https://www.peaceinfrastructures.

org/
thematic
https://www.mpiasia.net/newsresources/
resources/resources-for-peacebuilders.html
https://www.advancingnutrition.org/
resources/achieving-nutritional-impact-and-
food-security-through-agriculture

https://kroc.nd.edu
https://www.centrepeaceconflictstudies.org/
about-us-what-we-do/#whatwedo
https://www.johnpaullederach.com/
category/craft/reflective-practice/

Peace Infrastructures.org is a knowledge portal for practitioners, policy-makers, academics, and

institutions engaged in conflict prevention and peacebuilding at the (sub) national, regional and global
level.

Infrastructures for Peace

Infrastructures for Peace are nationally owned and driven institutions, processes and policies that
help design, support and enhance social resilience to violent conflict.
Building resilient and peaceful societies requires having in place functional structures,
constructive social relationships, and institutions to resolve differences through dialogue.
Understanding how and where tensions might arise in order to respond before they erupt into
violence is critical for national capacities to be sustainable. Infrastructures for Peace (I4P) are
key to this support, allowing a society to build a nationally owned and inclusive framework to
address and mitigate violent conflicts.

Success stories have emerged from countries across Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and
Central Asia. For instance, I4P have contributed to significantly reduce tensions and violent
conflict over distribution of land and natural resources, enabled peaceful elections, broadened the
base for peace in formal negotiations processes, and helped monitor peace agreements.

Defining Infrastructures for Peace

As an evolving concept, there is no standard definition or model for I4P. Most definitions
however include reference to a dynamic set or network of skills, capacities, resources, tools and
institutions that help build constructive social relationships and enhance resilience of societies
against relapse into violence. It is important to note that I4P are not new, while some countries
are pioneering the establishment of more formal I4P, such structures have always existed in
some form.

In a meeting in Naivasha, Kenya, in February 2010, representatives of governments, political

parties, civil society, and UN Country Teams from 14 African countries agreed on a definition of
infrastructures for peace (I4P):

“dynamic network of interdependent structures, mechanisms, resources, values, and skills which,
through dialogue and consultation, contribute to conflict prevention and peace-building in a
society.”

The use of the term "infrastructures" does not necessarily relate to physical constructions, but
rather refers to institutions, processes, policies, as well as constructive relationships.

Peace infrastructures can take various organizational forms, as they are shaped by local culture,
institutional traditions and needs of a particular context. Common examples of structures for
peace include: local peace committees; national peace platforms; government departments or
ministries of peace that support and develop strategies for peacebuilding; conflict analysis and
early warning and response systems; development of conflict management skills including
through
insider mediators; as well as policies and initiatives promoting a shared culture of peace.

There is a growing interest in peace infrastructures, which stems from the understanding that
preventing violence before it arises is cost-effective, its proven record of impact, and that all
efforts to be sustainable must be nationally-led. The diversity of forms I4P takes in practice
allows it to be presented as an umbrella concept to various tools and strategies used for conflict
prevention and peacebuilding.

I4P in Practice

 In Ghana, in the lead-up to elections in 2012, the national and local peace infrastructure
was strengthened by providing mediation training, conflict prevention advice and support
to the National Peace Council, police and election officers. These groups were then able
to intervene to defuse potential violence, helping to ensure peaceful elections and a
successful presidential transition in December 2012. The peace council has now been
established by law as a permanent conflict management body for Ghana and the model is
being replicated in Uganda and Zimbabwe. Read case study.

 In Kyrgyzstan, following violence and the escalation of tensions after the April 2010
regime change, local and national peace councils were established who, together with
government and other members of civil society, jointly analyze conflict trends, and act as
mediators on contentious issues. Furthermore, In order to help reduce tensions around the
Kyrgyz-Tajik and Kyrgyz-Uzbek borders, cross-border working groups were established
who meet to address farmers' use of cross-border grazing lands and trade.

 In 2016, 37 local peace committees were established across Togo. The local peace
committees gather religious leaders, traditional chiefs, retired policemen, teachers, and
other key local stakeholders to manage conflicts in their community. Members of the
local peace committees were trained on conflict prevention and resolution. The members
of the peace committees now serve as Insider Mediators and early warning monitors in
their respective prefectures, representing the first point of call for conflict prevention
efforts at the local level.

 In the aftermath of the political transition in Tunisia in 2011, a locally-led model for
political and social dialogue was designed, giving political factions and civil society
organizations more voice in the development of the new government and constitutional
process. Read case study.
UNDERSTANDING I4P

 More examples of I4P in practice

 Peace Infrastructure Components – An Overview Table
 Insider Mediation
 Promising Entry Points for International Support

Infrastructures for Peace

Infrastructures for Peace are nationally owned and driven institutions, processes and policies that
help design, support and enhance social resilience to violent conflict.
Sustaining Peace
Sustaining peace aims to prevent the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of
conflict, address root causes, assist parties to conflict to end hostilities, ensure national
reconciliation and move towards recovery, reconstruction and development.

In April 2016, the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council adopted the
landmark resolutions on peacebuilding: (A/RES/70/262) and (S/RES/2282). The Sustaining
Peace Resolutions were negotiated in response to the findings of three major reviews of the UN’s
peace operations, peacebuilding architecture, and women, peace, and security activities in 2015.

An important breakthrough in the twin resolutions is the recognition that efforts to sustain peace
are necessary not only once conflict has broken out, but also long beforehand, by addressing root
causes to prevent “the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflict”. The term
“sustaining peace,” therefore builds on and expands the concept of post-conflcit peacebuilding. It
refocuses the UN’s work in the area of peace and security to include proactive measures aimed
at strengthening peace where it already exists by reinforcing the structures, institutions and social
meshanisms that underpin it. In doing so, this new approach seeks to render all of the UN’s
current and future work on peace and security more effective.

In the resolutions, Member States recognize that sustaining peace is a shared task and reaffirm
the primary responsibility of national Governments and authorities in identifying, driving and
directing priorities, strategies and activities for sustaining peace. The resolutions therefore call
for closer strategic and operational partnerships among governments, the UN and other key
stakeholders. Underscoring the importance of women’s leadership and participation in
preventing and resolving conflict, the resolutions also stress the need to promote gender
dimensions of sustaining peace. The resolutions further call upon Member States to increase
meaningful and inclusive participation of young people in these efforts.

Operationalizing Sustaining Peace

The Secretary-General has identified prevention as his highest priority and is overseeing system-
wide efforts to re-orient the UN towards this goal. By placing prevention at the center of the
sustaining peace resolutions, Member States recognised that preventing violent conflict goes
beyond short-term solutions and requires a broader view than only post-conflict reconstruction.
Sustaining peace and conflict prevention require targeted investment in remedying structural
issues that drive conflict. From a development perspective, this means addressing exclusion,
injustice, inequality, corruption.

The Secretary-General is tasked with spearheading the implementation of the sutaining peace
resolutions. His Report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace (A/72/707-S/2018/43), released
in February 2018, elaborates on his vision to enhance United Nations' policy and operational
coherence to support peacebuilding and sustaining peace. The central message of the report is
that "an ecosystem of partners working in support of governments is critical for sustaining
peace". The Secretary-Generall therefore calls for strengthening partnerships at every stage
along the peace continuum, from conflict prevention and resolution to peacekeeping,
peacebuilding and long-term development. It placees even greater emphasis on national
ownership and supporting national actors to develop the national capacities needed to address
structural inequalities, exclusion, and other factors that undermine social cohesion, and if
neglected, may lead to violent conflict. One of the ways to do this is through undertaking joint
analysis and effective strategic planning across the United Nations system.
"Sustaining
peace will only be realized through committed, inclusive national
ownership that considers the needs of the most marginalized, including
women, young people, minorities and people with disabilities."

— UN
Secretary-General António Guterres, Remarks to the General Assembly
high-level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace, 24 April 2018.

The UN’s approach to sustaining peace will unfold simultaneously across several dimensions.
First, it shifts the primary agency for sustaining peace from the international to the national and
local level. Second, it broadens the institutional responsibility for peace to the whole UN system
by leveraging the three pillars of UN engagement—peace and security, development, and
human rights, in addition to humanitarian action —, to generate sustaining peace outcomes.
Current efforts to strengthen coherence across humanitarian, development and peace activities,
and the focus on the nexus of these sectors, are therefore critical to sustaining peace. And third,
it switches the focus of the UN from its current emphasis on re-active capacities to a pro-active
approach to responding to emerging risks of violent conflict.

As part of ongoing management, development, and peace and security reforms initiatives within
the Organization, the Secretary-General is committed to put in place the leadership,
management, coordination, planning, and funding instruments necessary to ensure that all
dimensions of sustaining peace are integrated and aligned to generate a whole-of-UN approach.

Linkages between Sustaining Peace and the SDGs

The concept of sustaining peace was informed and inspired by Agenda 2030 for Sustainable
Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The universality of the 2030 Agenda, its emphasis on prevention and its pledge to leave no one
behind makes sustainable development central to the implementation of the sustaining peace
resolutions. SDG 16 explicitly aims at building peaceful, just and inclusive societies. Under this
goal 12 targets spell out the means by which national governments and societies and the
international community are to achieve it, including by promoting the rule of law and access to
justice, reducing corruption, developing effective and accountable institutions, and ensuring
access to information. While such measures clearly contribute to preventing conflict and
sustaining peace, the SDGs emphasis on inclusion, access and a rights-based approach make the
whole of Agenda 2030 directly relevant to sustaining peace, and vice versa.

Food sovereignty

We are working with the teaching staff to generate critical awareness and rally the educational
community about the environmental, economic and social consequences arising from our current
food model. Food sovereignty is a strategy for social change, to build equity and implement a
greener, closer and more sustainable production and consumption system. This programme
supports the consolidation of the education centres as institutions committed to the sustainability
of life and to environmental and social justice.

Critical university

The public university plays a key role in the task of creating and disseminating critical
knowledge, while at the same time it must be a strategic agent of change and social
transformation. However, it is not exempt from contradictions. While it advocates generating
social dialogue and meeting spaces for joint reflection, it also drives a university model that is
more in keeping with market interests than social problems. We analyse those contradictions
and the role of the University in society and its relationship to the type of knowledge fostered.

Education for Social Transformation

We conceive an emancipatory educational action that contributes to a social transition towards a
model that puts the sustainability of life before the logic of capital.

In a complex reality such as the present, beset by multiple crises, we envisage the emancipatory
educational action as a transition strategy towards a model that puts the sustainability of life
before the inherent rationale of the current colonial, heteropatriarchal and capitalist development
model. We believe interlinking social organisations and movements from a feminist and
internationalist approach to be essential to transcend the narrow or sectoral orientations that have
dominated the international cooperation and education panorama. An education, therefore, that
incorporates the political dimension into its goals and into its strategic and educational proposals
for social change.

Critical thoughts
We put critical studies on development in dialogue with emancipatory proposals from social
movements for the construction of alternatives.

Critical reflection on development has been a type of dead end for years now. The technical
critique confirms that technical problem do not seem to be solved after over seven decades of
development proposals. The political critique address rationales, dynamics and institutions of
power without being able to influence them. And the onto-epistemological critique
problematizes and questions the basic fundamentals of western modernity from a perspective that
hinders the structuring of alternatives.

This area of work tries to set up a dialogue between the critical studies on development
(including feminists, decolonial and post-structuralist studies and those from the critical
economy) and emancipatory proposals from the social movements, as a strategy to construct
those alternatives.

Transformative cooperation
It is a commitment to the critical review of international cooperation driven by official
authorities. We explore the possibility of changing the logics and dynamics of cooperation to
achieve an emancipating impact on individuals and peoples. Linking with social movements and
experiences that shape it from feminism, international and emancipating education are interesting
strategies to point towards transformative cooperation processes.

Post-development and Good Living

We explore the possibilities of proposals that are presented overall as a new denial paradigm of
the development discourse as they consider it an imperialist and economist company that
devastates cultures and ecosystems. We call for the legitimacy of other ways of life, with their
plural and different forms of beings, temporary being and knowledge. We therefore study
proposals such as Sumak Kawsay in Abya Yala or proposals from the degrowth movement in
Europe.

Feminisms

Feminisms are a source of inspiration for critical thought. We are committed to deconstruction
processes that imply questioning the hegemonic definition of being male or female, and we are
searching for strategies to expose oppression and privilege in the ways of studying the world.

Environmental sustainability

We build on the green economy proposal to address the socio-economic relations with the
natural environment from sustainability, by developing a critique of the conventional economy
and the dominant development model. We therefore explore alternative proposals that allow the
sustainability of the socio-environmental systems, we propose alternative assessment models
such as social multi-criterion evaluation, system dynamics and the social lifecycle assessment,
and we delve further into the possibilities of a democratic energy transition.

Local human development

Local human development advocates thinking and acting from the territory to construct
collective projects, based on the people considered individually and collectively. It considers the
leading role of local societies in the search for their own development and in the creation of a
bottom-up globalisation. We cover the diversity of practical and technical contributions being
produced by the UNDP in this line, academic reflection, social movements and institutions
working on promoting human development.

Conflicts, peace and security

We analyze the consequences of armed conflicts and peacebuilding processes from multiple
perspectives.
Armed conflicts and insecurity in the broadest sense prevent the exercising of fundamental
human rights, generate a myriad of violence with lasting impacts and limit development and life
opportunities of individuals and peoples. Our work in this area is based on critical peace and
security studies to analyse those impacts, along with different peacebuilding initiatives driven by
international cooperation and by women's, indigenous, human rights and non-violent civil
resistance movements.

Feminism, conflicts and peace

We focus on the feminist analysis of armed conflicts and peacebuilding from a practical and
theoretical perspective, by way of studies in different countries (Guatemala, El Salvador,
Western Sahara, Colombia, DRC…) and taking the masculinities, intersectional and gender
approach.

Peacebuilding, international cooperation and humanitarian action

We study aspects such as armed conflicts as triggers of humanitarian crises, international

cooperation and humanitarian action for peacebuilding, critical peacebuilding studies and the
links between non-violent civil resistance and peacebuilding

Transitional justice, memory and human rights

We explore transitional justice as an aspect of peacebuilding and we conduct research into

recovery of the historical memory and the rights to truth, justice and reparation from a gender
and human rights perspective.

Human security and critical security studies

We are interested in the alternative approaches to the traditional concept of security, in particular
human security as a perspective linked to human development, and the critical security studies
(feminist, post-structuralist, decolonial, green theory contributions, etc.).

Human Rights in Western Sahara

We research human rights violations in Western Sahara, occupied by Morocco, from a gender
perspective, together with Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders. We accompany Sahrawi
organisations, through training and technical assistance, in the strengthening of their capacities in
order to undertake their own processes of research in human rights and advocacy, with special
consideration towards mechanisms of international protection.

Intersectionality and Justice

“Peace studies scholars and practitioners are increasingly using the lenses of gender and race to
diagnose problems and generate constructive solutions. The Kroc Institute will make
intersectionality, including attention to race and gender, one of the central themes of its research
and teaching agenda…”

Excerpt from the Kroc Institute’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan

The term intersectionality has become a key conceptual framework and method of identifying
the complex overlap of various social identities, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class, and
the ways systemic oppression and discrimination are experienced by individuals. The concept
was originally introduced by Professor Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in her 1989 paper,
"Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of
Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics,” to describe the particular
experience of black women.

Although many peace studies faculty members were conducting intersectional research prior to
2018, the launch of the Institute’s five-year strategic plan formalized the Institute’s commitment
to using an intersectional lens to engage our peace studies research, practice, and educational
efforts.

Kroc Institute faculty conducting research in this area include:

 Ashley Bohrer, Assistant Professor of Gender and Peace Studies

 Josefina Echavarría Alvarez, Associate Professor of the Practice; Director, Peace Accords
Matrix Program
 Atalia Omer, Professor of Religion, Conflict and Peace Studies
 Jason A. Springs, Professor of Religion, Ethics

Strategic Peacebuilding
"Peacebuilding" is the creation and nurturing of constructive relationships across ethnic,
religious, class, and racial boundaries. Peacebuilders seek to resolve social inequities and
transform structural conditions that generate deadly conflict. This work spans the entire conflict
cycle and includes conflict prevention, conflict management, conflict resolution and
transformation, and post-conflict reconciliation.

Strategic peacebuilding, a special focus of the Kroc Institute, is a set of complementary

practices aimed at transforming a society from a state of violence or deep injustice to one of
greater just peace. An evolving transdisciplinary framework that addresses new developments in
peace research in response to contemporary challenges, strategic peacebuilding begins with an
assessment of local issues — the challenges and strengths of people and communities “on the
ground” in any given conflict setting — and connects them with national and international actors
and institutions. It may involve efforts to stop open warfare as well as practices that create
sustainable peace and justice, such as monitoring of peace agreements, demobilization of armed
parties, accountability for human rights violators, economic development, reconciliation, and
resettlement of displaced people.
The Kroc Institute, along with Oxford University Press, has developed a multi-volume book
series on strategic peacebuilding: The Oxford Studies of Strategic Peacebuilding. The series is
edited by Scott Appleby, John Paul Lederach, and Daniel Philpott.

Books in the series include:

 When Political Transitions Work: Reconciliation as Interdependence (2020), by Fanie

du Toit
 The Peace Continuum (2018), by Patrick Regan, Christian Davenport, and Erik
Melander.
 Understanding Quality Peace (2018), edited by Peter Wallensteen and Madhav Joshi
 Quality Peace: Peacebuilding, Victory, & World Order (2015), by Peter Wallensteen
 Restorative Justice, Reconciliation, and Peacebuilding (2014), by Jennifer J. Llewellyn
and Daniel Philpott
 Counting Civilian Casualties: An Introduction to Recording and Estimating
Nonmilitary Deaths in Conflict (2013), by Taylor B. Seybolt, Jay D. Aronson, and
Baruch Fischhoff
 Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation (2012), by Daniel Philpott
 Unionists, Loyalists, and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland (2011), by Lee
A. Smithey
 Strategies of Peace (2010), by Daniel Philpott and Gerard Powers

As part of the Kroc Institute's 2024-2029 Strategic Plan, the writing, editing and publication of a
new, state-of-the-art volume is underway, designed to revise and update the Institute's field-
defining book, Strategies of Peace: Transforming Conflict in a Violent World (Oxford University
Press, 2010)
What is Strategic Peacebuilding?
Peacebuilding is the development of constructive personal, group, and political relationships
across ethnic, religious, class, national, and racial boundaries. It aims to resolve injustice in
nonviolent ways and to transform the structural conditions that generate deadly conflict.
Peacebuilding can include conflict prevention; conflict management; conflict resolution and
transformation, and post-conflict reconciliation.

Peacebuilding becomes strategic when it works over the long run and at all levels of society to
establish and sustain relationships among people locally and globally. Strategic peacebuilding
connects people and groups “on the ground” (community and religious groups, grassroots
organizations, etc.) with policymakers and powerbrokers (governments, the United Nations,
corporations, banks, etc.) It aims not only to resolve conflicts, but to build societies, institutions,
policies, and relationships that are better able to sustain peace and justice.

Strategic peacebuilders address issues of human rights, economic prosperity, and environmental
sustainability as well as violence. Research on strategic peacebuilding »

Strategic peacebuilding stretches across generations. While it engages immediate crises, strategic
peacebuilding recognizes that peacemaking is a long-term vocation that requires the building of
cross-group networks and alliances that will survive intermittent conflicts and create a platform
for sustainable human development and security.
Conflict Analysis
Conflict analysis is a tool that assists with analyzing the dynamics of a specific context in
relation to how they might enable or inhibit conflict, and developing strategies for reducing or
eliminating the onset and impact of violent conflict.

Conflict Analysis assists with understanding a specific context and developing strategies for
avoiding, mitigating or eliminating violent conflict and its impacts, and strengthening the driving
forces of peace. Conflict analysis takes a systematic, holistic approach to:

 Understanding the background and history of the society, including factors that have
previously enabled or inhibited conflict;
 Identifying all the relevant actors and stakeholders, including women and ‘peace
capacities’ such as CSOs and other affected groups;
 Understanding the perspectives of these actors and how they relate to each other; and
 dentifying the causes of conflict
Conflict analysis is relevant not only in conflict-affected areas, where it informs responses to
mitigate violence, but also to look at opportunities for reinforcing the foundations of peaceful
societies through development efforts that strengthen their resilience, particularly infrastructures
for peace. Conflict analysis provides an evidence base to enable the management of transitions
from one political situation to another, mitigate the impact turbulence and reduce the likelihood
of the (re-) emergence of violent conflict.

Why is conflict analysis important?

Applying a conflict analysis lens prevents national and international actors from concentrating
resources and efforts only on responding to the symptoms of conflict, but rather supporting
national counterparts and governments to engage in effective political processes through analysis
of causality, linkages, entry-points and opportunities for action.

Furthermore, the process of generating a deeper understanding of the peace and conflict
dynamics in a particular situation helps international actors ensure that a broader, more inclusive
set of groups and communities are included in development and peacebuilding processes. Where
conflict has already become violent, conflict analysis can contribute to deepening understanding
on ways to possibly to de-escalate violence and manage its consequences, while simultaneously
addressing its causes.

Critically, conflict analysis examines peace engines, or peace capacities, i.e. elements within a
society that mitigate the emergence and proliferation of violent conflict and strengthen the
foundations for peace, drawing upon the innate resilience of a society. Conflict analysis can
serve to identify these peace engines, how and where they strengthen peace, and their potential to
prevent of violent conflict.

Complementing a conflict analysis with human rights and political analysis tools can provide a
more comprehensive overview of the contextual dynamics and the root causes of conflict, which
can in turn support early detection of a worsening situation or new issues that need to be
addressed. As recognized by the UN 'Rights up Front' initiative, early signs of human rights
violations are often the clearest indications of a looming conflict. A comprehensive and common
analysis of the human rights situation and conflict drivers enables the organization to take
system-wide actions to prevent greater violations from occurring.

Data Quality
October 30, 2018 lisaschirch

A good conflict assessment framework is not enough. Inaccurate or inadequate data put into a
perfect framework will still result in a faulty conflict assessment. This wastes time and money on
interventions that do not work.
This handbook includes guidance on the research process including how to:

Gather data sources that are accurate, reliable and triangulated. Data sources include books,
reports, blogs, news articles, twitter feeds, polling, interviews, focus groups, observations and the
interactive methods described in this handbook for use in multi-stakeholder workshops.

Evaluate the quality of each data source.Identify gaps in data or places where there is
uncertain or contradictory data. Identify hypotheses for why data may be conflicting. Make a
plan to gather further information. Researchers should ask:

 What information are we missing?

 Whose perspectives do we need to seek out?
 What research process could we use to discover this information?

What Does Conflict Assessment Include?

Conflict assessment is not the same thing as a needs assessment, context assessment or
intelligence assessment. Conflict assessment – also known as conflict analysis – is an interactive
research process. It conceptually organize factors driving conflict and supporting peace to
enable more effective peace and security policies, programs and projects.

Governments, universities and NGOs around the world have developed a variety of similar
conflict assessment frameworks. A synthesis of these frameworks boils down to these
components. These six questions link directly to decisions relevant to planning.

WHERE is the conflict taking place? Are governance institutions functioning?

WHO is driving the conflict and who is supporting peace?

WHY are the key actors motivated to drive and mitigate conflict?

WHAT are the driving and mitigating factors?

HOW are key actors driving or mitigating conflict? With what means?

WHEN did the conflict escalate or deescalate in the past and what is the forecast for future
windows of opportunity or vulnerability?

Many other conflict assessment frameworks focus solely on conflict without examining local
capacity, resilience, or factors mitigating conflict and supporting peace. This approach maps
existing capacities and conflict mitigators as well as conflict drivers.
Factors Driving Conflict includes a range of lenses to map stakeholders and their means,
motivations, and core grievances, to map relationships between driving factors, and to identify
issues arising from the local context and windows of vulnerability given the historic legacy of
the conflict.Factors Mitigating Conflict includes a range of lenses to map stakeholders
supporting peace, to identify local traditions, values, and institutions supporting resiliency and
social capital, and to assess possible windows of opportunity for peacebuilding.

Conflict Sensitivity
A conflict sensitive approach involves gaining and applying an understanding of
the dynamics between an intervention and the context in which that intervention takes place to
minimize negative impacts maximize positive impacts of this intervention on conflict dynamics.

For humanitarian and development agencies, the focus on conflict-sensitive approaches has
arisen in response to the need for more effective programmes that positively affect the pursuit of
sustainable peace in all societies, and do no harm.

Conflict sensitivity can be described as the capacity of an organization to:

 Understand the context in which it operates;

 Understand the interaction between its interventions and the context; and
 Act upon these understandings to avoid negative impacts - do no harm - and maximize
positive impacts on sustaining peace.

Conflict analysis is a central component to conflict sensitive practice as it provides the

foundation to inform conflict sensitive programming, in particular in terms of an understanding
of the interaction between the intervention and the context
Taking a conflict sensitive approach when planning and coordinating any type of engagement, including
programmes, responds to the need for more effective interventions that contribute to sustainable
development and lasting peace. It ensures that tensions are not exacerbated, nor existing conflict
dynamics reinforced when resources are infused into complex and/or conflict-affected environments. It
applies to all fields of work, encompassing humanitarian assistance, development, peacekeeping and
peacebuilding. It also applies to all actors including UN entities, development partners, civil society,
government, and private sector. Conflict sensitivity is an effective mechanism for mainstreaming conflict
prevention into planning and programming processes.

The Course offers an opportunity to acquire a deeper understanding and hands-on skills to apply
conflict-sensitive approaches in humanitarian, development, peacebuilding and security work led
by the UN and its partner organizations. It is an online, self-paced, and free-of-charge learning
tool, accessible to all upon registration. It is part of the UN's continuous efforts to ensure that
practitioners are equipped to effectively navigate challenging development environments,
including complex political situations. More here.
CONFLICT SENSITIVITY EXPLAINED

 How to make peacebuilding programming more conflict sensitive? (video by DME for
Peace)
 Emergency Programming Conflict Sensitivity (video by World Food Programme)

Early Warning Early Response

At its core, early warning and early response systems are intended to identify and
analyze conflict trends, alert to conflict risk, inform decision-making and initiate
timely responses to prevent violent conflict.

Early warning usally consists of data collection and verification and risk analysis idenfifying
conflict trends and dynamics at various levels. On the basis of this analysis recommendations can
be made for timely and appropriate preventive action, or early response options, to targeted
stakeholders. Each early warning and early response (EWER) system has a specific mandate,
organizational set-up, information sources, analytical methods and links to decision-making. At
its core, EWER is a mechanism for the prevention, or reduction of the impact, of conflicts.

Through a regular feed of information and analysis on evolving conflict trends and
dynamics, EWER can provide the basis for a shared problem definition of conflict risk. As such,
it can inform crisis management decision-making by guiding priority setting and programming.
EWER can also serve as a more local-level warning mechanism that enables communities and
local authorities to seek safety or prevent the outbreak of violence; or as a platform for local
actors to monitor and analyze sub-national conflicts and initiate programmes to address the
causes of violence.
Key elements of effective EWER capacities

Good practice across generations of early warning systems highlights six key elements (source:
Saferworld, 2015):
1.Nurture field networks: Given the risk of misinformation in conflict areas, a good early
warning system is based in proximity to (if not in) the conflict area, has strong field networks of
monitors and uses multiple sources of open source information.

2.Use only open source information: The use of open sources facilitates collaborative (and
integrated) responses to conflict. Grey or black (secret) information is not easily shared and
systems using such sources have mainly an internal client base. Good practice in response-
focused systems is therefore the exclusive use of open source information.

3.Mix methods: Response planning is best informed by qualitative analysis. However, trends
monitoring is also useful and is best done by using quantitative methods. As such, a good early
warning system uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative analytical methods.

4.Use technology: Technology (particularly the use of mobile phones) enables speed in
information collection and in sharing information and alerts.

5.Report regularly: Regular monitoring of conflict situations differentiates the work of an early
warning system from ad hoc conflict analysis exercises. It is important as conflict dynamics
evolve rapidly and are fluid. A good early warning system monitors and reports regularly to its
client base, with a menu of different types of reports and briefings.

6.A two-way connection between warning and response: Most early warning systems are
focused on catalyzing response, but in practice it has proven challenging to establish a link
between Early Warning and Early Response. To address this gap, good practice indicates that the
best way of linking warning and response is to foster an exchange between warners and
responders; that is, by drawing early warning analysts to brief response planners, or using field
monitors as first responders to address

Democratic Governance
Inclusive political processes are crucial to sustaining peace and conflict prevention, as they
contribute to remedying structural inequities and other root causes of conflict.

Establishing and strengthening inclusive political processes aims to improve the participation
and political influence of citizens, make governments and institutions more accountable, and
build a stronger and more inclusive social contract. Inclusion is a central tenet in the 2030
Agenda, most notably through SDG 16, SDG 10 and SDG 5. An inclusive political process is an
integral component of conflict prevention efforts. Political processes include strengthening rule
of law mechanisms, facilitating constitutional reform processes, providing electoral cycle
support, and parliamentary development.
Rule of Law

In crisis and conflict-affected contexts, particularly those with a legacy of political violence or
undergoing complex political transitions, establishing the rule of law is essential to preventing
the outbreak or recurrence of conflict. Strengthening the rule of law through security and justice
services that are inclusive, governed effectively, empower women to access justice, counter
impunity, and follow international standards is critical for driving development. Strengthening of
the rule of law furthermore needs to emphasize confidence building between society and the
state. This can be done through assisting national authorities in achieving quick wins through
immediate restoration of service delivery, as well as delivering on comprehensive, sector-wide
reforms that are inclusive and prioritize national ownership for long-term sustainability.

Elections

Elections are a vital part of democratic processes including, political transitions, implementation
of peace agreements and consolidation of democracy. Elections provide a critical intersection
between citizens and the interlinked goals of poverty alleviation, human development, and
ultimately, the achievement of the SDGs. The political legitimacy that credible elections confer
is essential for healthy states and provide a crucial mandate if governments are to have the
capacity to tackle the multitude of sustainable development challenges.

Preventing election violence goes beyond the organization of free and fair elections. Peaceful
elections are no guarantee for democratic quality, while free and fair elections are no guarantee
for election security. The methods and tools to prevent election violence vary widely in terms of
the implementing actor, timing, or scope and often include specialized early warning systems
and recurring risk assessments. Early changes to electoral laws may be authorized domestically
years before voters hit the polls to improve access to and fairness of the voting process.
Preventive measures can be taken by local government authorities, as they carry the primary
responsibility for the transparent and peaceful organization of elections. Political parties, local
media, and domestic NGOs, such as youth organizations, may play a constructive role as well, as
long as governing authorities allow them the space to operate. The practice of election violence
prevention also targets different groups and individuals, depending on risk assessments in
particular contexts.

Access the Electoral Knowledge Network

The ACE Electoral Knowledge Network provides comprehensive and authoritative information
on elections, promotes networking among election-related professionals and offers capacity
development services.

Parliamentary support

Effective political institutions such as parliaments and political parties are central to advancing
strong systems of democratic governance. Parliaments can be powerful agents of change,
particularly during and after times of crisis and are essential to a vibrant democracy, maintaining
peace, upholding the rule of law and human rights, promoting gender equality, advocating for
inclusive politics, increasing economic prosperity and promoting social justice. Accordingly,
parliaments must be well structured, resourced and empowered to effectively fulfil their
mandate.

Parliamentary support includes building the capacities of Members of Parliament to discharge

their constitutional law-making, oversight and representation mandates, as well as increasing the
capacities of civil society actors to act as intermediaries in political advocacy.

Access Agora

AGORA is the leading portal for the parliamentary development community, connecting
international organizations, parliamentary development experts, but also Members of Parliament,
parliamentary staff, NGOs and civil society organizations active in the field of parliamentary
development.

Insider Mediation
Local or national mediators, also referred to as 'Insider Mediators', can play a key role in
changing attitudes and behaviors that promote violence, create spaces for dialogue, and can
connect different mediation 'tracks' in a manner that helps prevent conflict and help peace
agreements endure.

Today's conflicts are increasingly decentralized and complex. Recurring violence is combined
with waves of popular protests, election-related conflicts, and tensions around natural resources.
With this comes the realization that short-term, international interventions alone are insufficient
to address the complex and inter-dependent dynamics of these conflicts. Instead there is an
increasing focus on the need for mediation capacities that are ‘national’ or local’ i.e. endogenous
in order to sustain conflict resolution and prevention efforts. The concept and practice of insider
mediation emerged from this recognition.

Insider mediators can be defined as "an individual or group of individuals who derive their
legitimacy, credibility and influence from a socio-cultural and/or religious - and, indeed,
personal - 'closeness' to the parties of the conflict, endowing them with strong bonds of trust that
help foster the necessary attitudinal changes amongst key protagonists which, over time, prevent
conflict and contribute to sustaining peace." Insider mediators have the advantage of being
trusted and respected individuals, and therefore bring with them a higher legitimacy, cultural
closeness with the parties, and an ability to use their influence and credibility to play a
constructive role in dispute resolution or conflict prevention.
Photo: UN Women/Bruno Gumyubumwe

The Key Characteristics of Insider Mediation

Insider mediators can include traditional chiefs and other eminent persons, political leaders, or
representatives of recognized groups, such as faith-based organizations or labor unions.

Insider mediators have long-standing relationships with individuals and communities in conflict.
This sustained engagement with a particular country or community ascribes insider mediators
with a unique set of relationships and insights. It is two qualities, however, that define insider
mediators: legitimacy and influence.

There are different ways in which insider mediators contribute to the peaceful transformation of
conflicts. They build trust and confidence between stakeholders, or serve as intermediaries,
helping to exchange information and messages in formal or informal talks. In recent years insider
mediators have proved successful in ensuring peaceful elections; facilitating dialogue, breaking
political deadlocks and establishing the groundwork for formal peace negotiations in a number of
countries.
Insider mediators are a crucial component of infrastructures for peace (I4P). First, in order to
ensure the long-term sustainability of these national capacities, there must be a degree of
formalization or institutionalization of insider mediation system, which could be defined as
I4Ps. But the work of insider mediators themselves often provides the basis for the formation or
consolidation of an I4P at the country level.

EU-UN Project on Insider Mediation

Since 2012, the United Nations has worked closely with the European Union to support the
development, strengthening, and application of insider mediation capacities in a growing number
of countries. The project ended its second phase in 2018 and involved activities at the global and
regional levels, and sought to strengthen collaboration between the EU and the UN, including
through joint conflict analysis and regional exchanges, as well as country-level activities in nine
pilot countries geared towards supporting insider mediation capacities. More here.

Insider Mediation in Practice

 In the Moskitia region in Honduras, local insider mediators from indigenous

communities have been trained to act as mediators to resolve land-related conflicts
between the government and their communities. They now form part of an inter-
institutional dialogue mechanism called the 'Territorial Governance Platform', through
which regular dialogue spaces are facilitated between the indigenous people and
government representatives to address land disputes and identify opportunities for
sustainable development initiatives. Read case study

 The work of the Christian Council of Lesotho has been instrumental in fostering peaceful
elections in Lesotho. This well-respected insider mediator group has provided a safe
space for dialogue among political parties, served as a facilitator, and brought in technical
experts in a timely manner to advise the parties on the best approaches, and to clarify
specific matters as and when they emerged. Read case study.

 In the Philippines, insider mediators played a critical role in the Bangsamoro peace
process. The 'Friends of Peace' group led by the Archbishop of Cotabato, and the Insider
Mediators Group comprised of senior advisors to the parties in the peace process, as well
as religious leaders and civic actors, have been able to support track-two dialogue among
stakeholders in the Bangsamoro peace process. The legitimacy and trust that these
 eminent persons enjoy enabled them to influence key actors on politically sensitive issues
that could not be discussed during the formal peace process. Through their sustained
efforts, political convergence was achieved among the various parties to the peace
process. The Insider Mediators Group applied their skills during the siege of Marawi City
in May 2017 where they successfully supported the implementation of a joint
humanitarian corridor and the release of trapped civilians and hostages. Amidst efforts by
ISIS-linked militants to provoke communal tensions, the Friends of Peace Group, helped
mitigate the risk of inter-religious conflict by promoting for solidarity and harmony.

