws lessons from this renewed engagement by European countries and Canada, both from their point of view, as well as from that of the UN Secretariat, UN field missions, and other troop contributors. It aims to explore how these bodies and other countries can best work together in a collective endeavor to improve UN peacekeeping’s efficiency and effectiveness. Toward this end, the paper recommends a number of actions to the UN Secretariat | https://www.ipinst.org/2020/01/lessons-from-the-european-return-to-multidimensional-peacekeeping | Europe |
| Localising protection responses in conflicts: challenges and opportunities | Victoria Metcalfe-Hough | Citizen Action, Locally-led Peacemaking Initiatives, Violence Prevention | In conflict situations around the world, civilians are providing their own frontline ‘protection services’, adopting a variety of strategies and utilising various capacities and capabilities to try to prevent and mitigate the impact of conflict-related violence and abuse, and repair the damage done to their lives and livelihoods. On the ground, however, international humanitarian organisations are still failing to fully understand and systematically integrate these local and self-protection efforts in their own response strategies. This report considers in detail the role of local populations in their own protection; the role of local non-state actors in enhancing those efforts; and the relationship between these and the strategies adopted by international ‘humanitarian protection’ actors. The paper further seeks to explore the tensions, challenges and opportunities inherent in a more localised approach to protection. | https://odi.org/en/publications/localising-protection-responses-in-conflicts-challenges-and-opportunities/ | Worldwide |
| Lessons for “Partnership Peacekeeping” from the African Union Mission in Somalia | Paul D. Williams | peacekeeping, stabilization, security reform, partnerships, locally-led, financial sustainability | Deployed to Mogadishu in March 2007, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) operates through a complicated and extensive system of partnerships. This has been referred to as the “AMISOM model” of “partnership peacekeeping.” While this specific configuration of forces and mechanisms is unlikely to be repeated, AMISOM remains the longest-standing case of a peace enforcement operation built on such international partnerships. This report summarizes the main operational-level lessons across seven themes: force generation, logistics, security sector reform, protection of civilians, strategic communications, stabilization, and exit strategy. Many of these lessons have not been truly learned, internalized, and acted upon by the actors and organizations in question. | https://www.ipinst.org/2019/10/lessons-partnership-peacekeeping-amisom | Somalia |
| Strengthening local and national infrastructures for peace in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and South Sudan | Nontobeko Zondi, Wandile Langa | Conflict Management, peacebuilding, conflict prevention | In 2016, ACCORD outlined its 2017–2021 Six-Pillar Strategy, which seeks to contribute to sustainable peace, security and development in Africa by mitigating conflict. One of the critical pillars of the Strategy is Pillar 2, which focuses on strengthening local and national infrastructures for peace. This Policy and Practice Brief aims to reflect on the practical experiences, challenges and lessons of ACCORD in advancing the concept of local and national capacity for peace, in the period 2018 to 2019. The preliminary reflections are drawn from ACCORD’s work in four countries, namely, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho and South Sudan. | https://www.accord.org.za/publication/strengthening-local-and-national-infrastructures-for-peace-in-burundi-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-lesotho-and-south-sudan/ | Lesotho |
| Ayesha Siddiqi, Katie Peters and Julia Zulver | Fragibility, Climate and Conflict, Rule of Law | Colombia is considered one of the most advanced countries in Latin America for disaster risk reduction (DRR). Decades of state engagement in large-scale disasters has generated a relatively mature legal and institutional framework governing disaster response and risk reduction. However, the country also has a long history of conflict, involving targeted killings, generalised violence, kidnapping and extortion. As in many other parts of the world, Colombia’s current DRR policy and practice fail to take adequate account of the conflict situation. As a result, large numbers of conflict-displaced people (an estimated 15% of the country’s population is internally displaced) are highly vulnerable. This case study sheds light on why disaster risk is so high in Colombia, and how disasters and conflict interact to increase vulnerability. In addition to exploring the current national institutional and policy frameworks for DRR, it includes a critical analysis of two recent disasters: a landslide in the Mocoa area in 2017 and the structural failure of a dam resulting in severe flooding of the Cauca River in 2018. The findings highlight the complex and inherently political nature of DRR efforts in a context of conflict, protracted displacement and troubled state–society relations. The study highlights the need for an approach that goes beyond technocratic solutions; the reality that there are competing visions for DRR in conflict situations; and the fundamental necessity of rebuilding the social contract and recognising the rights and voices of affected citizens. | https://odi.org/en/publications/doble-afectacion-living-with-disasters-and-conflict-in-colombia/ | Colombia | |
| Disaster risk reduction, urban informality and a ‘fragile peace’: the case of Lebanon | Katie Peters, Kerrie Holloway | Fragility, Climate and Conflict, Corruption and Conflict | For too long, policy-makers, practitioners and funders in the international community have failed to pay sufficient attention to disaster risk reduction (DRR) in contexts of conflict. As a result, states and citizens living in fragile, volatile and violent situations are often unable to prepare for or mitigate against risk and, when natural hazards occur, the impacts are likely to be disproportionately devastating. Although on the surface, Lebanon appears to be a relatively peaceful and stable society, digging deeper reveals a turbulent undercurrent, described by interviewees for this study as a ‘fragile peace’. This refers to the deep-seated inter- and intracommunity tensions that impede social cohesion in cities and that could flare up into violence at any time. The situation is exacerbated by a fragile political system built on sectarianism, inadequate urban governance and widespread corruption, coupled with inequitable access to rights and resources for displaced and refugee populations. The Lebanon case highlights many of the complexities and contradictions associated with achieving disaster resilience in conflict situations. It also challenges conventional concepts of what constitutes a conflict context, and reveals new insights on how DRR can be pursued in these situations. Insight into sectarian divisions, urban informality, the marginalisation of refugees, and the prioritisation of conflict risk over natural hazards, help to develop our collective understanding and shed light on the types of DRR approaches and actions that are viable and appropriate in contexts characterised as holding a ‘fragile peace’. | https://odi.org/en/publications/disaster-risk-reduction-urban-informality-and-a-fragile-peace-the-case-of-lebanon/ | Lebanon |
| Risks, Dangers, and Threat Models: Evaluating Security Analysis for Conflict Practitioners | Michael Loadenthal, Peyton Nielsen, Devin McCarthy | Security, Conflict Resolution, Peacemaker | The risks to conflict practitioners, peacemakers, humanitarian aid workers, and others serving ‘in the field’ are diverse, deeply contextual, and ever-changing. While ample literature exists focused around documenting and evaluating the history of these dangers, far fewer resources have been authored to promote a comprehensive, proactive, and agile framework for predicting, observing, and understanding risks and threats to one's safety and security. While it is true that many organizations provide their employees with carefully-written guides containing security ‘dos and don’ts,’ what are practitioners meant to do when the conditions on the ground change? Instead of providing fixed solutions to emergent problems, this paper argues for a flexible framework to understand security and risk, and as a result, facilitates the development of a sustained, adaptable security posture and risk balance. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12716 | Worldwide |
| Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Based Management | Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) | Evaluation | The DAC Working Party on Aid Evaluation (WP-EV) has developed this glossary of key terms in evaluation and results-based management because of the need to clarify concepts and to reduce the terminological confusion frequently encountered in these areas. | https://www.oecd.org/dac/evaluation/2754804.pdf | Worldwide |
| DDR and Peacebuilding: Thematic review of DDR contributions to peacebuilding and the role of the Peacebuilding Fund | United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office | Demobilization, Disarmament, Reintegration (DDR), Monitoring/Verification: United Nations, Training | This report reviews the contributions of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) to peacebuilding. The review draws on the experiences of three case studies: Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Nepal and focuses specifically on the projects supported by the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). The recommendations of the review aim to help the DDR and peacebuilding communities, and the PBF in particular, strategically and programmatically position their support to DDR (-related) initiatives for more lasting and promising peacebuilding results. The review works on identifying lessons that contribute to a greater understanding of the effectiveness and strategic relevance of DDR programmes to peacebuilding, added-value and comparative advantage of PBF’s funding arrangements, and promising practices that can be used to shape future programming. The review approaches the interlinkages of peacebuilding and DDR through the latter’s role in promoting the peace process, provision of basic security, peace dividends (including economic revitalization, restoring social fabrics and civic responsibility) as well as addressing the root causes and drivers of conflict. Firstly, explores the policy relationship and interlink- ages of DDR programmes and peacebuilding and the practical implications of this interrelationship on the ground. Secondly, it provides an introduction to the funding structure of the PBF and provides a summary of each of the three case studies. Thirdly, it explores the results of the three case studies horizontally, highlighting overall trends, contextual differences, lessons, and challenges across the cases. It finally highlights the main findings and expresses recommendations that contain specific action points aimed toward PBF efforts and contributions to achieving sustainable peacebuilding results. | https://www.un.org/peacebuilding/sites/www.un.org.peacebuilding/files/documents/ddr_pbf_thematic_review.pdf | Nepal |
| MENA Regional Organisations in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding: The League of Arab States, Gulf Cooperation Council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation | Courtney Freer | Monitoring/Verification: Regional Organization, Multi-Track Diplomacy, Peace Process | This report, compiled through desk research and interviews with academics and policymakers, serves to highlight primary assets and challenges of three regional organisations in the MENA peacemaking/peacebuilding space: the League of Arab States, Gulf Cooperation Council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. It introduces the primary goals of each organisation before illustrating the assets and pitfalls of each through the use of concrete case studies of their involvement in regional conflicts. The report seeks to interrogate the efficacy of three regional organisations in peacemaking/peacebuilding, ways in which their involvement in this sector differs from that of other regional or extra-regional bodies, the unique challenges facing the MENA region, and the best way for the FCDO to engage, either with these bodies or others, to enhance progress towards peace in a region that houses several ongoing political conflicts. | https://peacerep.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Regional-Organisations-in-Peacemaking51.pdf | Middle East |
| ‘Capacities for Peace’: lessons from the Ivorian-Liberian border region | Janet Adama Mohammed | Locally-led Peacemaking Initiatives, Inclusive Peacebuilding, Citizen action | Between September 2013 and February 2016, Conciliation Resources and Saferworld implemented the ‘Capacities for Peace’ project in 32 conflict-affected contexts around the world. The project involved working with local actors to enhance the effectiveness of local analysis, early warning and early action. This report seeks to reflect on the experiences and achievements of the ‘Capacities for Peace’ work that was implemented in the Ivorian-Liberian border regions. The project sought to strengthen local ownership of peace initiatives in the Ivorian-Liberian border region by supporting the empowerment and capacity building of community-based peacebuilding actors. These actors were mobilised into District Platforms for Dialogue (DPDs) working to promote dialogue as an effective and non-violent means of redress. In total, four new DPDs were formed; Danané and Toulépléu in Côte d’Ivoire and Loguatou and Toetown in Liberia. The project provided the space and linkages for the DPDs and the wider border population to engage more effectively with local and national authorities. The DPDs were supported to undertake participatory research into the drivers of insecurities in their communities, which they used to sensitise duty bearers. The collaborative and non-accusatory engagement approach that they used ensured that duty bearers were largely receptive and responsive to the findings. These engagements created an appetite amongst government officials from both countries to participate in a bilateral dialogue process. | https://www.c-r.org/resource/capacities-peace-lessons-ivorian-liberian-border-region | Sierra Leone, Liberia |