Women in Peacebuilding
Ensuring the effective participation and leadership of women at all levels in formal and
informal peacemaking and peacebuilding processes is essential to sustaining peace.

The Women, Peace and Security Agenda is guided by a set of eight Security Council resolutions
that provide direction to efforts promoting gender equality and strengthening women's
participation, protection, and rights in conflict prevention to post-conflict reconstruction
contexts. These include landmark resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions 1820
(2008); 1888 (2009); 1889 (2009); 1960 (2010); 2106 (2013); 2122 (2013); and 2242 (2015).
Collectively, these resolutions stress the importance of women's equal participation and full
involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, the
prevention of conflicts, the incorporation of gender perspectives in all areas of peace-building,
and adequate protection, notably from sexual violence in conflict.

Gender equality and women's empowerment lie at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, which set an ambitious universal plan of action to achieve the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), with a central pledge to leave no one behind. It recognizes that
realizing gender equality is a matter of human rights and is crucial to progress across all the
goals and targets. As such, progress towards the SDGs will not be achieved if women are denied
access towards decision-making and agency in peacebuilding.

The achievement of full gender equality is one of the most important, though less acknowledged
prerequisites of peace. Only when women are acknowledged as full partners, with equal rights,
in all fields of human endeavor, can an enabling environment for an enduring peace be created.
Photo: Sojoud Elgarrai/UNAMID

Women in Peacebuilding

Women have always participated in peace processes and peacebuilding, but often at the informal
level and rarely visible to the formal peacemakers. The participation of women is however key to
the success and sustainability of peace processes and peacebuilding efforts. An analysis of 181
peace agreements signed between 1989 and 2011 reveals that peace processes in which women
acted as witnesses, signatories, mediators and/or negotiators demonstrated a 20 per cent increase
in the probability of a peace agreement lasting at least two years (Stone 2014). This percentage
increases over time, with a 35 per cent increase in the probability of a peace agreement lasting 15
years.

Although it is imperative to increase women's participation in peace processes, it has proven

difficult to increase the number of women as at the peace negotiating table and ensure a gender
perspective into a peace agreement. This is often the case because women's absence from the
peace table reflects their restricted access to decision making positions in the pre-conflict and
conflict phase. Subsequently, it is important to understand that advocacy for women's human
rights should not have a singular focus on the participation of women at the peace table. It should
also lobby on setting up alternative inclusion mechanisms and including a critical gender
perspective into items on the agenda of the peace process, such as DDR, land rights, justice
issues, employment opportunities, and community reintegration.

Women's inclusion in political processes

Women's involvement in informal and formal political processes, and access to decision-making
is an essential component of peacebuilding efforts that increases sustainability. Countries with
increased women's participation and leadership in politics and civil society tend to be more
inclusive, responsive, egalitarian and democratic (Markham 2013; Rosenthal 2001; UNDP 2014,
2016a; UNRISD 2005). For example, a study of 39 countries found that a higher presence of
women in legislature is correlated with higher perceptions of government legitimacy among men
and women (Schwindt-Bayer and Mishler 2005). Another cross-country analysis found that
when at least one-quarter of members of parliament are women, laws that discriminate against
women are more likely to be repealed (Hallward-Driemeier et al. 2013). The participation of
women in political processes is integral to building strong communities and shaping
policymaking in ways that better reflects their needs, as well as those of their children, families
and communities (Dahlerup 1986; Jones 2005; Schwindt-Bayer 2006).

National Action Plans

National Action Plans for UNSCRs 1325 & 1820 (NAPs) are key entry points for gender-
responsive peacebuilding, particularly at country level and can leverage important sub-regional
and regional leadership and networks to inform overall strategy and define programmatic
activities. The operationalization of the NAPs remains a challenge in terms of tracking gender,
conflict, and peacebuilding dynamics and linking them better to post-conflict financing and
planning processes. It is important to learn and scale up from instances where deliberate planning
efforts have been made, and to actively link the NAPs to post-conflict financing. More here.

Furthermore, better documentation of good practices and operational learning is needed in terms
of what works and what does not and how feasible is it to replicate or upscale such efforts.

Youth & Peacebuilding

Youth can - and do - play active roles as agents of positive change in their communities. Young
people are valuable innovators, and their contribution to sustaining peace should be encouraged
and supported.

Youth are especially vulnerable to multiple and often interlinked forms of violence; in areas of
conflict they face specific challenges such as having to take on adult responsibilities, while at the
same time missing years of education. They are also particularly affected by consequences of
conflict such as unemployment, social rupture, trauma and – especially for those involved as
combatants – loss of status and resources. Besides economic and social marginalization, they
often face political exclusion and, as a result, their transition to adulthood can be prolonged or
blocked.

At the same time, the involvement of some young people in extremist groups for instance has led
to a widespread portrayal of youth as a threat to peace and global security. Consequently, the
depiction of youth in conflict is marked by a dichotomy: they are either portrayed as victims or
perpetrators. However, the reality is much more nuanced. Increasing evidence from the field and
academic research show that youth play active and valuable roles in peacebuilding.
Photo: UNDP Maldives
Youth can be positive agents of change in their communities in time of conflict. Early action to
stabilize their livelihoods builds resilience and provides alternatives for at-risk-youth. Ensuring
political participation supports social cohesion and makes use of the innovative power of youth.
Peace education and developing peacebuilding skills – which also enable youth to pass on their
gained insight and techniques – contribute to sustainable and large-scale capacity building.

On 9 December 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution
2250, a historic resolution on Youth, Peace and Security, which recognizes that “young people
play an important and positive role in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and
security.” It identified five key pillars of actions for empowering the work of youth in efforts to
prevent violence, reconcile communities and resolve conflict, including: participation,
protection, prevention, partnerships, and disengagement and reintegration.

For statistical purposes, the United Nations General Assembly defines youth as between the ages
of 15- 24, without prejudice to other definitions by Member States. However, since in many
countries people below the age of 35 who are active in politics are considered young, a more
flexible and expansive definition of youth is people between the ages of 15 and 35. When
engaging with youth, it is important to note the wide range at hand.

Entry Points for Youth Empowerment

Strategic entry points therefore focus on empowering and mobilizing youth as positive agents of
change within their communities and strengthening youth-led organizations and infrastructures
for peace by:

 Strengthen young people's capacities for peacebuilding, for example by providing

training on how to use new technologies to mobilize their communities for positive
change or peace education techniques which they can employ and pass on.
 Support the establishment or strengthening of global, regional and national youth peace
networks to provide more online as well as face-to-face platforms for knowledge sharing
and peer-to-peer collaboration.
 Address harmful patriarchal attitudes and gender biases. Encourage the participation of
young women in peacebuilding to ensure that peace agreements reflect gender specific
language.
 Actively involve youth from diverse background to ensure that peacebuilding results in
sustainable peace beneficial for all, especially ethnic/sexual minorities, youth from lower
socioeconomic class, and those who are often disproportionately affected by conflict,
including young forced migrants, IDPs and indigenous youth.
 Provide youth at risk of (re)joining armed criminal groups with alternative/diversified
livelihood opportunities. Engage them in recovery efforts (e.g. rehabilitation of social and
socio-economic community infrastructure) to support a more positive image of youth-at-
risk in reintegration efforts.
 Support initiatives that work with youth to form their visions for their country and enable
implementation through focused skills-based training.
  Support youth and youth organizations to play a pivotal role in helping re-establish
relationships, including a renewed social contract between the state and its citizens as
well as between generations.

SDG 16
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice
for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in September 2015 by UN Member
States is a universal and transformative vision to eradicate extreme poverty over the next 15
years within a framework of sustainable peace for people and the planet. The 2030 Agenda
promotes the achievement of a set of 17 interdependent social, economic and environmental
"Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs), including SDG 16 to "Promote peaceful and inclusive
societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,
accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels." Goal 16 and related targets and indicators are
seen as an enabler goal for the entire 2030 Agenda, as without peace, effective institutions, and
inclusive access to public goods and services, there can be no human development. This includes
access to justice for all; effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels; reducing
violence; tackling corruption and organized crime; ensuring access to information and protecting
fundamental freedoms. SDG 16 is thus seen as both an end in itself, and a crucial part of
delivering sustainable development in all countries.
Monitoring and Reporting on SDG 16

Since committing to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Member States have also adopted
numerous ways of tracking progress towards each of the goals, ensuring that no one is left
behind. There are many SDG-related reporting processes taking place at the national and
international levels, including: Voluntary National Reviews for the annual High-Level Political
Forum (HLPF).

Monitoring of SDG16 is however a relatively new area of engagement. The data required to
report progress on SDG 16 goes beyond that which is currently collected by most National
Statistical Systems. It includes survey and administrative data—from line ministries, local
governments, justice sector institutions, national human rights institutions—as well as statistics
and stories available to civil society organizations, media, academia, and the private sector.
Furthermore, the 2030 Agenda is about strengthened national ownership, and empowering
transformation. Many countries wish to develop additional indicators, which reflect their own
priorities, and to use information sources that enable them to report progress in a way that gives a
more comprehensive sense of how life is changing for ordinary people—for example, the human
stories available to journalists and civil society organizations can offer an important complement
to statistics. Where can relevant data and information be found? Which institutions can help to
obtain, analyze and present it in a way that makes it understandable and useful to policy makers?
And how can the reporting process itself promote peaceful, just, and inclusive societies?
Reporting on the targets and indicators included in the global SDG 16 framework requires a new
approach that entails a collaborative effort.

The Global Alliance for Reporting Progress on Promoting Peaceful, Just and Inclusive
Societies

Recognizing the need to form new partnerships to support Member States to report on peaceful,
just, and inclusive societies, the Global Alliance brings together Member States, civil society,
and the private sector to support effective and meaningful reporting on the achievement of
peaceful, just, and inclusive societies—taking into account different national realities, capacities
and levels of development, and respecting national policies and priorities. Co-facilitators UNDP,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNODC and the UN Global Compact provide Secretariat support to the
Alliance, and assist to deliver support in response to direct country requests for assistance, and
with preparation of events and dialogues between members.

Dialogue Process
Dialogue processes aim to change relationships between individuals or groups by, among other
things, addressing conflict drivers, foster reconciliation, build consensus on new approaches to
address common challenges, and define a shared vision of the future.

Although there is no standard definition, dialogue is often conceptualized as the process of

people coming together to build mutual understanding and trust across their differences, and to
create positive outcomes through this process. When used in the right context and with the
appropriate methods, a dialogue process allows new realities and innovative solutions to unfold.

Dialogue processes can range from inter-personal local level type of engagement, to multi-
stakeholder, high level international peace processes; there is no one-size-fits all approach.
Dialogue is an adaptive tool that can be used as a preventative measure, during a conflict as a
bridge-builder and post-conflict as a potential reconciler and beyond.

What is the importance of dialogue?

Dialogue is an inclusive process that can bring together a diverse set of voices to create a
microcosm of the larger society. To bring about sustainable change, people have to develop a
sense of joint ownership of the process and become stakeholders in identifying new approaches
to address common challenges.
Dialogue entails learning, not just talking. It should be viewed as a transformative process that
can change the way people talk, think and communicate with one another. Unlike other forms of
discussion, dialogue requires self-reflection, spirit of inquiry and personal change to be present.
Participants must be willing to address the root causes of a crisis, not just the symptoms on the
surface.

Democratic Dialogue

Democratic dialogue is an approach that strengthens democratic institutions by providing

citizens with the opportunity to voice their concerns, needs and interests—especially people who
are normally disempowered from expressing themselves. Democratic dialogue seeks to
transform conflictive relationships so as to prevent crises and violence and therefore, contribute
to enhance democratic governance. The goal of democratic dialogue is not merely to exchange
information, but rather to transform through dialogue. In societies characterized by complex
networks with conflicting interests the challenge is not to avoid conflict but to transform it
altogether, while strengthening legitimate social structures and preventing violence. Democratic
dialogue allows us to address this challenge when applied as a tool for change and for building
consensus so as to balance power in society and open new channels of access and participation
for citizens.

Building National Capacities for Prevention

The Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention is
an innovative partnership that brings together the political and development arms of the United
Nations in order to provide comprehensive and catalytic support to emerging and ongoing
conflict prevention initiatives in various countries around the globe.

National actors are usually best placed to help their societies identify and manage tensions,
diffuse conflicts constructively and promote dialogue exactly when and where it is needed most.
Assisting national stakeholders to develop their own solutions to their challenges and building
their capacities to do so is one of the most sustainable ways to prevent and mitigate conflict and
ensure development.

The Joint UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Department for Political and
Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict
Prevention was launched in 2004 with the primary objective to do just that: build and consolidate
national capacities, provide support to wide-ranging initiatives for conflict prevention in conflict-
affected and fragile countries, as well as those undergoing political instability or difficult
transitions.

This partnership between UNDP and DPPA was designed to build on and enhance the
complementary capacities of each partner. By bringing together political, peacebuilding, and
development work, the Joint Programme seeks to ensure that UN Country Teams and UN
Resident Coordinators are equipped to maximize the UN's conflict prevention efforts and
navigate the risks inherent to increasingly complex environments.
From the deployment of Peace and Development Advisors to targeted assistance

Since 2004, the Joint Programme has contributed to UN support to achieve violence-free
elections, help build and sustain viable platforms for dialogue or conflict resolution, and support
the development of infrastructures for peace. The overarching goal of these initiatives is to
strengthen conflict prevention capacities at the national and the local level.

The deployment of Peace and Development Advisors (or PDAs) is the main and most visible
output of the Joint Programme. More Here.

Recognizing the need to provide targeted external support and accompaniment to the UN
presence in the field and national stakeholders during key milestones, such as elections or
national dialogue processes, the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme also provides such assistance for
specific conflict prevention and facilitation activities in various countries.

reflective practice
A significant challenge for peacebuilding practitioners is cultivating habits of reflection that
promote the explicit building of knowledge and the development of theory, as well as tend to the
deeper wellsprings of meaning, purpose, and wellbeing. From the technical perspective,
reflective practice seeks to build understanding, knowledge, and improvement of practice
through explicit and disciplined reflection. From the vocational perspective, reflective practice
seeks to cultivate deep presence with oneself and in relationship with others. The resources in
this section provide tools and guidance for individuals and organizations to engage in and
integrate reflective practice as an avenue through which to nurture the quality and depth of their
peacebuilding practice.

The Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) is home to interconnected programs that
ultimately invest in Leadership and facilitation for lasting peace in Asia. CPCS interventions
focus on: leadership, learning, analysis, and facilitation bringing our experience as well as
connections across the region as resources to support new thinking, new relationships, and new
interventions.

 Systematic analysis and facilitation for practical conflict resolution, by accompanying

regional and national conflicts in Asia.
 Investing in peace leadership for conflict transformation, through academics. diplomacy
and peace leadership courses; and
 Utilises practical learning for pragmatic change, connecting academics and practitioners
from across the region to share learning and best practices.

HOW WE BEGAN
Founded in 2008, CPCS is a Cambodia-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in
the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation in Asia.

Recognising the wealth of peacebuilding knowledge and experience in the Asia region, the
Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) was born from a desire to further strengthen,
support and share Asian approaches to conflict transformation.

The foundations for what is now CPCS were laid by local peace initiatives such as the Alliance
for Conflict Transformation (ACT) and Action Asia. With ACT committed to peacebuilding at
home in Cambodia, CPCS focused on engaging the Asia region at large.

WHAT WE DO
CPCS invests in individual peace leaders in Asia, to bolster their effectiveness and impact on
peace and conflict transformation.

The unique Applied Conflict Transformation Studies (ACTS) MA and PhD programs blend
academic research, practical peacebuilding, and leadership skills for peace practitioners from
across Asia to strengthen their peace work.

As part of our commitment to continued learning, CPCS hosts regional forums and
conferences to provide safe and dynamic spaces for practitioners and academics to share and
learn from Asian peace processes and conflict transformation. Emerging theory, best practices,
and reflections from the region’s experts in mediation, negotiation, and facilitation of the peace
process are made available through publications and videos available on the CPCS website and
social media.
 diagrams
As a deeply reflective practitioner, John Paul's scholarship is predicated on experience-shaped
learning from which he has inductively developed theoretical perspectives. These theories have
significantly influenced the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Elaborated in
numerous books, book chapters, and articles, many of these theories were originally captured
visually in doodles and later took the form of diagrams and charts. A selection of these are
displayed in this section. (Please note that permission to reprint these figures in to-be-published
materials must be sought from the publishers of the books in which they feature.)

Peacebuilding and the value of the network

approach
21 September 2022 News Johanna Hilbert

I have often been asked to explain the GPPAC network and its uniqueness. By dedicated donors,
passionate policymakers, and even my mother. That is why on the occasion of International
Peace Day 2022, I decided to take a step back and ask why a group of local peacebuilders feels
the need to come together in a network. What is its value?
My question dates back to the founding of GPPAC in 2003, when local peacebuilding
organisations followed the call of late UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, urging civil society
with interest in conflict prevention to unite their efforts. That was the moment the GPPAC
network was born.

The word network means a group of people with the same interests. For almost twenty years, the
GPPAC network has brought together local peacebuilders who share an unwavering passion and
determination for building peace. Still, the term peacebuilding network and its function remain
somewhat abstract. That is why I realised that one cannot understand the necessity of a
peacebuilding network and the value it brings without talking about its members. Let me
introduce you to Meri, Nqobile and Rose, whose peacebuilding work exemplifies three core
characteristics of our network.

Acting as a safe umbrella to bring people together

The Ulaanbaatar Process (UBP) brings together civil society experts from Northeast Asia,
including from both Koreas, to exchange information, opinions, and experience to shape a
peaceful future in the region. Meri from our member organisation Peace Boat impresses not only
with her fluent Japanese, as she is originally from Australia but also with her ability to truly unite
people during Ulaanbaatar Process meetings. The meetings are unique as Cold War divisions are
still present in the region, meaning that “us” versus “them” rival politics and military threats
dominate. In a conversation with a donor representative, Meri once said ‘’of course, Ulaanbaatar
Process participants stay in touch with partners in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
even when the high-level political phone lines are dead.’’ The person could almost not believe
what she was saying so explicitly - that civil society has regular contact with representatives in
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This steady relationship is only possible because the
GPPAC network acts as a safe umbrella for civil society to meet under in times of stability and
crisis. If the organisation in the lead of the UBP were based in one specific Northeast Asian
country, the dialogue platform would not be seen as unbiased. Therefore its efforts might not
have been sustained so successfully over time.

Creating an empowering space to share experiences and expertise

In August 2022, our member Nqobile with his infectious smile from Zimbabwe got in touch with
Lawal from our member Building Blocks for Peace in Nigeria. Nqobile wanted to learn more
about how Lawal and his colleagues supported the development of the second National Action
Plan on Youth Peace and Security in Nigeria because Zimbabwe is about to embark on this
exciting journey. Lawal immediately agreed to a call during which he openly shared his
experience with Nqobile. He talked about challenges encountered and proudly presented good
practices. This one-hour call not only stands for the safe space the GPAPC network provides for
knowledge sharing but also for the expertise that exists within it. We know that informal
exchanges such as these create trustful, healthy, and dynamic relationships in which
peacebuilders can learn from and with each other to make their peacebuilding action impactful.
And we know that Nqobile will soon use and share that learning with others, truly living the
multiplier effects of our network, allowing knowledge to flow and be adapted from one context
to another.
Opening doors to donors for small organisations

Rose is the Executive Director of CECORE, a small but mighty peacebuilding organisation
located in the capital of Uganda, Kampala. She is devoted to her organisation's peacebuilding
projects the same way she is to her family, whom she mentions a lot. Rose and her colleagues
speak the local languages, engage with local communities, and understand local culture and
traditions. It should be obvious that they know best how to address the different root causes of
conflict in the country. However, small, local organisations such as CECORE struggle to directly
access the necessary funding to maintain their crucial work. This problem lies in the current
funding system and its l requirements. CECORE, with its impressive yet small-scale track record
and limited staff to dedicate time to fulfilling heavy donor reporting requirements, would not
have been able to scale up its work with such impact had it not been for its membership in the
GPPAC network. In 2019, Rose and her colleagues teamed up with the GPPAC Global
Secretariat, based in The Hague, to raise funds from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In
this process that we call locally-led peacebuilding, CECORE was in the lead in designing the
whole project proposal. The entire proposal was built on the input of other GPPAC members
from neighbouring countries, making the project more regionally sensitive and relevant. The
Global Secretariat was a mentor in the writing process and supported CECORE by connecting it
to potential donors. It also provided light support during reporting periods. The network allowed
Rose and her colleagues to do what they do best - design and implement peacebuilding activities.
With great success. CECORE is now successfully partnering directly with the German Ministry
of Foreign Affairs on its ‘’Peace Champion’’ project, without the support of GPPAC GS. As
Rose explains

‘’GPPAC offered us a launchpad. It really supported us in strengthening our skills, especially in

reporting that helped us secure direct funding on our own.’’

Rose, Nqobile, and Meri are just three of our hundreds of members. However, their personal
experiences with the network bring out so strongly what makes the GPPAC network unique and
impactful. First and foremost, the trust we place in each other and the recognition of our
peacebuilding expertise. Rose, Nqoible, and Meri prove that the network approach in
peacebuilding works because it empowers organisations and elevates their peacebuilding
approaches so desperately needed to build sustainable peace. It also fosters the exchange of
experience and expertise, which means we do not have to reinvent the wheel in peacebuilding; so
much knowledge is there. And lastly, the network is a safe umbrella that brings people together
across divides. What better start could there be to lay the foundation for peace?

GPPAC Learning Month: Peacebuilding

from where we stand
29 August 2022 News We make September our Learning Month!
Being part of the GPPAC network means that we can lean on and learn from each other. This, in
turn, empowers us to lead impactful peacebuilding action from wherever we stand in the world.

GPPAC has been a platform for the exchange of local peacebuilding expertise ever since its
foundation in 2003. Over the years, local peacebuilders have explored what works well and what
could be improved in conflict prevention and peacebuilding practices, so other local
peacebuilders can learn from those best practices and lessons learned and adapt their
peacebuilding action. That is what we call learning for impact. Because learning is essential to
peacebuilding we are piloting Learning Month in September 2022!

What is GPPAC Learning Month in September about?

We are dedicating the entire month of September to learning from and with each other, to make
our collective peacebuilding action stronger, more visible, and accessible! Spread across four
weeks, members and interested stakeholders are invited to participate in online cross-regional
learning sessions organised by GPPAC peacebuilders! During these sessions, you can explore
and discuss various subjects and get to know other GPPAC members in a safe and informal
setting. Let's connect!

Why is a focus on learning in peacebuilding important?

Peacebuilding is not about reinventing the wheel. It is about constantly learning from one context
and adapting the learning to another. Networks such as ours are best placed to facilitate this
knowledge exchange, because we act in solidarity, recognise each other’s expertise and trust
each other. We feel safe to share our successes and failures (or successes in the making!). This
collective learning is the fuel to strengthening our joint peacebuilding impact.

“We are a network of locals, we share and learn from the experiences in different regions.
Being part of GPPAC helps us to magnify our struggle, it becomes a protection against the
local dangers we face, and allows our voices to be heard in global and regional arenas. ” - Gus
Miclat, Initiatives for International Dialogue, Philippines

How can I join Learning Month?

 If you are a GPPAC member, you can simply participate by registering for the sessions
you would like to join. You can find the full programme in the latest GPPAC-Update
email, or send an email to [email protected].
 If you are not a GPPAC member, you can still participate in the sessions that are open to
the wider public. You can find those sessions here. Are you interested in becoming a
GPPAC member? Learn more here.

Where is GPPAC Learning Month taking place?

The majority of the learning events in September will take place online, via our Zoom platform.
While this provides an excellent opportunity for us to connect across different regions, we are
aware of the limitations of meeting online such as unstable internet connection. That is why we
will be looking to host more in-person learning events during next year’s edition.

When is GPPAC Learning Month taking place?

GPPAC Learning Month takes place throughout September. However, this does not mean that
we reserve these few weeks for learning only! In fact, our network is meeting and organising
year round global, regional and local learning events. So stay tuned and remain engaged for
many more learning opportunities to come!

Where can I find the programme?

GPPAC members have received a special update with the programme. Sessions that are open to
non-GPPAC members can be found here.

How is Learning Month a learning experience in itself?

This year is the first time in our history that we organise an (online) GPPAC Learning Month!
This makes it a unique learning experience in itself. It really is a pilot: Where we hope to fail
together, innovate together, and learn together! Share your learnings throughout September using
#GPPACNetwork

Innovative Finance
Significant investments in health over the past two decades have yielded striking progress in the
fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Much of that has come through domestic resource
mobilization and traditional development assistance, but the health financing landscape is
shifting. Domestic funding has been accelerating, and there is both a need by and an interest
from the private sector to engage – a situation made all the more acute in the evolving COVID-
19 context. Building upon these trends, the Global Fund partnership is innovating – pursuing
new opportunities to further finance and accelerate the fight to end the epidemics.

The Global Fund connects countries with diverse partners – private sector investors,
philanthropists, civil society organizations, and multilateral donors – to develop and implement
practical, innovative finance mechanisms to increase the impact against the three diseases. These
solutions complement government spending and amplify domestic health financing.

We are uniquely positioned to enable innovative finance to have a catalytic effect. Our
experience shows that innovative finance can have significant impact by:

 Raising funds for program delivery

 Fostering innovation
 Increasing efficiency
  Supporting countries in transition and ensuring sustainability

Innovative Financing Platforms

Our partnership focuses on key innovative financing platforms, outlined on this page, that
complement the Global Fund’s funding model and government spending and that increase
impact by:

 Increasing funding for health programs beyond traditional funding mechanisms, both at a
Global Fund level and directly at the implementing country level
 Enhancing the efficiency and impact of our health programs

Consumer Donations

The Global Fund fosters partnerships that empower millions of individuals to contribute to the
cause of global health. We work with organizations that raise funds when individuals purchase
products or services, or create grassroots fundraising mechanisms. Some or all of the proceeds
support Global Fund-supported programs.

(RED) works with the world’s most iconic brands and organizations to develop (RED)-branded
products and services that, when purchased, activate corporate giving to the Global Fund. (RED)
has generated US$700 million to support the fight against AIDS in Africa through the Global
Fund.

Philanthropic Platforms

Innovative philanthropic investment funds enable different types of investors, foundations,

philanthropic leaders and others to pool their financial contributions to the fight. These pooled
funding mechanisms aim to mobilize and distribute funds in a more coordinated and efficient
way. Pooled fund investing is used to leverage financial resources as well as expertise to support
Global Fund-backed health programs.

Debt Swaps

The Global Fund’s Debt2Health program converts debt repayments into lifesaving investments
in health. Under individually negotiated “debt swap” agreements, an implementing country
agrees to invest in programs to fight the three diseases or strengthen health systems through the
Global Fund. In return, a creditor country cancels debt owed by the implementing country.

Since the inception of Debt2Health in 2007, ten implementing countries – Cameroon, Côte
d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Indonesia,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka – have invested more than US$226 million in domestic health programs
through the Global Fund. In return, Australia, Germany and Spain have canceled debt in those
implementing countries.
Blended Finance

Blended finance combines Global Fund grants with other sources of financing, including
investments from development finance institutions. Health programs can be conditional on, or
implemented in coordination with, investments from funding partners.

 In Central America, we support the Regional Malaria Elimination Initiative (RMEI),

which uses a mix of grants and concessional loans for collaborative programs to
eliminate malaria in participating countries. The Global Fund’s contribution has
leveraged additional new funding in collaboration with partners such as the Inter-
American Development Bank, Carlos Slim Foundation, Gates Foundation and domestic
financing.
 Loan buy-downs can increase domestic financing, accelerate investments in prevention
and scale up services. The Global Fund is investing US$40 million to help India secure a
US$400 million loan from the World Bank to fight tuberculosis. In addition to this, in
recent years, the Global Fund and the World Bank have signed multiple innovative
finance agreements, focused on a performance-based funding project in the Democratic
Republic of Congo and collaborated on technical support of a Multi-Donor Trust Fund
for Indonesia and Sri Lanka. A framework agreement was signed with the World Bank in
October 2019 and is expected to reduce transaction costs and lay the foundation for a
deeper partnership focused on increasing impact for countries. The first joint investment
under this agreement is due to be signed in autumn 2020.
 The Global Fund is working with Lives and Livelihoods Fund, a collaboration between
the Gates Foundation and Islamic Development Bank that provides concessional
financing through a combination of grants and concessional loans. In 2019, through the
Global Fund’s advocacy and technical support, the Lives and Livelihoods Fund approved
a $49.9 million concessional loan for Benin, focused on community health and health
systems strengthening.

Results-based Financing

Results-based financing is the disbursement of grant funds after pre-agreed results are achieved
at specific milestones. One form of this financing is known as “cash on delivery.”

 The Global Fund has supported results-based financing models in countries like Solomon
Islands, El Salvador and Rwanda.
 In Rwanda, we support a results-based financing approach called the National Strategy
Financing model. It enables Rwanda to evaluate performance against pre-defined targets
and shift resources as priorities change.

Outcome-based Financing

Outcome-based financing is the disbursement of funds after pre-defined outcomes are achieved,
with the donor or private investor generally providing upfront financing to a program
implementer. If the pre-agreed outcomes of the program are met, the investment is repaid, often
with a financial return. This financing includes social impact bonds, which focus investments
toward programs that yield effective social outcomes in the fight against the three diseases.

 In South Africa, the Global Fund supports a social impact bond to address HIV in
adolescent girls and young women.
 In countries in Africa and potentially Asia, we are exploring an outcomes-based
financing approach for malaria elimination.

New Possibilities
We are constantly exploring new possibilities for partnerships and funding sources to increase
our impact and save more lives. We follow a structured approach to identify innovative finance
mechanisms and apply them to specific situations to enhance

The leading consumer marketing initiative to finance HIV/AIDS programs through the Global Fund

Total contribution
US$760 million
Partner since
2006

Founded by Bono & Bobby Shriver in 2006 to fight AIDS, (RED) partners with the world’s most
iconic brands and people to create products and experiences that raise money, heat, and urgency
for global health crises. Every action you take with (RED) makes a difference. It’s simple:
Choose (RED). Save lives.

(RED) is a division of The ONE Campaign. Learn more at www.red.org.

For nearly 2 decades, (RED) has partnered with the world’s most innovative and iconic brands.

Mission
Preventable and treatable diseases are only preventable and treatable for some. (RED) works to
end that injustice. Together with its partners, (RED) drives critical awareness for the AIDS fight
and funds life-saving grants that empower health workers and provide testing, treatment, and
care in places where injustice enables pandemics to thrive. The majority of (RED)-supported
grants operate in sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to more than two-thirds of the global HIV
population. (RED) and the Global Fund work closely together to ensure the money is distributed
effectively and transparently across (RED)’s portfolio of grants.

Impact
As of June 2024, (RED) has generated over US$760 million to support Global Fund grants for
HIV and AIDS programs in Ghana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania,
Zambia, as well as Colombia and Guatemala. (RED) dollars have impacted the lives of over 290
million people in countries where the Global Fund invests, through locally designed programs
that provide HIV testing and counseling, support HIV prevention, provide antiretroviral therapy
for HIV-positive individuals, care for children orphaned by AIDS and provide the low-cost
treatments needed to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child. All programs are
reviewed and measured for success.

Before (RED), businesses had contributed just US$5 million to the Global Fund, while the public
sector had given more than US$5 billion. Within just ten years of launching, (RED) generated
more private sector funds than any other business initiative among Global Fund partners. Today,
(RED) is the largest private sector contributor to the Global Fund.

Healthcare worker collecting blood sample from patient at Mtendere Mission Hospital in
Zambia. Photo: Adam Sjoberg/(RED)

vocational reflections

facilitation exercises
A significant component of John Paul's peacebuilding practice has been in participatory
education and capacity building with local communities. Through an elicitive approach, he has
sought to respect and amplify the knowledge and skill present in a given setting or context.
Another significant element of his practice is the accompaniment of reflective vocational
practitioners, co-creating spaces in educational settings and conversational retreats where
opportunities are provided to slow down, notice, and cultivate compassionate presence. The
content featured in this section ranges from technical frameworks for analysis to exercises
guiding deep listening of self and other. Some of these activities are primarily suited for a group
context and may be helpful for teachers and/or facilitators in community or organizational
settings.

diagrams
As a deeply reflective practitioner, John Paul's scholarship is predicated on experience-shaped
learning from which he has inductively developed theoretical perspectives. These theories have
significantly influenced the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Elaborated in
numerous books, book chapters, and articles, many of these theories were originally captured
visually in doodles and later took the form of diagrams and charts. A selection of these are
displayed in this section. (Please note that permission to reprint these figures in to-be-published
materials must be sought from the publishers of the books in which they feature.)

languaging
Attention to the significance of language has long featured as an aspect of John Paul's work,
tracing back to his dissertation that drew in theory and practice from the sociology of language
and knowledge. John Paul's inquiry into language has taken many forms, including poetic
exploration into the etymology of words significant to the practices and process of
peacebuilding. This page features iterations of these etymological explorations, delving into the
roots of words so as to illuminate new layers of their meaning in the context of peacebuilding
and social change, as well as John Paul’s interpretation of key terms pertinent to these domains
of practice.

reflective practice
A significant challenge for peacebuilding practitioners is cultivating habits of reflection that
promote the explicit building of knowledge and the development of theory, as well as tend to the
deeper wellsprings of meaning, purpose, and wellbeing. From the technical perspective,
reflective practice seeks to build understanding, knowledge, and improvement of practice
through explicit and disciplined reflection. From the vocational perspective, reflective practice
seeks to cultivate deep presence with oneself and in relationship with others. The resources in
this section provide tools and guidance for individuals and organizations to engage in and
integrate reflective practice as an avenue through which to nurture the quality and depth of their
peacebuilding practice.

storytelling
Always present, stories shape our lives. It is the way by which we find the capacity to give
meaning to what we've lived. Much of conflict is about the search for meaning, how we make
sense of what is happening in and around us. Storytelling and the centrality of narrative feature
significantly in John Paul's peacebuilding practice, as they offer a more holistic way to reflect in
a much wider sense on the dynamics of a situation or the experience of people. In this way, it
provides a shift away from exclusive dependence on cognitive, rational, and linear
understandings of reality and open toward more a holistic, nuanced, and compassionate
approaches. This section features stories John Paul shares in his writing and teaching, many of
which uplift the courageous and creative leadership of peacebuilding colleagues around the
world.

peace education
While the archives contain a wide swath of materials around peace studies, John Paul’s early
work focused on peace education, particularly in Spain. These writings, many not available in
English, looked at both the pedagogy and potential for peace education as part of school and
community based social change curricula. At later points, these also included efforts to provide
community-based leadership and universities with practical materials, pedagogies, and
educational resources that included Central America, Tajikistan, and Spain.

planetary peacebuilding
As global climate change exerts ever increasing pressures on our planet’s natural ecosystems, so
too does it impose pressures on the human realm. Increased droughts, fires, and flooding
contribute to increased conflict due to resource scarcity as communities search for food, water,
land, and physical safety. An effect of this is increased climate migration, which exacerbates a
social and political climate too often characterized by a perception of scarcity and fear of others.
Further, human produced toxins permeate our air, water, and ground systems, with deleterious
impacts to the wellbeing of the planet and the human community. Peacebuilders around the
world are grappling with these challenges, exploring ways to address climate driven violence,
promote reconciliation with and through the Earth, and restore human and planetary health and
wellbeing. The resources in this section represent John Paul’s growing reflections and
engagement on the topics of environmental violence as well as environmental and planetary
peacebuilding.

locally-led peacebuilding
The majority of John Paul's peacebuilding initiatives came through accompanying people and
communities working at the grassroots level. This has led to a key lesson and ethical stance:
Believe in the unique knowledge of local communities about their own context and in their
capacity to engage and innovate.