| What Makes or Breaks National Dialogues? | Tania Paffenholz, Anne Zachariassen, Cindy Helfer | Dialogue, Mediation | The international mediation and peacebuilding community continues to struggle to fully comprehend the functioning, relevance, and effectiveness of national dialogues for managing political transitions and building sustainable peace. The objective of this report is to contribute to a better understanding of the common features and characteristics of National Dialogues. It further explores the various political and procedural factors as well as conditions that have enabled or constrained such initiatives to reach agreements and sustain their implementation in the long term. Based on a comparative analysis of 17 cases of National Dialogues held between 1990 and 2014, this study is an output of the National Dialogue research project (2015–2017) of the Inclusive Peace & Transition Initiative (IPTI) at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Some of the key findings are that National Dialogues have been used as an instrument to resolve political crises and pave the way for political transitions and sustainable peace; they have often been used by national elites as a tool to gain or reclaim political legitimacy, which has limited their potential for transformative change; and procedures for preparing, conducting, and implementing National Dialogues, in particular selection and decision-making rules, play a decisive role in whether processes are perceived as representative and legitimate. While most National Dialogues reached an agreement, only half of these agreements were implemented and when National Dialogues resulted in sustainable transitions, there was generally a favorable consensus among elites, in addition to international support and public buy-in. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12749 | Worldwide |
| Partners and Competitors: Forces Operating in Parallel to UN Peace Operations | Alexandra Novosseloff and Lisa Sharland | Operations management, monitoring and reporting, peacekeeping, | This report examines the missions that have operated in parallel to UN peace operations to identify how to strengthen these partnerships in the future. It analyzes and categorizes the types of parallel forces that have been deployed and examines the rationales for deploying them. It also looks at strategic and operational challenges, including the challenges unique to peace operations operating alongside a counterterrorism force. Finally, drawing on lessons from past and current parallel deployments, it offers recommendations for member states, the Security Council, and the UN Secretariat | https://www.ipinst.org/2019/11/partners-and-competitors-forces-operating-in-parallel-to-un-peace-operations | Worldwide |
| New Technology and the Prevention of Violence and Conflict | Francesco Mancini | Technology, Private Sector and Peacebuilding, Early Warning | This report explores the ways in which ICTs and the data they generate can assist international actors, governments, and civil society organizations to more effectively prevent violence and conflict. It examines the contributions that cell phones, social media, crowdsourcing, crisis mapping, blogging, and big data analytics can make to short-term efforts to forestall crises and to long-term initiatives to address the root causes of violence. Five case studies assess the use of such tools in a variety of regions (Africa, Asia, Latin America) experiencing different types of violence (criminal violence, election-related violence, armed conflict, shortterm crisis) in different political contexts (restrictive and collaborative governments). The cases demonstrate clearly that employing new technologies for conflict prevention can produce very different results depending on the context in which they are applied and whether or not those using the technology take that context into account. This is particularly true in light of the dramatic changes underway in the landscapes of violence and conflict on a global level. As such, instead of focusing on supply-driven technical fixes, those undertaking prevention initiatives should let the context inform what kind of technology is needed and what kind of approach will work best. | https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ipi-e-pub-nw-technology-conflict-prevention-advance.pdf | Worldwide |
| The Imperative of Constitutionalizing Peace Agreements | Laurie Nathan | Democracy and Governance | The study seeks to contribute to an understanding of the relationship between comprehensive peace agreements (CPAs) and post-conflict constitutions (PCCs). It defines a PCC as a new or revised constitution enacted as part of efforts to end a violent intra-state conflict and prevent its recurrence. This definition focuses on the purpose and not the timing of the constitutional reform. It encompasses constitutional reform that precedes, follows or takes the place of a CPA in an intended transition from intra-state conflict to sustainable peace. | https://berghof-foundation.org/library/the-imperative-of-constitutionalizing-peace-agreements | Worldwide |
| War State, Trauma State: Why Afghanistan Remains Stuck in Conflict | Erik Goepner | trauma state, civil war, violence, protracted conflict | Afghanistan has become a trauma state, stuck in a vicious cycle: war causes trauma, which drives more war, which in turn causes more trauma, and so on. Thanks to 40 years of uninterrupted war, Afghans suffer from extremely high rates of post‐traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses, substance abuse, and diminished impulse control. Research shows that those negative effects make people more violent toward others. As a result, violence can become normalized as a legitimate means of problem solving and goal achievement, and that appears to have fueled Afghanistan’s endless war. Thus, Afghanistan will be difficult, if not impossible, to fix. | https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/war-state-trauma-state-why-afghanistan-remains-stuck-conflict | Afghanistan |
| Translating Mediation Guidance into Practice: Commentary on the UN Guidance for Effective Mediation by the Mediation Support Network | Miguel Alvarez, Sabina Avasiloae, Roxana Cristecu, Paul Dziatkowiec, Sara Hellmueller, Lars Kirchhoff, Anne Isabel Kraus, Simon Mason, Martha Mutisi, Nathan Stock, Bargara Unger, Zahbia Yousuf | Mediation, Inclusive Peace Process, Peace Agreement | This is a short monograph that summarizes a series of meetings of the Mediation Support Network (MSN), a network of primarily non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support mediation in peace negotiations. Specifically, MSN members discussed and reflected on the “UN Guidance for Effective Mediation” and specifically focused on how to translate the UN Guidance into practice. Rather than being a comprehensive commentary, this document therefore focuses on certain issues and cases that seem pertinent from the MSN perspective. The discussions focused on numerous case studies that illustrate the challenges of mediation, and how they were dealt with. The aim of these case studies – some of them specifically focusing on the NGO role in mediation – is to help translate the UN Guidance into effective practice. A few key themes about mediation were featured: preparedness; consent; impartiality; inclusivity; national ownership; international law and a normative framework; coherence, coordination, and complementarity; and quality peace agreements. Conclusions included the need for mediation to be professionalized and that careful analysis is needed before any mediation action. Such analysis and strategizing requires the long-term development of institutional and human capacity. There is a strong and legitimate call for making mediation processes more inclusive, with regard to the inclusion of a range of actors (e.g., marginalized groups, women, religious actors, etc.) and with regard to the content of a peace agreement. However, mediators often face pressure to reach a minimum agreement quickly, especially when hostilities are ongoing. This can make it particularly difficult to reach more inclusive, and thus more complex, agreements. Inclusivity also entails efforts, outside the formal mediation process, to support dialogue between actors, so that they can better influence formal processes and sustain peace agreements once they are signed. Coordination of mediators benefits from the inclusion of civil society: Local mediators are often forgotten, even if they have many comparative advantages and play a key role before, during and after formal peace processes. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12757 | Worldwide |
| What Transformation Takes: Evidence of Responsible INGO Transitions to Locally Led Development Around the World | Peace Direct, CDA Collaborative Learning and Search for Common Ground, USAID. | financial sustainability, local, effectiveness | What Transformation Takes: Evidence of Responsible INGO Transitions to Locally Led Development Around the World takes readers on a journey to examine responsible transitions from international non-governmental organizations to locally led entities. The book is a compilation of the 19 case studies from the three-year program, Stopping As Success: Transitioning to locally led development (SAS), led by Peace Direct, CDA Collaborative Learning and Search for Common Ground, with funding from USAID. The case studies are organized by various themes including partnerships and financial sustainability, with additional insight from the SAS program, including practical lessons for how shifts in international development paradigms can lead to more sustainable, effective and culture- and conflict-sensitive partnerships, contributing to increased local leadership. | https://www.peacedirect.org/us/publications/what-transformation-takes/ | Worldwide |
| Berghof Glossary on Conflict Transformation: 20 Notions for Theory and Practice | Berghof Foundation | Conflict Resolution, Inclusive Peace Processes | This is a study developed by the Berghof Foundation team that explores what it takes to create “space(s) for conflict transformation”. The study emphasizes that inclusive and participatory spaces for conflict transformation have become even more important in preventing fragile peace processes from losing momentum or breaking down. The essays in the study promotes principles of local ownership and responsibility, empowerment, non-violence, participation and inclusivity. It discusses how to shape dialogue and facilitate negotiation processes in the role of a supporting actor. There is also an exploration of how to adjust to new trends in the current peacebuilding environment, including increased focus on innovative and locally designed infrastructures for peace. | https://berghof-foundation.org/library/berghof-glossary | Worldwide |
| Strengthening local and national infrastructures for peace in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and South Sudan | Nontobeko Zondi, Wandile Langa | Conflict Management, peacebuilding, conflict prevention | In 2016, ACCORD outlined its 2017–2021 Six-Pillar Strategy, which seeks to contribute to sustainable peace, security and development in Africa by mitigating conflict. One of the critical pillars of the Strategy is Pillar 2, which focuses on strengthening local and national infrastructures for peace. This Policy and Practice Brief aims to reflect on the practical experiences, challenges and lessons of ACCORD in advancing the concept of local and national capacity for peace, in the period 2018 to 2019. The preliminary reflections are drawn from ACCORD’s work in four countries, namely, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho and South Sudan. | https://www.accord.org.za/publication/strengthening-local-and-national-infrastructures-for-peace-in-burundi-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-lesotho-and-south-sudan/ | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Enhancing Peacekeeping Training Through Cooperation: Lessons from Latin America | Igarapé Institute | effectiveness, peacekeeping, cooperation, inclusive, | There is growing recognition at the UN and among member states that peacekeeping must be made more effective, especially in face of major budget cuts and wavering leadership by traditional actors. Against this backdrop, how can member states improve the quality of pre-deployment and mission preparation for UN peacekeeping? This policy brief focuses on one area in which innovation has become more urgent than ever: enhancing the effectiveness of peacekeeping through better training. More specifically, we analyze the emerging configurations, innovations, and challenges of international cooperation for peacekeeping training centers (PTCs), drawing on the case of Latin America. | https://igarape.org.br/en/enhancing-peacekeeping-training-through-cooperation/ | Argentina |
| DDR Support to Mediation | United Nations Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Section | Mediation, Demobilization, Disarmament, Reintegration (DDR), Monitoring/Verification: United Nations | This document provides an overview of the use of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) in support of the United Nations efforts to reducing violence. The report places an emphasis on the use cases of DDR and community violence reduction (CVR) in the pursuit of peace processes. The document prepared by the UN Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration section includes use cases of DDR mechanisms in Mali, Darfur, Colombia, Yemen, Central African Republic, The Republic of Congo. The report touches on how DDR (and CVR) supports mediation efforts and what are potential risks from those approaches. The report identifies how DDR can support direct mediation, capacity building efforts, in addition to conflict analysis and mapping of the relevant stakeholders. Finally, the report explains the mechanisms by which DDR officers are deployed to support mediation efforts lead by the various United Nations missions and their partners. | https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/ddr_support_to_mediation_process_2018.pdf | Worldwide |
| Why and When to Use the Media for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding | Vladimir Bratic, Lisa Schirch | Communications: Media Strategies, Training, Conflict Prevention | The media’s role in contributing to cognitive, attitudinal and behavioral change on a large scale is unique. Conflict prevention and peacebuilding professionals can use the media in harmony with their other programs - if they know when, why, and how to use the media for the most strategic impact in lessoning the polarization between groups. On the other hand, media professionals still have much to learn about why and when their work can contribute to preventing violent conflict and building peace between groups. The media and peace professionals both have their limitations and share an interest in the dynamics of conflict. Cooperation between agencies, donors, civil society, peacebuilding organizations and media practitioners is essential. There is a need for meetings, seminars and work groups where models and best practices can be shared. Because using media in peacebuilding is a new practice, everyone has a lot to learn from the exchange of experiences. A careful assessment of whether the media is likely to play a positive or negative role in achieving the goals of conflict prevention and peacebuilding requires greater insight into ways the media helps and harms the path toward constructive change. Both peacebuilding and media professionals still have a great deal to learn on this journey | https://www.sfcg.org/articles/media_for_conflict_prevention.pdf | Worldwide |
| Qatar and the UAE in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding | Courtney Freer | Diplomacy, Economics and Conflict, Mediation | This paper seeks to highlight ways in which Qatari and Emirati peacemaking/ peacebuilding engagement is qualitatively different from other states’ or international organisations’ efforts in this sphere. The main questions explored were how Qatar and Emirati approaches to peacemaking/peacebuilding are unique, whether or to what extent their engagement has been useful to the resolution of conflicts, and how the FCDO can leverage these states’ interest in this sphere. Through the research, the authors uncovered five main characteristics of peacemaking/ peacebuilding done by these small but wealthy states. First, small states, unlike regional or global superpowers, tend to have fewer direct links to the conflicts themselves, and so they can be selective about cases in which they become involved. Second, the fact that both states benefit from immense hydrocarbon wealth undoubtedly aids their ambitious goals abroad. Third, efforts at peacekeeping in the states analysed here tend to be guided by a desire to distinguish themselves abroad, something of statebuilding through foreign policy. Fourth, the trend towards the involvement of Qatar and the UAE in regional peacemaking/peacebuilding, as well as potential build-up of military capacity, is likely to accelerate, given perceptions of UK and US withdrawal from the region. Fifth, a lack of institutional depth in these small states means that policies are at times abandoned quickly and without explanation and that personal ties are of critical importance. | https://peacerep.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Qatar-and-UAE-in-Peacemaking-and-Peacebuilding95.pdf | Qatar, UAE |
| The Role of Inclusive Multi-stakeholder Partnerships in Enhancing Conflict Transformation in the Great Lakes | Bernard Okok Obuoga | conflict management, effectiveness, cyclical conflict | The Great Lakes Project (GLP), a collaborative initiative by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), and the Nairobi Peace Initiative – Africa (NPI-Africa) – developed a three-year project in 2012, titled “Consolidating Peacebuilding in the Great Lakes of Africa”. The overall purpose of the project was to ensure that local communities were mobilised to engage with, and address, conflict factors through grassroots civil society organisations (CSOs). While undertaking its mandate, the GLP identified various challenges and policy gaps, which included the lack of strategic approaches to prevent conflict relapse. This paper illustrates and interrogates the dynamics of these shortcomings, and defines the role of inclusive, multi-stakeholder partnerships to address these. | https://www.accord.org.za/publication/role-inclusive-multi-stakeholder-partnerships-enhancing-conflict-transformation-great-lakes/ | Africa |
| Conflict and Development : Lessons from South Asia | Ejaz Ghani, Lakshmi Iyer | Economics and Conflict, Climate and Conflict, Governance | South Asia is the second most violent place on earth after Iraq. Conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan have attracted global attention. Parts of India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal have experienced long-running conflict. Conflicts result in death, misery, social trauma, destruction of infrastructure, and have huge spillover effects. What is conflict? Where is it concentrated? Is conflict a problem for development, or a failure of development? And what should policy makers do? | https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/10157 | Asia |
| Subsist or Persist? Assessing Drivers of Migration and Effects of Foreign Assistance Programs on Migration from the Northern Triangle | Mercy Corps | Migration and conflict, Northern Triangle | This report aims to identify solutions rooted in evidence and research, examining who migrates, why they are migrating, and whether development programs can curb the flow of migration. The report finds that foreign assistance programs are alleviating violence and increasing economic opportunity, economic hardships—including the effects of climate change on agricultural livelihoods—and violence are key drivers of migration, and that people migrate out of desperation. The report finds that the evidence that they do have demonstrates that U.S.-funded initiatives are improving lives in the Northern Triangle and these programs likely do contribute to curbing migration by addressing its root causes. | https://www.mercycorps.org/research-resources/subsist-or-persist | Guatemala |
| If Victims Become Perpetrators: Factors Contributing to Vulnerability and Resilience to Violent Extremism in the Central Sahel | Luca Raineri | Violent extremism, Central Sahel | This study focuses on young Fulani people in the regions of Mopti (Mali), Sahel (Burkina Faso) and Tillabéri (Niger), and analyses the factors contributing to community vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism. One of the key findings of this research is the assertion that violent extremism in the central Sahel is primarily a response to local conflicts, and that the link with international jihadism is more rhetoric than reality. This study shows that the most determining factor contributing to vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism is the experience (or perception) of abuse and violation by government authorities. On the other hand, the study shows that strengthening social cohesion, supporting young men’s and women’s role in their communities, and mitigating social and gender exclusion could strengthen community resilience. The research also identifies strategies to deploy to curb violent extremism in the central Sahel. To restore trust between marginalised citizens and their governments, international partners need to prioritise efforts aimed at supporting state accountability towards its citizens; improve access to justice, especially transitional justice, and ensure inclusive governance; improve supervision of the armed forces; and promote youth employment, including through migration. | https://www.international-alert.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sahel-Violent-Extremism-Vulnerability-Resilience-EN-2018.pdf | Niger |
| Designing for Results: Integrating Monitoring and Evaluation in Conflict Transformation Programs | Cheyanne Church and Mark Rogers | Project Evaluation, Conflict Resolution | This manual, produced by Search for Common Ground in partnership with the United States Institute of Peace and the Alliance for Peacebuilding, focuses on the challenges faced by conflict transformation practitioners in their attempts to measure and increase the effectiveness of their work with practical tips and examples from around the world. As an introductory volume and one of the first to focus on the practical application of integrated design, monitoring and evaluation, it seeks to introduce peacebuilding practitioners to the concepts, tools, and methods needed to incorporate better design, monitoring, and evaluation practices into peacebuilding programming. | https://www.dmeforpeace.org/resource/designing-for-results-integrating-monitoring-and-evaluation-in-conflict-transformation-activities/ | Worldwide |
| Safe Havens Amidst the Jihadist Storm: How Leaders Spare Some Regions from Terrorist Violence in the Sahel | Mathieu Bere | Conflict Prevention, Locally-led Peacemaking: Youth-led, Locally-led Peacemaking: Interreligious | This study identifies what has helped the people of Amataltal in Niger and Dori in Burkina Faso maintain a relatively satisfactory level of peace and security amidst the jihadist storm that has been sweeping across the Sahara-Sahel region since 2011. To that end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 key local actors selected through purposeful sampling techniques, with the help of local partner organizations, in Amataltal, Agadez, and Niamey in Niger, and Dori in Burkina Faso during the summer of 2021. The respondents were from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, including men, women, and youth leaders. One of the major findings is that the relative peace and security enjoyed by Dori, Amataltal, and the larger Agadez region resulted from a set of initiatives taken by local actors who understood that peace cannot be obtained only through military means, but also requires local solutions, involving local leaders and the whole population, to satisfactorily address security, development, and governance issues. The peace activism of local leaders, the commitment of the population to peace and social cohesion, the establishment of local infrastructures for peace (especially local peace committees), the vocational training and provision of economic opportunities to youth, and a more visible, positive presence of the government, have made a critical difference in terms of peace and security between Dori, Amataltal, and Agadez, and other localities affected by jihadist terrorism in Niger and Burkina Faso. There have been some significant obstacles and challenges: the lack of adequate financial and logistical resources to conduct their activities; difficulties of communicating, traveling, and mobilizing people; and the difficult relationships that local civil society actors and international partners often had with government officials whenever they took a critical stance. This study calls attention to the fact that local people are not only recipients of peacebuilding. They are, and can be, change agents and key actors for violence prevention and peacebuilding in their societies. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12982?show=full | Niger |
| The Role of the EU and Other Third Parties in Promoting the Gender, Peace and Security Agenda in Mediation and Dialogue Processes | Pamela Urrutia, Maria Villellas, Ana Villellas | Mediation, Dialogue, Gender | This report analyses lessons learned and good practices in introducing a gender perspective to peace processes in order to strengthen the EU’s capabilities in this area. The document reflects on various practical experiences by the EU and other third parties in the area of gender and multi-track diplomacy in two specific spheres. Firstly, the gender dimension in EU’s role as a mediator/facilitator. This report analyses issues like challenges and dilemmas of mediation from a gender perspective; complementarity and coordination in multi-track diplomacy from a gender perspective and the availability of gender-responsive mediators. Secondly, the report focuses on EU’s actions via other types of engagement (promoting, supporting, leveraging and funding), like political support for women’s involvement in peace processes, financial and technical support to empower women and strengthen local women’s organizations and financial support for capabilities in the area of gender and third-party mediation. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12747 | Europe |
| Untapped Peacebuilders: Including Persons with Disabilities in the Builiding Peace | Sophia Close | Inclusive peacebuilidng, Persons with disabilities | Inclusive peace, or the idea that all stakeholders in a conflict-affected society should have a meaningful role in shaping peace, is receiving widespread global recognition.1 There are currently around one billion women and girls, men and boys, and sexual and gender minorities with disabilities, affected by a range of sensory, physical, psychosocial and/or intellectual impairments. This number is rapidly increasing due to global population aging, increased incidence of chronic diseases and injuries caused by environmental factors such as climate change, natural disasters and conflict. This number represents around 15% of the global population, making persons with disabilities the largest minority group in the world.3 There is a clear link between poverty and disability with 800 million persons with disabilities living in developing countries.4 More than half of all persons with disabilities live in countries affected by conflict and natural disasters. | https://www.c-r.org/learning-hub/untapped-peacebuilders-including-persons-disabilities-building-peace | Worldwide |