Locally-led peacebuilding centers the knowledge, skill, and vision of community-based

individuals and organizations as the foundation of networks and processes that create durable
change. In John Paul’s writing and practice, this approach been referred to under various names:
elicitive, bottom-up, grassroots, and now more commonly locally-led. The content in this section
includes stories, reflections, and insights gathered through John Paul's accompaniment of local
peacebuilding leaders and processes across diverse areas of protracted conflict.

faith-inspired peacebuilding
John Paul's work as a peacebuilding professional and academic has formative spiritual roots from
his upbringing in the Mennonite tradition, found determinative mentorship with Quaker
peacemakers, and deepened his contemplative impulses through significant Buddhist
relationships. Faith-inspired peacebuilding, as he has come to understand it, exists at the
convergence of spirituality and creativity. His engagement opens into the rich and complex
pathways of religion, conflict, and interreligious peacebuilding. Faith-inspired has an inclusive
quality, suggesting respectful engagement of diverse formative roots and the unfolding potential
for creativity. The content in this section ranges from descriptions of religiously based initiatives
to reflections into his own spiritual practices.

inner works
Dominant peacebuilding preparation and practice focus on professional development and skill-
oriented training and analysis. Much less attention is provided to the inner side of the practice –
the cultivation of healthy personhood, the nurturing of care for self, the practices and habits that
sustain and nourish wells of compassion, joy, and healing. These practices are what John Paul
has come to call the 'inner works' of peacebuilding. Inner works create the spaces where people
can explore and be in touch with their own sense of vocation and purpose, however that may
look or feel for each person. This section follows the pathways and expressions of the inner
works of peacebuilding from John Paul's experience and learning with colleagues in situations of
protracted conflict around the world.

reconciliation
From early on in John Paul's writing, reconciliation offered both a challenge and an orienting
touch stone. Shaped by participation and accompaniment of deeply challenging reconciliation
processes, he sought to understand the dynamic weave between the social energies of truth,
mercy, justice, and peace, and how to nurture the pathways of social healing, repair, and
restoration. Central guiding metaphors have included the notion of the horizon of reconciliation,
requiring a relationship-centered approach to change that involves committed engagement,
encounter, and humility. The content of this section offers a window into John Paul's ongoing
exploration around the challenges of reconciliation and the practice of peacebuilding

elicitive approach
Inspired by Latin American practitioners like Paulo Freire and Orlando Fals Borda alongside
critical reflection of his own training practices in diverse cultural settings, John Paul identified a
continuum of approaches ranging between two ideal-type models: prescriptive and elicitive.
Whereas the prescriptive model is based on transferring content from one setting to another, the
elicitive approach explores cultural resources and expands local innovations in any given setting.
This approach builds from participatory action research, which comprised a significant element
of John Paul’s accompaniment of peacebuilding from early years in Central America to later
iterations in Nepal. The writings featured in this section explore the emergence and application
of an elicitive approach, primarily between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s.

planetary peacebuilding
As global climate change exerts ever increasing pressures on our planet’s natural ecosystems, so
too does it impose pressures on the human realm. Increased droughts, fires, and flooding
contribute to increased conflict due to resource scarcity as communities search for food, water,
land, and physical safety. An effect of this is increased climate migration, which exacerbates a
social and political climate too often characterized by a perception of scarcity and fear of others.
Further, human produced toxins permeate our air, water, and ground systems, with deleterious
impacts to the wellbeing of the planet and the human community. Peacebuilders around the
world are grappling with these challenges, exploring ways to address climate driven violence,
promote reconciliation with and through the Earth, and restore human and planetary health and
wellbeing. The resources in this section represent John Paul’s growing reflections and
engagement on the topics of environmental violence as well as environmental and planetary
peacebuilding.

accompaniment
Starting with experiences in Central America in the 1980s, John Paul began to work closely with
the thought and strategies of Latin American authors like Paolo Freire, Gustavo Gutierrez, and
Orlando Fals Borda. These approaches articulated the basis of participatory action research and
accompaniment of people often on the front lines of facing direct and structural violence.
Accompaniment articulates the approach of leading from alongside the experiences, insights, and
innovations of people with deep experience in their own context. These ideas became second
nature in many of the books and writing over the years from Preparing for Peace to the
engagements in Nepal 35 years later.

arts-inspired peacebuilding
Emergent from the practice and life-vocation of peacebuilding and the pursuit of nonviolent
social transformation, change agents need to envision themselves as artists. Building adaptive
and responsive processes to accompany and facilitate social change requires a creative act, which
at its core is more art than technique. Time and again, lasting social change that makes a
difference has the DNA of the artist's intuition: The complexity of human experience captured in
a simple image and in a way that moves individuals and whole societies. Far beyond the
instrumental use of arts, peacebuilding unfolds as an artistic and aesthetic process. In this
section, the archives explore the evolution and examples of John Paul's understanding and
practice of arts-inspired peacebuilding.

conflict transformation
John Paul began to use the term conflict transformation in the 1980s after intensive experience in
Central America opened a deep examination of his own as well as the dominant metaphors and
language of the field. Conflict transformation and constructive social change include, and go
beyond, the resolution of specific problems. Conflict is normal in human relationships. Conflict
is a motor of change. Transformation helps to focus the horizon toward which we journey - the
building of healthy relationships and communities, both locally and globally. The content in this
section considers conflict transformation as it has evolved and informed John Paul's practice in
peacebuilding initiatives around the world.

whole system approach

Social change processes are predicated on a holistic understanding of the dynamic relational
patterns that give rise to conflict. It is through a whole system approach that the full scope of
interdependent relationships can be grasped and the simplicity on the far side of complexity can
be discerned. For this, two habits are key: stillness and visiblizing. While not always referencing
the technical language, John Paul has long embraced a systems approach. His understanding and
integration of this approach for peacebuilding has many sources, notably spiders, entomologists,
and poetry, with the language and frameworks of systems theory a more recent feature in his
reflections. The content in this section features iterations of the application of a whole system
approach in John Paul's reflections and practice across a range of contexts

reconciliation
From early on in John Paul's writing, reconciliation offered both a challenge and an orienting
touch stone. Shaped by participation and accompaniment of deeply challenging reconciliation
processes, he sought to understand the dynamic weave between the social energies of truth,
mercy, justice, and peace, and how to nurture the pathways of social healing, repair, and
restoration. Central guiding metaphors have included the notion of the horizon of reconciliation,
requiring a relationship-centered approach to change that involves committed engagement,
encounter, and humility. The content of this section offers a window into John Paul's ongoing
exploration around the challenges of reconciliation and the practice of peacebuilding.

apprenticeship program
Between 2009 and 2011, a collective of peacebuilding students from Notre Dame's Kroc Institute
and practitioners around the world participated in an Apprenticeship Program, which had the
goal of promoting peace and dialogue by developing leadership capacity of conflict
transformation practitioners. The Program sought to advance the health of reflective
practitioners, attending to the acquisition of analytical and practical skills and cultivating quality
of presence and clarity of place and purpose. One of the primary inquiries informing this
initiative was: Where is the peacebuilding school that nurtures wholeness? Through whole group
retreats and anchor group collaboration, participants explored numerous pathways of individual
and collective practice in reflection, accompaniment, and global conflict transformation efforts.

Below is a collection of blog posts John Paul authored and shared as an anchor in the
Apprenticeship Program, as well as personal reflections and a published chapter illuminating key
learnings from the experience.

uri moral imagination program

"Inspired by the book The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace, the United
Religions Initiative conducted a two year pilot project delving into the Moral Imagination
approach to peacebuilding...The Moral Imagination approach to building peace captured the
enthusiasm of people within URI because it reflected experiences of authentic peacebuilding
activities and affirmed the value of these kinds of efforts for the entire URI global community.
John Paul Lederach and Dr. Herm Weaver, educator and musician, served as primary project
consultants and teachers...A core planning team, John Paul Lederach, Herm Weaver, Charles
Gibbs, Libby Hoffman and Barbara Hartford, designed this initial project. A program spaced
over two years was carefully planned in order to allow relationships to deepen naturally, to
implement an action/reflection model where activities on the ground were part of the learning
curriculum, and to give participants firsthand experiences in understanding different cultures and
the unique challenges each team faced."

Emergent from the pilot program, URI published a booklet of action/reflection experiences and
produced a video reflecting on the experience, accessible below.

Originally published by and shared with the permission of the United Religions Initiative. For
other publication use, contact URI for permission.

peace accords matrix

Working at the nexus between research and practice, the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) program
is comprised of researchers and practitioners seeking to promote and facilitate a higher order of
integration between these domains. The PAM program is home to the largest existing collection
of implementation data on intrastate peace agreements, and PAM team members regularly
provide research support to ongoing peace processes on issues of peace agreement design and
implementation.

The PAM project is a unique source of qualitative and quantitative longitudinal data on the
implementation of 34 comprehensive peace agreements negotiated from 1989 to 2012. Drawing
on this world class, peer-reviewed database, PAM researchers have developed a quantitative
methodology to track the progress of peace accord implementation. The PAM database serves as
a valuable tool for analysis, which the Kroc Institute uses to support the negotiation and
implementation of peace accords. The PAM project develops evidence-based scholarly research
and furthers policy-relevant analysis to end armed conflict and build sustainable peace.

While the PAM project has global reach, it has significant presence in Colombia through the
PAM Barometer Initiative, for which John Paul was essential in helping to initiate and provides
continuing support. The historic Colombia peace agreement signed on November 24, 2016 –
celebrated as a major turning point in ending the country’s 52-year armed conflict – gives the
University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute primary responsibility for technical verification and
monitoring of implementation of the accord through the PAM Barometer Initiative. This is the
first time a university-based research center has played such a direct role in supporting the
implementation of a peace agreement, and the first time researchers have measured the
implementation of a peace accord in real time. This initiative is developing significant
innovations in peace accord monitoring and comparative analysis that are applicable to other
peace processes around the world.

PAM was originally conceived of by John Darby at the University of Notre Dame Kroc Institute
for International Peace Studies. John Paul was appointed Director of PAM in 2013 and currently
serves as a Senior Advisor to the PAM Barometer Initiative in Colombia. The PAM database, the
Barometer Initiative, and the latest research emergent from the initiative can be explored on the
PAM website: https://peaceaccords.nd.edu/.

The Art and Soul of Compassion

"When compassion, creativity, and spirituality connect rehumanization emerges."

“Our story began with curiosity around a simple observation: Very different disciplines – art,
contemplative practice, peacebuilding, social and neurosciences share a common interest in
compassion, creativity, and spirituality.

We started with the proper academic approach – we read books and articles written about these
themes from the five different disciplines. Our curiosity grew. With the help of the Fetzer
Institute we sought to actively bring interesting representatives of these disciplines into a
conversational retreat. We did not pursue scholarly presentations but rather the narrative of their
lives, practices and views. How do improbable conversation partners from very diverse
professional lenses understand the contours and significance of compassion, creativity, and
spirituality in reference to challenging topics of healing and reconciliation?
We listened to poets and musicians, contemplatives and neuroscientists, therapists and
peacebuilders. We cried. We laughed. We had insights that pushed out deeper questions. At the
end of the retreat we proposed to capture a few of the stories and experiences by way of a digital
storytelling process. A year later, we share these stories with you, inviting your response and
participation. Our most significant local and global challenges require a capacity to nurture and
draw from the wellsprings of compassion, creativity, and spirituality that incite the moral
imagination.” — John Paul Lederach and Scott Appleby

Below are digital stories and an annotated bibliography that together form an emergent
conversation about healing and reconciliation. The full curation of stories and resources that
comprise The Art and Soul of Compassion are accessible on the initiative’s website.
 soundscape
John Paul’s interest in the arts involves a deeper understanding of the power of vibration and the
way that sound and music touches the human spirit. Over the years with colleagues, he has
explored sound and vibration in various ways and in various forms. John Paul has taken his
classrooms into recording studios so that people could experience the potential and power of the
recorded voice. He has produced live performance and recorded albums that were imagined to
encourage social change and peacebuilding. He has also co-created multi-year initiatives to
inquire into the connections between the arts, compassionate presence, renewal, and the
gathering of artists, activists, and students in conversational retreats.
poetry
The presence of poetry has ebbed and flowed across John Paul's life. Having written poetry when
he was younger, years of study and the pursuit of professionalism saw poetry writing fall by the
wayside for two decades. It was in the presence of a former child-solider, a young poet rising,
reciting an Eduardo Galeano poem in Nicaragua that John Paul let poetry back into his life. Since
that moment, poetry for John Paul has flourished in both process and form as a source and
expression of joy and awe, a vessel of questions and pain, a bridge between the personal and the
universal. Much of his poetic practice centers around the traditional Japanese form of haiku,
numerous of which feature in this gallery alongside poems gathered through personal and
collective journeying into the indispensable, the regenerative, and the ineffable aspects of life.

photography
With the advent of digital photography connected to the daily practices of walking, noticing, and
writing haiku, capturing images emerged as a way to stay in touch with beauty and the
extraordinary gift of a fleeting moment. Much of the photography found on this website comes
from various generations of iPhones where John Paul stopped and found something that captured
his imagination from what was immediately around him. Haiku opens attentiveness to the
multiple human senses and how they move from the inner and outer worlds. A photo in a given
moment often holds the portal of that movement.

If you choose to use any of these photographs for your own purposes, we kindly request that you
provide attribution to John Paul Lederach.

presence practices
Peacebuilding and social change are made possible through leadership centered in imagination
for the collective - a compassionate leadership in service to the human family as a whole. This
kind of leadership necessitates the cultivation of a quality of presence rooted in and emergent
from mindful self-reflection and self-awareness. It lives embodied from the radical center, as in
radically rooted in the capacity to center oneself in the face of adversity and fragmentation. John
Paul's phrase for this exploration of the membrane between the inner and outer worlds is the
'inner works' of peacebuilding and leadership. The practices shared in this gallery are invitations
into this exploration from John Paul's personal practice and from fellow wanderers into the
mystery of the human spirit.

Dr. John Paul Lederach is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in the fields of
peacebuilding and conflict transformation. He is widely known for the development of culturally
based approaches to conflict transformation; the design and implementation of integrative,
strategic approaches to peacebuilding; and for carving a robust integration of the arts and social
change. Over the course of his career, Lederach has garnered extensive experience working with
non-governmental organizations, community-based initiatives impacted by cycles of violence,
and national peace process design. He has worked extensively as a practitioner in conciliation
processes in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast and Central Asia.

Lederach is the author or editor of 30 books and manuals (translated into a dozen languages), and
numerous academic articles and monographs on peace education, conflict transformation,
international peacebuilding, and conciliation training. He has developed training materials and
manuals available in Spanish on peace education, conflict transformation, and mediation, now
used widely throughout Latin America.

Lederach received his bachelor’s degree in history and peace studies from Bethel College and his
doctorate of philosophy degree in sociology, with a concentration on social conflict, from the
University of Colorado. He currently serves as Senior Fellow for Humanity United and Professor
Emeritus of International Peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute of International Peace
Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

CSVR'S APPROACH
Founded in 1989 and registered as a Section 21 company in 1990, the Centre for the Study of
Violence and Reconciliation is an independent, non-profit organisation. It engages in research,
community interventions, policy formation, service delivery, education and training. For three
decades CSVR has worked to understand violence, heal its effects, reconcile communities and
build sustainable peace in South Africa, the continent and elsewhere in the world.

In particular, CSVR undertakes targeted research and advocacy in partnership with civil society
and affected communities in order to hold state, continental and global institutions
accountable. A multidisciplinary institute, CSVR's expertise and skill set offer a comprehensive
and integrated service.

CSVR provides technical support and works with individuals and communities, to focus on the
wide range and forms of violence and conflict, including collective and interpersonal, political
and criminal, and state and social violence. CSVR provides mental health and psychosocial
support (MHPSS) and other interventions to address and prevent violence and human rights
violations. CSVR's work is rooted in an analysis of the shifting forms of conflict and violence
within societies enduring a transition to democracy.

Our Track record

Foundation

CSVR's achievements in the last 30 years create the foundations on which we will build in the
next five.

Powerful contributions
We have made powerful contributions in various partnerships at various levels, and our standing
as a South-based organisation with strong regional links gives us the credibility to engage in
global debates that challenge global inequalities.

Reputation

We are proud to have built a reputation for challenging exclusive forms of identity and
promoting inclusive policy development.

Connected

We have developed a unique niche working at all levels from the personal to communal, national
and global, and our strength comes from the fact that while engaging with those in power in our
work, we remain connected to those affected by violence, torture and conflict.

CSVR has been critical in advancing impactful peacebuilding and transitional justice in Africa.
In particular, CSVR:

1. Developed the African Transitional Justice Hub, an online platform for building
knowledge and communities of practice on transitional justice in Africa.
2. Engaged in transitional justice processes in South Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia,
Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mali, The Gambia and South Sudan, and has for the past 10 years
provided technical support to the African Union policy-making organs for the
development of continental policies on transitional justice for victims including the
African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) and the African Commission on
Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) Study on Transitional Justice and Human and
People's Rights in Africa. To date, these two soft law instruments have been adopted
and CSVR is currently leading their continent-wide implementation and popularisation.
3. Hosts the Annual African Transitional Justice Forum together with the African Union
Commission, bringing together key individuals to share experiences and shape practice
on transitional justice.
4. Jointly established the African Transitional Justice Research Network (ATJRN), a
network of 1,200 people, which produces bulletins and hosts workshops on transitional
justice.
5. Founded and manages the International Journal of Transitional Justice, the only
regular accredited publication on transitional justice, published in partnership with
Boston University's Centre for Human Rights and International Justice and the Oxford
University Press.
6. Participates as the only African partner in the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and
Reconciliation (GIJTR). CSVR brings African experiences and approaches to
transitional justice to the consortium, which undertakes rapid response and holistic
transitional justice projects in countries emerging from violent conflict (including South
Sudan, Middle East and North Africa [MENA] region, Guinea, The Gambia and Sri
Lanka).
 7. Works with the South African Coalition for Transitional Justice, as a founding
member, to secure the rights of victims of apartheid-era violations, promote
accountability for those violations and seek reparations for victims.

Funding and Affiliation

CSVR receives no financial support from the South African government. CSVR is largely
dependent on donations from foreign governments, foundations and nongovernmental
organisations. Limited resources are also provided by the South African corporate sector, as well
as through consultancy and contract fees earned through our work. CSVR's supporters have
included the following (this partial list is in alphabetical order and does not indicate the
substantial differences in financial contributions):

CSVR is one of only a few specialist organisations providing therapy and counselling to victims
of torture, forced migration and violent crime, and as such has been critical in strengthening
evidence-based MHPSS interventions. CSVR:

1. Established networks and partnerships with relevant communities, service providers and
government departments and conducts research, supports social mobilisation and
provides training on the complex issues arising from violence and torture.
2. Provides group work to refugee children.
3. Is the only mental health-implementing partner with United Nations Human Rights
Council (UNHCR) in South Africa.
4. Beyond South Africa's borders, provides MHPSS technical support and training in
various countries (including The Gambia, South Sudan and Guinea to date) and has built
the capacity of local institutions to provide emotional containment to survivors.

CSVR established and coordinates the Pan African Reparations Initiative (PARI), supporting
a network of 50 organisations that provide reparations, rehabilitation and MHPSS services to
victims of torture and other gross human rights violations in Africa. PARI convenes on an annual
basis, and supported the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) in
developing the general comment on redress for torture in Africa. It is developing guidelines for
effective and practical implementation of the general comment.

CSVR integrates its gender expertise into its interventions and advocacy work across various
forums. CSVR:

1. Serves as the civil society organisation representative on the South African Interim
Steering Committee on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. This committee sits within
the Office of the Presidency.
2. Works in close collaboration with nongovernmental organisation coalitions and networks
to address violence against women.
 3. Published Violence against Women in South Africa: A Country in Crisis, a research
report that is being used in the review of the National Action Plan on Gender-Based
Violence. The high-profile study influenced public discourse and sparked the political
recognition of violence against women as a nationwide crisis.

CSVR drives a number of initiatives addressing the issue of urban violence. To this end, CSVR:

1. Conducted a study of a South African public employment programme, the Community

Work Programme, in advancing violence prevention.
2. Established a partnership with the South African Department of Cooperative Governance
and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) on a violence and crime prevention intervention.
3. Facilitated by the COGTA partnership, formed capacity-strengthening partnerships with
community change agents, victims and at-risk groups in four communities across
Gauteng (Marikana, Ekangala, Inner City and Kagiso). The community change agents are
now working to address authority-based urban violence and to actively raise their
community's concerns with local authorities on how to best tackle urban violence.
4. Through participation in the Global Alliance Initiative on Urban Violence, CSVR
supports a network of organisations advancing the integration of psychosocial approaches
in the prevention of urban violence. The Global Alliance is currently composed of
organisations from four countries (Philippines, Liberia, Denmark and South Africa).

The Initiative for Transitional Justice in Africa is a three-year collaborative endeavour between
the European Union and the African Union, launched on the 25th October, 2023. The project will
be implemented by a consortium of three organizations – the International Centre for
Transitional Justice (ICTJ), alongside the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
(CSVR), and the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF). The project aims to support
African Union (AU) member states and civil society organizations in adopting and implementing
the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) and its associated Roadmap. The
initiative aims to address violent conflict across the African continent through effective,
innovative, and context-specific responses to massive human rights violations and root causes of
violence and conflict. Recognizing the critical role of transitional justice in attaining sustainable
peace and development, the project focuses on facilitating the domestication of the AUTJP
through technical assistance, knowledge production and management, and support for civil
society and victims' groups.

Project information
 The project has three strategic objectives. The implementation of activities
under each strategic objective is led by a consortium member with support
from the other consortium members.

Objective 1 – led by ICTJ

improve the capacity of relevant AU member states, AU organs, and RECs to implement the
AUTJP and design and operate tailored, gender-sensitive transitional justice processes

Key Activities:

 Provide technical expertise on transitional justice to AU member states and organs by

deploying experts and organizing trainings.
 Support the convening of the annual Continental African Transitional Justice Forum.
Support the convening of the annual AU-EU Experts Seminar on Transitional Justice.
 Help establish and coordinate the African Women's Platform on Transitional Justice.

Objective 2 – led by CSVR

To build rigorous knowledge on transitional justice experiences in Africa that informs the design
of strategies for peace and reconciliation consistent with the AUTJP.

Key Activities:

 Support African scholars and practitioners in their research on transitional justice

experiences in Africa.
 Establish a research network to develop knowledge on transitional justice relevant to
Africa.
 Support the coordination of a transitional justice experts reference group that advises the
AU.
 Develop and disseminate an annual report on the state of transitional justice in Africa.
 Conduct studies on women and reparations and on technology in transitional justice.

Objective 3 – led by ATJLF

To raise awareness about the AUTJP and enhance the engagement of civil society actors-
including victims'. women's, youth groups-with it and transitional justice mechanisms in Africa.
Key Activities:

 Raise awareness about the AUTJP and encourage the public's participation in its
implementation.
 Strengthen the capacity of civil society groups to meaningfully participate in the design,
implementation, and monitoring of transitional justice mechanisms.

One of CSVR's priorities is to study, analyse and generate knowledge on violence and conflict.
Key to all CSVR's projects is the aim to facilitate the production and sharing of knowledge.
Understanding violence and conflict, their causes and dynamics, and ways to prevent and redress
violence remains an important challenge in guiding society's attempts to build sustainable peace.

Some of CSVR's projects are primarily designed as research projects, but the majority of
research we do happens alongside our advocacy and intervention work. Our research is done in a
way that seeks to build the capacity of our partners in addressing issues of violence and
reconciliation. We seek to collaborate with and learn from the lived and diverse experiences of
communities affected by violence and conflict. Our research occurs at multiple levels –
individual, community, national, international – but with a particular focus on Africa as a region
and on South Africa.

Research at CSVR fulfils three key

functions:
Evidence-based advocacy

Our research supports evidence-based advocacy and intervention work,

ensuring that our engagement with communities, clients and stakeholders is
based on an informed understanding of key issues and challenges.

Supports the communities

Our research supports the communities where we work to articulate their

understandings and priorities in relation to the issues that CSVR addresses.

Informs national public

 Our research informs national public debate, critical policy dialogues and
international discourse on issues of violence and sustainable peace.

CSVR research is both externally focused (documenting and analysing conflict and designing
initiatives to address these problems) and internally focused (reflecting on our own practice and
documenting what we have learned from our work).

CSVR's research focuses on a range of topics. Research projects currently underway include:

 From Partnership to Participation: Multilateral Engagements with Transitional Justice in

Africa
 Sexual Violence and Truth: The Role of Truth Commissions in Addressing Conflict-
Related Sexual Violence in Africa and Latin America
 International Journal of Transitional Justice

Recently concluded research projects include:

 Corporate Symbolic Reparations in Transitional Justice Contexts

 The Impact of COVID-19 on Economies, Social Cohesion and Governance in Africa:
Evidence from Benin, Burkina Faso and South Africa
 Youth Inclusion for Violence Prevention
 Comparative Study of Transitional Justice in Africa
 Peacebuilding Innovations: International Norms and Local Dynamics in Conflict-
Affected Countries
 Urban Violence Prevention through the CWP Public Employment Programme
 Violence, Inequality and Transformation: Apartheid Survivors on South Africa's Ongoing
Transition

Past experiences in peacebuilding for countries emerging out of conflict have been typically
characterized by reform-oriented external donors and progressive forces internally (usually
supported by development donors) pursuing human rights-based empowerment approaches to
redress marginalization and disadvantage in efforts to address causes of conflict and lay the
foundation for a more stable peace. Such rights-based or empowerment approaches, however,
may exacerbate tensions at national and local levels in conflict-affected countries as newly
mobilized groups confront deep-seated and often "illiberal" political, social, and economic orders
that resist change.

The 'Innovations in Peacebuilding' research, dialogue, and policy projects represented a

partnership between the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, the
Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Bergen, Norway, the Nepal Peacebuilding Initiative (NPI), and
the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) in South Africa. Funded by the
Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Norway Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the three-year
project aimed to explore innovative approaches to the rights-oriented empowerment dilemmas
faced by international and local peacebuilders alike. The project evaluated the complex
interactions between global human rights frameworks and the patterns and effects of social
mobilization at national and sub-national levels. Specifically, it aimed to investigate how
international norms are adapted by local actors in conflict-affected countries to advance a rights-
based, post-war social order at the local (sub-national) level, how local dynamics shape
peacebuilding, and what actual or potential innovation exists for improving peacebuilding by
international (and mostly Western) donors and local organizations. The project sought to
contribute to the policy debates by highlighting the nuances present in the nexus between
international norms, national dynamics, and local-level conditions, and how these further effect
and interact to shape peacebuilding interventions at the local level in conflict-affected countries.

The South African case study gave specific attention to dynamics in local governance,
socioeconomic rights, transitional justice, and gender. It mapped these local peacebuilding
initiatives and varied approaches among institutions working in the local context, explored their
respective effectiveness, and identified innovations to peacebuilding. In the South African
context, the project provided an in-depth gendered analysis of the extent and nature of structural
inequalities, socioeconomic patterns, and their relationship to conflict and violence.

The broader 'Innovations in Peacebuilding' research methodology included new empirical

research on Nepal and South Africa – two commonly cited case studies – along with six
secondary case studies located in South and South East Asia, East and Southern Africa, and the
Americas. Together with this primary and secondary research, country-specific workshops on
these cases and regional research-and- dialogue workshops were designed to generate cross-
national findings to contribute to international debates on norm diffusion and how these have
been adopted, adapted, and internalized at the global, national, and local levels.

The project was completed in 2017.

Knowledge Outputs

 Masana Ndinga-Kanga, "Act on Peacebuilding Using International Human Rights

Norms," Cape Times, 23 May 2017.
 Aurélien Pradier, Maxine Rubin, and Hugo van der Merwe, "Between Transitional
Justice and Politics: Reparations in South Africa," South African Journal of International
Affairs, 2018, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10220461.2018.1514528
 Podcast on "Peacebuilding Innovations: International Norms and Local Dynamics in
Conflict-Affected Countries."

The Youth Inclusion for Violence Prevention Project, a collaboration between the Centre for the
Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Centre for Human Rights and Policy
Studies (CHRIPS), investigates the role of public-sector employment and livelihood support
programmes in promoting socio-economic inclusion of youth and preventing violence. It will
provide an empirical analysis of the impact and potential of such programmes in South Africa
and Kenya to document innovations in how such programmes engage youth and impact on
violence prevention. These initiatives will be assessed in terms of the lessons they provide for
upscaling and replication in the region and for strengthening regional policy addressing youth
inclusion and violence prevention.

The project builds on CSVR's previous work that documented how the South African
government's Community Work Programme (CWP) prevents violence through building social
and civic cohesion that strengthens communities and helps them address the causes and
consequences of violence. We now seek to explore whether lessons from this research can be
applied to addressing youth exclusion and marginalisation through the development of more
effective strategies of socio-economic inclusion. The project also partners with CHRIPS to
conduct similar research in Kenya and explore the applicability of policy insights for violence
prevention in the region.

The CWP and other public employment programmes have often struggled to recruit youth and
offer them effective avenues for meaningful employment and becoming valued members of their
communities. The project will assess the feasibility of socio-economic and livelihood initiatives
such as the CWP (especially when they are intentionally designed to also pay attention to social,
psychological and political needs of young people), for preventing, mitigate and address the
threats of violence, and ultimately contributing towards building safer and more resilient
communities.

Through scaling up findings from this and other studies, and assessing their applicability in other
settings in Southern and East Africa, the project seeks to share insights and lessons on public
employment programs and their impact on urban security, with the anticipation that these lessons
can be replicated in other part of South Africa as well other African countries.

Previous research by CSVR concluded that the CWP programme has been successful in
providing a safety net for those facing unemployment by making available a part-time working
scheme, which is accompanied by inclusion of CWP participants in social and civic networks
and participation in local decision-making processes. The study also found that the focus on
building participants' soft skills in areas such as conflict management, communication,
leadership, parenting, self-care and effective responses to gender-based violence and substance
abuse, were important elements of rebuilding community efficacy and social capital. This project
will examine the potential impact of more targeted youth livelihoods and socio-economic
programmes on violence prevention and mitigation, especially if these programmes incorporate
elements of building social skills and networks.

The project will pursue this through empirical research and policy advocacy:

1. CHRIPS and CSVR will systematically assess the impact of socio-economic and
livelihood support programmes in Kenya and South Africa respectively on promoting
social inclusion of youth and preventing violence, as well as in sharing resulting policy
lessons with national and regional stakeholders.
2. CSVR will conduct regional comparative research on interventions with youth that
address issues of socio-economic exclusion and violence prevention in East and Southern
 Africa, assess existing regional policy frameworks and share policy lessons with key
regional stakeholders.

The project is funded through the generous support of the International Development Research
Centre and runs from 2019 to 2021.

Transitional justice (TJ) processes seek to address systemic human rights (HR) violations by
amending past wrongs through, for example, symbolic reparations (SR) such as apologies,
acknowledgment, memorialization or commemoration. Corporations are increasingly important
as participants in and supporters of TJ processes. They are also more and more frequently sought
to be held accountable as perpetrators or accomplices. The scholarly and practice field of TJ has
critically examined SR measures in recent years and TJ mechanisms have been given expanded
mandates to address corporate responsibility. However, the field has not fully theorized the
multiplicity of roles that corporations can play in post-conflict contexts.

In responding to this gap in the literature and the empirical puzzle of why, under similar
circumstances, some corporations engage in SRs and others do not, we focus on Colombia,
Germany and South Africa, all of which have considerably shaped the theory and practice of TJ.
We ask why, when and how both corporations and victims engage in SR processes. We focus on
one "best practice" and one "negative" case in each country and draw on management and
business and human rights (BHR) scholarship to address gaps in the TJ literature. In doing so we
produce a unique mapping of corporate SR initiatives and offer a theorization of corporate
engagement in TJ thus making a significant theoretical and empirical contribution to both TJ and
BHR scholarship. The findings will benefit state and non-state actors as well as international
organizations as they provide a scientific basis and actionable knowledge to strengthen the role
of corporations in TJ processes.

The project is co-led by the Institute for Business Ethics (University of St Gallen, Switzerland)
and swisspeace (University of Basel, Switzerland), in partnership with the Center for the Study
of Violence and Reconciliation (South Africa) and the Centro de Empresas y
Emprendimientos Responsables (Colombia). The team members of this project bring together
a multi-disciplinary background on business ethics, history, regional studies, political science
and transitional justice, from both practitioner and scholarly perspective.

In July 2019 the project received the support from the research grant by the Swiss Network for
International Studies, that will enable the team to carry out the research project for two years
starting as of January 1st 2020. The project expects to produce a number of policy and scholarly
papers as well as to participate and organize events to disseminate its findings.

The Comparative Study of Transitional Justice in Africa (CSTJA) seeks to enrich transitional
justice policy and intervention strategy deliberations in Africa. The Study presents a comparative
analysis of 12 country case studies in Africa where transitional justice mechanisms have been
implemented. Mapping the conflict and the range of processes in each country, the Study
examines transitional justice mechanisms implemented between 1990 and 2011. It seeks to
deepen our understanding of how these processes were developed, their role in contributing to
the prevention or recurrence of war and repression. Specifically, the Study examines the factors
that shape policy decisions in framing the diverse set of responses to dealing with legacies of
dictatorship, civil war, and mass human rights abuses. The consequences of these decisions for
achieving sustainable peace and preventing future human rights abuses are also assessed.

The 12 countries included in the study are: Algeria, Central African Republic, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South
Africa and Tunisia.

Key themes explored in the study to date include: gender justice, sexual and gender-based
violence, colonial legacies, LGBTIQ+, diversity and inclusion, traditional justice, international
and African norms, impartial and selective approaches to justice.

This Study fills a critical gap in research on comparative transitional justice as there have been
no systematic comparative studies of a larger sample of African countries' experiences of
transitional justice. Through synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data, the Study provides a
basis for understanding the drivers of transitional justice decision-making, as well as the
emergent impact trends of transitional justice processes on peace and democracy.

The Study has produced a series of country reports, a set of policy briefs, four journal articles
and three research reports/multi-media outputs which explore transitional justice within
particular countries and key themes across a number of countries.

The research has been conducted in close collaboration with CSVR's advocacy team and the
findings and recommendations have been shared with various policy audiences, academic forums
and advocacy networks across the continent. The project sought in particular to lend support to
the popularisation, implementation and refinement of the African Union Transitional Justice
Policy.

Knowledge Outputs

Policy Briefs:

 Transitional Justice and Gender Justice

 Transitional Justice and Colonialism
 Transitional Justice and SGBV
 African Transitional Justice and International Norms
 Traditional Transitional Justice Mechanisms: Lessons from Africa
 Addressing Diversity and Inclusion through Transitional Justice
 Transitional Justice and the Inclusion of LGBTQIA+ Rights
 Addressing Gender Justice and Colonialism through Transitional Justice in Africa

Journal Articles and Book Chapters:

 Hakeem O. Yusuf, "Colonialism and the Dilemmas of Transitional Justice in

Nigeria," International Journal of Transitional Justice, 2018, available
 at https://academic.oup.com/ijtj/article-abstract/12/2/257/4955293?
redirectedFrom=fulltext
 Aurélien Pradier, Maxine Rubin amd Hugo van der Merwe, "Between Transitional
Justice and Politics: Reparations in South Africa," South African Journal of International
Affairs, 2018, 25:3, 301-321, DOI: 10.1080/10220461.2018.1514528
 Annah Moyo, Maxine Rubin and Hugo van der Merwe, "Reparations for Apartheid-Era
Victims in South Africa: The Unfinished Business of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission," in Reparations for Victims of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against
Humanity: Systems in Place and Systems in the Making (Eds: Carla Ferstman and
Mariana Goetz) Brill, Leiden. https://brill.com/view/title/38931?language=en
 Maxine Rubin, "Exploring Transitional Justice's Impact Pathways on Gender Justice:
Trends in Sexual- and Gender-based Violence against Women from 13 African Cases,"
Journal of Human Rights Practice.
 Hugo van der Merwe and Richard Chelin, "Impartial versus Selective Justice: How
Power Shapes Transitional Justice in Africa," African Conflict and Peacebuilding
Review.
 Hugo van der Merwe and Annah Moyo, "Transitional Justice for Colonial-Era Abuses
and Legacies: African versus European Policy Priorities," submitted for online
publication to the Centre for International Law Research and Policy publication series
on Colonial Wrongs, Double Standards, and Access to International Law
 Mbalenhle Matandela, "Countering the Erasure of African Women in International
Relations," submitted for publication to Millennium Journal for International Studies
 Hugo van der Merwe and Nomathamsanqa Masiko, "Addressing Legacies of Large Scale
Abuses through Inclusive Transitional Justice Mechanisms," forthcoming chapter
in Carla Koppell (ed.) Diversity and Inclusion in Peacebuilding, Textbook for
International Relations students.