| Multi-Stakeholder Processes for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding: A Manual | Jenny Aulin | Peace Processes: Strategies, Facilitation, Locally-led Peacemaking Initiatives | The manual specifically explores the multi-stakeholder approach from the perspective of civil society organisations (CSOs). CSOs can take part in multi-stakeholder processes in many different capacities, as original convenor or as an invited participant. To set up an MSP, a civil society organisation will often have to form a partnership with other key actors so that they will have the leverage to invite the right people and agencies to the table. Building on the vast experiences of practitioners and case studies from a diverse set of contexts, the manual has been developed for GPPAC members and other CSOs that are or seek to get involved in MSPs. It also provides guidance on good practice for other actors, such as International NonGovernmental Organisations (INGOs), governments, donors, regional or global intergovernmental organisations that seek to engage civil society in processes that they convene. | https://www.cdacollaborative.org/publication/multi-stakeholder-processes-for-conflict-prevention-and-peacebuilding-a-manual/ | Worldwide |
| Effective Weapons and Ammunition Management in a Changing Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Context | Savannah de Tessières | Demobilization, Disarmament, Reintegration (DDR), Peacekeeping, Training | First published in 2018, and developed as part of a joint initiative between the Department of Peace Operations and the Office for Disarmament Affairs, the Handbook provides DDR practitioners with practical guidance to design and implement state-of-the-art disarmament and weapons and ammunition management initiatives as part of integrated DDR processes, including through the use of DDR-related tools such as Community Violence Reduction. The Handbook draws upon good practices and innovative approaches developed in the field, as well as relevant international standards and guidelines. This second edition reflects relevant developments at the policy level, including the launch of the revised Integrated DDR Standards and the new MOSAIC module on SALW control in the context of DDR, and ensures consistent gender mainstreaming as well as systematic integration of youth considerations. | https://www.un.org/disarmament/ddr-handbook-2ed/ | Worldwide |
| South Asia's Nuclear Challenges: Interlocking Views from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States | Lora Saalman, Petr Topychkanov | Nuclear posture | This study provides an overview of views on nuclear postures and escalation affecting South Asia, based on 119 interviews conducted in 2020, without attribution, with military, nuclear, political and regional experts from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States. These discussions revealed a number of interlocking points that offer building blocks for both official and non-official engagement on such issues as no first use (NFU), lowered nuclear thresholds, conventional and nuclear entanglement, escalate to de-escalate, and emerging technology development. | https://www.sipri.org/publications/2021/other-publications/south-asias-nuclear-challenges-interlocking-views-india-pakistan-china-russia-and-united-states | India |
| Non-state Justice System Programming | Barry Walsh, Eric Bartz | Justice, guidance, institutions, community-level, democracy, nonstate. | This guide is intended to assist USAID Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) Officers and other practitioners in designing, implementing, and monitoring rule of law programs that include support for community-level non-state justice systems (NSJSs). It aims to provide a digest of techniques used by donors in supporting such NSJSs and offers guidance on best practices and lessons learned, including a sample scope of work (SOW) that may be used as a starting point for future support programs. The observations and conclusions herein may also be useful for programmatic support to other types of NSJSs. | https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/Guide-to-NSJS-Jun-19.pdf | Worldwide |
| Operationalizing the Sustaining Peace Agenda: Lessons from Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Papua New Guinea | Agathe Sarfati | Operations management, implementation, policy, sustained peace | The twin resolutions on peacebuilding and sustaining peace adopted by the General Assembly and Security Council in 2016 made a breakthrough in the UN’s conception of peacebuilding. Significant work has since been undertaken to reconfigure the UN system to work toward the implementation of these resolutions, and the UN Peacebuilding Commission has launched a comprehensive review of the peacebuilding architecture to be completed in 2020. To inform this review, this issue brief synthesizes findings related to the operationalization of the peacebuilding and sustaining peace resolutions at the country level. The paper concludes that much of the focus to date has been on improving the effectiveness of how the UN delivers its mandates on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. To fully realize the vision of the sustaining peace agenda, its operationalization must increasingly focus on the impact of these efforts. This requires questioning and testing the theory of change underpinning these operational reforms to ensure the UN is effectively helping societies build the foundation for sustaining peace. | https://www.ipinst.org/2020/06/operationalizing-sustaining-peace-agenda-burkina-faso-liberia-papua-new-guinea | Papua New Guinea |
| Integrating Peacebuilding within Policy Frameworks in Post-conflict Settings | Wilfred Gray-Johnson | Post-conflict, United Nations, frameworks, peacebuilding, policy | Since 2006, there has been much effort exerted towards integrating peacebuilding as a component of key policies and strategies as well as development programmes in post-conflict countries. This article intends to contribute to ongoing discussions on institutionalising peacebuilding, with a focus on Liberia. The article sets the premise that in order to foster the link between security and emergency programming, including longer-term development and sustained peace, especially in post-conflict countries, peacebuilding elements need to be infused into policies and programmes. In this regard, the article discusses efforts by the government of Liberia to integrate peacebuilding as a component of policies and frameworks as well as development programmes. | https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/integrating-peacebuilding-within-policy-frameworks-in-post-conflict-settings/ | Liberia |
| Gender Trainings in International Peace and Security: Toward a More Effective Approach | Sarah-Myriam Martin-Brûlé, Stéfanie von Hlatky, Savita Pawnday, Marie-Joëlle Zahar | Gender, effectiveness, reflection, training, evaluation | As more and more states and organizations adopt a gendered approach to international policy, trainings on how to conduct gender-based analysis and integrate gender perspectives into policies and programming have proliferated. But despite this increase in gender trainings, it remains unclear how effective they have been due to challenges related to their design, delivery, targeting, and evaluation. After mapping the ecosystem of gender trainings in the realm of international peace and security, this issue brief unpacks each of these challenges. It concludes with a set of recommendations for improving gender trainings. | https://www.ipinst.org/2020/07/gender-trainings-in-international-peace-and-security | Worldwide |
| Does Reconciliation Prevent Future Atrocities? | Kate Lonergan | Reconciliation, Violence Prevention, Post-Conflict Peacebuilding | What are atrocity crimes, why and when do they arise, and how can peacebuilding practice help to prevent them? This report delves into the conceptual foundations of reconciliation and atrocity prevention in the context of Sri Lanka’s history of conflict and ongoing reconciliation process, analyzing institutional-level reconciliation efforts and drawing from a randomized field experiment in an interpersonal reconciliation program. It suggests that by understanding the conditions under which reconciliation is most effective, peacebuilding practice will be better placed to achieve its goals after violent conflict. | https://www.usip.org/publications/2017/09/does-reconciliation-prevent-future-atrocities | Sri Lanka |
| Enhancing Peacekeeping Training Through Cooperation: Lessons from Latin America | Igarapé Institute | effectiveness, peacekeeping, cooperation, inclusive, | There is growing recognition at the UN and among member states that peacekeeping must be made more effective, especially in face of major budget cuts and wavering leadership by traditional actors. Against this backdrop, how can member states improve the quality of pre-deployment and mission preparation for UN peacekeeping? This policy brief focuses on one area in which innovation has become more urgent than ever: enhancing the effectiveness of peacekeeping through better training. More specifically, we analyze the emerging configurations, innovations, and challenges of international cooperation for peacekeeping training centers (PTCs), drawing on the case of Latin America. | https://igarape.org.br/en/enhancing-peacekeeping-training-through-cooperation/ | Chile |
| If Victims Become Perpetrators: Factors Contributing to Vulnerability and Resilience to Violent Extremism in the Central Sahel | Luca Raineri | Violent extremism, Central Sahel | This study focuses on young Fulani people in the regions of Mopti (Mali), Sahel (Burkina Faso) and Tillabéri (Niger), and analyses the factors contributing to community vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism. One of the key findings of this research is the assertion that violent extremism in the central Sahel is primarily a response to local conflicts, and that the link with international jihadism is more rhetoric than reality. This study shows that the most determining factor contributing to vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism is the experience (or perception) of abuse and violation by government authorities. On the other hand, the study shows that strengthening social cohesion, supporting young men’s and women’s role in their communities, and mitigating social and gender exclusion could strengthen community resilience. The research also identifies strategies to deploy to curb violent extremism in the central Sahel. To restore trust between marginalised citizens and their governments, international partners need to prioritise efforts aimed at supporting state accountability towards its citizens; improve access to justice, especially transitional justice, and ensure inclusive governance; improve supervision of the armed forces; and promote youth employment, including through migration. | https://www.international-alert.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sahel-Violent-Extremism-Vulnerability-Resilience-EN-2018.pdf | Burkina Faso |
| Safe Havens Amidst the Jihadist Storm: How Leaders Spare Some Regions from Terrorist Violence in the Sahel | Mathieu Bere | Conflict Prevention, Locally-led Peacemaking: Youth-led, Locally-led Peacemaking: Interreligious | This study identifies what has helped the people of Amataltal in Niger and Dori in Burkina Faso maintain a relatively satisfactory level of peace and security amidst the jihadist storm that has been sweeping across the Sahara-Sahel region since 2011. To that end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 key local actors selected through purposeful sampling techniques, with the help of local partner organizations, in Amataltal, Agadez, and Niamey in Niger, and Dori in Burkina Faso during the summer of 2021. The respondents were from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, including men, women, and youth leaders. One of the major findings is that the relative peace and security enjoyed by Dori, Amataltal, and the larger Agadez region resulted from a set of initiatives taken by local actors who understood that peace cannot be obtained only through military means, but also requires local solutions, involving local leaders and the whole population, to satisfactorily address security, development, and governance issues. The peace activism of local leaders, the commitment of the population to peace and social cohesion, the establishment of local infrastructures for peace (especially local peace committees), the vocational training and provision of economic opportunities to youth, and a more visible, positive presence of the government, have made a critical difference in terms of peace and security between Dori, Amataltal, and Agadez, and other localities affected by jihadist terrorism in Niger and Burkina Faso. There have been some significant obstacles and challenges: the lack of adequate financial and logistical resources to conduct their activities; difficulties of communicating, traveling, and mobilizing people; and the difficult relationships that local civil society actors and international partners often had with government officials whenever they took a critical stance. This study calls attention to the fact that local people are not only recipients of peacebuilding. They are, and can be, change agents and key actors for violence prevention and peacebuilding in their societies. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12982?show=full | Burkina Faso |
| Co-managing Peace: Natural Resources, Agreement Design, And The Promotion Of Peace After War | Colleen Devlin, Micaela Iveson, Eric Keels | Natural Resources and Conflict, Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, Economics and Conflict | The responsibility of natural resource management can often bring challenges or affect peace agreements, even be a main source of conflict. For this reason, the arrangement between communities and governments to distribute authority and responsibility for natural resource management to stakeholders can ensure joint management of resources after civil war settlements. Through the analysis of 34 comprehensive peace accords that negotiate the end of civil conflict between governments and rebel groups, the advocacy by rebels to co-management provisions and redistributive policies prompted three results: co-management reduces the risk of future fighting, allows a longer peace (compared to resource management provisions), and should address combatant concerns about natural resources through transparency. Co-management, as an approach, not only enhances peace processes after armed conflicts but can also signify a method of prevention by addressing current conflicts where large-scale violence has not yet emerged. | https://securefisheries.org/co-managing-peace | Worldwide |
| Financing Peace:Inhancing Adaptation, Maximising Impact | Sebastian Kratzer | Financing peace, Funding peacebuilding | To explore the trends in financing peace processes, Conciliation Resources, the European Institute of Peace, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, and swisspeace convened a joint online event on 11 February 2021. It brought together peace practitioners with government and philanthropic donors toexplore current practice in funding peacemaking (more narrowly focused on engaging belligerents and securing security arrangements and political agreements) and peacebuilding (directed at long-term, often intergenerational change to support peace). The event highlighted an appetite to discuss these issues, with over 170 people joining the conversation from across the sector and the globe. | https://www.c-r.org/learning-hub/financing-peace-enhancing-adaptation-maximising-impact | Worldwide |
| South Asia's Nuclear Challenges: Interlocking Views from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States | Lora Saalman, Petr Topychkanov | Nuclear posture | This study provides an overview of views on nuclear postures and escalation affecting South Asia, based on 119 interviews conducted in 2020, without attribution, with military, nuclear, political and regional experts from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States. These discussions revealed a number of interlocking points that offer building blocks for both official and non-official engagement on such issues as no first use (NFU), lowered nuclear thresholds, conventional and nuclear entanglement, escalate to de-escalate, and emerging technology development. | https://www.sipri.org/publications/2021/other-publications/south-asias-nuclear-challenges-interlocking-views-india-pakistan-china-russia-and-united-states | Russia |
| State Support For Peace Processes: A Multi-Country Review | John Langmore, Tania Miletic, Aran Martin and Nathan Shea | Diplomacy: Track 1, Diplomacy: Track 2 | This study, done for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, explores what mechanisms exist to connect government foreign policy to expertise on peacemaking and peacebuilding. The report examines institutional frameworks that support Track 1 and Track 2 peacemaking and mediation efforts, including they are financed, supported, staffed and trained within governments, NGOs and academic institutions. Seven countries were selected for review: Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. The experiences and lessons learned from peacemaking activities in those countries are used to provide recommendations for Australia. | https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/148424 | Worldwide |
| Subsist or Persist? Assessing Drivers of Migration and Effects of Foreign Assistance Programs on Migration from the Northern Triangle | Mercy Corps | Migration and conflict, Northern Triangle | This report aims to identify solutions rooted in evidence and research, examining who migrates, why they are migrating, and whether development programs can curb the flow of migration. The report finds that foreign assistance programs are alleviating violence and increasing economic opportunity, economic hardships—including the effects of climate change on agricultural livelihoods—and violence are key drivers of migration, and that people migrate out of desperation. The report finds that the evidence that they do have demonstrates that U.S.-funded initiatives are improving lives in the Northern Triangle and these programs likely do contribute to curbing migration by addressing its root causes. | https://www.mercycorps.org/research-resources/subsist-or-persist | El Salvador |
| Community Participation In Transitional Justice: A Role For Participatory Research | USAID | Commmunity participation, trasnsitional justice, reparation, peacemaking. | This manual aims to assist civil society organizations (CSOs) to use participatory research to promote community participation in transitional justice. Community participation benefits transnational justice strategies by assisting them in responding to unique needs and challenges within each community; encouraging the necessary participation to create and enhance change by legitimizing initiatives amongst the public; and addressing root causes of human rights violations like marginalization and disempowerment. Through participatory research, the communities greatest needs and priorities can lead action plan to address them, offering an incentive for community participation in transitional justice. This manual unveils this connection to build sustainable institutions and societies that deliver justice, ensure opportunities and foster the respect for human rights. | https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/CPTJUSAID.pdf | Guinea |
| Women’s Participation And The Fate Of Nonviolent Campaign: A Report On The Women In Resistance (Wire) Data Set | Erica Chenoweth, Conor Seyle, Sahana Dharmapuri | Locally-led Peacemaking: Women-led, Gender, Inclusive Peacebuilding | Drawn from the Women in Resistance (WiRe) data set, this report is a first of its kind attempt to assess resistance movements on the degree to which they incorporate women into their political goals, their memberships, and their leadership. The brief draws on the findings from the full report, which examines the effects of women’s representation in resistance movements on their choice of strategies and movement effectiveness. It outlines key findings from the data, as well as practical implications and recommendations for governments, civil society, and scholars. | https://oursecurefuture.org/research-analysis/women%E2%80%99s-participation-and-fate-nonviolent-campaigns-policy-brief | Worldwide |
| Evaluating Media Interventions in Conflict Countries | Amelia Arsenault; Sheldon Himelfarb; Susan Abbott | Communications: Media Strategies, Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DM&E), Locally-led Peacemaking Initiatives | The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, Fondation Hirondelle, Internews Network, the United States Broadcasting Board of Governors, and the Center of Innovation for Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding at the United States Institute of Peace commissioned this report following a five-day multistakeholder meeting of donors, implementers, and academics on how to better evaluate media’s impact in ameliorating conflict, at the Caux Conference Center in Switzerland. The report both reviews the state of the art in evaluating media interventions in conflict and outlines the Caux Guiding Principles (hereinafter, Caux Principles) for improving the evaluation process. It stresses effective evaluation as a critical step forward for using the media in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. | https://www.usip.org/publications/2011/10/evaluating-media-interventions-conflict-countries | Worldwide |
| Operationalizing the Sustaining Peace Agenda: Lessons from Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Papua New Guinea | Agathe Sarfati | Operations management, implementation, policy, sustained peace | The twin resolutions on peacebuilding and sustaining peace adopted by the General Assembly and Security Council in 2016 made a breakthrough in the UN’s conception of peacebuilding. Significant work has since been undertaken to reconfigure the UN system to work toward the implementation of these resolutions, and the UN Peacebuilding Commission has launched a comprehensive review of the peacebuilding architecture to be completed in 2020. To inform this review, this issue brief synthesizes findings related to the operationalization of the peacebuilding and sustaining peace resolutions at the country level. The paper concludes that much of the focus to date has been on improving the effectiveness of how the UN delivers its mandates on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. To fully realize the vision of the sustaining peace agenda, its operationalization must increasingly focus on the impact of these efforts. This requires questioning and testing the theory of change underpinning these operational reforms to ensure the UN is effectively helping societies build the foundation for sustaining peace. | https://www.ipinst.org/2020/06/operationalizing-sustaining-peace-agenda-burkina-faso-liberia-papua-new-guinea | Liberia |
| The Handbook of Conflict Prevention | Igarapé Institute | Conflict Prevention, Citizen Action, Locally-led Peacemaking Initiatives | This handbook seeks to build more clarity to conflict prevention concepts and practice. Based on extensive consultations at the UN and the AU and with support from Global Affairs (Canada), it offers a working definition and a typology of innovative preventive approaches. In setting out a standard nomenclature, the goal is to help improve knowledge sharing across Africa in particular. At the same time, the handbook is designed to provide policy makers and practitioners with insights and ideas for prioritizing, designing, implementing and evaluating conflict prevention. | https://igarape.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/The-Handbook-of-Conflict-Prevention.pdf | Worldwide |
| "Liberians for Liberians": A Locally-Led Ebola Campaign in Liberia | Stacey L. Connaughton, Kai Kuang, Liliya Yakova, Arunima Krishna, Jasmine Linabary, Grace Yeanay Mayson | Public health, Ebola, local community activism | The Pen-Pen Peace Network, a local peace committee in Liberia, has been fighting the Ebola outbreak with its own Ebola Campaign, with the assistance and encouragement of the Purdue Peace Project (PPP), USA, and the Women Movement for Sustainable Develop-ment-Liberia (WOMSUD). This report summarizes and highlights the work that these local Liberians have done to date and the pre-liminary findings that have emerged from systematic data collec-tion of their work. | https://cla.purdue.edu/ppp/documents/publications/Liberians.pdf | Liberia |
| Can Emerging Technologies Lead a Revival of Conflict Early Warning/Early Action? Lessons from the Field | Branka Panic | Early Warning, Conflict Prevention, Technology | The early warning/early action (EWEA) community has been working for decades on analytics to help prevent conflict. The field has evolved significantly since its inception in the 1970s and 80s. The systems have served with variable success to predict conflict trends, alert communities to risk, inform decision makers, provide inputs to action strategies, and initiate a response to violent conflict. Present systems must now address the increasingly complex and protracted nature of conflicts in which factors previously considered peripheral have become core elements in conflict dynamics. This report starts by surveying the data-driven techniques with the greatest potential to revolutionize the field, along with emerging trends in data and modeling. Then, it reviews contextual thematic issues most likely to shape EWEA (such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change), and concludes with recommendations for engaging emerging technologies in EWEA's future development. | https://cic.nyu.edu/publications/can-emerging-technologies-lead-revival-conflict-early-warningearly-action-lessons-field | Worldwide |
| Some Credible Evidence: Perceptions about the Evidence Base in the Peacebuilding Field | Conor SeyleSarah HeyborneJessica Baumgardner-ZuzikShaziya DeYoung | Peacebuilding | "This report presents the result of a survey conducted by One Earth Future and Alliance for Peacebuilding asking peacebuilders and researchers about their perception of what kind of evidence exists and what kind is needed to improve work in the peacebuilding field. The discussion around “evidence based practice” in peacebuilding has included debates over what kinds of information counts as evidence, what kinds of methods are appropriate for generating this information, and what kinds of evidence are needed to support effective peacebuilding. These debates may create the impression that the field as a whole doesn’t have a strong shared understanding of what kind of evidence exists or what matters. This survey represents an attempt to determine if the field has a shared understanding of what kind of evidence is needed and where that evidence exists." | https://oneearthfuture.org/research-analysis/some-credible-evidence-perceptions-about-evidence-base-peacebuilding-field | Worldwide |