Research Reports and Multimedia:

 Tunisia: The Colonial Legacy and Transitional Justice

 Nigeria: The Colonial Legacy and Transitional Justice
 Transitional Justice and SGBV
 Podcast of "Transitional Justice for Colonial-Era Abuses and Legacies: African versus
European Policy Priorities," https://www.cilrap.org/cilrap-podcast/colonial-wrongs-
double-standards-and-access-to-international-law/

Country Case Studies:

 Algeria – Djamila Ould Khettab

 CAR – Niagale Bagayoko
 DRC – Shirambere Philippe Tunamsifu
 Kenya – Andrew Songa
 Liberia – Aaron Weah
 Morocco – Fadoua Loudiy
 Mozambique – Victor Igreja
 Nigeria – Hakeem O. Yusuf
  Rwanda – Nicole Beardsworth
 South Africa – Maxine Rubin
 Tunisia – Laryssa Chomiak

Since 2009, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation has conducted research and
intervention projects that engage with and assess the role of the South African government's
Community Work Programme (CWP) in violence and crime prevention. This work has shaped
the way that CWP implements its programmes in various communities and impacted on the way
that government frames the purpose of the programme. It has also contributed to understanding
the role of public employment as an avenue for addressing violence, both in South Africa and
globally.

The CWP is a state-funded public employment programme intended as an economic safety net
that provides a basic stable income to people who are unemployed or underemployed.

CSVR's interest in the CWP and its potential to prevent violence was motivated by research
carried out in 2009 and 2010. This research, part of a study on collective violence, conducted by
CSVR and the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP) at the University of the
Witwatersrand, indicated that the CWP in Bokfontein in the North West Province may have
prevented violence both directly – through the basic income provided through stipends and
activities aimed at basic infrastructure development – as well as indirectly – by reducing
competition for resources and creating a sense of group identity, social cohesion or togetherness
amongst the community members of different nationalities.

At that point, the CWP was still in a pilot phase. Since then, the CWP has been formally
established as a government programme located in the Department of Cooperative Governance
and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). As of 2017, just over 225,000 people were involved in the
CWP and there are now more than 200 CWP sites.

Between 2013 to 2015, CSVR conducted research at a total of six CWP sites across Gauteng, the
Western Cape and North West province. This research was funded by the Canadian International
Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the British Department for International
Development (DFID) and formed part of the Safe and Inclusive Cities (SAIC) research
programme. The research findings, which were presented at a national policy workshop (co-
hosted by COGTA and GIZ), demonstrated the extensive and multi-level contribution that the
CWP was already making to violence prevention. The CWP did this by addressing underlying
causes of violence (through providing income and employment opportunities), addressing
immediate causes of violence (through patrols and safety campaigns), as well as creating spaces
for social cohesion and constructive collective problem-solving and action.

Based on the results of stakeholder engagements during this phase, multiple stakeholders
suggested that violence prevention through the CWP could be strengthened if CWP participants
could receive further training and skills. The six topics of gender-based violence (GBV),
working with men, substance abuse, parenting, working with ex-offenders and self-care were all
deemed to be important areas of training.

Subsequently, the CSVR received additional funding from the IDRC to conduct a second phase
of research (2016 to 2018). This research focused on building CWP participants' capacity to
conceptualise, implement and reflect on violence prevention interventions through their work in
the CWP. In 2017, this process commenced with the training of 160 CWP participants, from 4
CWP sites in Gauteng, in the six areas of violence prevention. The selected CWP participants
were then provided with the opportunity to motivate or vote for the one or two areas of violence
prevention that they believed were most pertinent in their communities.

Between 2017 and 2018, CWP participants at the four sites carried out a total of 37 violence
prevention activities related to the topics of gender-based violence, substance abuse and
parenting. These activities included situational analyses, in an attempt to better understand the
selected topics, stakeholder meetings, to learn from and network with local service providers,
workshops, awareness-raising campaigns and referrals to government or community-based
service providers.

Below is a list of publications from both phases of CSVR's research, including key learnings
from its collaboration in working with CWP participants in conceptualising, implementing and
strengthening violence prevention through the CWP.

Staff presently involved in the project include:

Malose Langa – Senior Research Associate at the CSVR and Senior Lecturer at the University of
the Witwatersrand

Steven Rebello –Senior Researcher

Selby Xinwa – Researcher

Hugo van der Merwe – Director of Research, Knowledge and Learning

CSVR's publications on the CWP:

Policy Briefs

Brankovic, J. (2017). Women's contribution to social cohesion and violence prevention through
the Community Work Programme (Policy Brief No. 3). Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of
Violence and Reconciliation.
Bruce, D. (2015). The good, the better and the best: How the Community Work Programme can
reach its full potential as an instrument of community development in South Africa (Policy Brief
No. 1). Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Bruce, D. (2015). Working for Safety: The Community Work Programme as a tool for preventing
violence and building safer communities (Policy Brief No. 2). Johannesburg: Centre for the
Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Langa, M. (2017). Reintegration of ex-offenders: Opportunities for the Community Work

Programme to assist in the community reintegration of ex-offenders (Policy Brief No. 4).
Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Mswane, T., & Mqehe, T. (2018). Barriers to men's involvement in the CWP: A qualitative
assessment (Policy Brief No. 5). Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and
Reconciliation.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Bruce, D. (2015). Preventing crime and violence through work and wages: The impact of the
Community Work Programme. South African Crime Quarterly, 52(1), 25–37.

Langa, M., & Masuku, T. (2015). The role of ex-offenders in implementing the Community
Work Programme as a crime and violence prevention initiative. African Safety Promotion
Journal, 13(2), 78–91.

Langa, M., Masuku, T., Bruce, D., & van der Merwe, H. (2016). Facilitating or hindering social
cohesion? The impact of the Community Work Programme in selected South African townships.
South African Crime Quarterly, 55(1), 41–48.

Langa, M., Masuku, T., & van der Merwe. (2019). Towards safer communities: The impact of
the Community Work Programme on the prevention of urban violence in South Africa. In J. E.
Salahub, M. Gottsbacher, J. de Boer, & M. Zaaroura (Eds.), Reducing Urban Violence in the
Global South: Towards Safe and Inclusive Cities. London: Routledge.

van der Merwe, H., & Langa, M. (2019). South Africa's Community Work Programme: Local
Peacebuilding Innovation Within a National Developmental Architecture. Journal of
Peacebuilding & Development, 14(1), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/1542316619832681

Case Studies

Langa, M. (2015a). A follow-up report on the community work programme in Bokfontein.

Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Langa, M. (2015b). The impact of the Community Work Programme on violence in Orange
Farm. Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
Masuku, T. (2015). A case study of the Ivory Park Community Work Programme. Johannesburg:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Masuku, T., Langa, M., & Bruce, D. (n.d.). The Community Work Programme in Kagiso.
Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Mullagee, F., & Bruce, D. (2015). Building a good nation in Manenberg: A case study of the
Manenberg Community Work Programme. Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and
Reconciliation.

Puwana, Z. (2015). The Community Work Programme in Grabouw. Johannesburg: Centre for the
Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Research Reports

Brankovic, J. (2019). Participatory methods in violence prevention: Lessons from CSVR's

collaboration with the Community Work Programme in South Africa [Reflection Report].
Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Langa, M., Tappe Ortiz, J., Mataboge, P., Talbot, V., & Mncina, B. (2019). Global comparative
analysis of public employment programmes: Strengths and limitations. Johannesburg: Centre for
the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Mataboge, P., Langa, M., & Rebello, S. (2019). Strengthening urban violence prevention
through the CWP: Learnings from CSVR's pre and post-training evaluation. Johannesburg:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Rebello, S. (2019). Learnings from participants' reflections on the strengthening urban violence
prevention through the Community Work Programme (CWP) project [Summative report].
Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Rebello, S. (2019). State-community collaboration for safe communities—Urban violence

prevention through public employment programmes [Summative reports executive summary].
Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Other products

Masiko, N., & Xinwa, S. (2017). Substance abuse in South Africa, its linkages with gender-
based violence and urban violence—CSVR fact sheet on substance abuse in South Africa. Centre
for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Rebello, S. (2017). State-community collaboration for safe communities—Institutionalising

urban violence prevention in the Community Work Programme [Participant Notes].
Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
Rebello, S., & Langa, M. (2019). Government and civil society collaboration: Lessons from a
partnership between CSVR, COGTA and GIZ-VCP [Reflection report]. Johannesburg: Centre for
the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

Services
In the 21st century, violence and conflict remain a reality in many parts of the world. Mental
health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS) as a response to this reality have become a
vital instrument in addressing the consequences of violence and conflict. At CSVR, we engage in
adopting a MHPSS lens to address the consequences of violence and conflict through our direct
and indirect services to affected individuals, families and communities to promote their mental
health and psychosocial wellbeing. Our MHPSS intervention responses are informed by research
gathered on the ground, reflecting on the lived experiences of victims and their contextual
realities and rehabilitation needs.v
Addressing the psychosocial components of

Reparation of victims

Addressing the psychosocial components of reparation of victims

Community mobilisation, social cohesion and peacebuilding initiatives

Designing and implementing capacity-building workshops and trainings for organisations

Increasing access to MHPSS

Psychological counselling services (face-to-face or online)

Peer supervision support and mentorship

In partnership with various organisations,

such as the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation and the International
Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, and with donor support from USAID and Dignity,
we are currently involved in the following programmes and projects:

Rehabilitation Project for Survivors of Torture, CIDT and Other Human Rights Violations

With donor support from USAID and Dignity, the focus of this project is to provide MHPSS to
victims who have experienced torture, human rights violations and forced migration. The
impacts of these experiences are diverse and include biological, psychological and social
dimensions. MHPSS interventions include direct psychological support, as well as supporting
frontline workers to assist victims through capacity-building and training workshops.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services in Transitional Justice/Peacebuilding

Mental Wellbeing and Leadership
MHPSS Awareness Campaigns
Addressing Sexual and Gender Based Violence

Our recently concluded projects include:

Mental Health Project

In partnership with UNHCR, this project aimed to provide direct comprehensive mental health
and psychosocial services to refugees and asylum seekers (individuals and families) through
counselling service provision, case management and psychiatric services, as well as providing
indirect psychosocial services to refugees and asylum seekers through community outreach and
capacity building initiatives.

Rehabilitation Services for Torture Survivors

A COVID-19 Response: Addressing the Shadow Pandemic of Sexual and Gender Based
Violence within South Africa
Mitigating the Possible Devastating Effects of COVID-19
Community-led Intervention to Counter Authority-based Violence in South Africa
Addressing Torture
Combating Drivers of Xenophobic Violence in South Africa
Building Supportive Communities towards Violence Prevention through Citizen Participation
and Evidence-based Approaches

21 Resources to Plan Your Next

Peacebuilding Training
A compilation of the best resources with guidance and activities to help you plan your next
peacebuilding training.

by Taylor O’Connor | 10 May 2024

“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must
work at it.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

I can’t count the number of peacebuilding trainings I’ve planned and facilitated. And having
done this kind of stuff for quite a while now I know the value of good training resources.

I also know how hard it can be to find good training resources to train peacebuilders. I think the
reason for this is twofold: 1) most established peacebuilding training programs don’t have the
resources to compile and publish their peace training materials, and 2) many peacebuilding
training programs are based on the knowledge of the trainers they hire and don’t even have any
formalized curriculum.

I also think that while there are a handful of international peacebuilder training programs out
there, the vast majority of peacebuilding training programs operate at the local/community and
national levels. So to help out all the groups and individuals out there trying to put together their
own trainings of peacebuilders.

What is a peacebuilder training and what resources are

needed?
But first, let’s cover this basic point. What is a peacebuilder training?

Well, a peacebuilder training is any program or organized educational activity that aims to train
people how to build a more peaceful and just world, or at least how to find ways to take action at
the community level to address a social issue that threatens peace/justice.

There exists an academic field of study called Peace and Conflict Studies, but this is different.
The academic discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies focuses much on theories while
peacebuilding training is all about practical tools to take action for peace.
Such trainings are often facilitated by non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), community based organizations (CBOs), or civil society organizations (CSOs), but can
be carried out by any group however formal or informal.

Secondly, what resources are needed to conduct a peacebuilder training?

Well, in this blog post I have compiled 21 resources to help you plan your next peacebuilding
training. Generally, such resources are downloadable and include either guidance to plan and
carry out a peacebuilding training or activities to facilitate a peacebuilding training, ideally both.
The activities are essential. Participatory and engaging activities are at the heart of peacebuilding
trainings and workshops. All resources provided here include great peacebuilding training
activities, and some include guidance.

What I learned from my process of selecting the best

peacebuilding training resources
Below I have included the top 21 resources to help you plan and carry out your next
peacebuilding training. I have selected resources that include actual activities to conduct in a
peacebuilding training or workshop. Some include also planning guidance while others do not.
Resources that are primarily focused on readings, self-guided workbooks, or other instructional
material, but that did not include any activities were also not included.

Common topics included in peacebuilding trainings are peacebuilding theory and practice,
conflict analysis, conflict transformation, and personal skills associated with building peace.
Many also include activities that help participants plan projects for peace.

I also have learned that while many peacebuilder training programs exist, most at local and
national levels, and some at international levels, few have published resources that are freely
available. Many peacebuilder training programs have not formalized their curriculum beyond a
short outline provided online, and many are linked to specific individuals with expertise who will
facilitate the trainings.

Most formally published peacebuilding training resources are from large international
organizations who have funding to produce peacebuilding training curriculums, and in some
cases the produce the resources in collaboration with smaller organizations.

Also, there are not a lot of good training materials out there specifically for training
peacebuilders. The resources I have found and selected were produced from a wide array of
organizations across more than 20 years. Good peacebuilding training resources are not regularly
published.

You will see that there are a lot of youth-focused training resources as this is a primary group
involved in peacebuilding efforts.. Any resource developed as a youth peacebuilding resource
can be applied to people who are not youth, but it is interesting to see how many were developed
specifically for youth and young people.

How I found and selected these peacebuilding training

resources
Of course you can find hundreds, probably thousands of training resources online that can be
used in peacebuilding trainings. This list is not a comprehensive list of every resource that could
possibly be used in a peacebuilding training. It is a list of the very best training resources that are
generally explicitly designed for training peacebuilders, or training people in how to build peace.
A few are not explicitly related to peace, but more on social change., and I have included them
only because the activities they have are great for peacebuilder trainings.

It does not include purely theoretical or academic resources about peace and conflict theory. It
does not include peace education curriculums which are focused on educating children, youth or
the general public about peace. I have another blog post mapping over 100 peace education
resources which you can find HERE.

It also does not include training resources on specific topics associated with peacebuilding like
social justice, gender, music/arts, media and tech, social cohesion, peace infrastructure,
demilitarization, nonviolence, conflict management and resolution (including dialogue
facilitation, negotiation and mediation), environmental peacebuilding or others. Each of these
topics can and will have their own blog posts sharing resources. All resources shared below are
explicitly on peacebuilding and peace skills. Some cover various topics, but the main purpose of
the resource is to train peacebuilders.

Other training resources not included in this list:

 Not general peace education or focused on children. Focus here is on training

peacebuilders who already have the motivation and drive to build peace. Some focused
on youth, but not for general public to try to convince people of the importance of peace
and building peace
 Not high level peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity, or program planning for peace
workshops
 Training materials that are not explicitly about peace or peacebuilding not included
 Not including resources that are not presented in a simple download. Some projects have
resources in numerous downloads, multiple booklets when used together form a complete
program, including some trainings and activities,,, but these are too complicated. Also,
not websites with clickable database to find activities.
 With one exception, Not including many country specific curriculums, or context specific
curriculums
How these peacebuilding training resources are presented
Copyright: All resources here were found as free downloads on the websites of the
organizations that created them. I have not included resources that can’t be found freely online.
Also, I have not included a few resources where you have to register to receive the resource via
email out of respect to organizations that wish to collect email followers in exchange for their
free resource.

If for any reason you are from an organization that published any of these and you don’t want it
also linked on my website, just email me to let me know and I’ll take it down. You can contact
me, Taylor here: taylor (at) everydaypeacebuilding (dot) com

Presentation: I have include the name of each resource, the year it was published and the name
of the organization (or organizations) that produced it. I did not include the names of authors as
only a few of the resources cited a specific author and when they do they often include numerous
individuals involved in creating a resource. Only one resource was produced with no
organizational affiliation so in that case I listed the author names.

Links: Each resource listed below includes a link for a direct download of the resource. I chose
to include direct download links because often external links change. Some have more than one
link because the resource is split up.

Language: Some of these resources are available in multiple languages while others are only
available in English. In this blog post I have included only English language versions. If you find
a resource you like and want to see if it is available in other languages you can usually find it on
the website of the organization (or organizations) that produced it.

Top 21 Peacebuilding Training Resources

My top 21 peacebuilding training resources are listed below, organized into 4 categories:

1. Comprehensive peacebuilding training resources

2. Smaller peacebuilding training resources and/or more focused resources
3. Training resources focused on conflict transformation
4. Peace focused games, energizers and facilitation tools

Comprehensive peacebuilding training resources

Below you will find fiive resources that are presented as a comprehensive package of activities
and guidance to plan a peacebuilding training. Each includes numerous activity guides across
various topics.

Young Peacebuilder: Training Handbook for Young Peace Educators (2021) | by the United
Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)

An excellent resource with tons of activities across lots of relevant and practical peacebuildling
skills including personal skills, project management skills, peace advocacy and facilitation,
among others. The training resources are easy to use.

Youth Peacebuilding Training Manual (2022) | by UNHCR

This is a newer one that I haven’t used yet, but it looks super great. The organization and design
is excellent. It looks like a great introductory level course for new and aspiring peacebuilders,
and community level peacebuilders. There is a large community focus and it includes activities
that cover lots of personal peace skills.

Youth 4 Peace: Training Toolkit (2018) | by the United Network of Young Peacebuilders
(UNOY Peacebuilders)

This is another user/facilitator friendly resource – meaning that it is easy for facilitators to use
and apply activities. There are tons of interesting activities in here covering training on key
concepts in peacebuilding. It also includes lots of resources for planning and implementing
peacebuilding trainings.

Active Citizens: Facilitators Toolkit (2021) | by British Council

This is one that is not explicitly for peacebuilding, but is perfect for peacebuilder trainings. It has
80 great activities covering topics of identity, culture, dialogue, community engagement and
social action project planning.

Youth Guide on Education for Peacebuilding and the Prevention of Violence (2022) | by
UNESCO and The International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA)
This one has just 15 activities, but the activities they do have are great. It includes lots of
planning and implementation guidance for peacebuilding trainings and some background
information about pedagogical approaches for peacebuilding trainings. There is some focus on
the African context, but most of the activities can be applied to any context or easily adapted. It
also include some resources for monitoring of peacebuilding trainings.

Smaller peacebuilding training resources and/or more focused resources

Below I have presented six great peacebuilding training resources that include great activities.
Each of those listed below either includes a smaller number of activities, activities only on one
specific topic, or activities focused on one specific theme associated with peacebuilding.

Peace Counts Learning Manual (2015) | by Berghof Foundation

This is a shorter package of activities developed and tested in trainings for peacebuilders around
the world. There are fewer activities, but they are really excellent. The package includes
handouts and worksheets for activities where needed. Some of the activities are quite unique; not
activities that you will see in other resources.

Women and Peacebuilding: Resource and Training Manual – PART 1 and PART 2 (2004) |
by Eastern Mennonite University

This is a great one with a focus on gender, peace and conflict. It is important because gender
should be integrated into any peacebuilding training. It includes 32 interactive activities. I’m not
sure why, but it is split into 2 separate PDFs – note the two links above. But it is one training
package.

Making Peace Where I Live (MAPWIL): A Project for Young People to Meet
Peacebuilders in their Own Communities (2008) | by Elise Boulding, Cynthia Cohen, Gail
Jacobson, Lyn Haas, and Mary Lee Morrison

This one is cool because it is focused on connecting young people (or any participants) with
peacebuilders in their own communities. There is a big focus on learning from local contexts.
Developed by peace educators in the United States, but oriented to be applicable to any context.
There is not organization that sponsored this resource. It was developed by a group of individual
peacebuilders, most namely Elise Boulding – a pioneer in peace education.
Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators – Middle School Edition and High School Edition
(2011) | by United States Institute for Peace (USIP)

This training package includes two separate, but similar, training packages. One is geared
towards high school age young people (14 – 18 years old) and the other for middle school age
(12 – 14 years old). The activities in each are the same or similar with minor adjustments for age.
It can be used for persons older than 18 years old, but not recommended for participants younger
than 12. There are about fifteen activities in each primarily focused on understanding conflict
and finding ways that each individual can build peace.

Guidebook for Mentors: A Manual for Teaching and Mentoring Young Peacebuilders
(2021) | by Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute Foundation

Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) is well known for its annual peacebuilder training
program which trains peacebuilders from all over the world. No doubt that they have leveraged
the expertise of their diverse peacebuilding trainers and years of experience in training
peacebuilders. This one is cool because it focuses on training and mentorship to guide
peacebuilders in their development and support them in applying what they learn.

Peacebuilding Training Guide for Ethiopia (2017) | by the UNESCO International Institute for
Capacity Building in Africa’s (IICBA)

This is the only resource included that was developed for a specific country context, but included
because it is super great. While developed for Ethiopia, it has also been formally used in Eritrea,
Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. Includes great activities across a range of topics
including conflict, peacebuilding, personal competencies, gender, and taking action, among

others. Developed in part by an old friend of mine. Well done Tigist if you are reading!

Training resources focused on conflict transformation

The two resources below are focused solely and explicitly on conflict analysis and conflict
transformation.

Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means: Participants’ Manual – Trainers’ Manual

(2000) | by TRANSCEND: A Peace and Development Network and the United Nations Disaster
Management Training Program (DMTP)
This is a key training resource developed by influential peace theorist Johan Galtung. It includes
training on a bunch of peace frameworks and tools developed by Galtung. For more advanced
peacebuilders interested in peace and conflict studies theories, tools and approaches.

Nonviolent Conflict Transformation: Training Manual for a Training of Trainers Course

(2006) | by KURVE Wustrow, Peace Action Training and Research Institute of Romania
(PATRIR), and other partners

This resource covers concepts and activities to help participants understand conflict and apply
conflict transformation approaches. It is a Training of Trainers (ToT) course so the content is a
bit more dense than some other resources.

Peace focused games, energizers and facilitation tools

The five resources below include tons of great games and activities for peacebuilding trainings.
Generally, they include lots of activities which are not presented in a comprehensive training
package. What is interesting is that many of these include games, energizers and activities that
are explicitly related to peacebuilding core themes like conflict, violence, etc. Most have very
user-friendly indexes to help you find activities suitable to integrate into your peacebuilding
training.

Designing and Facilitating Creative Conversations & Learning Activities (2011) | by the
Barefoot Guide Collective

This is not a peacebuilding resource explicitly. The focus is on social change. It is a resource for
facilitators that covers key approaches for planning and facilitation of activities for social
change. It includes some great readings and tools to support facilitators, and it also covers key
elements, approaches, and tips for facilitating different types of learning experiences associated
with social change activities.

Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation: Methods and Games to Facilitate Training

Sessions (2012) | by ZFD (Ziviler Friedensdienst – Civil Peace Service)

This one is a huge pack of games and activities covering topics associated with peace and
peacebuilding, conflict and conflict transformation. The resource is not organized as a sequence
of learning activities, but it covers various topics with tons of simple activities that you can select
from to integrate in any training. It is unique because activities are simple and short, and aside
from the general warm-ups and energizers, each activity is focused on peace topics like conflict,
violence, communication, cooperation, problem solving, and other topics.

Virtual Trainings Gate: A toolkit for safe and effective virtual Trainings (2021) | by the
Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)

This is the only resource I know of developed by a peacebuilding organization that is focused on
facilitation of virtual trainings (on building peace). It includes coverage of some key interactive
tools you can use for virtual trainings, best practices for protection of digital security, and
guidance on how to design virtual trainings and workshops.

Training Kit: A Collection of Tools to Create Engaging Courses and Workshops (2020) | by
SwissPeace

This one is another massive collection of peace-related activities. It is a compilation of activities

that have been tested and used successfully by SwissPeace over the course of many years.
Basically, the put together all their best activities from across a ton of different types of trainings
over many years. It is a huge resource, but it is easy to navigate and use. In the beginning they
have lists of activities organized and referenced by theme, group size, purpose, activity
type/method, time, and complexity. They even included a list of activities that are suitable to use
in virtual trainings.

Learning to Live Together: An Intercultural and Interfaith Programme for Ethics

Education (2008) | by Arigatou Foundation

I’ve used this one a lot over the years. The focus is on intercultural and interfaith, and so is often
used in peace education programs and activities, but so many of the activities are super great for
peacebuilder trainings. I particularly like both the activities for building group cohesion, and the
community action-oriented activities. The end of the toolkit also has some great resources that
peacebuilders can use.

Now go plan your peacebuilding training

I hope these resources are useful for you in planning your next peacebuilding training, whether it
be for your staff capacity building, for a youth peacebuilding program, or otherwise.
If you found this article helpful and want to find more blog posts like this mapping organizations
that build peace across a wide array of themes be sure to check out our Resources page!

Also, CLICK HERE to check out the peacebuilding training offerings we have at Everyday
Peacebuilding. There you can see the three step system we have created to train peacebuilders,
each step with a detailed outline of training components. Many of the resources from this blog
were used to build out our training package.

Are there any peacebuilding training resources that are missing in this blog post? If so, CLICK
HERE to submit a resource that I can add to this blog post.

And be sure to sign up for our newsletter (the best peacebuilding newsletter out there!) to get
connected with all the best articles, videos, podcast episodes, events, downloads, learning
opportunities, and other resources on building peace published each week, selected from a broad
array of global efforts to build peace. Subscribe by clicking HERE.

We are excited to offer virtual workshops for groups on How to Build Peace. This workshop was
designed to support participants to learn how they can use their unique talents and abilities to
make real change on the social issue (or issues) they care about most.

This virtual workshop is based on core content of our free eCourse on How to Build Peace
(available HERE) and includes interactive workshops with direct support from the facilitator.

About this training-workshop

Location of workshop: a virtual training-workshop hosted on Zoom

* If you are interested to arrange an in-person training, book a call with us to discuss at the link
below.

Sessions/timeframe: Seven virtual sessions; 1.5 hours each. Host organizations may choose to
do one or two sessions per week.
Facilitator(s): All sessions will be facilitated by Taylor, the founder of Everyday Peacebuilding.
Other team members from Everyday Peacebuilding may join to support and be training on how
to facilitate this workshop. Taylor’s bio at the bottom of the page.

Who can book this workshop? A representative of any organization interested to book this
training workshop for their staff, students or volunteers. This may include non-government
organizations (NGOs), nonprofits and other groups.

Ideal participants: Anyone interested to learn how to build peace (beginner level). May be
particularly suitable for youth peacebuilding training programs or staff/volunteer capacity
building. The ideal size of each group is about 15 to 20 participants.

Language: All sessions will be facilitated in English, spoken clearly in easy to understand
language to be accessible to those with little experience in building peace and non-naative
speakers.

* You may inquire about arranging simultaneous translation.

** This workshop (and all workshops) also available in Spanish.

What to expect from this training-workshop

Workshop objectives

Participants will:

 be able to identify clearly the social issue (or social issues) they want to change AND
creative approaches to change them.
 be able to identify their unique skills and abilities and learn how they can use them to
make change on the social issue(s) they care about.
 get connected to networks and resrouces that will support them to take action to change
the social issue(s) they care about.
 develop personal capacitites that will support them in their efforts to build peace.
 be able to identify clear next steps they can take to begin addressing the social issue(s)
they want to change.

Topics covered in this workshop

Making change on the social issue(s) you care about: Participants will identify which social
issue (or issues) they are most passionate about. They will come up with a vision for what it will
look like when that issue (or issues) has been solved. And they will figure out how to use their
unique skills and abilities to make change on the issue(s) they care about.

Getting connected to resources and networks: Participants will learn about peace heroes past
and present to give them both inspiration and ideas. Participants will get connected to
organizations that are working specifically to make change on the social issue(s) they care about.
And they will discover resources to help them use their unique skills and abilities to make
change on the social issue(s) they care about.

Taking action for peace: In the last section, I’ll help participants set their internal compass to
guide them on their peacebuilding journey, to help them in difficult times, and to make key
decisions on the direction of their peacebuilding journeys. They will map next steps in their
journey and we will talk about ways we can work together and support each other moving
forward in their peacebuilding journies.

Methodology

 During workshop sessions: Live workshop sessions will include presentation of tools
and approaches for building peace together with interactive activities to help participants
apply learning. Workshop sessions may be contextualized to best meet the needs of
participants.
 After workshop sessions: Participants will be given practical activities to do after each
session to apply learning. The facilitator will also share short articles, videos and other
content for participants to review after live sessions.

Contextualization: All trainings are tailored to the interests and needs of each group and
adapted to be relevant to the context from where participants live. To make these adjustments
and integrate contextual elements to the training-workshop we use information shared by host
organizations in preparation for the training-workshop and from participants during the
workshop. If you would like specific topics to be integrated you can discuss this with us in our
free consultation.

Student/participant workload: For each of the live sessions, participants should expect to do
1.5 hours of readings and practical activities. Each particiant will prepare a brief presentation for
the final session based on learning from the course.

Booking this training-workshop

Pricing

The price to book this 7-session workshop for your organization is 4,400 USD

* Discounts available for smaller organizations.

Process for booking

 If you think your organization may be interested to book this workshop please book a
free consultation call with us to confirm suitability, share about your organization and
discuss scheduling.
 Following the call, we will send you a link to pay for the workshop.

BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION CALL

* Signing up for this free consultation call will also add you to our email list where you will
receive free resrouces on building peace and updates about new blog posts, eCourses, events
and other great content from Everyday Peacebuilding. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Workshop coordination
Once booked, Everyday Peacebuilding is responsible for workshop planning and facilitation.
Specifically, we will:

 Setup of Zoom meeting for agreed time/dates and send invitation to host organization
focal person(s)
 Share workshop syllabus with host organization focal person(s)
 Preparation and facilitation of all workshop sessions

The host organization focal persons are responsible for all coordination and communication with
participants. Specifically, for the:

 Recruitment of participants.
 Forwarding Zoom meeting invitation and syllabus to intended participants
 Attend all workshop sessions, participate, and provide support as needed

As and if needed, we can arrange an additional planning call before the first session.The
Everyday Peacebuilding team will have no direct communication with participants in planning
and coordination of this workshop.

Monitoring systems are included throught the workshop to identify any issues and make any
needed adjustments to the content and methods to best meet the needs of participants and host
organization. Focal persons from host organization may communicate directly with our team via
email if any unforeseen circumstances or issues arise.
Meet Your Workshop Facilitator

Hey, I’m Taylor.

I’m a certified ‘peace nerd’ obsessed about exploring creative ways to build peace.

On the professional side, I’ve worked as a ‘peacebuilding technical specialist’ consultant with a
bunch of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies over the years.

I’ve spent my free time for years researching and documenting thousands of ways people around
the world build peace. I launched Everyday Peacebuilding in January of 2020 to share all the
things I’ve learned, to support peacebuilders (and aspiring peacebuilders) like you from all walks
of life to find creative and effective ways to build peace.

I believe that individuals have the power to change the world, and spend all my waking energy
obsessed about developing innovative resources to support anyone interested to build a more
peaceful, just world.

Questions or inquiries
Email me, Taylor, at [email protected]

We are excited to offer virtual workshops for groups on Essential Peace Skills.

This workshop was designed to support participants to learn essential peacebuilding skills that
they can use to enhance the creativity and effectiveness of any peace effort they are involved in.

About this training-workshop

Location of workshop: a virtual training-workshop hosted on Zoom
* If you are interested to arrange an in-person training, book a call with us to discuss at the link
below.

Sessions/timeframe: Ten virtual sessions; 1.5 hours each. Host organizations may choose to do
one or two sessions per week.

Facilitator(s): All sessions will be facilitated by Taylor, the founder of Everyday Peacebuilding.
Other team members from Everyday Peacebuilding may join to support and be training on how
to facilitate this workshop. Taylor’s bio at the bottom of the page.

Who can book this workshop? A representative of any organization interested to book this
training workshop for their staff, students or volunteers. This may include non-government
organizations (NGOs), nonprofits and other groups.

Ideal participants: Anyone interested to learn how to build peace (beginner level). May be
particularly suitable for youth peacebuilding training programs or staff/volunteer capacity
building. The ideal size of each group is about 15 to 20 participants.

Language: All sessions will be facilitated in English, spoken clearly in easy to understand
language to be accessible to those with little experience in building peace and non-naative
speakers.

* You may inquire about arranging simultaneous translation.

** This workshop (and all workshops) also available in Spanish.

What to expect from this training-workshop

Workshop objectives

Participants will:

 gain a solid understanding of core theories and concepts from peace studies and how to
apply them today.
 gain a solid understanding of diverse tactics and approaches for building peace and have
ideas of how to use them.
 know how to conduct a simple conflict analysis and know multiple approaches to plan
community level peace research.
 develop a basic understanding of peacebuilding strategy and innovation, and be able to
apply key processes in these to enhance the creativity and effectiveness of peace
initiatives.

Topics covered in this workshop

Peace history, theory and practice: Participants will gain a solid understanding of the history
of global peace movements, 200+ years of peace theory, and the development of the modern
academic study of peace and conflict. They will learn a range of core concepts in peace studies
and discuss how to apply them.

Participants will critically analyze common challenges to peace posed by global systems and
structures in which most peacebuilding initiatives operate, and they will explore alternative
approaches to building peace that operate outside of formal systems. They will discuss thoughts
on the future of peacebuilding and brainstorm ways to promote peacebuilding innovation.

Diverse tactics and approaches for building peace: Participants will gain a solid
understanding of diverse tactics and approaches for buiding peace including, and they will
discuss the advantages and limitations of each.

Key concepts and approaches include: 1) traditional peacebuilding frameworks and approaches,
2) conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding in humanitarian and development projects, 3) peace,
justice and intersectionality, 4) peace activism, demiilitarization and war abolition, and 5)
peacebuilding innovation processes and approaches. There will be discussion on personal peace
and wellness, and their interlinkages with efforts to build peace in the world around us.

Conflict analysis and peace research: Participants will gain an understanding of diverse
approaches to conducting conflict and peace research. They will review and apply conflcit
analysis tools and tools for analyzing forms of violence. They will learn about traditional,
participatory and expiramental methods for condcuting research and learn how to develop a
research plan and tools. They will apply research tools and approaches to produce a simple
conflict analysis and learn practical approaches to conduct peace research.

Strategy and innovation in peacebuilding: Participants will learn key approaches in conflict
transformation. They will get a brief overview of strategic peacebuilding processes and learn
how to apply conflict/peace research and diverse approaches for building peace enhance the
effectiveness of peace efforts. They will review key processes and approaches for peacebuilding
innovation and conclude by applying what they have learned to generate ideas for strategic,
innovative peace initiatives in their context.

Methodology

 During workshop sessions: Live workshop sessions will include presentation of tools
and approaches for building peace together with interactive activities to help participants
apply learning. Workshop sessions may be contextualized to best meet the needs of
participants.
 After workshop sessions: Participants will be given practical activities to do after each
session to apply learning. The facilitator will also share short articles, videos and other
content for participants to review after live sessions.

Contextualization: All trainings are tailored to the interests and needs of each group and
adapted to be relevant to the context from where participants live. To make these adjustments
and integrate contextual elements to the training-workshop we use information shared by host
organizations in preparation for the training-workshop and from participants during the
workshop. If you would like specific topics to be integrated you can discuss this with us in our
free consultation.

Student/participant workload: For each of the live sessions, participants should expect to do
1.5 hours of readings and practical activities. Each particiant will prepare a brief presentation for
the final session based on learning from the course.