| Alternative Dispute Resolution Practitioners Guide | Scott Brown, Christine Cervenak, and David Fairman | Alternative Dispute Resolution, conflict management, negotiation, conflict resolution. | With the spread of ADR programs in the developed and developing world, creative uses for and designs of ADR systems are proliferating. Successful programs are improving the lives of individuals and meeting broad societal goals. There is a critical mass of ADR experience, revealing important lessons as to whether, when, and how to implement ADR projects. Drawing on this experience, this Guide is intended to provide an introduction to the broad range of systems that operate under the rubric of ADR. It is designed to explore and clarify the potential uses and benefits of ADR and the conditions under which ADR programs can succeed. It is written to help project designers decide whether and when to implement ADR programs in the context of rule of law assistance or other development initiatives. The Guide is also explicit about the limitations of ADR programs, especially where they may be ineffective or even counterproductive in serving some development goals. | https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/200sbe.pdf | Worldwide |
| Reconciliation in Practice | Kelly McKone | Reconciliation, Peace Processes: Strategies, Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DM&E) | Reconciliation plays a key role in building sustainable peace after mass violence which requires individual and collective work along the lines of identity. Through a deeper understanding of reconciliation, its definitions, and its practices on the ground, a clearer path can bring forth an effective analysis of coordinated efforts by individuals, non-governmental organizations, and governments. It is key to observe different reconciliation efforts and approaches, to unfold various projects’ intervention strategies, indicators to measure efficacy, evaluations, and transference of information. The report follows four stages: discussion of research methodologies used for information gathering and analysis; then it presents and evaluates the ten distinct, albeit overlapping, areas of practice in the field; the results are then presented according to the measures at the individual, community, or government level; lastly, gaps in the practice and evaluation of reconciliation are discussed and recommendations for future research are expressed. This research is a base to inform further questions regarding reconciliation projects and methods. Overall, practices and intervention strategies of reconciliation are looked upon, as well as the operationalization of the definition of reconciliation and associated terms, weak and strong indicators used at different levels, and evaluation tools and what it involves to the stakeholders. | https://www.usip.org/publications/2015/08/reconciliation-practice | Worldwide |
| Reflecting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace | Peace Direct | reflection, reccomendations, peacebuilding, civil society | The role of civil society in building sustainable peace is no longer debatable. ‘Reflecting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace’, presents a summary of a global online consultation with civil society that took place in June 2020. Over 280 participants from 97 countries joined the virtual conversation to share their perspectives on peacebuilding and contribute their views and experiences. This report is a synthesis of their exchange and presents key messages and recommendations on how to improve support for peacebuilding, and better understand the role of civil society in building sustainable peace. | https://www.peacedirect.org/us/publications/reflecting-on-peacebuilding-and-sustaining-peace/ | Worldwide |
| DDR and Peacebuilding: Thematic review of DDR contributions to peacebuilding and the role of the Peacebuilding Fund | United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office | Demobilization, Disarmament, Reintegration (DDR), Monitoring/Verification: United Nations, Training | This report reviews the contributions of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) to peacebuilding. The review draws on the experiences of three case studies: Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Nepal and focuses specifically on the projects supported by the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). The recommendations of the review aim to help the DDR and peacebuilding communities, and the PBF in particular, strategically and programmatically position their support to DDR (-related) initiatives for more lasting and promising peacebuilding results. The review works on identifying lessons that contribute to a greater understanding of the effectiveness and strategic relevance of DDR programmes to peacebuilding, added-value and comparative advantage of PBF’s funding arrangements, and promising practices that can be used to shape future programming. The review approaches the interlinkages of peacebuilding and DDR through the latter’s role in promoting the peace process, provision of basic security, peace dividends (including economic revitalization, restoring social fabrics and civic responsibility) as well as addressing the root causes and drivers of conflict. Firstly, explores the policy relationship and interlink- ages of DDR programmes and peacebuilding and the practical implications of this interrelationship on the ground. Secondly, it provides an introduction to the funding structure of the PBF and provides a summary of each of the three case studies. Thirdly, it explores the results of the three case studies horizontally, highlighting overall trends, contextual differences, lessons, and challenges across the cases. It finally highlights the main findings and expresses recommendations that contain specific action points aimed toward PBF efforts and contributions to achieving sustainable peacebuilding results. | https://www.un.org/peacebuilding/sites/www.un.org.peacebuilding/files/documents/ddr_pbf_thematic_review.pdf | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Key Considerations When Supporting Peace Processes | DCHA/CMM | Conflict, development, negotiations, mediation, peace. | Development professionals can play an important role in any peace process, providing the technical knowledge and practical, on-the-ground insights necessary to create a peace agreement that is durable. There are a number of lessons learned that are important for development practitioners to keep in mind when supporting peace processes. Much of the guidance offered in this brief has been distilled from multiple sources in academic literature, from background materials used in developing CMM’s toolkit on supporting peace processes and from materials produced by numerous other research institutions | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12754 | Worldwide |
| Incremental Inclusivity: A recipe for effective peace processes? | Andreas Schädel, Véronique Dudouet, Johanna-Maria Hülzer, and Carlotta Sallach | Inclusive Peace Processes | This report focuses on strategies around the inclusion of various constituencies and interests in conflict resolution processes that can result in legitimate, equitable and lasting solutions to complex protracted armed conflicts. There is a particular focus on the timing and sequencing of multiactor inclusion in peace processes by conducting a comparative assessment of ‘incremental inclusion’ approaches for non-signatory armed groups and civil society actors during the negotiation and implementation of four peace/ceasefire agreements: Afghanistan, Colombia, Mali and Myanmar. | https://berghof-foundation.org/library/incremental-inclusivity-in-peace-processes-key-lessons-learnt | Worldwide |
| Purdue University Report on the International Peace and Prosperity Project in Guinea-Bissau | Mohan J. Dutta, Stacey L. Connaughton, Evan Hoffman, Agaptus Anaele, Christina Jones, Angela Kachuyevski | Violence prevention, local peacebuilding | The International Peace and Prosperity Project (IPPP) meaningfully contributed to peace in Guinea-Bissau by engaging in numerous diverse activities across different sectors and at various levels with many actors and collaborators. Based on five years of working towards peace and prosperity in Guinea-Bissau, two key lessons were learned. First, an effective violence prevention initiative needs to maintain maximum flexibility and pursue multiple initiatives simultaneously, especially during times of impending crisis. Second, leadership and engagement by local people is necessary for success in violence prevention and peace initiatives. Other important key lessons, as outlined later on in this report, were also gleaned from the IPPP experience. | https://www.cla.purdue.edu/ppp/documents/publications/Purdue.pdf | Guinea-Bissau |
| The Missing Link : Fostering Positive Citizen-State Relations in Post-Conflict Environments | von Kaltenborn-Stachau, Henriette. | Governance: Reforms, Inclusive Peacebuilding, Citizen Action | The aim of this study is to convince national and multilateral policy makers of the importance of the public sphere concept for democratic governance and strategic post-conflict assistance planning with the objective of positive and sustainable change in current post-conflict assistance policy and practice. The study introduces the conceptual thinking underlying the public sphere framework and, citing evidence from different countries, highlights its relevance and calls for its application in post-conflict environments. For practitioners the study provides a public sphere assessment toolkit and a toolbox for interventions. It also offers concrete examples and recommendations on how to address the specific governance challenges identified through a public sphere analysis in three countries: Timor-Leste, Liberia and Burundi. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12778 | Africa |
| Local infrastructures for peace in Guinea-Bissau: The contribution of the Regional Spaces for Dialogue to peacebuilding | Inter-Peace | Communications: Public Relations, dialogue, citizen action | In 2007, Interpeace and its partner, the national NGO, Voz di Paz (Voice of Peace), established 10 permanent dialogue groups all over the country. By assisting the population in conflict management, these Regional Spaces for Dialogue (RSDs) made a critical contribution to peacebuilding in Guinea-Bissau. Since 2011, they have resolved more than 200 local conflicts by using dialogue as a tool for the peaceful management of conflict related to insecurity, bad governance, religion and violence against women, among other issues. This power to convene such gatherings can be explained by the respect and legitimacy conferred on the local personalities who constitute these RSDs. While rooted in local realities, at the same time, the RSDs represent a community of craftspeople of peace at the national level. Their members have a sense of full ownership of their mission and RSDs objectives. Together, they pursue their engagement with dedication and demonstrate their determination to support, in the long term, their country’s journey to stability and non-violence. | https://www.interpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015_11_25_Local_Infrastructures_for_Peace_in_Guinea-Bissau.pdf | Guinea-Bissau |
| Enforcing UN Sanctions and Protecting Humanitarian Action: Towards a Coherent and Consistent Approach | Sophie Huvé, Rebecca Brubaker, Adam Day, Zuzana Hudáková | Sanctions, Humanitarian Engagement, Rule of Law | Sanctions represent some of the most important tools at the disposal of the United Nations (UN) and are often deployed as part of the Organization’s conflict prevention and management strategies. In situations of armed conflict, UN sanctions regimes coexist alongside International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and interacts with those actors tasked with providing impartial humanitarian assistance to lessen the negative impacts of war. While in principle UN sanctions and humanitarian action share common goals of helping to prevent the worst aspects of armed conflict, in practice they can come into contradiction with each other. For example, overbroad implementation of sanctions regimes can impede the ability of humanitarians to access vulnerable populations or deploy much needed resources. In turn, sanctions designers worry that humanitarian aid can sometimes be diverted or manipulated to subvert the intended goals of sanctions regimes. This raises several important questions: (1) How can the sanctions and humanitarian communities better understand each other’s respective priorities? (2) How can sanctions regimes be better designed and implemented to protect humanitarian action while still functioning effectively? (3) What specific steps could the Security Council take to improve the interplay between UN sanctions and humanitarian engagement? Based on in-depth case studies, a wide-ranging online survey, and qualitative interviews with experts across the humanitarian and sanctions communities, this United Nations University Centre for Policy Research explores the relationship between UN sanctions and humanitarian action. Acknowledging the complex and challenging environments in which sanctions regimes are employed, the report highlights continuing gaps in knowledge across the two communities, and the need for greater understanding for how sanctions and humanitarian action could be more complementary to each other. The report offers a range of recommendations to the UN Security Council, sanctions actors, and humanitarians. | https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:8672/UNU_SanctionsandHumanitarianAction.pdf | Worldwide |
| Operationalizing the Sustaining Peace Agenda: Lessons from Burkina Faso, Liberia, and Papua New Guinea | Agathe Sarfati | Operations management, implementation, policy, sustained peace | The twin resolutions on peacebuilding and sustaining peace adopted by the General Assembly and Security Council in 2016 made a breakthrough in the UN’s conception of peacebuilding. Significant work has since been undertaken to reconfigure the UN system to work toward the implementation of these resolutions, and the UN Peacebuilding Commission has launched a comprehensive review of the peacebuilding architecture to be completed in 2020. To inform this review, this issue brief synthesizes findings related to the operationalization of the peacebuilding and sustaining peace resolutions at the country level. The paper concludes that much of the focus to date has been on improving the effectiveness of how the UN delivers its mandates on peacebuilding and sustaining peace. To fully realize the vision of the sustaining peace agenda, its operationalization must increasingly focus on the impact of these efforts. This requires questioning and testing the theory of change underpinning these operational reforms to ensure the UN is effectively helping societies build the foundation for sustaining peace. | https://www.ipinst.org/2020/06/operationalizing-sustaining-peace-agenda-burkina-faso-liberia-papua-new-guinea | Burkina Faso |
| Uses of digital technologies in managing and preventing conflict | Luke Kelly | Early Warning, Conflict Prevention, Technology | Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) are increasingly prevalent across the developing world and as such are being used in a variety of ways to prevent, prevent or address violence conflict. ICTs can be defined as ‘electronic equipment and applications that are used to find, analyse, create, communicate, disseminate and use information’ (HD, 2019). The ICTs surveyed in this paper include mobile phones, the internet, social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter, satellites, and GIS mapping applications, and the crowdsourcing of information through these platforms. A large number of applications have been developed to gather, map and disseminate data on peace and conflict. ICTs can help gather a large volumes of information on peace and conflict that can be used to track violence and its causes. ICTs also have applications in preventing conflict through information or positive messaging | https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d0cecb640f0b62006e1f4ef/600_ICTs_in_conflict.pdf | Worldwide |
| Enhancing Peacekeeping Training Through Cooperation: Lessons from Latin America | Igarapé Institute | effectiveness, peacekeeping, cooperation, inclusive, | There is growing recognition at the UN and among member states that peacekeeping must be made more effective, especially in face of major budget cuts and wavering leadership by traditional actors. Against this backdrop, how can member states improve the quality of pre-deployment and mission preparation for UN peacekeeping? This policy brief focuses on one area in which innovation has become more urgent than ever: enhancing the effectiveness of peacekeeping through better training. More specifically, we analyze the emerging configurations, innovations, and challenges of international cooperation for peacekeeping training centers (PTCs), drawing on the case of Latin America. | https://igarape.org.br/en/enhancing-peacekeeping-training-through-cooperation/ | Bolivia |
| National Election Response Groups as infrastructures for peace | Reuben J.B. Lewis | election violence, state-building, locally-led | In West Africa, National Elections Response Groups (NERGs) are being developed as response structures to mitigate election-related conflict, and their operationalisation is proving to be successful in a number of countries that have held elections – including, most recently, in Sierra Leone. NERGs are designed as infrastructures for peace, and serve as platforms for peaceful dialogue and shuttle diplomacy with political parties during national elections. NERGs also respond to incidences of harassment, intimidation and violence; work towards keeping communities calm and organised; and engage with all political groups to keep the peace. This article discusses the development and operationalisation of NERGs as an infrastructure for peace during recent elections in some West African countries. | https://www.accord.org.za/conflict-trends/national-election-response-groups-as-infrastructures-for-peace/ | Liberia |
| Addressing the Climate-Conflict Nexus in Fragile States | Mercy Corps | Climate, Conflict, Governance | The present study looks at the relationship between climate variability and violent conflict, and the extent to which state capacity is able to mediate this link within five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that have experience conflict or instability in recent years: Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Because most studies look at these relationships cross-nationally, we recognize that there is much variation at the subnational level in terms of climate variability, conflict, and local governance and seek to examine subnational differences. Despite variation across and within countries, two key insights stand out from the analyses. First, the report finds support for a link between higher temperature variability and greater violent conflict. Precipitation variability, however, shows results that are more mixed. Second, the report observes a general trend whereby stronger state capacity appears, in some cases, to reduce the likelihood that climate variability will lead to conflict. | https://www.mercycorps.org/research-resources/climate-conflict-nexus | Worldwide |
| Peace Dividends And Beyond: Contributions Of Administrative And Social Services To Peacebuilding | Erin McCandless | Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, Governance: Reforms, Inclusive Peacebuilding | In all societies – especially those emerging from violence – where administrative and social services are lacking or provided inequitably, the resulting void or imbalance is a common driver of conflict. In post-conflict settings, services can be controlled and manipulated, creating or exacerbating horizontal inequalities and fuelling discontent rather than offering a means to foster trust and better relations between state and society. Whether it is by national or international actors, by design or accident, administrative and social services can be delivered in ways that undermine peacebuilding efforts. Infrastructure and delivery systems are often severely damaged during violent conflict – systems that constitute very real, immediate needs for local people. As such, they are priorities that cannot be ignored in terms of the direct contributions they can make to peacebuilding and the early statebuilding efforts that underpin them. The report argues that there is significant evidence to include administrative and social services amongst the menu of choices available to directly support peacebuilding in any given context. Finding the appropriate balance among the many peacebuilding priorities in any setting should ultimately be a country-driven exercise – one that is inclusive of a wide range of stakeholders at different levels, especially historically marginalized groups. | https://www.un.org/peacebuilding/sites/www.un.org.peacebuilding/files/documents/peace_dividends.pdf | Worldwide |
| The United States and R2P: From Words to Action | Madeleine K. Albright; Richard S. Williamson | Early Warning, Conflict Prevention, Rule of Law | Former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright and former presidential special envoy to Sudan Richard S. Williamson cochaired the Working Group on the Responsibility to Protect, which includes former government officials, academics, foreign policy experts, political consultants, and media professionals. Jointly organized by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Brookings Institution, the Working Group seeks to increase understanding of the responsibility to protect (R2P), assess how the concept has worked in relevant cases, and identify concrete steps to bolster the will and capacity of U.S. decision makers to respond in a timely manner to threats of genocide, crimes against humanity, and other mass atrocities. The Working Group has met formally six times but has also consulted informally with a wide variety of government officials, scholars, and other policy experts. The authors are grateful for the assistance of the members of the Working Group and the three sponsoring institutions in preparing the report. They would also like to thank the staff of the Museum and USIP for their assistance in preparing the report, especially Cameron Hudson, Sara Weisman, Eric Eggleston, and Jonas Claes, as well as Bill Woodward from the Albright Stonebridge Group and the four individuals who prepared background papers for the group’s consideration: Cliff Bernath, Naomi Kikoler, Bruce Jentleson, and Jonas Claes. | https://www.usip.org/publications/2013/07/united-states-and-r2p-words-action | United States |
| Reflecting on Peace Practice (RPP) Basics: A Resource Manual | CDA Collaborative Learning Projects | Peacebuilding, Training, Facilitation | Building on this cumulative impact work, CDA has developed specific approaches to systems thinking and peacebuilding, including systemic conflict analysis, systems mapping, and the identification of leverage points for change as another means of expanding the peacebuilding effectiveness field.The experience and lessons gained through the years of RPP’s operation are the foundation of CDA’s current Peacebuilding Effectiveness practice area, which continues to promote learning in this field. CDA offers practical answers to the core questions about relevance and effectiveness in the peacebuilding field. This resource manual is helpful to guide macro-level decision-making on peacebuilding priorities within and across different agencies. It can be used at various levels - to guide the development of new peacebuilding strategies, programs, and projects and to help review existing initiatives. The RPP Basic Resource Manual includes various hints and tips for facilitators, relevant for those seeking practical guidance on how to use the RPP materials in workshop settings, in trainings, working with program teams etc. It also includes practical guidance on how to present the materials, as well as practical examples for workshop settings and work with multi-stakeholder groups. The resource is divided in six modules and combines background information with practical how guidance and exercise examples. | https://www.cdacollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Reflecting-on-Peace-Practice-RPP-Basics-A-Resource-Manual.pdf | Worldwide |
| UN DDR in an Era of Violent Extremism: Is It Fit for Purpose? | James Cockayne, Siobhan O'Neil | Demobilization, Disarmament, Reintegration (DDR), Peacekeeping, Training | This short collection of studies examines the challenges to effective United Nations (UN) disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programming posed by today’s conflict environment. The collection, and the larger research initiative of which it is a part, aim to generate debate about how to best address the legal, operational, ethical, and strategic challenges facing DDR programme staff in the field. | https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/un_ddr_in_an_era_of_violent_extremism.pdf | Worldwide |
| Rule Of Law And Sustaining Peace: Towards More Impactful, Effective Conflict Prevention | Adam Day, Jessica Caus | Rule of Law, Peacekeeping, Conflict Prevention | The present report is based upon eight in-depth case studies conducted by UNU-CPR, in close consultation with relevant UN peace operations, agencies and field offices. The cases were selected to cover a range of settings, from countries hosting UN peacekeeping operations (Central African Republic [CAR], Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC] and Mali) or special political missions (Colombia, Afghanistan and Lebanon), to non-mission settings (Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and reflect the breadth of the UN’s rule of law work. While not comprehensive, the cases offer insights into both the types of rule of law interventions and the ways in which country contexts may enable or inhibit the UN’s ability to have a strong impact on conflict prevention. The report not only offers consolidated lessons from the eight case studies, but is also designed to provide an actionable framework for rule of law policymakers and practitioners across the UN system. As such, it is divided into the following chapters: (1) the logic of rule of law, describing the theory of change behind the UN’s interventions and some concepts to understand how the UN contributes to impact on the ground; (2) common challenges arising in the UN’s rule of law work across a range of settings; (3) lessons from the eight cases; and (4) a framework outlining key considerations for rethinking UN approach to rule of law assistance and strategies in the future. | https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:8342/RuleOfLaw_FullVolume.pdf | Worldwide |
| Enhancing Peacekeeping Training Through Cooperation: Lessons from Latin America | Igarapé Institute | effectiveness, peacekeeping, cooperation, inclusive, | There is growing recognition at the UN and among member states that peacekeeping must be made more effective, especially in face of major budget cuts and wavering leadership by traditional actors. Against this backdrop, how can member states improve the quality of pre-deployment and mission preparation for UN peacekeeping? This policy brief focuses on one area in which innovation has become more urgent than ever: enhancing the effectiveness of peacekeeping through better training. More specifically, we analyze the emerging configurations, innovations, and challenges of international cooperation for peacekeeping training centers (PTCs), drawing on the case of Latin America. | https://igarape.org.br/en/enhancing-peacekeeping-training-through-cooperation/ | Brazil |
| South Asia's Nuclear Challenges: Interlocking Views from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States | Lora Saalman, Petr Topychkanov | Nuclear posture | This study provides an overview of views on nuclear postures and escalation affecting South Asia, based on 119 interviews conducted in 2020, without attribution, with military, nuclear, political and regional experts from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States. These discussions revealed a number of interlocking points that offer building blocks for both official and non-official engagement on such issues as no first use (NFU), lowered nuclear thresholds, conventional and nuclear entanglement, escalate to de-escalate, and emerging technology development. | https://www.sipri.org/publications/2021/other-publications/south-asias-nuclear-challenges-interlocking-views-india-pakistan-china-russia-and-united-states | Pakistan |