Booking this training-workshop

Pricing

The price to book this 10-session workshop for your organization is 6,050 USD

* Discounts available for smaller organizations.

Process for booking

 If you think your organization may be interested to book this workshop please book a
free consultation call with us to confirm suitability, share about your organization and
discuss scheduling.
 Following the call, we will send you a link to pay for the workshop.

BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION CALL

* Signing up for this free consultation call will also add you to our email list where you will
receive free resrouces on building peace and updates about new blog posts, eCourses, events
and other great content from Everyday Peacebuilding. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Workshop coordination
Once booked, Everyday Peacebuilding is responsible for workshop planning and facilitation.
Specifically, we will:

 Setup of Zoom meeting for agreed time/dates and send invitation to host organization
focal person(s)
 Share workshop syllabus with host organization focal person(s)
 Preparation and facilitation of all workshop sessions

The host organization focal persons are responsible for all coordination and communication with
participants. Specifically, for the:

 Recruitment of participants.
 Forwarding Zoom meeting invitation and syllabus to intended participants
 Attend all workshop sessions, participate, and provide support as needed
As and if needed, we can arrange an additional planning call before the first session.The
Everyday Peacebuilding team will have no direct communication with participants in planning
and coordination of this workshop.

Monitoring systems are included throught the workshop to identify any issues and make any
needed adjustments to the content and methods to best meet the needs of participants and host
organization. Focal persons from host organization may communicate directly with our team via
email if any unforeseen circumstances or issues arise.
Meet Your Workshop Facilitator

Hey, I’m Taylor.

I’m a certified ‘peace nerd’ obsessed about exploring creative ways to build peace.

On the professional side, I’ve worked as a ‘peacebuilding technical specialist’ consultant with a
bunch of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies over the years.

I’ve spent my free time for years researching and documenting thousands of ways people around
the world build peace. I launched Everyday Peacebuilding in January of 2020 to share all the
things I’ve learned, to support peacebuilders (and aspiring peacebuilders) like you from all walks
of life to find creative and effective ways to build peace.

I believe that individuals have the power to change the world, and spend all my waking energy
obsessed about developing innovative resources to support anyone interested to build a more
peaceful, just world.

Questions or inquiries
Email me, Taylor, at [email protected]

We are excited to offer virtual workshops for groups on Planning Peace Actions and Initiatives.

This workshop was designed to support participants to be able to confidently plan creative and
effective peace actions and initiatives.

About this training-workshop

Location of workshop: a virtual training-workshop hosted on Zoom
* If you are interested to arrange an in-person training, book a call with us to discuss at the link
below.

Sessions/timeframe: Ten virtual sessions; 1.5 hours each. Host organizations may choose to do
one or two sessions per week.

Facilitator(s): All sessions will be facilitated by Taylor, the founder of Everyday Peacebuilding.
Other team members from Everyday Peacebuilding may join to support and be training on how
to facilitate this workshop. Taylor’s bio at the bottom of the page.

Who can book this workshop? A representative of any organization interested to book this
training workshop for their staff, students or volunteers. This may include non-government
organizations (NGOs), nonprofits and other groups.

Ideal participants: Anyone interested to learn how to build peace (beginner level). May be
particularly suitable for youth peacebuilding training programs or staff/volunteer capacity
building. The ideal size of each group is about 15 to 20 participants.

Language: All sessions will be facilitated in English, spoken clearly in easy to understand
language to be accessible to those with little experience in building peace and non-naative
speakers.

* You may inquire about arranging simultaneous translation.

** This workshop (and all workshops) also available in Spanish.

What to expect from this training-workshop

Workshop objectives

Participants will:

 gain a solid understanding of key elements of a peacebuilding strategic plan and

innovative processes for developing a strategic plan.
 gain access to a broad range of tools which they can use to develop peacebuilding
strategic plans and project plans, and they will know how to use them.
 create a strategic plan and project plan which they can use to carry out a peace effort.
 develop the skills to develop their own peacebuilding strategic plans and project plans.
 develop core skils for implementation, management and coordination of peace projects,
initiatives and actions.

Topics covered in this workshop

Components of a great peacebuilding strategic plan: Participants will learn different

approaches to creating a peacebuilding strategic plan, discuss key elements of a strategic plan
and review examples of great strategic plans. They will review and discuss key tasks that need to
be completed prior to carrying out a strategic planning process.

Step-by-step process to make a peacebuilding strategic plan: Participants will be presented

with an peacebuilding strategic planning process that enhances creativity and innovation. They
will be provided with processes, templates, and tools to apply as they practice making a
peacebuilding strategic plan.

Developing a project plan and putting it into action: Participants will build out a practical
plan for any peace project, initiative or action. They will plan project goals and objectives, map
project activities, and discuss sustainability and risk reduction. They will get a crash course in
budgeting, fundraising and assessment. They will learn about making a workplan, managing
teams, coordinating projects, project promotion, and other elements of putting a plan into action.
Then they will apply the tools and processes they have learned to make a sample project plan
either to apply in an actual peace project or to develop just for practice.

Methodology

 During workshop sessions: Live workshop sessions will include presentation of tools
and approaches for building peace together with interactive activities to help participants
apply learning. Workshop sessions may be contextualized to best meet the needs of
participants.
 After workshop sessions: Participants will be given practical activities to do after each
session to apply learning. The facilitator will also share short articles, videos and other
content for participants to review after live sessions.

Contextualization: All trainings are tailored to the interests and needs of each group and
adapted to be relevant to the context from where participants live. To make these adjustments
and integrate contextual elements to the training-workshop we use information shared by host
organizations in preparation for the training-workshop and from participants during the
workshop. If you would like specific topics to be integrated you can discuss this with us in our
free consultation.

Student/participant workload: For each of the live sessions, participants should expect to do
1.5 hours of readings and practical activities. Each particiant will prepare a brief presentation for
the final session based on learning from the course.

Booking this training-workshop

Pricing

The price to book this 10-session workshop for your organization is 6,050 USD

* Discounts available for smaller organizations.

Process for booking

  If you think your organization may be interested to book this workshop please book a
free consultation call with us to confirm suitability, share about your organization and
discuss scheduling.
 Following the call, we will send you a link to pay for the workshop

Signing up for this free consultation call will also add you to our email list where you will
receive free resrouces on building peace and updates about new blog posts, eCourses, events
and other great content from Everyday Peacebuilding. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Workshop coordination
Once booked, Everyday Peacebuilding is responsible for workshop planning and facilitation.
Specifically, we will:

 Setup of Zoom meeting for agreed time/dates and send invitation to host organization
focal person(s)
 Share workshop syllabus with host organization focal person(s)
 Preparation and facilitation of all workshop sessions

The host organization focal persons are responsible for all coordination and communication with
participants. Specifically, for the:

 Recruitment of participants.
 Forwarding Zoom meeting invitation and syllabus to intended participants
 Attend all workshop sessions, participate, and provide support as needed

As and if needed, we can arrange an additional planning call before the first session.The
Everyday Peacebuilding team will have no direct communication with participants in planning
and coordination of this workshop.

Monitoring systems are included throught the workshop to identify any issues and make any
needed adjustments to the content and methods to best meet the needs of participants and host
organization. Focal persons from host organization may communicate directly with our team via
email if any unforeseen circumstances or issues arise.

If you are looking for a good place to start at Everyday Peacebuilding, take a look at some of our
most popular posts. They will give you a good feel for what we are trying to accomplish here.

 3 Simple Conflict Analysis Tools That Anyone Can Use

 A Typology of Violence
 198 Actions for Peace
 Why building peace isn’t just a bunch of hippie bullsh*t

If you are new to peacebuilding, check out these:

 What is peacebuilding?
  The 6 Fundamental Characteristics of a Peacebuilder
 Ten practical ways to build peace in your life and in the world around you

For the experienced peacebuilders out there, you may like …

 The 10 Steps of Strategic Peacebuilding

 How to Conduct Your Own Conflict Analysis
 Ten ways to build peace more effectively

3 Simple Conflict Analysis Tools That Anyone

Can Use
Conflict analysis doesn’t have to be complicated. Check out these simple tools for analyzing any
conflict. Analyze a conflict by yourself, with friends or with colleagues.

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to
conflict.” — Dorothy Thompson

I had this job once. This is some years back now. I didn’t know anybody there, but immediately
upon walking into the office on my first day, I could sense something was off. I couldn’t
pinpoint it. This was a feeling. I felt it in my gut.

After a week on the job, I learned the following:

 Person A didn’t talk to person B. They had some longstanding personal issues that
predated them even working together.
 Person B was the boss, and for her short temper, everyone was afraid of her, except
person C, who would lash out whenever he felt person B was overstepping her authority.
 Person C also grossly mistreated his subordinates, but since his only superior (person B)
was afraid of him, nothing happened. Most people avoided person C.
 Person D was on the leadership team, but nobody listened to her. She was just a
figurehead who held authority, but nobody respected it… Except for ‘Person A,’ of
course, who didn’t listen to anyone but ‘person D’ because they were friends.

I thought I had a handle on these dynamics, but the learning continued:

 Person A tried once to organize a secret coup to overthrow the authority of person B, but
was foiled by person E, who was an ally of person B (the boss) and acted as an informant
when he found out that people were conspiring against her.
  Since person E was person B’s only ally, he had an unofficial authority to micromanage
everyone else’s work, even when it had nothing to do with his official job
responsibilities. He enjoyed exercising this authority, and most people resented him.

As for some of the others:

 Person F avoided the office almost entirely because she considered it a toxic work
environment, and it was wearing on her health.
 Person G avoided conflict, but was passive-aggressive. She would accept what her
superiors told her to do; then, she would do the opposite since there was little oversite.
Other colleagues had to compensate for her.
 Person H had tried to get everyone to work together at various times, but had long since
given up. Person H was also in a secret relationship with Person I, so while he had lost
interest in trying to address the myriad conflicts, if some workplace issue affected his
partner, he would intervene.

Are you confused yet?

But I didn’t even tell you about person J, K, or L… or the many others. We’re just scratching the
surface of this clusterf*uck.

The only thing you might understand from this is that it was a mess. But since you, the reader,
are human, chances are you may have encountered a similarly complex conflict scenario at some
point in your life. We all have really. And you may wonder how in the world you or anyone
could do anything to fix such a mess.

Have no fear; I’m here to help. After some years conducting conflict analysis research, I’ve got a
few tricks up my sleeve that might help you find ways to un-fu*k situations like these whenever
and wherever you encounter them. We call it conflict transformation.

Simple truths about conflict

A few simple truths about conflict:

1. Conflicts are everywhere. You’re bound to encounter conflict at one time or another, in
the family, in your work, or elsewhere.
2. Conflicts tend to grow in complexity and involve more people until issues underlying the
conflict get resolved. There is no avoiding this.
3. Once a party to a conflict, nobody is neutral. It’s like that book by Howard Zinn: You
Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train.

Finding the right conflict analysis tool

Now on to the tools. We who study conflict have an array of conflict analysis tools we use. Not
every tool fits any given conflict, but when you understand a few, you can usually pick the right
one to help you gain insight into the dynamics of any given conflict. From there, you can find
ways to address the problem and ultimately transform the conflict.

The problem here, though, is that these great conflict analysis tools are all super academic and
use technical language. They were designed for conflict mediators, researchers, academics, and
the like. They aren’t made for regular people.

But I think these tools should be accessible to everyone, to use to transform any conflicts regular
people may encounter, be they in your family, in your workplace, in your community, or beyond.
So I took a few of my favorite tools that I think are simple and practical for anyone to use, and I
have presented them in a user-friendly manner. This means no technical jargon, simplified, and
even with some cool sketches a friend of mine did on Canva (free design software). Check them
out!

3 Simple Conflict Analysis Tools

1. The Conflict Tree

The conflict tree is a simple and fun tool to help you gain a deeper understanding of the
relationship between the causes and effects of a conflict, and to gain clarity about the core of the
problem. Often in a conflict, these three things get mixed up, and things get complicated. It is
helpful to separate issues and organize them into these categories, then figure out your priorities
and make a plan of action to transform the conflict. This is a good tool to help you understand a
conflict that is complex.

For groups, this tool can help build consensus about these three components, to facilitate
discussion, and to find ways to address the issues.

This tool is also good for those artistically or visually inclined as it includes some drawing and
the image of a tree. It can often look quite nice once complete.

How to do it:

1. Gather some materials: pens or markers, a big piece of paper like a flip chart paper or
something, index cards or sticky notes (or cut smaller pieces of paper). If you’re not
working in a group, you could probably do it on a regular-sized piece of paper.
2. Draw a picture of a tree, including three sections: the roots, the trunk, and the branches. If
in a group, you can ask some artistic person or persons to draw the tree.
3. On the small pieces of paper, and individually or as a group, write words and phrases that
come to mind when you think of the conflict. This is like a brainstorm. Write anything
that describes any issue associated with the conflict: one issue or phrase per paper. There
should be many pieces of paper, each representing a different issue/idea.
 4. The tree branches represent the effects of the conflict, the trunk of the tree represents the
core problem (or problems), and the roots of the tree represent the causes of the conflict.
Write these words in the appropriate places on the tree (as indicated in the image below),
and explain to the group what each section represents.
5. Organize the small pieces of paper into these three categories. Move the papers to where
they should be: the branches (for effects), the trunk (for core problem), or the roots (for
causes). There may be some notes that are repeated or that represent similar ideas. If so,
these can be combined. If in a group, there may be lots of discussion until there is full
consensus.
6. Brainstorm to think if anything is missing to ensure all causes, core problems, and effects
are represented on the tree. Add new notes to the tree wherever appropriate.
7. Circle which ‘effects’ need to be addressed immediately and which ‘causes’ should be
addressed to transform the core problem. Prioritize which actions should be taken.

I’ve facilitated workshops where participants liked their conflict tree so much they recreated it
beautifully and displayed it in the office. Below is a photo I took from a workshop nearly ten
years ago. This group is in the process of working out their conflict tree.
2. The PIN Model

This tool helps persons or groups in conflict find creative solutions to problems by moving away
from incompatible positions and focusing on shared interests and needs.

When two persons or groups are in conflict over a particular issue (or course of action), this tool
can help identify shared interests and needs. This is a good one for when there is a conflict
between two individuals or two groups, so long as the groups in conflict are not divided amongst
themselves. You can do it when there are more than two persons or groups, but it is most
effective with just two.
It’s actually quite a simple process. All you do is map all of the positions, interests, and needs of
each person/group you can think of; then, seek to find where there are shared interests and needs.
Putting it into practice, you can try to help the individuals or groups move away from their
positions and focus on shared interests and needs.

This activity can be done individually or in groups. I’ll include more detailed steps below:

1. Draw two overlapping triangles on a full sheet of paper, as seen in the image below.
Write the name of the two persons or groups above each triangle, depending on if the
conflict is between two persons or between two groups.
2. Map out the positions of each person/group and write them in the top of the triangles of
each person/group. These are the positions of each related to the main issue (or issues) of
the conflict. There’s a conflict because these positions aren’t compatible. Fill this in on
the top of the triangle (as shown in the image below).
3. Map out the interests of each person/group that underly their positions. Some interests
aren’t compatible with the interests of the other while other interests are shared interests
between the two persons/groups. Organize the interests into two categories: 1) shared
interests, and 2) individual interests (as indicated in the image below.)
4. Map out the needs of each person/group (associated with the conflict). Identify which are
shared needs and which are unique needs of each. Fill in the triangles accordingly, shared
needs going in the overlapping part of the triangles (as indicated in the image below).
5. Put into action by finding ways to get persons/groups in conflict to move away from their
positions and to find alternative solutions that focus on shared interests and needs. You
can also find creative ways to have individual interests and needs met in ways that help
transform the conflict
3. The Conflict Timeline

For longstanding conflicts, often, it is helpful to map the course of the conflict. This Conflict
Timeline tool can be helpful to understand the history of a conflict from the perspective of
different persons or groups involved in the conflict, then to find ways to influence the trajectory
in a positive direction. Using this tool, you will create a visual representation of the stages that
the conflict has moved through, all the events (both positive and negative) that have influenced
conflict dynamics in one way or another, and perspectives from persons/groups on events
important to them.

The tool is as it sounds, a graphic plotting of key conflict-related events from the perspective of
two persons or groups in conflict. If more than three persons or groups are involved in the
conflict, the activity can be expanded to include space for perspectives of each. If done with the
participation of persons or groups in conflict, either together or separate, this tool can facilitate
greater understanding of the perspectives of each surrounding the conflict history. In itself, it
may help parties find ways to move the conflict in a more positive direction.

The process for this tool is as follows:

 1. Decide who will be involved in this activity. If you have in-depth knowledge of the
particular conflict, you may do it individually. As this may be a mapping of conflict
between persons or groups, the persons or group representatives may be invited to do this
activity together or separately, depending on how tense the conflict dynamics are. Or you
may invite persons with in-depth knowledge of the conflict dynamics and an
understanding of the perspectives of each person or group.
2. Prepare the timeline as a long line on a piece of paper. You can do this on a single sheet
or connect some sheets of paper together. In the photo below I used a roll of paper.
Prepare the paper(s) as indicated in the sketch below with the events in the middle of the
timeline, and the name of each person/group on either side of the timeline (where it’s
written ‘person or group A’ and ‘person or group B’). Leave space for the perspectives of
each person/group about each event to be written on each side.
3. As a group or by yourself, decide when the conflict began and mark this at the beginning
of the timeline. Expecting that the conflict is ongoing, the other end of the timeline will
be marked as today.
4. For this next step, you should use sticky notes or small pieces of paper. Mark or ask the
persons/groups to mark in individual sheets of paper each key event in the trajectory of
the conflict. These may include the following: a) key events in the early history/stages of
the conflict; b) significant events that negatively influenced conflict dynamics; c) key
moments of cooperation, where those in conflict worked together or improved on conflict
dynamics; or d) missed opportunities for reconciliation or resolution of conflict issues.
5. Now arrange these on the timeline in the center in chronological order. You should
include as many events as you feel are relevant.
6. Now write in, or have participants write in, the significance of each event from the
perspective of each person/group on the timeline below the spaces marked ‘person or
group A’ and ‘person or group B’.

Apply learning from the timeline:

 Identify differences in perspective about events, and possible gaps in knowledge where
one person/group can learn about the other to improve understanding.
 Identify possible recurring events where tensions may be high and/or that may be used to
facilitate cooperation or understanding.
 Identify events that promoted cooperation or moved the conflict in a positive direction.
Find ways to capitalize on these or make them happen more often.
Now go out and use these conflict analysis tools!
I hope that in these three conflict analysis tools, you’ve found something interesting that you
may use to analyze and ultimately to transform any given conflict that you are interested in
addressing. Remember that not every conflict analysis tool is practical for any given conflict. We
who analyze conflict have a toolbox of these at our disposal and what we do is select the right
tool to analyze any given conflict.

So now you have three conflict analysis tools in your toolbox. I have selected three tools that are
quite different so that for whatever conflict you wish to analyze, you should be able to use one or
two of these. Then, with the insight you have gained, you can find creative ways to address the
conflict. And in the future, whenever you encounter some conflict, you’ll already be prepared
with these tools to analyze it and find ways to address it.

Further resources
Find more resources like this on the Resource Page of Everyday Peacebuilding.

And be sure to subscribe to our email list by clicking HERE. I send out a weekly list of all the
best resources coming out from a broad range of global efforts to build peace.

A Typology of Violence
Mapping of the multitude of forms of violence for the most comprehensive typology of violence
you’ll find on the internet. Includes tools to help you identify forms of violence.

by Taylor O’Connor | 22 July 2020

 “An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.” — Gandhi

During college, I hung out a lot with the activist types and other students who were definitely
more socially engaged than myself. I read lots of books, though never really in the subject I was
meant to be studying. I was more interested in reading about social justice issues, history (that
you don’t learn in school), Eastern philosophy, and stuff like that.

There was often a lot of discussion about structural violence and cultural violence in the circles I
frequented, though I never really understood the concepts. And if I’m being real, few of those I
hung around with likely had a solid grasp of the concepts.

It wasn’t until some years later, when I pursued a Masters in the field of Peace and Conflict
Studies where I learned a bit more about these terms and where they came from. Even then, what
I got was a more academic take on the terms, and it took me some years to recognize them
readily and everywhere, beyond just the few examples I studied.

The problem I find is that these concepts are often too academic for most people to grasp. Even
those studying them in academic settings may rarely apply them in practical settings. I think
that’s why it never really ‘clicked’ for me when I was in college or even in my post-grad. But for
those idealists and dreamers out there like me, the ability to understand and recognize concrete
examples of these can profoundly influence your ability to create any form of change in the
world around you, whether as an individual or as part of a group.
Do a google search on the term ‘structural violence.’ You’ll find a lot of academic articles, but
there’s not much out there that is publicly available. And if you seek to find a decent framework
to help you understand the various forms of violence and recognize examples of them, good
luck.

The World Health Organization has a typology of violence, but it is limited to interpersonal
violence. This is typical. Many others have frameworks similar to this that only cover the scope
of what we would classify as ‘direct violence.’ Even then, they don’t cover things like war or
other forms of large-scale violence. The main focus is ‘interpersonal violence.’

Now don’t get me wrong. The types of interpersonal violence they include are harmful, and we
should be addressing them. But if our understanding of violence is only limited to these types of
violence, then we are only scratching the surface. And this neglect in itself is incredibly harmful.
As you’ll see, we may even recognize this as a form of violence in itself.

If I may quote the Dalai Lama,

“Of course war and the large military establishments are the greatest source of violence in the
world. Whether their purpose is defensive or offensive, these vast, powerful organizations exist
solely to kill human beings.”

Gandhi saw it too…

“Poverty is the worst form of violence.”

I figure, no typology of violence is complete if we aren’t considering a broad range of forces that
produce systemic violence, war, and things like poverty. Certainly, these do not occur in a
vacuum. They are a product of the structures that form our society and the cultural forces that
uphold them. If they produce violence, they are a form of violence.

So since there’s very little out there that properly maps the full scope of violence to my liking,
and after years of rolling these concepts over in my head, looking out for examples of them, I
figured I’d take a crack at it. After all, it is those types of violence we don’t see which cause the
most widespread suffering. Shedding a little light on it I hope will contribute to others finding
ways to alleviate some of this suffering, if only a little.

A Typology of Violence

These types of violence were first laid out by peace studies scholar Johan Galtung, back in 1969
when he elaborated on the concept of structural violence (see HERE), and followed up in 1990
with an expose on cultural violence (see HERE). These were and are to this day discussed
predominantly in academic circles. I do think there is a lot of additional academic literature on
these too, but most of it I (and most people) don’t have access to anyhow as you need to pay for
it or have a membership to specific academic journals/databases.
So I’ve gone my own way here and produced more practical explanations that I hope will be
more widely understood to anyone outside academia (i.e., most of us normal humans). I’ve
compiled these explanations, and a subsequent visual typology by joining what I learned from
the old academic stuff with observations from my lived experience.

Another reason for the typology is that, for nearly every explanation of these terms I see, when
they cite examples, it’s always the effects of structural and cultural violence. They’ll talk about
poverty, or some groups suffering (and dying) from diseases at disproportionately higher rates
than others, or how police violence affects some communities more than others, etc. But in the
end, these are effects of cultural and structural violence, not the cultural and structural forces
themselves. So with the typology, I hope to help you recognize these.

So here is the typology below, covering three key terms: direct violence, structural violence, and
cultural violence, with introductory explanations for each term.

Direct violence

Direct violence needs little introduction. We get it. It is what comes to mind first when we think
of violence. It is easy to identify and, therefore, what we tend to focus on when we talk about
addressing violence. Existing frameworks tend to focus on what you see in the ‘interpersonal’
box, perhaps including the ‘personal’ box, but seldom cover the scope of what you see in the
third box.

People will mobilize to stop gender-based violence, end a war, or something like that. But the
problem is that we’re only scratching the surface here. It’s the tip of an enormous and grotesque
iceberg of violence. It is the other forms of violence that produce widespread direct violence.

Check out my typology of direct violence below. You’ll get the idea. And I hope it is a good
frame of reference for when we get to the other types of violence, as they are all connected.
Structural violence

So here’s where we dig deeper on violence. I’ll start with Galtung because he’s the man on this.
He invented it, so let’s see what he’s got to say. Here are a few quotes plucked from his 1969
academic article on structural violence:

 “The general formula behind structural violence is inequality, above all in the
distribution of power.”
 “If people are starving when this is objectively avoidable, then violence is committed.”
 “Structural violence is silent, it does not show — it is essentially static, it is the tranquil
waters.”

Structural violence is often harder for people to understand because there is no clear, single
victim or perpetrator that we can point to, as is the case for direct violence. Structural violence is
more indirect. Many people are involved in producing it, and many people suffer because of it.

Structural violence can be characterized by the systematic ways in which some groups are
obstructed in their ability to access opportunities, healthcare, education services, housing,
information, transportation, or other goods and services. While it manifests in unique ways
depending on the context, structural violence results in the uneven distribution of wealth, power,
and access to resources.

Structural violence is ‘structural’ because it is embedded within political and economic

structures, and it is ‘violence’ because it causes harm to people. While in some extreme
situations, structural violence disrupts the ability of its victims to meet their most basic human
needs, everywhere it produces unequal life chances for some. In some contexts, structural
violence manifests explicitly as political repression or overt obstruction from access to goods and
services. In others, forces perpetuating structural violence operate in more subtle ways.
Structural violence may also be produced by systems, practices, policies, or norms adopted by
institutions, structures, organizations, or groups.

Check out my typology of structural violence below

Cultural violence

Cultural violence is even less commonly understood than the term structural violence, so I’ll
elaborate a bit more.

And we should start again with Galtung as he’s the man who invented these terms. In his 1990
academic article, Galtung describes cultural violence in the following ways:

 “Cultural violence’ is defined here [i.e., this academic article] as any aspect of a culture
that can be used to legitimize violence in its direct or structural form.”
 “Cultural violence makes direct and structural violence look or feel ‘right.’”
In his 1969 article, he also noted, “The object of personal [i.e., direct] violence perceives the
violence, usually, and may complain — the object of structural violence may be persuaded not to
perceive this at all.” And that “Structural violence may be seen as about as natural as the air
around us.” This is all the handiwork of cultural violence, described before he created the term
‘cultural violence’.

Cultural violence includes the multitude of approaches that cultural forces take to justify direct
violence, normalize structural violence, and to distort reality so that the effects of these are less
visible. It is a necessary component of war and state violence, and it includes all the cultural
forces that rationalize systems of inequality that make extreme poverty and injustice of any kind
possible.

Political leaders, religious leaders, corporations, media entities, or other elite interests generating
profit or otherwise benefiting from direct and structural violence use cultural violence to protect
their interests. They leverage their influence, employing numerous strategies to diminish, block,
or render invisible the humanity of persons or groups suffering from the effects of these.

They may employ creative methods to distract public attention, spread misinformation,
promulgate discriminatory perceptions of marginalized groups, or blame victims of direct and
structural violence for their fate. They may adapt language, utilize a diversity of media outlets,
lobby political leaders, or influence educational content to craft public perceptions. They may
use persons of authority to present rational arguments to support their usage of violence,
rationalize inequality, or denounce those acting against their interests. In some cases, they
employ ‘experts’ or ‘academics’ to generate (often unsound) research studies or scientific data in
support of their interests.

Like structural violence, there is not one clear victim or perpetrator. Effects of cultural violence
are produced by a number of cultural forces acting in tandem. But it is often easy to identify
those who employ cultural violence. In the United States, for example, something like Fox News
can be observed as a mouthpiece of cultural violence, a lobby group like the National Rifle
Association (NRA) constructs narratives supporting broad-ranging militarization, and numerous
conservative political leaders past and present use their platforms to echo these narratives. Every
major country has some equivalent of these.

Some forms of cultural violence can be hard to detect, particularly in our own contexts, and
especially for those who don’t experience the effects of structural violence. But the consequences
of it are very real and very harmful. Common beliefs and social norms informed by cultural
violence can become so entrenched in a given culture that they are reproduced uncritically across
generations. Cultural violence is also visible in a number of elements of culture like monuments,
holidays, language, etc.

Check out my typology of cultural violence below

I’ve put this typology into a free downloadable handout (in PDF). Click here to download my
Typology of Violence.

Also, if you found this article helpful and want to find more blog posts like this mapping
organizations that build peace across a wide array of themes be sure to check out our Resources
page!

And be sure to sign up for our newsletter (the best peacebuilding newsletter out there!) to get
connected with all the best articles, videos, podcast episodes, events, downloads, learning
opportunities, and other resources on building peace published each week, selected from a broad
array of global efforts to build peace. Subscribe by clicking HERE.

198 Actions for Peace

A great resource to help you find creative ways to take actions for peace, to build a more
peaceful, just world.

by Taylor O’Connor | 13 March 2020

“We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small
acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can
suppress, a power than can transform the world.” — Howard Zinn

Those who work for peace and justice have an extensive array of approaches available to them.
Based on my experiences during the past decade working with grassroots peacebuilders around
the world, I’ve mapped hundreds of actions for peace and organized the main ones into this list
of 198.

Actions are organized under five main domains: 1) a peaceful life, 2) peaceful relationships, 3)
peace in spaces and places, 4) a culture of peace, and 5) peace infrastructure.

I hope this list of actions will help inspire you to take creative action for peace and justice.
Download the PDF handout here: 198 Actions for Peace (PDF handout)

198 Actions for Peace

A peaceful life

Care for your personal wellbeing

Foster healthy habits

1. Keep a healthy diet

2. Be active & move regularly

3. Laugh every day

4. Embrace idle time

5. Find appropriate outlets to express yourself

6. Surround yourself with inspiration

7. Celebrate your accomplishments

8. Take walks

9. Develop a practice of gratitude

10. Get sufficient sleep

Calm your mind

11. Be in the moment

12. Live simply

13. De-clutter & green your spaces

14. Spend time in nature

15. Embrace solitude

16. Be mindful of your media consumption

17. Find/use contemplative practices that work for you

Develop your competency to build peace

Develop your emotional intelligence

18. Pay attention to what you are feeling

19. Build your emotional vocabulary

20. Observe the emotions of others

21. Recognize emotional triggers & patterns

22. Discuss feelings openly

23. Cultivate patience & practice regulating your emotions

Learn about culture, conflict & inequality

24. Learn from a different culture, perspective or worldview

25. Educate yourself about systemic injustice & inequality

26. Learn about the dynamics of conflict

27. Volunteer in support of a social justice cause

28. Critically reflect on privilege & opportunity

29. Reflect on the formation of your worldview

30. Challenge your beliefs & perceptions

Nurture your creative capacities

31. Invite music & art into your life

32. Spend time with creative people

33. Put yourself in situations where you don’t know what is going to happen

34. Develop creative routines & habits

35. Create time & space for creative endeavors

Design your life

36. Explore a range of passions & interests

37. Be intentional with how you spend your time

38. Reduce stressors

39. Check your bias

40. Clarify your priorities; set intensions & goals

41. Focus on what you want (not on what you don’t want)

42. Make decisions based on your intuition

43. Notice/seize/create opportunities

44. Find a mentor

45. Build your life around something you are passionate about

46. Embrace the process

Peaceful relationships
Foster healthy relationships with those around you

47. Be fully present for others

48. Share your time freely

49. Practice deep listening

50. Observe & appreciate the good in others

51. Support others to pursue their dreams

52. Teach children to resolve conflicts peacefully

53. Hold space for those experiencing difficult times

54. Model compassionate & empathetic behavior

55. Share opportunity with persons less privileged than yourself

56. Be a mentor

Transform conflict in relationships

57. Recognize & acknowledge the humanity of others

58. Internalize to find solutions

59. Listen with empathy & practice skillful communication

60. Find common ground

61. Find ways to address grievances

62. Focus on shared interests & needs

63. Build trust & re-imagine relationships

64. Create opportunities for forgiveness, healing & reconciliation

65. Mediate a conflict or open space for dialogue

Build community

66. Find/build a tribe who shares your passion

67. Connect with others based on shared values

68. Get to know people as individuals

69. Be attentive to the needs of community members

70. Facilitate connections amongst group members

71. Take collaborative action on issues you care about

72. Diversify your personal network

73. Build trust where there is conflict or division

74. Find allies within institutions tied to dynamics of war, violence & inequality

75. Form an unconventional coalition

76. Consider the presence & needs of victims, immigrants, refugees & other marginalized
communities

77. Celebrate the accomplishments of community members

Peace in spaces and places

Create spaces

78. Create spaces to promote intercultural learning

79. Create spaces to learn about social justice history/issues

80. Create safe spaces, demilitarized zones, sanctuaries or zones of peace

81. Create sacred, quiet or shared spaces

82. Plan exchanges & exposure trips

83. Create public/shared spaces

84. Transfer property to the public domain

85. Design public/community spaces collaboratively

Revitalize spaces

86. Preserve/protect diverse culture/historic sites

87. Reclaim/recreate parks, plazas & walkways

88. Make spaces accessible, inclusive & family friendly

89. Revitalize schools & educational spaces

90. Offer/remake private spaces for public use

91. Create a community garden or green shared spaces

92. Start a mural or community art project

93. Remove monuments to heroes that represent war, empire & oppression

94. Build monuments to peace heroes

Utilize shared spaces

95. Map the natural & cultural assets of your community

96. Make a community newsletter

97. Utilize public spaces for performance, art or activism

98. Share food & culture in public spaces

99. Host public concerts, lectures, films & cultural events

100. Use online spaces for collaborative action & learning

Preserve & protect natural spaces

101. Reduce your carbon footprint

102. Preserve/protect/recover natural environments

103. Defend people harmed by environmental degradation

104. Hold parties liable for environmental destruction

105. Support local, fair trade & earth friendly business

106. Vote/advocate to phase out fossil fuels

107. Promote renewable energy sources

108. Advocate for environmental justice

109. Support ethical & sustainable travel

110. Support innovations in sustainable living

A culture of peace

Dismantle cultures of violence

Make structural & cultural violence visible

111. Break cultures of silence

112. Shine light on the legacy of historic injustice/inequality

113. Research/uncover structural & cultural violence

114. Speak truth to power

Disrupt narratives that rationalize violence

115. Discredit war propaganda & myths that justify violence

116. Demystify threats & promote an understanding that violence is not innate, war not
inevitable

117. Expose motivations & deceptive tactics of hate groups, corrupt leaders & others who
rationalize violence

118. Disrupt narratives that downplay gender-based violence

119. Deconstruct nationalist ideologies & politics of division

120. Combat hate speech & humanize marginalized groups

121. Challenge gendered & racialized thinking about roles, norms & behavior; deconstruct
stereotypes

122. Disrupt neo-colonial mindsets

123. Speak out against misuse of religion for discriminatory purposes, especially within your
own faith group

124. Employ creative ways to shame & ridicule cultural norms & behaviors that promote
violence & inequality
Build a culture of peace

Promote elements of peace in culture

125. Document peace history; celebrate peace heroes (not war heroes)

126. Harmonize diversity with unity, strength & innovation

127. Promote inclusive group/national identity

128. Reframe justice & equality as issues for everyone

129. Promote the worth, dignity & rights of all persons recognizing unique challenges of
marginalized groups

130. Encourage critical reflection on cultural norms, behaviors & attitudes

131. Promote community service & social responsibility

132. Promote the value of characteristics/qualities associated with all gender identity groups

Use culture to bridge divides

133. Celebrate days of peace, human rights & social justice

134. Involve cultural icons in peace actions

135. Publicize symbolic acts of unity, defiance or forgiveness

136. Join/create public prayer, meditation & vigils for peace

137. Plan events collaboratively with diverse groups

138. Honor indigenous knowledge & spiritual wisdom

139. Re-invent language; re-name something

140. Produce/use peace imagery; re-imagine symbols

141. Create rituals that promote peace & tolerance

Teach peace

142. Educate about peace heroes & history; shift the focus from histories of war & violence

143. Teach comparative history

144. Educate about social justice issues past & present

145. Teach to understand the perspective of other cultures & worldviews

146. Teach emotional intelligence

147. Promote critical media literacy

148. Link education & community development

149. Utilize participatory methods & approaches

150. Educate or develop curriculum on themes related to peace, conflict, social justice or human
rights

Leverage art & media for peace

151. Use music, performance, poetry, comedy or storytelling to raise awareness of issues or
imagine peaceful futures

152. Use sports to bring people in conflict together

153. Dance or craft for a cause

154. Collaborate with diverse artists or musicians

155. Promote freedom of the press & access to information

156. Amplify peace narratives, social justice issues & marginalized voices in diverse media
outlets

157. Build characters & storylines that break stereotypes

158. Portray peaceful resolution of conflict in the media

Peace infrastructure

Withdraw resources from war & violence

159. Divert spending on war towards budgeting for peace, social services, arts & culture

160. Boycott or divest from companies, governments, individuals & institutions that
promote/profit from war

161. Advocate against the global arms trade, excessive military spending & military aid to
entities implicated in crimes
162. Disrupt structures that support war through non-violent protest, non-cooperation & non-
violent intervention

163. Change supply & demand of products & services associated with conflict dynamics

164. Reduce benefits for elites in waging/continuing war or violent activities; increase incentives
for peace

165. Hold leaders to account for promoting war

Reform structures & institutions

Reform structures tied to the dynamics of war & violence

166. Demilitarize defense & security

167. Promote disarmament, demobilization & reintegration

168. Use military & police for peaceful purposes

169. Demilitarize police & security personnel

Reform structures that produce inequality

170. Advocate for (or create) mechanisms for accountability & transparency; uproot corruption

171. Audit government agencies to ensure balanced delivery of services & contributions to
distributive justice

172. Promote mechanisms that support equality in housing & employment; & equal access to
justice

173. Confront unjust incarceration practices & mobilize for incisive criminal justice reform

174. Remove obstacles to the upward mobility & self-determination of all peoples

175. Support & protect whistleblowers

176. Transform the dynamics of international aid

Create policies that promote peace, justice & equality

177. Produce tax policies that mitigate excessive wealth & generate funds for social services

178. Produce policies that support equal pay, guarantee dignified work & ensure living wages for
all jobs
179. Promote laws for equitable sharing of natural resources

180. Promote policies for equal access to quality education, health care & social services

181. Advocate for corporate social responsibility

182. Create laws that regulate the production & sale of weaponry at the domestic & international
levels

183. Reform legal, foundational & policy documents

Transform leadership & decision-making

184. Support/elect leaders that promote tolerance, peace & care for marginalized populations;
confront leaders who promote nuclearization & armament

185. Open communication channels between leaders, local communities & marginalized groups

186. Promote egalitarian, democratic leadership structures & decision-making practices

187. Decentralize power & decision-making

188. Ensure equitable representation & meaningful participation of marginalized groups in

decision-making

189. Promote collaborative design & management of projects & activities; embed mechanisms
for reflection

190. Utilize local/indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms

Build/support peace infrastructure

191. Support the creation (or existing work) of government departments dedicated to promoting
peace & justice

192. Create/support a community organization, non-profit or social enterprise working on issues

you care about

193. Create/support mechanisms to report, prevent or respond to violence; or an early warning

mechanism

194. Create/support structures, institutions & groups that care for marginalized communities &
victims of violence

195. Create/support values based programs & projects

196. Build/offer physical structures & spaces to groups working on peace & justice issues

197. Create/support mechanisms of truth & reconciliation

198. Create/join platforms, forums or networks for peace

Now take action for peace

Certainly, there are an infinite number of actions that can be taken to build peace and justice, far
beyond this list of 198. What I hope to achieve with this list is to help you generate creative ideas
that you can apply to effect change on issues you care about. These actions are only effective
when applied in contextually appropriate ways that address relevant issues. You may use any
combination of these methods. Try to take action within each domain. And stay creative.