| Rebuilding The Rule Of Law In Post-conflict Environments | Dr. Corbin Lyday, Jan Stromsem | Post-conflict, rule of law, development, peacemaking. | This guide provides practical guidance on rule of law programming in post-conflict environments. It reflects over twenty years of experience working in post-conflict environments, and presents the key challenges, lessons learned, and programming options for advancing rule of law development objectives in these environments. It is hoped that this guide will facilitate effective analysis, planning and programming that contribute to the strengthening of the rule of law in post-conflict societies. | https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/USAID-Post_Conflict_ROL_508.pdf | Worldwide |
| Gender Dimensions of Disaster Risk and Resilience : Existing Evidence | Erman, Alvina; De Vries Robbe, Sophie Anne; Thies, Stephan Fabian; Kabir, Kayenat; Maruo, Mirai. | Gender, Youth, Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DM&E) | Men and women, boys and girls have different experiences of disasters. Gender dynamics impact both the way they are affected by disasters and their capacity to withstand and recover from them. Gender inequalities can result in gender-differentiated disaster impact, and differentiated impacts can influence gender dynamics, which in turn affect future resilience to shocks. Disaster risk management policies are designed to maximize results, taking local conditions - including gender dynamics - as fixed. When women and men are affected differently by disasters, practitioners and policy makers have a responsibility to use the tools available for mitigating disaster impacts to close gender gaps in outcome. An improved understanding of the gender dynamics of disaster risk and resilience also allows for better policy and program design, which benefits all stakeholders. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12777 | Worldwide |
| Societal Dynamics & Fragility : Engaging Societies in Responding to Fragile Situations | World Bank | Fragility | Extreme fragile situations are now home to at least a quarter of the worlds people. In the worst cases, where fragility has given way to open violence - people are more than twice as likely to be malnourished, more than three times as likely to be unable to send their children to school, twice as likely to see their children die before age five, and more than twice as likely to lack clean water. It is unsurprising that not a single low-income country in these circumstances has been able to achieve even one Millennium Development Goal (World Bank 2011). In addition, many fragile situations generate spillover effects such as trafficking in illegal goods and persons, and corruption, which threaten the stability of neighboring countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD 2005, 2010). This study views fragility as not only a problem of state capacity, but also of relationships in society. That is, while some elements of fragility emanate from the state, others are deeply rooted in societal dynamics, the way individuals and groups interact and the relationships that form out of these interactions. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12768 | Worldwide |
| Business and Peace: It Takes Two to Tango | Markus Mayer, Ben Miller, Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, Johannes Schreuder | Business and peace, Private sector and peacebuilding, Fragility and investment | As a basic proposition, the idea that if businesses can operate in an ordinary manner, that will help build peace, seems uncontentious to many. As a field for both research and policy it is about two decades old. There is increasing agreement among donor governments that strengthening the private sector strengthens the prospects for peace. Unfortunately, evidence to support the proposition is not very strong and, on the other side, there is just as much evidence of business activities contributing to the continuation of conflict. This paper is to be commended for setting out dispassionately to explore the issues and disentangle the different threads of evidence and argument. | https://www.international-alert.org/publications/usiness-and-peace-it-takes-two-tango/ | Worldwide |
| Crime and Conflict: The New Challenge for Peacebuiliding | Jessie Banfield | Organized crime, Fragility, Armed conflict, Drug trafficking | This report is offered as a contribution to the growing effort to understand the nexus between organised crime, armed violence and fragility, and to design effective responses. At the heart of the document is the hypothesis that an application of the approaches and overall lens of peacebuilding can enrich broader efforts to reduce and transform contemporary armed violence and fragility linked to organised crime. This approach has not been widely tested in practice, but when it has the results are promising. | https://www.international-alert.org/publications/crime-and-conflict/ | Worldwide |
| Empowering Ethiopian Women | USAID | Women, gender equality, community, education, health, equity. | This fact sheet emphasizes the importance of women's access to resources, community participation, and contributions. It brings insights into the relevance to Ethiopia and the United States. The essential focus on empowering Ethiopian Women resides on the programming of increasing female educational and economic opportunities while promoting health and safety, as well as increasing women's roles in conflict prevention and peacemaking. | https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/Fact_Sheet_Empowering_Ethiopian_Women_Jul_2017.pdf | Ethiopia |
| Second Generation Disarmament, Demobilization And Reintegration (Ddr) Practices In Peace Operations- A Contribution To The New Horizon Discussion On Challenges And Opportunities For Un Peacekeeping | United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations _x000D_ | Demobilization, Disarmament, Reintegration (DDR), Peacemaking, Training | This report is an initiated study by member States in a policy dialogue on the challenges and opportunities of peacekeeping, the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Section of the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to document the innovative programmes to provide policymakers and practitioners with sophisticated skills and tools to negotiate the local dynamics on the ground. Many ideas and practices highlighted have been implemented through a scholar-practitioner and security orientation, moving away from top-down implementations of a Security Council mandate. With the increasing deployment of UN operations diverse preconditions, the guidance provided in the Integrated DDR Standards needs to be complemented with practical measures that address these new contexts — by using Second Generation measures. The study underscores that DDR practice has evolved over the last several decades demanding institutional change, as well as reflecting the broader change in UN peacekeeping. The report is primarily based on four field studies: Afghanistan, Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, and Liberia. It also compares traditional DDR and Second Generation programmes, as one implements relevant provisions for peacebuilding, while the other uses an evidence-based approach. Taking into account key internal challenges and its forefront role in UN integration efforts, the study explores several key aspects of planning and implementation of Second Generation DDR programmes and then goes on to describe key policy options. Moreover, it inquires through the categorization of Second Generation measures in three broad parts: Post-conflict stabilization measures; targeting specific groups with different approaches and incentives; alternative approaches to addressing disarmament and unregulated weapons. | https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/2gddr_eng_with_cover.pdf | Worldwide |
| Local Peacebuilding: What Works And Why | Phil Vernon | Locally-led, peacebuilding, youth, gender, WPS, early warning | This report argues that more support for local peacebuilding is needed, and highlights examples of effective local initiatives in support of this claim. To counter the scepticism some decision‑makers express about the impact of local peacebuilding, the report is confined to examples that have been objectively assessed by external evaluators or researchers. | https://www.allianceforpeacebuilding.org/afp-publications/local-peacebuilding-what-6-2019 | Worldwide |
| Elections and Violent Conflict in Kenya: Making Prevention Stick | Claire Elder; Susan Stigant; Jonas Claes | Election, Dialogue, Human Rights | This report aims to complement existing postelection analysis by examining local experiences of Kenya’s 2013 general elections, evaluating the various factors that worked to prevent widespread violent conflict and assessing the sustainability of the “relative calm” achieved during the electoral period. The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and its partners, the Constitutional Reform and Education Consortium (CRECO) and the Interparty Youth Forum (IPYF), convened citizen dialogues and conducted key informant interviews to evaluate preventive efforts around the March 2013 general elections in Kenya. Through qualitative research, USIP and its partners collected original data from November to mid-December 2013 in ten carefully selected counties across Kenya— Marsabit, Embu, Nyeri, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Bungoma, Kisumu, Nyamira, Mombasa, and Nairobi. The citizen views collected offer valuable insights into popular attitudes and the factors that influenced behavior during the electoral process. This report is part of USIP’s broader commitment to peace in the Horn of Africa and thematic focus on preventing electoral violence. | https://www.usip.org/publications/2014/11/elections-and-violent-conflict-kenya-making-prevention-stick | Kenya |
| DDR and Peacebuilding: Thematic review of DDR contributions to peacebuilding and the role of the Peacebuilding Fund | United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office | Demobilization, Disarmament, Reintegration (DDR), Monitoring/Verification: United Nations, Training | This report reviews the contributions of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) to peacebuilding. The review draws on the experiences of three case studies: Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Nepal and focuses specifically on the projects supported by the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). The recommendations of the review aim to help the DDR and peacebuilding communities, and the PBF in particular, strategically and programmatically position their support to DDR (-related) initiatives for more lasting and promising peacebuilding results. The review works on identifying lessons that contribute to a greater understanding of the effectiveness and strategic relevance of DDR programmes to peacebuilding, added-value and comparative advantage of PBF’s funding arrangements, and promising practices that can be used to shape future programming. The review approaches the interlinkages of peacebuilding and DDR through the latter’s role in promoting the peace process, provision of basic security, peace dividends (including economic revitalization, restoring social fabrics and civic responsibility) as well as addressing the root causes and drivers of conflict. Firstly, explores the policy relationship and interlink- ages of DDR programmes and peacebuilding and the practical implications of this interrelationship on the ground. Secondly, it provides an introduction to the funding structure of the PBF and provides a summary of each of the three case studies. Thirdly, it explores the results of the three case studies horizontally, highlighting overall trends, contextual differences, lessons, and challenges across the cases. It finally highlights the main findings and expresses recommendations that contain specific action points aimed toward PBF efforts and contributions to achieving sustainable peacebuilding results. | https://www.un.org/peacebuilding/sites/www.un.org.peacebuilding/files/documents/ddr_pbf_thematic_review.pdf | Central African Republic |
| Nigeria's State Peacebuilding Institutions: Early Success and Continuing Challenges | Darren Kew | Local Peace Initiatives, Land Tenure, Dialogue, Mediation, Early Warning | This report examines the progress of peace agencies or commissions in three Nigerian states since 2016. It finds that their convening powers and civil society networks offer important opportunities for fostering peace, as does their ability to support the peace architecture of local governments. Over the past five years, three states in Nigeria’s Middle Belt— Plateau, Kaduna, and Adamawa— have created peace agencies or commissions that are tasked with addressing long-standing ethno-religious and other divisions in their host states through direct mediation and other peace interventions; building early warning and early response systems for local conflicts; and, in conjunction with local governments and traditional institutions, developing grassroots conflict resolution infrastructure such as mediation and restorative justice units and processes. All three institutions possess important convening powers to initiate dialogue and larger peace processes. Although the young institutions have faced difficult challenges, they have nonetheless exhibited early promise for stemming violence and insecurity across Nigeria, and their experiences provide important lessons for other states considering similar institutions. Based on more than fifty interviews conducted between 2018 and 2021, the report was supported by the Africa Center at the United States Institute of Peace and the Bureau for Conflict Stabilization Operations at the US Department of State. | https://mars.gmu.edu/handle/1920/12719 | Nigeria |