Get more resources to help you take action for peace

If there are any actions that you feel are missing from this list, please write them in a comment
below and I’ll consider them for a later updated list.

If you found this article helpful and want to find more blog posts like this mapping organizations
that build peace across a wide array of themes be sure to check out our Resources page!

And be sure to sign up for our newsletter (the best peacebuilding newsletter out there!) to get
connected with all the best articles, videos, podcast episodes, events, downloads, learning
opportunities, and other resources on building peace published each week, selected from a broad
array of global efforts to build peace. Subscribe by clicking HERE.

Download these as a PDF handout: 198 Actions for Peace (PDF handout)

10 Networks for Women Peacebuilders

Check out these amazing networks for women peacebuilders that are changing the world. Each
take unique approaches to building peace. Check them out, support them, get involved!

by Taylor O’Connor | 15 March 2021

“We are either going to have a future where women lead the way to make peace with the Earth
or we are not going to have a human future at all.” — Vandana Shiva

While often overlooked, women are (and always have been) a driving force behind movements
for peace and justice worldwide. They are at the forefront of peace movements worldwide, are
fighting for more equitable and sustainable peace agreements, and serve as mediators between
communities in conflict.
There are innumerable national women-led peace initiatives worldwide, many regional networks,
a range of global networks that support women peacebuilders in a variety of ways.

Noting the exclusion of women from policymaking and peace processes, some networks help
women get a seat at the decision-making table. Recognizing the countless efforts and influence
of women peacebuilders that go unrecognized, other networks to raise the visibility of women
peacebuilders. Understanding how widely held perceptions about peace and war (even within the
global peace movement) perpetuate violence and inequality, some networks advocate for
feminist perspectives in global forums to address the causes of war.

Most networks, however, take a few approaches to support women peacebuilders and the causes
they champion.

10 Women Peace Networks

There are hundreds of women’s peacebuilding networks, actually, much more than could be ever
covered here. Most are local, national or regional networks, and a handful are global networks.
Below, in no particular order, are ten global women’s peacebuilding networks that are changing
the world.

1. Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF): Founded during WWI,
WILPF is the world’s longest-standing women’s peace organization, long at the forefront of
leveraging feminist thought to advance the global peace movement. WILPF uses feminist
analysis and advocacy promoted by a mobilized feminist community to tackle patriarchy,
militarism, and neoliberalism. WILPF is a membership-based movement that mobilizes and
empowers women and feminist men, including through women-led efforts to prevent conflict
and address the causes of war. The network supports projects of grassroots organizations,
facilitates collaboration with activists and experts, and fosters feminist movements.

2. International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN): ICAN works with network partners in
over 30 countries to elevate and amplify the voice and impact of women peacebuilders and their
organizations. They create opportunities for grassroots women peacebuilders to access
policymakers, and they provide them with technical support. They do this via several specific
programs aimed at supporting grassroots women peacebuilders to influence policymakers and
providing them with technical assistance, contributing to the growth of a broader movement of
women peacebuilders around the world.

3. The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP): GNWP is a coalition of over 100
women’s rights organizations from over 40 countries around the world experiencing
humanitarian crises or conflict, all seeking to build equal, resilient, and peaceful communities in
various ways. GNWP works closely with the United Nations, governments, and local women and
youth-led organizations from all over the world. Their website includes several resources,
including an array of downloadable publications.
4. Peace Women Across the Globe — Wiki Peace Women: PeaceWomen Across the Globe
(PWAG) supports, connects, and raises the visibility of women building peace (termed
PeaceWomen) all around the world. PWAG created the “WikiPeaceWomen” website to
document the PeaceWomen’s stories in multiple languages. The network has supported 1,000
women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and help them establish networks to learn and
benefit from each others’ experiences. They are currently developing a virtual platform,
Feminists Connecting for Peace, to further increase the visibility of PeaceWomen and grow the
network.

5. Global Peace Initiative of Women: The Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW) was
founded in 2000 by women leaders of faith at the UN Millennium World Peace Summit of
Religious and Spiritual Leaders who recognized the absence of feminine perspectives at such
international forums. They convened 500 women leaders at the very first World Summit of
Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders in Geneva in 2002 and have since worked to lift up the
voices of women in leadership to effectively address the growing conflict emerging around the
world. GPIW takes a holistic approach and facilitates women-led, solutions-oriented dialogues
with young leaders and elders in places affected by violent conflict.

6. Women in Black: Women in Black is a world-wide network of women committed to peace

with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism, and other forms of violence. They
take a feminist approach to action and have a strong focus on challenging the militarist policies
of governments. As women’s experiences with militarism and injustice are diverse in different
parts of the world, they focus on facilitating communication amongst groups of Women in Black
across the global movement, and they support each other’s movements.

7. Global Alliance of Regional Women Mediator Networks: This is a new initiative joining
the efforts of a handful of regional woman mediator networks. The network’s overarching goal is
to increase the participation and influence of women, including young women, in peace
processes at all levels, as well as to work for gender-sensitive peace agreements. They do this by
sharing information and building synergies across regional networks, serving as a platform for
advocacy, and launching joint actions. Together, regional networks have more than three
hundred members who are qualified women in the field of peacebuilding and mediation. The
Global Alliance magnifies the visibility of their expertise, experience, and contributions to peace.

8. Women in International Security (WIIS): WIIS is dedicated to advancing the leadership and
professional development of women in the field of international peace and security. WIIS
(pronounced “wise”) sponsors leadership training, mentoring, and networking programs, and
hosts events. They also support research and policy engagement initiatives on international
security issues, particularly those focused on the nexus between gender and security. There are
WIIS chapters and affiliates all over the world.

9. Women4NonViolence: Women4NonViolence is a global network of survivors of sexual and

gender-based violence (SGBV). They raise the voice of survivors to influence global
conventions, resolutions, and policies made associated with SGBV in The Hague. The main
focus of their global mobilization is associated with contextualizing implementation of United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the UN resolution on women, peace, and security.
Much of their advocacy is focused on accountability for perpetrators of gender-based violence
(GBV) in places affected by violent conflict, and justice for survivors of GBV in conflict-
affected contexts. They profile survivors via their stories and global activism, and are building a
‘bottom up’ approach to launching future Resolutions on women, peace, and security.

10. Nobel Women’s Initiative: Established in 2006, the Nobel Women’s Initiative uses the
prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize and five women Nobel peace laureates to magnify the power
and visibility of women working in countries around the world for peace, justice, and equality.
They spotlight, amplify and promote the work of grassroots women’s organizations and
movements around the world. They work within and across women’s peace movements globally,
amplifying women peacebuilders’ voices in the media, creating opportunities for women
peacebuilders to influence policymakers, and providing training and resources to women peace
activists and peacebuilders.

Overview of women peace networks

For those looking to join a network or support them in any way, I encourage you to join their
email lists and follow them on social media. You may find a network or a few that are in line
with your passions and interests. Below is a brief overview of each to see the uniqueness of each.

1. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF): Feminist analysis,
advocacy, and activism to address the causes of war
2. International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN): support women peacebuilders to
build movements and influence policy
3. The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP): a coalition of women’s rights
organizations
4. Peace Women Across the Globe — Wiki Peace Women: raises the visibility of women
building peace
5. Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW): raise voices of grassroots women and
women spiritual leaders in peace and dialogue facilitation
6. Women in Black: grassroots feminist peace and justice activism
7. Global Alliance of Regional Women Mediator Networks: women’s participation and
influence in peace processes
8. Women in International Security (WIIS): professional development of women in the
field of international peace and security
9. Women4NonViolence: a global network of survivors of SGBV advocating to influence
global conventions associated with SGBV in conflict contexts
10. Nobel Women’s Initiative: women Nobel peace laureates supporting women’s
movements for peace, justice, and equality

Get involved in networks for women peacebuilders

So if you are a woman peacebuilder yourself, get connected! If you are not a woman
peacebuilder, you may find ways to support these groups or share about their efforts! If you are a
human, be inspired!

If you like this post, be sure to check out our other post on Global Peacebuilding Networks.

We regularly update our database of peace organizations and update blog posts. If you know a
good organization that should be added to this blog post, let us know by filling out a quick form.
CLICK HERE to submit an organization for review to be added to this blog post.

Click HERE to sign up for my newsletter to get regular tips, tools and FREE RESOURCES to
help you find creative & effective ways to build peace, and get connected to more groups like
this.

10 Global Peacebuilding Networks

Discover these ten global peacebuilding networks that are building peace all over the world.
Check them out! Get connected!

by Taylor O’Connor | 2 March 2021

“Power does not reside in institutions, not even the state or large corporations. It is located in the
networks that structure society.” — Manuel Castells

There’s a lot of organizations and grassroots groups out there working tirelessly to build peace.
Many of us work in places affected by violent conflict or other challenging contexts; others are
working to challenge militarism or to prevent war at higher levels.Regardless of our approach, it
is common that we work in silos, disconnected from similar efforts working towards the same
goals. A common challenge I hear from peacebuilders I work with is that they feel alone in their
efforts. People in their communities and wider society often do not support or understand them,
or worse, are fiercely opposed to them.The systems and structures we are seeking to transform
are powerful, and working in silos, it can feel impossible for any of us to make a difference.You
may feel alone in your efforts, but it doesn’t have to be like that. We peacebuilders are
everywhere. And there are a broad array of global peacebuilding networks that can support you.

Get connected

Connecting with global peacebuilding networks can provide you with resources you need (often
in different languages), link you to larger-scale campaigns, connect you with like-minded
individuals, and support you and your efforts in a variety of other ways.
There are so many different types of peacebuilding networks out there. Each is different. You’ll
need to know what networks are out there, find which ones are right for you, and connect.

Some are new, and some have been around for over 100 years. Some are for individuals, some
for grassroots groups, and some are for large organizations. Some are for activists; others are
associated with the global aid industry. Some have a specific focus like de-militarization, human
rights, environmental peacebuilding, faith based and inter-faith peacebuilding, or other social
justice issues. There are some networks for women peacebuilders… quite a few actually.

Some of these operate regional networks, and some have thematic working groups. On some,
you may find organizations mapped by country or theme. Some have collaborative spaces and
events.

Global Peacebuilding networks

Take a look at the ten peacebuilding networks I have profiled below to find which networks are
right for you, then connect. Note that these below are not international NGOs with global
operations, but networks for groups and individuals. Also, while each is unique, all of these
below are generally peacebuilding networks.

There are huge amounts of other networks focusing on specific peacebuilding themes like
demilitarization, women peacebuilders, and many more. Also, there are immense amounts of
national and regional networks. All of these can be useful for you as well, so I’ll be writing about
thematic and regional networks soon. Scroll to the end to get informed about these.

So below, 10 Global Peacebuilding Networks, in no particular order. Enjoy…

1. International Peace Bureau (IPB): The IPB is a global network of over 300 member
organizations in 70 countries, who together with individual members, share the ultimate vision of
building a world without war. A lot of their efforts focus on demilitarization, and more broadly,
reducing funding for the military sector. They host global events, engage with governments and
international agencies, support education and training activities, and as a network, they link
experts and advocates working on similar issues to build strong civil society movements. They
have many resources on their website.

2. Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP): AfP is a network of 130+ organizations working in 181
countries working to end violent conflict and build peace. Network members include
predominantly large development organizations, academic institutions, and humanitarian and
faith-based groups. They build coalitions on broad-ranging strategy and policy to elevate the
entire peacebuilding field within the global aid industry, leveraging the network to address
broader issues in the field of peacebuilding and its involvement in the global aid industry.

3. Geneva Peacebuilding Platform: The Geneva Peacebuilding Platform is a knowledge hub

that connects peacebuilding actors, resources, and expertise in Geneva and worldwide. The
Platform’s network comprises more than 4000 peacebuilding professionals working on building
peace directly or indirectly. They facilitate interaction on peacebuilding between different
institutions and sectors, and advance new knowledge and understanding of issues and contexts
related to building peace. The Platform ensures the continuous exchange of information through
seminars, consultations, and conferences, and facilitates outcome-oriented dialogues on
peacebuilding practice. They have a strong focus on bottom-up peacebuilding.

4. United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY): UNOY is the leading global community
of young peacebuilders with 111 youth organizations in 67 countries, united around the vision of
a world free from violence. Supporting the network is a collective of specialized teams
committed to amplifying youth voices, strengthening the UNOY network, and advancing the
Youth, Peace and Security agenda. The website also hosts several resources published by
UNOY.

5. Peace Direct: Peace Direct is an international charity dedicated to supporting local people to
stop war and build lasting peace in some of the world’s most fragile countries. A key focus of
their work is to developing and maintaining a network of local peacebuilding partners operating
around the world. Their website hosts profiles of over 1,500 local peacebuilding organizations in
22 countries working on the frontlines of war. They also have a network of Local Peacebuilding
Experts who share firsthand insight into 44 conflicts raging around the world.

6. Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC): GPPAC is a global
network led by civil society organizations (CSOs) actively working to prevent violent conflict
and build more peaceful societies. The network consists of 15 regional networks, with priorities
and agendas specific to their environment. Their activities focus on knowledge and resource
sharing to support members. Their website hosts Peace Portal, an open platform that maps
network members, over 300 at the time of writing. The purpose of Peace Portal is to provide
visibility and promote partnerships and collaborations amongst network members. GPPAC also
develops online campaigns and highlights the efforts of network members.

7. The Earth Charter (EC): The Earth Charter (EC) is a document with sixteen principles
outlining an ethical foundation for actions to build a more just, sustainable, and peaceful global
society in the 21st century. The document itself powers a global movement of individuals, with
over 100 partners and affiliates. Those who support the EC can apply the EC to their business,
schools, and communities.

8. Peace and Collaborative Development Network (PCDN): PCDN is a network for social
change career professionals. It further includes a broad range of resources to prepare you for a
social change career and shares information to help members advance their social change
careers, access educational opportunities, and find jobs.

9. +Peace: +Peace is a campaign platform supported by a broad coalition of members, allies, and
partners. They run collective action campaigns to amplify the efforts of peacebuilders and more
broadly make the case for peacebuilding in the world.
10. People Building Peace: People Building Peace is an online network and a community of
individuals passionate about building a more peaceful and just world. Created and supported by
me and associated with the coming launch of my website Everyday Peacebuilding, People
Building Peace is a community space where members can find creative ways to build peace and
connect with like-minded peacebuilders from all over the world. The community offers a space
for members to support one another, share resources, discuss a range of topics, and collaborate.

How to connect with the peacebuilding networks that are right for you

If you are involved in any peacebuilding effort or are interested in getting involved, you should
get connected with some peacebuilding networks that are right for you. Try to choose two or
three of these networks that most align with you.

Here is a little summary of each of the above to help you see the differences and figure out which
are right for you:

1. International Peace Bureau (IPB): global advocacy for a world without war
2. Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP): for large organizations in the global aid industry
3. Geneva Peacebuilding Platform: peacebuilding knowledge hub
4. United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY): for youth/young peacebuilders
5. Peace Direct: local peacebuilding in conflict-affected contexts
6. Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC): civil society
organizations (CSOs) for prevention of armed conflict; with regional networks
7. The Earth Charter (EC): a global movement for peace and sustainability
8. Peace and Collaborative Development Network (PCDN): job boards and resources for
social change career professionals
9. +Peace: a campaign platform
10. People Building Peace: for individual (experienced and aspiring) peacebuilders

Now, once you find the networks that are right for you, you’ll need to connect. Networks for
organizations often have a formal application process, but these don’t tend to be complicated. As
an individual, most networks have eNewsletters you can sign up for, and most are active on
social media. Most have downloadable resources on their websites, and many host events and
collaborative activities.

Check out the links to each I included in this blog post and get connected!

If you like this post, be sure to check out our post about Women Peace Networks that are
Changing the World.

More resources on building peace

If you like this article, be sure to check out our other post on Women Peace Networks that are
Changing the World. Or discover other posts mapping peacebuilding think tanks,
demilitarization organizations, historic peace organizations, PeaceTech orgs, peace journalism
and media, peace education, and many other topics, all found on the Resource Page of Everyday
Peacebuilding.

We regularly update our database of peace organizations and update blog posts. If you know a
good organization that should be added to this blog post, let us know by filling out a quick form.
CLICK HERE to submit an organization for review to be added to this blog post.

Click HERE to sign up for my newsletter to get regular tips, tools and FREE
RESOURCES to help you find creative & effective ways to build peace, and get
connected to other peace efforts

The Best Resources on Making Art for Peace

and Justice
A compilation of resources to support you to make art for peace and justice.

by Taylor O’Connor | 30 August 2020

“Art should cause violence to be set aside and it is only art that can accomplish this.” — Leo
Tolstoy

I remember staring up at the immense mural painting, at the figures in it towering above me. I
could feel the agony and desperation on their faces, the chaos, the horror… it was chilling. It has
been over fifteen years now, but the impression the painting left on me still lingers. I was at the
Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, and this was Guernica by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso.

Picasso was in Paris when the massacre at Guernica took place. It was two years before the
outbreak of WWII, and the Nazis were looking for sites to test their growing arsenal. The
Spanish Civil War was raging, and soon-to-be dictator Francisco Franco arranged for the Nazi
Condor Legion to bomb the small town of Guernica in the north of Spain. It was daytime, and
the men Franco fought against were known to be away from town. The central market was filled
mostly with women and children. There were hundreds of casualties. The message Franco
wanted to send was loud and clear: “if you oppose me, I will murder your families.”

Images of the massacre in the newspaper the following day disturbed Picasso deeply. He began
sketching his ideas, and in just six weeks the mural was complete. At over 11 ft. tall and 25 ft.
wide, Picasso’s depiction of Guernica was larger than life. It was the centerpiece of the 1937
Paris International Exposition and would become one of the most profound anti-war statements
of the 20th century. Looking back on it, I can see how, especially at the time, such a piece of art
would give people pause, even those ardent supporters of the war, or any war.

This is the unique power and potential of art to build a more peaceful and just world.
Resources on art for peace

But with all the issues in the world today, how can one create a piece of art that could carry
meaning and influence as did (and still does) Guernica by Picasso?

Well, art is art, so it’s not like there is a step-by-step guide on this or anything. It doesn’t work
like that. But there are lots of great examples out there from which you can draw inspiration, and
there are some great resource sites and networks that you can connect with. I’ve done a bit of
research and compiled all these here. So to my artists out there, you dreamers and idealists like
me, I hope that in these you can find some inspiration to create art to influence some issue that is
dear to your heart.

I’ve organized these resources into three categories: 1) examples, 2) learning resources, and 3)
networks and activities (as the networks tend to conduct activities). Some are explicitly art for
peace or justice, while others may be indirect on a topic like community development or healing
from trauma or something like that. A few are academic or non-government organization (NGO)
oriented, but the ones I’ve chosen are reader-friendly. Some are downloads, some are online
databases, and some are audio or video links. I’ve also focused on art broadly, but did not
include links to sites explicitly dedicated to music, theater, dance, etc. for peace and justice, as
I’ll cover those topics in later posts.

I hope you find these helpful. And please do add any other great resources that I’ve missed in the
comments section below.

Examples

There are many specific, single examples of art for peace or justice, but didn’t include these as
there are too many, and they tend to promote the work of only one artist anyhow. In this section,
I’ve focused mostly on links with multiple examples that inspire.

The 10 best monuments to peace | by Aaron Rosen in The Guardian

This one is a short article featuring exemplary monuments to peace from around the world, from
Hiroshima to Bethlehem, and from Iceland to Cambodia.

Creative resistance database | a project of Popular Resistance

This is an online database documenting examples of artistic (and creative resistance). There are
numerous categories covered, from justice, to poverty, to Palestine, to free speech, to prisons, to
wealth inequality. On the topic of ‘war and peace,’ there are nearly 500 unique examples.

The Arts in Peacebuilding and Reconciliation: Mapping Practice (2017) | by Tiffany Fairey on
Art and Reconciliation
This is a PDF download of a report that documents 14 examples of the use of arts in building
peace and reconciliation. The report takes a more academic approach, but it is reader-friendly
and has photos from each of the examples. The 14 case studies are from around the world. Some
are justice-focused, others on conflict transformation, and others on healing.

Peacebuilding through art | by Craig Halliday on Africanah

This one is an article covering a number of examples of the use of art to build peace in the
context of Nairobi, Kenya, from 2008–2013. It demonstrates various ways art was used to
address conflict issues at different stages of violent conflict in Kenya (i.e. during and
immediately after violent conflict, as violent conflict diminished, and as the potential for conflict
rose again.

Art, Peace and Conflict: Conversations with Artists | on Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

This is a series of audio and video files from a conference by the Peace Research Institute of
Oslo (PRIO). Files are topical conversations with artists, musicians, playwrights, filmmakers,
etc. using their art to transform conflict and build peace. The setting is more academic as PRIO is
a research association; however, the presentations by artists and the conversations that follow
prove interesting. Search for which conversation aligns with your interest.

Street art with a message of hope and peace | by el Seed on TED

This is a TED talk video by French-Tunisian artist eL Seed. In the talk, eL Seed discusses how
he spreads messages of peace through graffiti art of traditional poems in traditional Arabic
calligraphy.

Learning Resources

Artistic Activism Resource Database | by the Center for Artistic Activism

This is an extensive database of free resources to artists and activists using their creativity to
make the world a better place. All materials are Creative Commons licensed and free to share.
The database includes webinars on artistic activism, free online training courses, and a podcast
mini-series. They also have an open-access, user-generated database of creative activism,
research reports, and documented experiments on the efficacy of creative activism.

What makes a strong community arts project | on Creative NZ

Supported by the New Zealand government, Creative NZ presents an article outlining a seven-
step process for building strong community arts projects. Each step includes a downloadable tip
sheet and a short video compilation of interviews with artists and community members to help
you plan and execute your projects. It is very well organized and straightforward.
The Creative Placemaking Toolbox | on Artscape DIY

This is a resource database dedicated to helping others engage in creative placemaking, a unique
approach to making creative spaces for community artists, and ultimately for revitalizing
communities in the process. Artscape DIY started as a project over 30 years ago in Toronto,
Canada, then began helping others apply their creative placemaking approach. The database is
extensive and can be difficult to navigate, but there is a short video on the site that provides a
brief overview of the tools and resources to help you navigate the database.

Public Art Toolkit | by the Creative City Network of Canada (CCNC)

This is a downloadable PDF toolkit intended as a guide when planning a public art program or
evaluating an existing one, and it contains resources for the management of public art projects. It
includes details on all phases of completing a public art project, detailed case studies and links to
examples from around the world, illustrative photos from public art projects, and a compilation
of links to key web-based resources. CCNC is a national nonprofit organization in Canada.

Peacebuilding and the Arts Resource Library | by Brandeis University program in Peacebuilding
and the Arts

This is a resource database hosted by Brandeis University’s program in Peacebuilding and the
Arts. There is quite a lot in there, mainly focused on academic papers produced through Brandeis
University, their collaborators, and networks. While mostly containing academic articles, the
database covers many unique topics, and articles are very informational. So if you’re looking for
something specific, you may find something unique that will support you in whatever art for
peace activity you’re planning.

Resources on Peace Through Art | by International Child Art Foundation (ICAF)

This includes a few downloadable articles and presentations outlining ICAF’s approach to
building peace through art, focused on children and trauma healing for children affected by
conflict. This is a resource page associated with their “Peace through Art Program,” one of their
many programs.

War Toys to Peace Art Curriculum Guide | by War Toys to Peace Art

This is a downloadable curriculum guide with numerous lesson plans and examples for turning
war toys into peace art. It is designed for use in schools, community centers, and homes. It takes
a whole community approach for engaging with teachers, parents, local artists, and others. And it
includes classroom activities to engage students in conversations about peace as well as activities
for making collaborative peace art projects, and inputs for planning exhibitions.

Creativity for Wellbeing (C4W) | by Richard K. Potter

This is a database of art activities that anyone can do to promote creativity, wellbeing, inclusion,
and community involvement. The site aims to make it easier for people to start their own art
activity group or art workshop in their community. It was created to be used by anyone —
parents, educators, and groups.

Networks and activities

In my research, I found many networks that didn’t seem to be very active. I’ve included only
those that seem quite active and useful for those seeking to make art for peace (or justice).

International Committee of Artists for Peace

The International Committee of Artists for Peace (ICAP) is an organization founded to create a
culture of peace and develop future peacemakers through the transformative power of the arts.
ICAP sponsors concerts, exhibits, school programs, dialogues, and peacebuilding workshops to
instill the ideals of humanism and nonviolence in today’s youth.

World Citizen Artists

World Citizen Artists is a global movement of socially engaged artists, creatives and thinkers
whose aim is to create effective and evolutionary change in the world through events, exchanges
and other opportunities involving art to raise global awareness. They work to raise the voices of
artists working for good causes, they connect artists and like-minded non-profits, and they have
an awards program for artists, musicians, and creatives making a difference in the world.

The Craftivist Collective

The Craftivist Collective is an inclusive collective of people (termed ‘craftivists’) committed to

using thoughtful, beautifully crafted works to help themselves and encourage others be the
positive change they wish to see in the world. Founder Sarah Corbett develops tools and projects
that collective members can undertake as individuals or in groups, and she also hosts sporadic
events for the community. Check out A Craftivist’s Manifesto to learn how you can be a
craftivist.

Global Art Project for Peace

The Global Art Project for Peace is an international art exchange for peace that takes place every
two years. The way it works is that participants (who have signed up) create a work of art in any
medium, expressing their vision of global peace and goodwill. Participants are paired with others
internationally, and the artworks are sent as a gift to each participants’ partner (or partner group).
Participants are encouraged to organize activities and exhibitions associated with their
involvement in the project. The project celebrates peace, diversity, and multi-culturalism.
Find more creative ways you can build peace and justice in the world around you. Download my
free handout 198 Actions for Peace.

Networks
Our networks bring together a vibrant community of global changemakers including religious
actors, policymakers, academics and dialogue practitioners. Through them we expand and
deepen the impact of dialogue initiatives, foster the exchange of best practices and provide
access to funding and resources. Our networks also provide continuing education and
professional development opportunities to reinforce lasting outcomes in the field.

Network for Dialogue

The Network for Dialogue was officially launched in March 2019 in Bologna, Italy, and brings
together European faith-based, secular organizations and other experts to jointly promote
interreligious and intercultural dialogue for the social inclusion of refugees and migrants.
Members come from around Europe, including Austria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy,
Luxembourg, Serbia, Spain,...
Social Media Regional Network
Launched in 2021 by graduates of KAICIID’s Social Media as a Space for Dialogue Programme,
the Social Media Regional Network brings together a diverse group of young activists and
influencers from across the Arab Region.
KAICIID Fellows Alumni Network
Following the close of KAICIID Fellows first year of training, graduates join a vibrant
community of hundreds of global changemakers through the programme’s alumni network.
KAICIID regularly hosts continuing education opportunities and workshops for Fellows alumni,
and fosters an environment of opportunity and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Platforms
KAICIID’s dialogue platforms, based on interreligious partnerships, address the main drivers of
conflict through policy and advocacy, as well as local dialogue initiatives at the grassroots level.
Our regional platforms convene diverse high-ranking religious leaders, harnessing their
authority, influence, and vast numbers of followers. They also bring together members of
grassroots organizations, with a focus on women and young people, to multiply our reach and
turn dialogue into action.

Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace (IDFP)

In 2017, KAICIID supported the launch of the Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace (IDFP),
which was the result of consultations with over 80 stakeholders and local partners in order to
promote more effective and sustainable collaboration in Nigeria.
Muslim Jewish Leadership Council
The Muslim Jewish Leadership Council (MJLC) was founded to serve the need to counter
prejudice, disinformation, attacks, and violence against those who practise faith. It brings
together actors from Europe’s Muslim and Jewish communities, who are equally represented on
the Council, to address rising Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
European Muslim Leaders' Majlis (EULEMA)
The European Muslim Leaders' Majlis (EuLeMa) is an informal network of European Muslim
religious leaders who seek to synchronise Muslim voices in Europe, giving particular support to
the work of the Muslim Jewish Leadership Council (MJLC).
Interreligious Platform for Dialogue and Cooperation in the Arab World (IPDC)
Launched in 2018, the IPDC advocates the rights and inclusion of all communities in the Arab
World, combats hatred and sectarianism and jointly addresses threats to peaceful coexistence.
Platform members include twenty-three of the highest religious authorities from Muslim and
Christian institutions across the Arab region.

Methods to Inform Responsive, Community-Led

Programming
This 4-part blog series describes a core group of ‘good practices’ that Pact implemented in the
Horn of Africa. The European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF)-funded Regional
Approaches for Sustainable Conflict Management and Integration (RASMI) and Selam Ekisil
(SEEK) projects sought to prevent and mitigate the impact of local conflicts in selected areas of
the Kenya-Ethiopia-Somalia cross-border region through the promotion of peacebuilding,
conflict management and conflict resolution capacities at the community and cross-border levels.

The blog series was authored by Gedion Juma & Caroline Brazill.

Conflict Systems Approach

A program that takes a conflict systems approach understands conflicts as living systems,
acknowledging and leveraging dynamic interactions and connections among factors and actors
and working to create positive feedback loops that produce desirable outcomes. SEEK and
RASMI built from the lessons learned from Pact’s previous Peace in Central Africa III (Peace
III) project to apply a conflict systems approach.

This blog is part of a series by Pact on utilizing a Conflict Systems Approach. This blog series
describes a core group of ‘good practices’ that Pact implemented in the Horn of Africa. The
European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF)-funded Regional Approaches for Sustainable
Conflict Management and Integration (RASMI) and Selam Ekisil (SEEK) projects sought to
prevent and mitigate the impact of local conflicts in selected areas of the Kenya-Ethiopia-
Somalia cross-border region through the promotion of peacebuilding, conflict management, and
conflict resolution capacities at the community and cross-border levels.

Over the course of three years, implementers advanced programs with objectives to improve
social capital and cohesion among project beneficiaries; strengthen peace and security
structures; and influence development actors to be more conflict sensitive. Pact applied these
good practices to design programs that were more responsive and able to achieve better results.
It is Pact’s hope that other members of the community of practice can apply, leverage and learn
from these good practices.
A program that takes a conflict systems approach understands conflicts as living systems,
acknowledging and leveraging dynamic interactions and connections among factors and actors
and working to create positive feedback loops that produce desirable outcomes. Such an
approach is built with a holistic interpretation of the interdependent and emergent nature of
conflict and a recognition that conflict is often not defined by geographic or political boundaries.
The conflict systems approach understands that cause and effect relationships in conflict
situations are not linear, direct, or proportional, and it accounts for the relationships and issues
that span across systems and subsystems. It expands from a purely systems-thinking approach by
requiring project teams to develop targeted strategies for stakeholders in each conflict sub-
system, defining sub-systems by their conflict drivers rather than their geographic boundary or
conflict symptom, and tailoring sub-system intervention strategies to those conflict drivers and
their particular stakeholders.

While a conflict systems approach seems like an obvious choice, working within and through
living systems is not easy or straightforward. SEEK and RASMI built from the lessons learned
from Pact’s previous Peace in Central Africa III (Peace III) project to apply a conflict systems
approach.

Conflict Systems Approach in Practice

To operationalize a conflict systems approach, the SEEK and RASMI projects began by
organizing the physical Kenya-Ethiopia-Somalia border areas into conceptual conflict zones with
similar conflict drivers (such as access to water and grazing fields, cattle raiding, and violent
extremism). These became the targeted conflict systems. Project staff then named each system
according to the communities experiencing conflict as a consequence of those drivers; we found
that there is power in naming, and by mapping conflict zones according to conflict drivers
rather than the geographic locations, the project was able to implement more targeted
interventions alongside affected communities.

For example, one system included the drivers of conflict between the Hammar and Gabbra
communities, who have entered one another’s territories across the border for trade and grazing.
Increasingly, those migrating across the border have overlooked the tradition of informing the
community on the other side of their movements, which has led to misunderstandings, clashes,
and resentments that trigger ‘tit-for-tat’ killings. Had the project named it by a geographic
location, it would have been easy to forget the cross-border nature of the conflict and the other
community stakeholders.

In total, the SEEK project identified four conflict systems and the RASMI project identified
three. The teams then completed a systems mapping exercise to understand how conflict drivers
perpetuated conflict symptoms. This enabled the two projects to tailor interventions to the unique
needs of each conflict system. Designing interventions based on conflict drivers – and
understanding them through systems thinking – provides a more sustainable approach than
targeting conflict symptoms, which are often easier to perceive. Both projects then utilized
applied political economy analyses (APEAs) to identify and engage strategic stakeholders, and
Outcome Mapping to help design flexible, participatory, and community-led learning processes.
Through engaging in conflict systems mapping, the RASMI and SEEK teams also discovered
that initial activity plans left out communities that could be potential spoilers of peace. These
could be communities that are not main actors in the conflict, but whose actions exacerbate the
conflict. For example, the Erbore and Borana communities generate mistrust between the
Hammar community of Ethiopia and Gabbra of Kenya in the conflict system described above.
The Erbore and Borana raid cattle from the Hammar and the Gabbra, and then pass with the
stolen livestock though the territories of the other community by night so that when the footsteps
of the raiders are traced, they lead to the other community that is then accused of cattle raiding.
SEEK applied this insight by supporting dialogues organized by local government authorities to
mitigate the confusion wrought by external actors.

Value-Add

The systems approach to conflict is designed to map and analyze non-linear, interdependent, and
emergent dynamics; it is useful in designing and implementing cross-border peacebuilding
programming because it more readily identifies the full extent of participation of critical actors
and focuses on unpacking conflict drivers that perpetuate the symptoms of conflict. By clustering
physical areas into conceptual zones according to relevant conflict drivers and documenting the
motivations, relationships and consequences among interrelated zones, project teams can
understand how potential target communities engage within and beyond their relevant
geographies, and teams can use this information to meaningfully work with a range of local
stakeholders. Knowledge of groups of conflict drivers and the relationships between them also
enables project teams to develop more targeted strategies and thereby achieve more relevant,
sustainable, and locally embedded results. Projects interested in replicating the conflict systems
approach need to access or conduct regular context analyses to remain up to date with changing
dynamics and to adapt project strategies and activities as needed.

Forthcoming topics in this blog series will include Applied Political Economy Analysis (APEA),
Outcome Mapping (OM), and Peace Dividends.

Click here for the full blog series.

Authors:
– Gedion Juma is a Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at Pact based in Nairobi, Kenya.
– Caroline Brazill is a Governance Officer at Pact based in Washington, DC.

Applied Political Economy Analysis:

Methods to Inform Responsive, Community-
Led Programming
This blog series describes a core group of ‘good practices’ that Pact implemented in the Horn of
Africa. The European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF)-funded Regional Approaches for
Sustainable Conflict Management and Integration (RASMI) and Selam Ekisil (SEEK) projects
sought to prevent and mitigate the impact of local conflicts in selected areas of the Kenya-
Ethiopia-Somalia cross-border region through the promotion of peacebuilding, conflict
management, and conflict resolution capacities at the community and cross-border levels.

Over the course of three years, implementers advanced programs with objectives to: improve
social capital and cohesion among project beneficiaries; strengthen peace and security
structures; and influence development actors to be more conflict sensitive. The motivation
behind these approaches was to design programs that were more responsive and able to achieve
better results. Pact also carefully consulted stakeholders within these practices to verify and
refine project teams’ strategies. It is Pact’s hope that other members of the community of
practice can apply, leverage and learn from these good practices.

Applied political economy analysis (APEA) is a methodology designed to understand the

underlying interests and incentives that contribute to the decisions and behaviors of key actors.
These can be rooted in political, social, economic, and personal factors. APEA diverges from
other context analyses in its focus on informal institutions and hidden incentives to explain
decisions and behaviors. It asks questions such as: Who is the real power holder? Where are
resources (formal and informal) located? In Pact’s cross-border, conflict-systems based
peacebuilding programming, APEA is a foundational analytical tool that programs carry out
during the start-up phase and utilize regularly to inform key project decisions. The findings from
RASMI and SEEK project APEAs enabled the projects to tailor interventions based on
stakeholder interests and incentives as they related to the unique drivers revealed in conflict
system mapping exercises (read more here). Project teams also used insights surfaced by the
APEAs to identify potential change agents and to determine the most strategic activity entry
points.

APEA in Practice

APEA helps project teams better understand and navigate the formal and informal (or ‘invisible’)
systems and structures that affect their ability to achieve change. For example, as the RASMI
and SEEK projects began, APEA studies found that women were not involved in creating
resource sharing agreements, which are cross-border social contracts that enable communities to
allocate and access assets like water and land in collaborative and constructive ways. The
APEAs found that the poor success rate of these agreements was due to a lack of inclusivity and
buy-in from the women and youth who are often disproportionately affected by conflicts arising
from resource sharing disagreements. Without the perspectives of women and youth, the
resource sharing agreements are less sustainable because women and youth play an important
informal role socializing the information in the agreements and deciding whether to adhere to
their compromises. The APEAs helped the project teams understand that there was not simply
a lack of opportunities for women’s engagement in peacebuilding or a lack of interest amongst
women in contributing to peacebuilding; rather, while women often advanced community-level
activities that prevent conflict and build peace in their communities, they were rarely able to
meaningfully participate in forums or processes that influence higher-level goals related to
conflict prevention or resolution. Formal agreements such as resources sharing agreements
therefore missed a critical voice and resulting legitimacy.
Specifically, in the cross-border areas where SEEK and RASMI programs were implementing
activities, women regularly engaged in peacebuilding activities by sharing information and
messages that advance social cohesion or warn community members of signs of violence, but
they are still excluded from formal conflict resolution meetings because cultural norms dictate
that male community elders lead those efforts. Relatedly, civil society networks could effectively
reach out to women and community members with messages of coexistence and awareness on a
range of issues—however, few elevate women’s leadership or decision-making in strategy or
policy. Thus, women did not have realistic opportunities to present their perspectives on
peacebuilding, nor could they define their challenges and articulate solutions alongside other
stakeholders.

In order to be successful, the projects had to ensure that women had avenues to meaningfully
contribute, to champion issues they care about, and to engage in activities relating to trust-
building and social cohesion. SEEK and RASMI implementers applied these insights as they
began to engage community members and search for opportunities to leverage community-level
structures that could amplify peacebuilding messaging. Noting that many conflict-resolution
fora, meetings and trainings lacked women’s representation, the project teams intentionally
partnered with the Women for Change Forum to spread information about women’s leadership
and contributions. The projects also decided to engage women as a distinct group of change
agents that could advance peacebuilding activities throughout the cross-border communities as
opposed to engaging them as stakeholders interspersed throughout various sets of activities. For
example, noting their ability to influence youth in the community, the project engaged women to
participate in joint trainings, meetings and dialogues where they could explain the importance of
shifting community behavior away from cattle raids and toward more constructive activities like
the tracking, recovery and return of stolen livestock. Implementing teams believed that designing
these specific cohorts would empower women to speak about their specific experiences and
concerns.

As a result of these adaptations, the SEEK and RASMI programs have seen sustained results in
their second phases of implementation. Groups of women change agents have shared their
perspectives with elders and government officials who directly engage in resource sharing
negotiations, increasing women’s ability to shape the agreements from the outset. Women on
both sides of the border also increasingly work with youth to disseminate the contents of
community-level peace initiatives such as resource sharing agreements to hard-to-reach
populations like farmers and herders. This increases the likelihood that more community
members will honor the agreements. Women who participated in trainings through RASMI and
SEEK also trained other women in their communities. For example, key leaders in the Women
for Change Forum trained women traders in Rhamu market to collect information that could be
leveraged in early warning/early response activities. These 45 trained women traders then
became peace monitors who collect early warning information and share with other peace actors
to inform future strategies and responses.

Value-Add

The APEA methodology offers insights and recommendations that enable project teams to
design interventions that are both relevant and responsive to the needs of different peace and
conflict actors. By uncovering who holds power and how resources are allocated, which are often
surprising insights thanks to APEA’s focus on informal in addition to formal power dynamics,
project teams can tailor interventions to fit the specific community needs. In doing so, project
teams can also focus on addressing key actors’ motivations for peace and conflict rather than
mitigating only the visible conflict dynamics. SEEK and RASMI implementers drew from the
APEA findings to craft interventions that would capitalize on the unique role of women in
community-led peacebuilding and would actively address their barriers to participation.

APEA is especially useful in projects where conflict environments are fluid because it reveals
key stakeholders, drivers and motivations that can be tracked over time and used to inform
project decisions. Globally, Pact has used the methodology to design projects that meaningfully
engage key stakeholders, including in sectors beyond peace building, such as human rights,
health, livelihoods, and artisanal and small-scale mining.

For more information about Pact’s APEA methodology, visit this resource.

Click here for the full blog series.

Authors:
– Gedion Juma is a Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at Pact based in Nairobi, Kenya.
– Caroline Brazill is a Governance Officer at Pact based in Washington, DC.

Methods to Inform Responsive, Community-Led

Programming
This 4-part blog series describes a core group of ‘good practices’ that Pact implemented in the
Horn of Africa. The European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF)-funded Regional
Approaches for Sustainable Conflict Management and Integration (RASMI) and Selam Ekisil
(SEEK) projects sought to prevent and mitigate the impact of local conflicts in selected areas of
the Kenya-Ethiopia-Somalia cross-border region through the promotion of peacebuilding,
conflict management and conflict resolution capacities at the community and cross-border levels.

The blog series was authored by Gedion Juma & Caroline Brazill.

SELAM EKISIL (SEEK)

Project title:

SELAM EKISIL (SEEK)

Start Date:

2018
End Date:

2021

Project Location:

Turkana, Marsabit (North Horr), Kenya; South Omo Zone, SNNPR region, Ethiopia

Cross-border cluster:

Cluster 1, Cluster 3

Priority Intervention areas (PIAs):

PIA 1: Natural resources and environment management

PIA 2: Market access, trade and financial services
PIA 3 : Livelihoods support and basic social services
PIA 4 : Disaster risk management, preparedness and effective response
PIA 5: Research, knowledge management and technology transfer
PIA 6: Conflict prevention, resolution and peace building
PIA 7: Coordination, institutional strengthening and partnerships

Lead Organization:

PACT

Collaborating organizations:

Peace and Development Center (PDC): Ethiopia

St. Peter’s Community Network (SAPCONE): Kenya
Strategies for Northern Development (SND): Kenya
IDF - Integrated Development Focus

Financial sources:

European Union

Project description:

Violent conflicts in the border areas between Kenya and Ethiopia are shaped by the realities that
define subsistence rural livelihoods. For example, climate change has led to rising temperatures
and higher frequency and intensity of droughts that have changed the vegetation in the
rangelands, forcing pastoralists to move further to find food and water for cattle. In addition,
conflicts over land rights and access occur between private investors, local governments, and
different ethnic groups. In all cases, violent conflict erodes the positive social capital that holds
communities together and pushes vulnerable and already marginalized people to migrate to
locations that allow them to secure livelihoods and alternative options for a stable, prosperous
life.
Funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), the SELAM EKISIL
(SEEK) project adopts a conflict systems based approach to address the multiple drivers of
conflict in cross border areas and to promote peace building, conflict management, and conflict
resolution capacity at the community and cross border levels. It is part of the EU’s programme
for collaboration in the Cross Border areas of the Horn of Africa, providing over 60 million
euros of investment to prevent and mitigate the impact of local conflict and to promote economic
development and greater resilience in four different cross border regions. Ultimately, the
prevalence and severity of conflict are shaped by the effectiveness of informal and formal
institutional structures and forces that manage differences between groups. The three-year
project will address drivers of conflict, insecurity, and instability, while strengthening the
systems and institutions that peacefully manage and resolve conflict on the border of Southwest
Ethiopia and Northwest Kenya.

Contacts:

Yussuf Mohammed Abdullahi

[email protected]
Regional Team Lead:

Richard Omari Onyancha

[email protected]
Project Manager:

Collaboration in Cross-Border Areas of the Horn of Africa

Unleashing the potential of borderlands

For decades, the people of the border regions of Africa have
grappled
with violent conflict, climate shocks and marginalization. As a
result, these
communities find themselves in acute poverty with little to no
prospects and
a widespread sense of exclusion that can lead to displacement,
discontent
and radicalization.
However, these areas should also be seen as a source of
opportunity to
build up cross-border trade and markets, to ensure regional
stability and to
promote regional integration and economic development.
Through providing greater investment for these communities that
are
united by socio-economic and cultural realities, we can work to
realise their
economic potential and reinforce stability across the region.
The ultimate aim is to transform borderlands into more prosperous and stable areas where communities
have a sense of belonging and prospects for a better future.

Project title:

Regional Approaches for Sustainable Conflict Management and Integration (RASMI)

Start Date:

2017

End Date:

2020

Project Location:

Mandera country, Kenya, Gedo region in Somalia and Dolo in the Somali region of Ethiopia

Cross-border cluster:

To be confirmed

Priority Intervention areas (PIAs):

PIA 1: Natural resources and environment management

PIA 2: Market access, trade, and financial services
PIA 3: Livelihoods support and basic social services
PIA 4 : Disaster risk management, preparedness, and effective response
PIA 5: Research, knowledge management, and technology transfer
PIA 6: Conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding
PIA 7: Coordination, institutional strengthening, and partnerships

Lead Organization:

PACT
Collaborating organizations:

Inter-Africa Group (IAG)

Integrated Development Focus (IDF)
Mandera Women for Peace and Development (MWFPD)
Network for Peace and Development (NEPED)

Financial sources:

European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF)

Project description:

The Regional Approaches for Sustainable Conflict Management and Integration (RASMI)
project adopts a conflict systems-based approach to promote peace-building, conflict
management, and conflict resolution capacity at the community and cross-border levels. It is part
of the EU’s program for Collaboration in the Cross-Border areas of the Horn of Africa, providing
over 60 million euros of investment to prevent and mitigate the impact of local conflict and to
promote economic development and greater resilience in four different cross-border regions.
RASMI, which means “reliable” in Somali, targets stakeholders in the Mandera Triangle who are
most vulnerable to engaging in conflict, irregular migration, and recruitment into militias and
terror groups. These stakeholders include youth, internally displaced people, and pastoralist
dropouts and marginalized ethnic groups. At the same time, RASMI engages local government
agencies, women, religious leaders, security forces and the private sector – those who have the
greatest capacity for managing conflicts and promoting peace.

Contacts:

Regional Team Lead: Yussuf Mohammed Abdullahi [email protected]

Project Manager: Issack Abdirahman [email protected]

Conflict Systems Approach: Methods to

Inform Responsive, Community-Led
Programming
This blog is part of a series by Pact on utilizing a Conflict Systems Approach. This blog series
describes a core group of ‘good practices’ that Pact implemented in the Horn of Africa. The
European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF)-funded Regional Approaches for Sustainable
Conflict Management and Integration (RASMI) and Selam Ekisil (SEEK) projects sought to
prevent and mitigate the impact of local conflicts in selected areas of the Kenya-Ethiopia-
Somalia cross-border region through the promotion of peacebuilding, conflict management, and
conflict resolution capacities at the community and cross-border levels.
Over the course of three years, implementers advanced programs with objectives to improve
social capital and cohesion among project beneficiaries; strengthen peace and security
structures; and influence development actors to be more conflict sensitive. Pact applied these
good practices to design programs that were more responsive and able to achieve better results.
It is Pact’s hope that other members of the community of practice can apply, leverage and learn
from these good practices.

A program that takes a conflict systems approach understands conflicts as living systems,
acknowledging and leveraging dynamic interactions and connections among factors and actors
and working to create positive feedback loops that produce desirable outcomes. Such an
approach is built with a holistic interpretation of the interdependent and emergent nature of
conflict and a recognition that conflict is often not defined by geographic or political boundaries.
The conflict systems approach understands that cause and effect relationships in conflict
situations are not linear, direct, or proportional, and it accounts for the relationships and issues
that span across systems and subsystems. It expands from a purely systems-thinking approach by
requiring project teams to develop targeted strategies for stakeholders in each conflict sub-
system, defining sub-systems by their conflict drivers rather than their geographic boundary or
conflict symptom, and tailoring sub-system intervention strategies to those conflict drivers and
their particular stakeholders.

While a conflict systems approach seems like an obvious choice, working within and through
living systems is not easy or straightforward. SEEK and RASMI built from the lessons learned
from Pact’s previous Peace in Central Africa III (Peace III) project to apply a conflict systems
approach.

Conflict Systems Approach in Practice

To operationalize a conflict systems approach, the SEEK and RASMI projects began by
organizing the physical Kenya-Ethiopia-Somalia border areas into conceptual conflict zones with
similar conflict drivers (such as access to water and grazing fields, cattle raiding, and violent
extremism). These became the targeted conflict systems. Project staff then named each system
according to the communities experiencing conflict as a consequence of those drivers; we found
that there is power in naming, and by mapping conflict zones according to conflict drivers
rather than the geographic locations, the project was able to implement more targeted
interventions alongside affected communities.

For example, one system included the drivers of conflict between the Hammar and Gabbra
communities, who have entered one another’s territories across the border for trade and grazing.
Increasingly, those migrating across the border have overlooked the tradition of informing the
community on the other side of their movements, which has led to misunderstandings, clashes,
and resentments that trigger ‘tit-for-tat’ killings. Had the project named it by a geographic
location, it would have been easy to forget the cross-border nature of the conflict and the other
community stakeholders.

In total, the SEEK project identified four conflict systems and the RASMI project identified
three. The teams then completed a systems mapping exercise to understand how conflict drivers
perpetuated conflict symptoms. This enabled the two projects to tailor interventions to the unique
needs of each conflict system. Designing interventions based on conflict drivers – and
understanding them through systems thinking – provides a more sustainable approach than
targeting conflict symptoms, which are often easier to perceive. Both projects then utilized
applied political economy analyses (APEAs) to identify and engage strategic stakeholders, and
Outcome Mapping to help design flexible, participatory, and community-led learning processes.

Through engaging in conflict systems mapping, the RASMI and SEEK teams also discovered
that initial activity plans left out communities that could be potential spoilers of peace. These
could be communities that are not main actors in the conflict, but whose actions exacerbate the
conflict. For example, the Erbore and Borana communities generate mistrust between the
Hammar community of Ethiopia and Gabbra of Kenya in the conflict system described above.
The Erbore and Borana raid cattle from the Hammar and the Gabbra, and then pass with the
stolen livestock though the territories of the other community by night so that when the footsteps
of the raiders are traced, they lead to the other community that is then accused of cattle raiding.
SEEK applied this insight by supporting dialogues organized by local government authorities to
mitigate the confusion wrought by external actors.

Value-Add

The systems approach to conflict is designed to map and analyze non-linear, interdependent, and
emergent dynamics; it is useful in designing and implementing cross-border peacebuilding
programming because it more readily identifies the full extent of participation of critical actors
and focuses on unpacking conflict drivers that perpetuate the symptoms of conflict. By clustering
physical areas into conceptual zones according to relevant conflict drivers and documenting the
motivations, relationships and consequences among interrelated zones, project teams can
understand how potential target communities engage within and beyond their relevant
geographies, and teams can use this information to meaningfully work with a range of local
stakeholders. Knowledge of groups of conflict drivers and the relationships between them also
enables project teams to develop more targeted strategies and thereby achieve more relevant,
sustainable, and locally embedded results. Projects interested in replicating the conflict systems
approach need to access or conduct regular context analyses to remain up to date with changing
dynamics and to adapt project strategies and activities as needed.

Forthcoming topics in this blog series will include Applied Political Economy Analysis (APEA),
Outcome Mapping (OM), and Peace Dividends.

Click here for the full blog series.

Authors:
– Gedion Juma is a Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at Pact based in Nairobi, Kenya.
– Caroline Brazill is a Governance Officer at Pact based in Washington, DC.

Welcome to the online home of the Community of Practice

on Environment, Climate, Conflict, and Peace (ECCP).
The ECCP Community of Practice is a collective of more than 950 individuals around the world,
working for more than 300 organizations and institutions. This website showcases the collective
work of the ECCP, from 2020 to today.

What is the ECCP? How does it work?

The ECCP is a community of practice that aims to strengthen networking and community
building on environmental peacebuilding, conflict-sensitive conservation, climate security, and
other related topics through collaboration, dialogue, and learning between institutions and
individuals around the world.

The ECCP is a constellation of convenings and connections. There are:

 monthly, community-wide meetings meant to create a platform for networking and

relationship building,
 regular updates with recent publications, events, and resources circulated to the group,
and
 working groups on different topics raised by the community as priorities for collaborative
action.

There is no formal “membership” within the community or each project or group, and
participants do not need to choose participation in one over the others. Rather, working groups
provide a framework for organizing information in a way that does not “re-silo” the community
back into focus topics.

What is the ECCP working on now?

The objectives of the ECCP are:

1. To foster inter-institutional collaboration and dialogue on ECCP topics and projects.

2. To promote learning and innovation, recognizing that each actor has a unique angle to
bring to the table.
3. To harness the joint reach of all participants to mainstream ECCP into organizations,
institutions, and policy processes.

In addition to monthly meetings and regular community updates, there are a number of working
groups that coordinate to achieve specific impact.

Peace@COP is a participatory collective of more than 200 individuals across more than 80
institutions and 5 continents, all with an interest in making climate change policy more peace
responsive and conflict sensitive. They meet regularly to develop common policy priorities,
exchange information on UNFCCC proceedings, and to plan for annual engagements at the
Conference of the Parties (COP).
Recognizing the positive impact of efforts in the UNFCCC, the Peace@CBD working group
similarly aligns roughly 60 individuals across 20 institutions to raise visibility for peace and
conflict sensitivity in the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD).

Growing out of discussions with funders and policymakers across these multilateral fora, another
working group has coming together to develop a catalog of innovative climate finance models,
emphasizing cases where funding was directly channeled towards local or community-based
actors. The catalog is planned to launch in October 2024, ahead of the COP16 (CBD) and
COP29 (UNFCCC).

In the past, other working groups have come together to create a catalog of Nature-based
Solutions for Peace, a peer-exchange on environmental peacebuilding practice, as well as
the other projects you’ll find linked across this site.

Activities within the ECCP are simply driven by participant interest and request. Members can
choose to participate as individuals, or as representatives of their institutions. A current strategic
outline is available here.

ECCP members at their collaborative Nature Footprints art exhibition at COP28 in Dubai,
December 2023

How do I use this website? What can I expect

to find here?
This website houses the collaborative work of the community of practice. You’ll find pages
dedicated to current working groups, as well as projects throughout the history of the ECCP.

 Peace@COP - This website has a specific landing page for each COP within the
UNFCCC process (COP27, COP28, and COP29).
 Peace@CBD - Learn about Peace@CBD on this page, including links to the policy
priorities of the group.
 Community of Practice - The Community page provides a non-exhaustive snapshot of
the participating institutions in the ECCP community of practice.
 White Paper - From 2020-2022, the community engaged in an ambitious process to
collaboratively develop a White Paper on the Future of Environmental Peacebuilding
and accompanying compendium of 50 visions for the future of the field.
 Art - Art is regularly woven into the work done by the ECCP. You’ll find more
information about the artists who contributed to the White Paper project, as well as to
Nature Footprints, an online & physical exhibition shown at COP28.
Where did the ECCP come from? Where is it hosted?
The ECCP is currently co-hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) and
the Centre on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding (CCDP) at the Geneva Graduate
Institute. It is currently managed by a coordinator, Annika Erickson-Pearson, and the
contributions of ECCP members to lead or co-lead specific workstreams. Funding is currently
provided by community of practice members.

In 2024, the ECCP will embark upon a visioning process to develop a roadmap for the change it
would like to affect in the years to come.

The community was created in early 2020 by the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, as a part of its
workstream on community management. Over the years, the community has grown from about
40 Geneva-based participants to nearly 1,000 participants around the world.

In 2020, ECCP community members began to coordinate on a collective project to create the
White Paper on the Future of Environmental Peacebuilding. You’ll find that paper and 50
compendium articles here on this site.

Contributing White Paper authors and community participants drew upon the messages and cases
in the White Paper to build a collaborative footprint for peace and conflict sensitivity topics at
the Stockholm+50 Conference. They co-hosted side events, co-authored articles, and shared
responsibility for bringing the topic to policy-makers working on environmental issues. By the
end of the Conference, peace, security, and conflict sensitivity were referenced multiple times in
outcome documents, and in some cases using the exact wording proposed by community
participants.

Collaboration towards Stockholm+50 sparked promise for community collaboration in other

policy fora. The group coordinated again to raise visibility of peace issues at COP27, COP28,
and soon for COP29.

Today, the community continues to meet regularly online, and in-person around the world. You
can read more about the community’s origin, function, and goals in this recent evaluation.

It should be noted that the ECCP is meant to serve as a container for shared action and facilitator
of conversation. The ECCP does not take formal positions or jointly endorse policies.
Information and views shared on this website and in ECCP communications should not be
interpreted as a consensus and do not necessarily represent the views of all members. Instead, the
ECCP is a space for individuals and institutions to come together, think, discuss, and act on
critical issues.

The ECCP is supported by an active Steering Committee:

 Alison Harley, WWF

 Amanda Woomer, Oxford Policy Management
 Carl Bruch, Environmental Law Institute / Environmental Peacebuilding Association
  Eliza Urwin, Centre on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding
 Hassan Mowlid Yasin, Somali Greenpeace Association
 Heloise Heyer, PeaceNexus Foundation
 Hesta Groenewald, PeaceNexus Foundation
 Keith Krause, Centre on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding
 Munini Mutuku, Kenya National Cohesion and Integration Commission
 Subindra Bogati, Nepal Peacebuilding Initiative
 Thomas Reeve, Oxfam

The ECCP is funded and run by members and partners.

We sincerely thank the PeaceNexus Foundation, World Wildlife Fund Colombia and Germany
(WWF) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI), and the United States Institute of
Peace (USIP) for their financial contributions and partnership. We also express appreciation to
co-hosts Centre of Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding (CCDP) and Environmental
Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) for the in-kind support that keeps the community going.
Finally, we thank Oxfam, International Alert, and Search for Common Ground for their in-kind
support to manage the Peace@COP group, as well as Saferworld for their support for the
conflict sensitivity group.

Work from nine artists and illustrators from around the world accompany the themes of
the White Paper and Compendium, helping bring to life the opportunities, challenges, pain
and beauty of Environmental Peacebuilding. The artists come from Afghanistan, the USA,
Rwanda | Uganda, the UK, Japan, Hawai’i, Morocco and Ireland.

Funding approaches and models

Members of the Community of Practice on Environment, Climate, Conflict, and Peace (ECCP)
attended COP28 in Dubai in late 2023. They met with policymakers and negotiators to discuss
opportunities and challenges for climate finance and action in fragile and conflict-affected areas.

It is particularly important that climate and biodiversity finance be invested at the local
level, funnelled as directly as possible to the people bearing the brunt of the climate and
biodiversity crisis.

One of the challenges that we repeatedly heard from funders was lack of examples of approaches
or models of how funding can be invested at the local level.

Members of the ECCP came together in 2024 to create this platform where we can gather those
examples.
 Case
studies
In early 2024, ECCP members put out a call for case studies in six languages. Specifically, they
requested interesting examples in which funding made it to the local level to support climate
action in fragile and conflict-affected areas.

Two are ready for publication, and more cases are in progress. Click on the three images below
to open the case study files.

The editing group is also accepting new case studies via the form below.

The above case studies are the original submissions to the ECCP’s public call for examples.
They have been lightly edited and are published with the permission of the submitters.

The editing group has not conducted due diligence interviews with members of the communities
described in order to verify the information provided. In the group’s examination of successful
funding models in fragile and conflict-affected states, it is important to emphasise that they are
not constrained by a narrow or fixed definition of conflict or fragility.

The editing group was an informal but structured collaboration within the ECCP Community of
Practice, including participation from: Manisha Gulati (ODI), Yue Cao (ODI), Nora Nisi (IIED),
Peter van Sluijs (Cordaid), Elise Granlie (Cordaid), Déthié Soumaré Ndiaye (GGGI), Kelechi
Eleanya (World Resources Institute), Ahmed Ekzayez (Syria White Helmets), Harriet Mackaill
Hill (International Alert), and Annika Erickson-Pearson (ECCP Coordinator).

Nature-based Solutions for Peace and Security

This catalog of Nature-based Solutions for Peace & Security aims to inspire decision-makers and
programme managers when designing climate and environmental security interventions.

See below our interactive map with case studies from around the world. Dive into the details of
each implemented Nature-based Solution to learn how exactly they contributed to peace or
browse and filter through the entire database to find example projects relevant for you.

Background information on NbS for peace

What are Nature-based Solutions (NbS)

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are actions taken to sustainably protect, manage and restore
ecosystems, while at the same time providing benefits to human well-being and biodiversity. The
NbS approach has seen uptake from governments, communities and organizations around the
world as a holistic approach to reducing the impact of climate change, disasters, and
environmental degradation. NbS cover a range of different approaches including targeted
solutions for ecosystem-based adaptation, integrated management approaches, ecological
restoration, integration of green and blue infrastructure, and protected area management.

In 2022, The UN Environment Assembly voted to recognize and define Nature-based Solutions
(NbS) in a resolution: UNEP/EA.5/Res.5.

How can Nature-based Solutions contribute to Peace & Security?

The improved understanding of the environmental dimensions of conflict and their link with
peace and security raises the question of how to address such impacts. The relationships between
environment, climate, natural resources, conflict and peace are complex. However, incorporating
these linkages in programming is increasingly recognized as crucial for sustainable
peacebuilding efforts, whether this is in terms of contributing to short-term stability or
maintaining sustainable development in years to come.

Effective, sustainable management of natural resources is key to the peacebuilding process,

helping to build resilience in infrastructure, livelihoods and food security in situations of
environmental and climate stress. These actions can also reduce the drivers of conflicts over
access to natural resources. NbS for the prevention and restoration of environmental degradation
as an underlying risk factor for disasters can help to minimize exposure and vulnerability to a
range of hazards. Those which address environmental damage caused by conflict can mitigate
against potential resource crises and health impacts in post-conflict environments.
However, while the NbS framework has been advocated by many, others have pointed to
important flaws, shortcomings and risks associated with it. These include, but are not limited to,
the risk of avoiding carbon reduction through carbon offsetting, land grabbing and insufficient
consent from local communities, militarised conservation, and insufficient focus on justice. It is
crucial to learn from both successful experiences and failures to ensure the correct, conflict-
sensitive implementation of NbS and positive local impacts in the most vulnerable communities
worldwide.

More background information on NbS for Peace can be found in:

 UNEP Perspectives paper by PAX on Nature in Action for Peace: Challenges and
Opportunities to Address Environmental Dimensions of Conflict through Nature-based
Solutions (2024);
 United Nations University, Centre for Policy Research Thematic Review on Climate
Security and Peacebuilding (2023);
 the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue report on Linking Conservation and Peacemaking
(2023);
 Geneva Environment Network’s Nature-based Solutions Dialogues on Nature-based
Solutions and Peacebuilding (2021);
 IUCN’s report on Nature-based Solutions to address global societal challenges (2016)
and the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions (2020);
 work by the Friends of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (FEBA), including IUCN, IFRC,
and partners on NbS in humanitarian contexts and Green humanitarian response.

Nature-based Solutions and Peacebuilding |

Geneva Nature-based Solutions Dialogues
The Geneva Nature-based Solutions dialogues aim to facilitate further engagement and discussion
among the stakeholders in International Geneva and beyond, in the lead-up to a critical year for nature
and society. The dialogues are convened by the Geneva Environment Network and the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

About the Dialogues

We are facing a triple planetary crisis – climate change, nature loss and pollution. In this context,
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are a powerful ally to address a societal and environmental
challenges. As per IUCN definition, NbS are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore
natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively,
simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

NbS are a powerful tool to facilitate and catalyse the engagement of cross-sectoral stakeholders
to join forces towards the implementation of an ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity
Framework (GBF) and move towards achieving the CBD 2050 Vision of ‘Living in harmony
with nature’. NbS also offer a pathway for synergies among several multilateral environmental
agreements, including for biological diversity (CBD), climate change (UNFCCC), disaster risk
reduction (Sendai Framework), desertification (UNCCD) and the wider Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) – and for mainstreaming nature conservation into sectoral decision-
making processes.

In the lead-up to a critical year for nature and society, NbS offer an opportunity to address a wide
range of urgent societal challenges. The year 2021 and the major upcoming negotiations should
indeed mark a turning point towards a resilient world for future generations.

Join the Geneva Environment Network and the International Union for Conservation of
Nature in a one-year journey, where experts from all over the world and different sectors will
discuss throughout the year how NbS are relevant to various debates ongoing in Geneva.

The Geneva Nature-based Solutions dialogues aim to facilitate further engagement and discussion
among the stakeholders in International Geneva and beyond, in the lead-up to a critical year for nature
and society. This NbS journey brought together multiple actors from the Geneva International
Community to establish a common understanding, set an open dialogue and share perspectives. The
dialogues are convened by the Geneva Environment Network and the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

About the Dialogues

We are facing a triple planetary crisis – climate change, nature loss and pollution. Unsustainable
human activities, from farming and mining to industry and infrastructure, are exacerbating the
negative impacts of this crisis and undermining both soil biodiversity and ecosystems health.
This degradation threatens food security, water supplies and the biodiversity upon which human
society depends on. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can contribute to address these challenges. As
per IUCN definition, NbS are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or
modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively,
simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

NbS are a powerful tool to facilitate and catalyse the engagement of cross-sectoral stakeholders
to join forces towards the implementation of an ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity
Framework. This framework, which will replace and must improve on the Strategic Plan for
Biodiversity 2011-2020, is must be ambitious to commensurate with the threats facing
biodiversity and must deliver the transformational change that is needed to put nature on a path
to recovery by 2030 and achieve the 2050 Vision of “Living in Harmony with nature”. NbS also
offer a pathway for synergies among several multilateral environmental agreements, including
for biological diversity (CBD), climate change (UNFCCC), disaster risk reduction (Sendai
Framework), desertification (UNCCD) and the wider Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) –
and for mainstreaming nature conservation into sectoral decision-making processes.

Within the Paris Agreement, countries have engaged themselves in the creation of Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs), aiming to embody their efforts to reduce national emissions
and adapt to the impacts of climate change. NbS can be part of these actions as it provides
various solutions to mitigate climate change effects. Nature has indeed an immense restorative
power and offers some of the most cost-effective climate solutions. By working with nature, we
have the potential to reduce emissions by more than a third of what is needed by 2030.

The year 2021 marked a turning point towards a resilient world for future generations, with
several more important meeting upcoming in 2022. In this context, NbS offer an opportunity to
address a wide range of urgent societal challenges. Major upcoming negotiations that address
NbS include:

 IUCN World Congress in September 2021

 UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021
 UN Biodiversity Conference in October 2021 and 2022
 UN Climate Change Conference in November 2021

 UNEA-5.2 in February 2022

 UN Ocean Conference in June 2022

Throughout this critical year for nature and society, The Geneva Environment Network and the
International Union for Conservation of Nature embarked in a one-year journey, where experts
from all over the world and different sectors discuss how NbS are relevant to various debates
ongoing in Geneva and beyond. Each dialogue also drew linkages with specific conferences,
meetings, campaigns, international days and more, thus providing highly relevant reflections on
the role of NbS to address the key challenges of our times.

Although the dialogues target stakeholders from all continents, they aim to encourage increased
engagement of the Geneva community in the run-up to relevant negotiations on the global
environmental agenda. This one-year journey is an opportunity to learn more about the technical
know-how to design and implement innovative NbS to tackle and solve the current challenges
the human society is facing. A journey to learn and listen about the lessons learned, technical
challenges and capacity gaps to successfully transition into a more resilient and sustainable
future for nature and people.

Conveners
The Geneva Environment Network is a cooperative partnership of more than 100
environmental and sustainable development organizations based in Geneva. Established in 1999,
the Geneva Environment Network organizes events and promotes awareness on environmental
issues. The Secretariat is supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment and is
administered by the United Nations Environment Programme.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature is a membership Union composed of

both government and civil society organizations. It harnesses the experience, resources and reach
of its more than 1,400 Member organizations and the input of more than 17,000 experts. This
diversity and vast expertise makes IUCN the global authority on the status of the natural world
and the measures needed to safeguard it.
Outcomes
Throughout 2021, the dialogues brought together multiple actors from the Geneva international
community and beyond to establish a common understanding and set an open dialogue. More
than 80 speakers, representing all regions in the world, shared their perspective and insights on
the role of NbS for addressing global challenges, as well as opportunities and pitfalls to
mainstream and scale-up NbS interventions. The dialogues reached almost 1’000 people from
various sectors and across the globe.

The dialogues demonstrated that NbS can contribute to address the challenge of meeting our
needs without further jeopardizing the health of our planet. Well-designed NbS can help address
pressing societal challenges such as biodiversity loss, climate change, food and water security,
disaster risk reduction, socio-economic development, and human health. As many countries
focus on economic relief and recovery efforts in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic,
ensuring that the recovery is sustainable, green, and replicable as much as possible has been
recognized globally. The potential of NbS in this context is tremendous. NbS provide cost-
effective solutions that reap wide benefits across a range of issues. Investing in NbS will also be
less costly than paying the price of non-action.

Addressing societal challenges in a holistic and collaborative way requires to break silos.
Bringing together actors from the conservation sector and beyond can help us see where we can
take action to move to a just and more equitable future for all, particularly for future generations.
Thus, it is important to encourage partnerships and solidarity at all levels towards the
achievement of our goals. The dialogues further highlighted the need to advocate for
transdisciplinary research and to integrate knowledge from different scientific and non-scientific
stakeholders and communities. Developing an inclusive understanding of NbS is crucial to halt
biodiversity loss, while simultaneously enhancing human well-being and safeguarding human
rights. In particular, the rights of indigenous people, who have been custodians of nature for
centuries, as well as their knowledge, systems and practices must be central to NbS. NbS must
include all relevant stakeholders, including local communities, women, youth and the private
sector.

Humanity’s destruction of nature is driving numerous risks to human and planetary health. The
COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the consequences of our broken relationship with
nature. The growing momentum for NbS is a critical opportunity to reframe our understanding of
the relationship between people and nature by emphasizing that people are part of nature. By
improving our relationship with nature, we can jointly walk towards a common goal, a just and
more equal future that responds to the challenge of climate emergency and biodiversity loss. NbS
offer an inclusive and holistic framework — based on solid environmental and social safeguards
— to uphold human rights and enable a transition to this common goal.

Nature-based Solutions and Health | Geneva

Nature-based Solutions Dialogues
he Geneva Nature-based Solutions dialogues aim to facilitate further engagement and discussion among
the stakeholders in International Geneva and beyond, in the lead-up to a critical year for nature and
society. The dialogues are convened by the Geneva Environment Network and the International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

About the Dialogues

We are facing a triple planetary crisis – climate change, nature loss and pollution. In this context,
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are a powerful ally to address a societal and environmental
challenges. As per IUCN definition, NbS are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore
natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively,
simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

NbS are a powerful tool to facilitate and catalyse the engagement of cross-sectoral stakeholders
to join forces towards the implementation of an ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity
Framework (GBF) and move towards achieving the CBD 2050 Vision of ‘Living in harmony
with nature’. NbS also offer a pathway for synergies among several multilateral environmental
agreements, including for biological diversity (CBD), climate change (UNFCCC), disaster risk
reduction (Sendai Framework), desertification (UNCCD) and the wider Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) – and for mainstreaming nature conservation into sectoral decision-
making processes.

In the lead-up to a critical year for nature and society, NbS offer an opportunity to address a wide
range of urgent societal challenges. The year 2021 and the major upcoming negotiations should
indeed mark a turning point towards a resilient world for future generations.

Join the Geneva Environment Network (GEN) and the International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) in a one-year journey, where experts from all over the world and different sectors
will discuss throughout the year how NbS are relevant to various debates ongoing in Geneva.

Health Session
The Nature-based Solutions and Health Dialogue is critical as the first stage of this journey
convened in the run-up to various international negotiations, as the world is still coping with the
challenges of addressing the origins and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nature protects our health in many ways. As the current pandemic has shown, the increasing
negative impact of human activities on the environment severely threatens human and ecosystem
health. Land use changes, expansion and intensification of agriculture, together with
unsustainable trade, production and consumption disrupt nature while increasing contact between
wildlife, livestock, pathogens and people. Therefore, protecting, resorting and sustainably
managing ecosystems is a critical step to prevent future pandemics and safeguard our health.
Similarly, NbS also support the health of city dwellers. Greening cities is an efficient way to
reduce air pollution and to adapt to the increasing heat stress in cities. Urban forests and green
spaces can further improve physical health, promote mental well-being and reduce stress.

At the fifth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.1), UN Secretary-General António Guterres

emphasized that 2021 is “a critical year to reset our relationship with nature”. In face of the triple
planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution –, adopting plans and policies to
foster environmental health are crucial for safeguarding our own health and that of our future
generations. Such efforts are in line with the “One Health” approach, which emphasizes the need
to work across sectors for better public health outcomes.

In 2016, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, it was stated the importance of
“strengthening cross-sector partnerships to recognize the contributions of nature to health, well-
being and quality of life” (WCC 2016 Resolution 064). IUCN Members recognized that nature-
based solutions can play an important role in reducing the global increase in noncommunicable
diseases, climate-sensitive disease and the risks of disease transmission between wildlife and
people. The upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress represents a key opportunity to
advance this line of work.

The increasing recognition of the interdependency of human, animal and environmental health is
a robust foundation to raise ambition and take action to improve ecosystem and society health, in
the lead up to the forthcoming international negotiations on biodiversity and climate change.

The Geneva Nature-based Solutions dialogues aim to facilitate further engagement and discussion
among the stakeholders in International Geneva and beyond, in the lead-up to a critical year for nature
and society. This NbS journey brought together multiple actors from the Geneva International
Community to establish a common understanding, set an open dialogue and share perspectives. The
dialogues are convened by the Geneva Environment Network and the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

About the Dialogues

We are facing a triple planetary crisis – climate change, nature loss and pollution. Unsustainable
human activities, from farming and mining to industry and infrastructure, are exacerbating the
negative impacts of this crisis and undermining both soil biodiversity and ecosystems health.
This degradation threatens food security, water supplies and the biodiversity upon which human
society depends on. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can contribute to address these challenges. As
per IUCN definition, NbS are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or
modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively,
simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

NbS are a powerful tool to facilitate and catalyse the engagement of cross-sectoral stakeholders
to join forces towards the implementation of an ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity
Framework. This framework, which will replace and must improve on the Strategic Plan for
Biodiversity 2011-2020, is must be ambitious to commensurate with the threats facing
biodiversity and must deliver the transformational change that is needed to put nature on a path
to recovery by 2030 and achieve the 2050 Vision of “Living in Harmony with nature”. NbS also
offer a pathway for synergies among several multilateral environmental agreements, including
for biological diversity (CBD), climate change (UNFCCC), disaster risk reduction (Sendai
Framework), desertification (UNCCD) and the wider Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) –
and for mainstreaming nature conservation into sectoral decision-making processes.

Within the Paris Agreement, countries have engaged themselves in the creation of Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDCs), aiming to embody their efforts to reduce national emissions
and adapt to the impacts of climate change. NbS can be part of these actions as it provides
various solutions to mitigate climate change effects. Nature has indeed an immense restorative
power and offers some of the most cost-effective climate solutions. By working with nature, we
have the potential to reduce emissions by more than a third of what is needed by 2030.

The year 2021 marked a turning point towards a resilient world for future generations, with
several more important meeting upcoming in 2022. In this context, NbS offer an opportunity to
address a wide range of urgent societal challenges. Major upcoming negotiations that address
NbS include:

 IUCN World Congress in September 2021

 UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021
 UN Biodiversity Conference in October 2021 and 2022
 UN Climate Change Conference in November 2021

 UNEA-5.2 in February 2022

 UN Ocean Conference in June 2022

Throughout this critical year for nature and society, The Geneva Environment Network and the
International Union for Conservation of Nature embarked in a one-year journey, where experts
from all over the world and different sectors discuss how NbS are relevant to various debates
ongoing in Geneva and beyond. Each dialogue also drew linkages with specific conferences,
meetings, campaigns, international days and more, thus providing highly relevant reflections on
the role of NbS to address the key challenges of our times.

Although the dialogues target stakeholders from all continents, they aim to encourage increased
engagement of the Geneva community in the run-up to relevant negotiations on the global
environmental agenda. This one-year journey is an opportunity to learn more about the technical
know-how to design and implement innovative NbS to tackle and solve the current challenges
the human society is facing. A journey to learn and listen about the lessons learned, technical
challenges and capacity gaps to successfully transition into a more resilient and sustainable
future for nature and people.

Conveners
The Geneva Environment Network is a cooperative partnership of more than 100
environmental and sustainable development organizations based in Geneva. Established in 1999,
the Geneva Environment Network organizes events and promotes awareness on environmental
issues. The Secretariat is supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment and is
administered by the United Nations Environment Programme.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature is a membership Union composed of

both government and civil society organizations. It harnesses the experience, resources and reach
of its more than 1,400 Member organizations and the input of more than 17,000 experts. This
diversity and vast expertise makes IUCN the global authority on the status of the natural world
and the measures needed to safeguard it.

Outcomes
Throughout 2021, the dialogues brought together multiple actors from the Geneva international
community and beyond to establish a common understanding and set an open dialogue. More
than 80 speakers, representing all regions in the world, shared their perspective and insights on
the role of NbS for addressing global challenges, as well as opportunities and pitfalls to
mainstream and scale-up NbS interventions. The dialogues reached almost 1’000 people from
various sectors and across the globe.

The dialogues demonstrated that NbS can contribute to address the challenge of meeting our
needs without further jeopardizing the health of our planet. Well-designed NbS can help address
pressing societal challenges such as biodiversity loss, climate change, food and water security,
disaster risk reduction, socio-economic development, and human health. As many countries
focus on economic relief and recovery efforts in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic,
ensuring that the recovery is sustainable, green, and replicable as much as possible has been
recognized globally. The potential of NbS in this context is tremendous. NbS provide cost-
effective solutions that reap wide benefits across a range of issues. Investing in NbS will also be
less costly than paying the price of non-action.

Addressing societal challenges in a holistic and collaborative way requires to break silos.
Bringing together actors from the conservation sector and beyond can help us see where we can
take action to move to a just and more equitable future for all, particularly for future generations.
Thus, it is important to encourage partnerships and solidarity at all levels towards the
achievement of our goals. The dialogues further highlighted the need to advocate for
transdisciplinary research and to integrate knowledge from different scientific and non-scientific
stakeholders and communities. Developing an inclusive understanding of NbS is crucial to halt
biodiversity loss, while simultaneously enhancing human well-being and safeguarding human
rights. In particular, the rights of indigenous people, who have been custodians of nature for
centuries, as well as their knowledge, systems and practices must be central to NbS. NbS must
include all relevant stakeholders, including local communities, women, youth and the private
sector.

Humanity’s destruction of nature is driving numerous risks to human and planetary health. The
COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the consequences of our broken relationship with
nature. The growing momentum for NbS is a critical opportunity to reframe our understanding of
the relationship between people and nature by emphasizing that people are part of nature. By
improving our relationship with nature, we can jointly walk towards a common goal, a just and
more equal future that responds to the challenge of climate emergency and biodiversity loss. NbS
offer an inclusive and holistic framework — based on solid environmental and social safeguards
— to uphold human rights and enable a transition to this common goal.

Nature-based Solutions and Ecosystems

Restoration | Geneva Nature-based Solutions
Dialogues | World Environment Day & UN
Decade on Restoration
The Geneva Nature-based Solutions dialogues aim to facilitate further engagement and discussion
among the stakeholders in International Geneva and beyond, in the lead-up to a critical year for nature
and society. The dialogues are convened by the Geneva Environment Network and the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This special session on ecosystems restoration is held within
the framework of the UN Decade on Restoration and World Environment Day celebrations.

About the Dialogues

We are facing a triple planetary crisis – climate change, nature loss and pollution. In this context,
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are a powerful ally to address a societal and environmental
challenges. As per IUCN definition, NbS are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore
natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively,
simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

NbS are a powerful tool to facilitate and catalyse the engagement of cross-sectoral stakeholders
to join forces towards the implementation of an ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity
Framework (GBF) and move towards achieving the CBD 2050 Vision of ‘Living in harmony
with nature’. NbS also offer a pathway for synergies among several multilateral environmental
agreements, including for biological diversity (CBD), climate change (UNFCCC), disaster risk
reduction (Sendai Framework), desertification (UNCCD) and the wider Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) – and for mainstreaming nature conservation into sectoral decision-
making processes.

In the lead-up to a critical year for nature and society, NbS offer an opportunity to address a wide
range of urgent societal challenges. The year 2021 and the major upcoming negotiations should
indeed mark a turning point towards a resilient world for future generations.

Join the Geneva Environment Network and the International Union for Conservation of
Nature in a one-year journey, where experts from all over the world and different sectors will
discuss throughout the year how NbS are relevant to various debates ongoing in Geneva.
About this Session
Ecosystem restoration entails assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or
destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact. Ecosystem restoration is a
process of reversing the degradation of ecosystems, such as terrestrial (natural, seminatural,
productive and urban), freshwater (lakes and rivers) and coastal and marine to regain their
ecological functionality – in other words, to improve the productivity and capacity of ecosystems
to meet the needs of society. Healthier ecosystems, with richer biodiversity, yield many benefits
such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, resilient ecosystems and larger stores
of greenhouse gases. Ecosystem restoration encompasses practices that fit under the umbrella
concept of NbS.

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which runs from 2021 until 2030, is the opportunity
to strengthen action for nature and people, by employing NbS on the largest scale yet to
safeguard food security and clean water, and halt biodiversity loss and climate change. Led by
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO), and implemented with and by partners from across the globe, the
UN Decade is building a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put
the world on track for a sustainable future.

The stated purpose of the Decade is to reinforce efforts already under way to progress these and
other restoration endeavours through financing, capacity building and implementation. This is at
the forefront of this Decade – and it will take all of us to truly make an impact. IUCN is bringing
in this Decade its vast network of members, partners and experts, thus reinforcing its long-
standing commitment to conserving and restoring ecosystems, and building on advances that
have already been made to enable restoration actions around the world.

The Decade wass launched on World Environment Day, held on 5 June 2021 under the theme of
“Ecosystem Restoration”. On this occasion, actors in Geneva and beyond can amplify the call for
the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world. This session contributed to this
momentum by shedding light on the importance of ecosystem restoration as an NbS for the
future of our planet and societies.

Nature-based Solutions and the Post-2020

Biodiversity Framework | Geneva Nature-
based Solutions Dialogues
The Geneva Nature-based Solutions Dialogues aim to facilitate further engagement and discussion
among the stakeholders in International Geneva and beyond in the lead-up to a critical year for nature
and society. The dialogues are convened by the Geneva Environment Network and the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
About the Dialogues
We are facing a triple planetary crisis – climate change, nature loss and pollution. In this context,
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are a powerful ally to address a societal and environmental
challenges. As per the definition of IUCN, NbS are actions to protect, sustainably manage and
restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and
adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

NbS are a powerful tool to facilitate and catalyze the engagement of cross-sectoral stakeholders
to join forces towards the implementation of an ambitious Post-2020 Global Biodiversity
Framework (GBF) and move towards achieving the 2015 Vision of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) of “Living in Harmony with Nature”. NbS also offer a pathway for synergies
among multilateral environmental agreements ― including biological diversity (CBD), climate
change (UNFCCC), disaster risk reduction (Sendai Framework), desertification (UNCCD) and
the wider Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ― and for mainstreaming nature conservation
into sectoral decision-making processes.

In the lead-up to a critical year for nature and society, NbS offer an opportunity to address a wide
range of urgent societal challenges. The year 2021 and the major upcoming negotiations should
indeed mark a turning point towards a resilient world for future generations.

Join the Geneva Environment Network and the International Union for Conservation of Nature
in a one-year journey where experts from around the world and different sectors will discuss
throughout the year how NbS are relevant to various debates ongoing in Geneva.

About this Session

Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are currently negotiating a new Global
Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which will define targets and pathways for the conservation and
management of biodiversity for the next decade and beyond. The post-2020 GBF, which will be
adopted at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) in Kunming, China, in
October 2021, is a stepping-stone to achieve the 2050 Vision of “Living in Harmony with
Nature”.

Since 2004, the CBD has recognized the important role of ecosystem approaches, defined as
“strategies for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes
conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way” (CBD, 2004). Through voluntary
guidelines, the CBD has provided further support for ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and
ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR).

As we move toward more ambitious goals beyond 2020, the umbrella concept of Nature-based
Solutions (NbS) is a powerful tool that will contribute towards the achievement of the GBF goals
and targets while fostering new paths of change for our future.
Therefore, strengthening the emphasis on NbS in the GBF has the potential to bring about
transformational change in society’s relationship with nature, to accelerate progress towards the
Sustainable Development Goals and ensure that, by 2050, the shared vision of living in harmony
with nature is fulfilled.

Nature-based Solutions for Building

Resilience | Geneva Nature-based Solutions
Dialogues
The Geneva Nature-based Solutions dialogues aim to facilitate further engagement and discussion
among the stakeholders in International Geneva and beyond, in the lead-up to a critical year for nature
and society. The dialogues are convened by the Geneva Environment Network and the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Conflict Sensitivity and Environmental

Peacebuilding in Conservation: Lessons
Learned from Conservation International
Conservation International compiles organizational and programmatic lessons learned from 10+
years of integrating conflict sensitivity and environmental peacebuilding into conservation.

Conservation International (CI) sees conflict and peace as fundamentally linked to the success of
our mission. Building on a decade of experience with conflict, conservation and peace, CI is
partnering with PeaceNexus Foundation with the long-term vision that conflict and peace issues
are considered integral to CI’s conservation work, sufficient attention and resources are allocated
to discussing, managing, and proactively addressing conflict and promoting peace as part of its
mission to protect nature, global biodiversity and human well-being. This means considering,
analyzing and addressing conflicts and identifying peacebuilding opportunities throughout our
business operations.

This document highlights key accomplishments and lessons for CI on this conflict sensitivity
(CS) and environmental peacebuilding (EP) agenda, drawing on more than 10 years of
experience and the specific opportunities and successes as part of the CI-PeaceNexus partnership
since 2018. CI’s dedicated team and cadre of peace and conservation champions around the
world have demonstrated commitment and vision to advance the importance of addressing
conflict issues in conservation.

Resources for Peacebuilders

The resources you will find here are those that can generally be found in various places around
the web, though some are original documents from MPI or our colleagues, facilitators, or
resource persons. We have tried to categorize them in ways relevant to MPI alumni and the
courses offered during MPI's Annual Peacebuilding Training. Other materials here are linked to
their original source and just listed here.

We welcome other resources that you feel could be posted here as long as they are ones that can
be made publically available or are in the public domain. If you would like to share something
here, please contact us.

Categories

Folder General Peacebuilding Resources

The resources found here are general publications or materials regarding peacebuilding. As with
other materials, they are generally readily available online or we post them with permission. If
you have any suggestions for resources we could post here, please contact us.

Folder Training Manuals

In this category you will find various training manuals that can be found freely available online.
All are directed primarily at peacebuilding and conflict transformation or important related
trainings.

Folder Peace Education

Documents and publications related to Peace Education

Folder Peacebuilding Narratives

These resources are for those wishing to utilize narratives and story-telling in peacebuilding
work and in dealing with trauma as a result of conflict.

Folder Mediation, Negotiation, and Dialogue

Resources for learning about mediation, negotiation, and dialogue

Folder Geographic Related

Resources dealing with peacebuilding in particular geographic areas.

Folder Peacebuilding Journalism

Peacebuilding and Conflict-Sensitive Journalism resources

Folder Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

Documents and materials in this section are those related to Monitoring, Evaluation, and
Learning. Some are specfic to peacebuilding M, E, & L, while others are more general M, E, & L
resources.

Folder Gender and Peacebuilding

Publications and resources related to gender and peacebuilding

Folder Peacebuilding and Religion/Interreligious Dialogue

The resources you will find here are related to peacebuilding and religion as well as
interreligious dialogue in the context of conflict transformation.

Folder Peacebuilding and the Arts

The resources in this category are those related to peacebuilding and the arts.

Folder Peacebuilding and the Environment

Resources related to Peacebuilding and the Environment, Environmental Peace, Environmental

Peacebuilding

Folder Active Nonviolence

Resources related to active nonviolence

Folder Conflict Sensitivity/Do No Harm

Documents related to Conflict Sensitivity and Do No Harm

Folder Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentors Training Program

The materials in this section are those that have been developed through MPI's Grassroots
Peacebuilding Mentors Training Program. These can be downloaded and freely used by any
individual or organization developing their own program to train peacebuilding mentors

Folder Peacebuilding and Youth

Resources for and about youth involvement in peacebuilding.

Folder Peacebuilding and Human Rights

Resrouces related to the intersection of Peacebuilding and Human Rights

Folder Peacebuilding and New Media/Technologies

Resources related to new media and technologies, such as social media.

Folder Peacebuilding Research

Articles and publications related to peacebuilding research.

Folder Reconciliation

Resources related to reconciliation processes.

Folder Resource-Based Conflict

The following materials are related to Resource-Based Conflicts, primarily those involving
indigenous communities.

Folder Peacemaker's Toolkit

In coordination with the United Nations Mediation Support Unit and in collaboration with a
number of other mediation institutes and experts, the United States Institute for Peace is
developing a series of "best practices" handbooks on key aspects of mediation and peacemaking.

The series is being designed for experienced mediation practitioners and negotiators but will be
a valuable resource for students and policymakers. Future handbooks include: Negotiating with
Terrorists, Dealing with the Impact of an International Tribunal on a Peace Process; and
Coordinating Track I and II Efforts.

Folder Restorative Justice

Articles and publications related to restorative justice.

Folder Transitional Justice

The materials here are those related to Transitional Justice.

Documents

Search for documents

Find by title or description…

Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training

Program
 The Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding (RBCP)
Training Program is one of MPI's current projects focused on building Indigenous Peoples'
capacities in conflict transformation through collaborative decision-making, and enabling them
to engage on an equal footing with other stakeholders for the development of their Ancestral
Domains.

In July of 2014, the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute began the second phase of the Resource-
Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training Program. Phase One, which began in 2012 and went
through early 2014, focused on building Indigenous Peoples' capacities in conflict transformation
through collaborative decision-making, and enabling them to engage on an equal footing with
other stakeholders for the development of their Ancestral Domains (ADs).

Phase Two of the project, Strengthening Indigenous Leadership & Governance in Mindanao,
aims to increase the Indigenous Peoples (IP) Ancestral Domain Councils’ control over the
resources in their Ancestral Domains as guaranteed by law under the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights
Act (IPRA) of the Philippines and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP).

The project will continue to work with the six Higaunon and Subanen Ancestral Domain
Councils (ADCs) in Northwestern Mindanao and the Zamboanga Peninsula. These Ancestral
Domains include the Subanen ADs of Bayog, Kumalarang, Lakewood and Sindangan-Godod in
the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Higaunon ADs of Bayug-Iligan and Dulangan in Misamis
Oriental (see a map of the area).

This project aims to capacitate 130 AD council members with the help and support of the IP
scholars of the previous project in the six Ancestral Domains. They will receive training in the
following areas:

1. Training on the understanding, development and eventual submission for approval of the
Indigenous Political Structure (IPS) and the formation of the Indigenous Peoples’
Organization (IPO).
2. Facilitation of Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan
(ADSDPP) development and lobbying work for the ADSDPP adoption.
3. Training in the resolution of inter-Ancestral Domain and intra-IP leadership conflicts.
4. Training in facilitating dialogue and mediation to resolve conflict with external entities.
In addition to the above activities, MPI plans to develop and reproduce a practical guide on the
Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in the local dialect.

Through these activities, MPI is making every effort to assure that the project contributes to the
realization of Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination. The training's primary objective is
that by June of 2017, the capacity of 130 men and women members of the six Ancestral Domain
Councils in the provinces of Northwestern Mindanao to effectively govern is strengthened.

See photos from the Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training Program here.

Featured

Learning, Reflection & Integration for Peace and Solidarity

14 December 2017

For almost five years, MPI has been deeply involved with the Higaunon and Subanen Indigenous
Peoples for Northwestern Mindanao. Over that period, the two tribes learned much from one
another. In April of 2017, this was brought to another level with the Higaunon & Subanen Cross-
Sharing, Learning Reflection & Integration for Peace and Solidarity activities. As the MPI will
be completing its part in the Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training Program by
the end of this year, one participant said, “it is a beautiful way to end the project.”

The seven-‐day cross-‐sharing activity covered the wide ranging learning exchanges. A visit to
the far-‐flung village of Kumalarang was perfectly timed for the season enabling the participants
to observe indigenous farming practices. The participants visted sacred places in Bayug, Iligan.
Thye also had the opportunity to visit a freshwater lake of Lakewood.
Together, they observed a policy legislation session of the City Council of Iligan City, where
Datu Diamla serves as an Indigenous People’s Mandatory Representative (IPMR). The
participants had the opportunity to listen to a Community Relation Officer (ComRel) at the
exploratory camp site of TVI Mining company in Balabag, Bayog and in the City of Cagayan de
Oro, where they visited the IP Affairs Office. Participants also interacted with the Indigenous
Peoples (IP) leaders who had become squatters in their own land because of huge transnational
palm plantations. They heard from a city officer who is also a tribal leader who handles the city’s
IP affairs office.

By the end, the activity was able to surface narratives about commonalities and uniqueness of the
Higaunon and Subanen tribes in relation to their customs and traditions. They learned and shared
about IP governance and leadership and preservation and management of their rich natural
resources. The cross-sharing contributed to the strengthening of IP governance and leadership as
key to asserting the struggle for Indigenous Peoples' right to self-‐determination.

Sharing Experiences with Community Development

Students
14 December 2015

Abelardo A. Moya, Program Officer for MPI’s Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding
Training Program, had the opportunity to give a presentation on the involvement of MPI working
with the Subanen and Higaunon tribes to Community Development Master’s Degree Students.
Abel was able to share actual experiences of community organizing and development works in
various types of villages in the context of Mindanao realities.

The Mindanao State University (MSU) College of Public Affairs, Department of Community
Development organized the one-day seminar/forum with the theme: Community Development
Practice in the Context of Mindanao Realities: In Search for Effective and Empowering
Approaches for Sustainable Holistic Development. It was held on December 9, 2015, at the MSU
Institute for Peace Development Mindanao (IPDM) Conference Hall, Marawi City.
Abel shared that it was a very informative and interactive forum. 105 community development
students attended the forum and enthusiastically listened to the resource persons as they
delivered their presentations.

Read more: Sharing Experiences with Community Development Students

Featured

Datu Diamla Rolando So-ong as IPMR

22 September 2015

On September 8, 2015, Datu Diamla Rolando So-ong, an MPI scholar and member of the
Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training Program Project Management Committee,
formally took his seat as the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR), equivalent
to a city councilor, for Iligan City, Philippines.

Read more: Datu Diamla Rolando So-ong as IPMR

Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training

Program Phase One Completed
19 July 2013
During Phase One of the Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training Program, MPI
trained and accompanied Subanen and Higaunon tribal leaders in resolving and transforming
resource-based conflict through non-violent, just and participatory processes. Originally, the
project consisted of five training modules with corresponding follow-through activities in
Indigenous People's Ancestral Domain sites of Northern Mindanao and the Zamboanga
Peninsula in the Philippines. However, during the implementation of the project, a pressing need
for providing knowledge on the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent was emphasized
by the tribal scholars who attended the trainings. Hence, a new module was added to the project
to answer the concerns of the indigenous leaders on the process.

Read more: Resource-Based Conflict and Peacebuilding Training Program Phase One
Completed

Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentors Training Program

Enhancing Capacities of Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentors

Project Background

Starting in 2018 and completed in 2021, MPI implemented the first phase of the Grassroots
Peacebuilding Mentors Training Program, directly contributing to the development of 37
mentors (18 female and 19 male) in South and Southeast Asia. The first phase of the program
also engaged and nurtured 71 mentees and partnered with 24 collaborating organizations. The
successful completion of the first phase led MPI to initiate the second phase of this program
informed by lessons learned and insights gained from the past implementation.

The Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentors Training Program, Phase II, is the continuation of the
first phase for another three years. Starting in 2022, the second phase focuses on developing
grassroots peacebuilders as mentors who can nurture the skills and capacities of other
peacebuilders in their organizations and partner communities. Through mentoring, capacity-
building workshops, and accompaniment activities, participating grassroots peacebuilders, and
their organizations can deliver their work more effectively and can better respond to the
changing dynamics on the ground. In addition, the program will create opportunities and
intentional spaces to cultivate a community of mentors that can resource their own context on
mentoring and peacebuilding as well as provide mutual support to one another in their mentoring
practice beyond the life of the program.
 Project Key Activities

During each project year, the mentors undergo the same training and workshops together and are
accompanied by MPI in their one-year mentoring journey. Click on the image to the right to see
an overview of what the one-year mentoring program looks like and the key major activities
involved

MPI 2024 VIRTUAL PEACEBUILDING

TRAINING PROGRAM
The Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute's Virtual Peacebuilding Training Program
complements MPI’s in-person Annual Peacebuilding Training Program and extends MPI’s role
as a resource to peacebuilders through digital technologies. Our virtual learning platform has
been developed to enable MPI to widen its reach and deepen its impact on individuals and
communities, enabling them to become empowered to continue building just and peaceful
communities in Asia-Pacific and beyond.

MPI’s Virtual Peacebuilding Training Program offers both introductory and advanced or
thematic courses. The high-quality and passionate facilitators, some who have had years of
experience with the Annual Peacebuilding Training and others who are new to MPI, bring their
knowledge and skills to these virtual courses. MPI utilizes new technologies and tools in both
synchronous learning—the Zoom sessions with the facilitators and participants—and
asynchronous learning in the Virtual Classrooms. Through this program, grassroots
peacebuilders continue to hone their skills and build on their experience and knowledge in order
to be of greater service to their organization and the communities in which they work.
Peace Education: Teaching Pedagogies for
Change (PE)
Jonathan Rudy & Yasmira Moner
September 16 to November 11, 2024 | Mondays
4:00 PM – 7:00 PM, Philippine Time [UTC+8]

Course fee: 475 USD | 26,600 PHP

Discounted Fee: 356.25 USD | 19,950 PHP (25%) for applications submitted on or
before August 20, 2024
Enroll in two courses for a 30% discount on each course and only pay 332.50 USD |
18,620 PHP

A specialized training program designed to equip higher education faculty in Asia with the
knowledge and skills necessary to develop and implement peace education curricula. Peace
education is an essential task of moving a society to a culture of peace. Where and how this
education happens within society is a matter of strategic priority when resources are limited.
Tools for Dealing with Conflict (TDC)
Gladston Xavier
September 18 to November 14, 2024 | Wednesdays and Thursdays
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM, Philippine Time [UTC+8]

Course fee: 475 USD | 26,600 PHP

Discounted Fee: 356.25 USD | 19,950 PHP (25%) for applications submitted on or
before August 20, 2024
Enroll in two courses for a 30% discount on each course and only pay 332.50 USD |
18,620 PHP

Conflicts are complex and multifaceted, demanding a comprehensive approach to analysis and
understanding. This course offers a diverse toolkit for dissecting intricate conflict dynamics. By
exploring established and emerging methodologies, participants will gain a nuanced perspective
on various conflict scenarios.

Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute Annual Peacebuilding

Training
The Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute is committed to keeping the spirit of peace and justice
alive in the heart of each and every peacebuilder entering its learning environment, creating the
space in which peacebuilders are able to hone their knowledge and skills and learn new tools and
theories to use on their journey to peace. The Institute creates a safe space for personal
transformation—where peacebuilders from all walks of life are free to share and tell their stories;
meet to discuss and understand how peace is built and conflicts resolved; and reflect, challenge
old thinking and develop novel ideas of doing peacebuilding without the fear of ridicule or
judgment. The participants, facilitators, volunteers and secretariat nurture an atmosphere that
empowers and acknowledges diversity as well as the creativity of the individual.

MPI’s Annual Peacebuilding Training participants represent different sectors of society—

international and local non-government organizations, civil society, interfaith institutions,
academe, government agencies, students and volunteers—converging during a three-week long
journey of learning and practice, reflection and friendship.

Inside the Annual Training

MPI 2025 Annual Peacebuilding Training

Download MPI's 2024 Annual Peacebuilding Training Report

Download Previous Annual Peacebuilding Training Reports Here

See the photos from the 2019 Annual Peacebuilding Training

Research, Documentation, & Learning

Background

The Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) is an Asian training institute based in Davao City,
Mindanao, Philippines, but its reach goes far beyond the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific
Region. As of 2021, there are more than 2,300 MPI alumni from 61 countries all over the world,
mostly coming from countries in South and Southeast Asia. It also has a growing number of
alumni from other parts of the world, like Africa, the Middle East, the American Continent, and
Europe.

MPI provides a space for people of diverse backgrounds to gather together, share, and learn in a
safe environment where all viewpoints are encouraged and respected.

Through its Research, Documentation, and Learning (RDL) arm, MPI wants to make sure that its
relationship with its alumni does not stop with the end of the training by strengthening the
connection and collaboration between and among the MPI alumni and partner organizations.

Research and Publication

The RDL team initiates collaborative research projects with MPI alumni and the wider MPI
network on different peace and conflict issues. By inviting the alumni and other peacebuilding
partners to share their experiences, the RDL team also helps in producing stories, and other
publications that document the ways MPI alumni have applied what they learned or observed in
the field.

See newsletters, reports, and articles from or about our MPI alumni here.

MPI Alumni Reunions

The RDL team regularly organizes MPI Alumni Reunions, either face-to-face or virtual. These
reunions are a great way for MPI alumni of a certain town, region, country, or even across
countries to connect with each other. They are able to get to know their fellow peacebuilders that
have attended MPI’s peacebuilding courses in different years and on different subjects. The
reunions become spaces for sharing and learning as they bring together MPI alumni with
different professional backgrounds and experiences that are interested in strengthening one
another and MPI’s peacebuilding network.

The reunions can either serve as a baseline to assess the interest of the alumni in forming their
own informal or formal structures or they can be the place/space where MPI alumni groups or
clusters are created.

The reunions are seen not only as a way to foster the connections between the alumni but also
with MPI. It is during these meetings were MPI tries to promote the involvement of MPI alumni
in:

 The documentation of localized peacebuilding knowledge & bottom-up approaches to

peace;
 Soliciting or writing human-interest stories of peacebuilders/local practitioners; and
 In helping with MPI’s need for facilitation, research, writing, etc.

If you are an MPI alumna/us, facilitator, staff, or volunteer, sign up now to

register and be part of our growing network of peacebuilders.

Alumni Clusters/Learning Groups

While MPI alumni can acquire theoretical skills, methods, and tools during the Annual
Peacebuilding Training or any other virtual or face-to-face training courses, the challenge is how
they will apply the tools and translate the methods and learnings into their own context. Quite
often, language can be a real barrier in fully understanding the content of the peacebuilding
trainings, and therefore, the alumni might struggle to contextualize the application of the
trainings in their respective country or region.

In encouraging the creation of alumni clusters or learning groups, MPI sees these also as a way
to overcome possible language barriers of alumni, to contextualize their peacebuilding
knowledge while sharing their experiences with fellow alumni from the same region. These
informal or formal Alumni clusters or learning groups will also be able to facilitate exchange
programs from one region to another as they can enhance mutual learning, networking, and a
better understanding of regional peacebuilding contexts.

MPI imagines different kinds of MPI Alumni Clusters/Learning Groups:

 Alumni who are having problems in contextualizing their learning and deepening the
learning, and those who had language issues (one pillar);
 Alumni who want to continue learning (second pillar); and
 Alumni who will do advocacy and/or projects together (third pillar)

Clusters can be formal or informal as long as there is a safe space for sharing and learning
between or among alumni. MPI assumes that with the creation of alumni clusters in different
parts of the world, capacity building is taking place every time. MPI also assumes that peace
strategies that arise from these local initiatives will be more sustainable because they are
culturally and contextually appropriate.

If you already signed up for the Alumni pages, connect with other peacebuilders
in your region or country by browsing our directory.

Please note: You must be registered and logged in to view the online directory. The online
directory includes only those alumni, facilitators, MPI staff, and secretariat volunteers who have
registered for our website.

Networking
18 July 2013

Creating Space and Connecting People from Diverse Sectors to Build a Critical Mass of
Peacebuilders to promote Justpeace

through:

1. Promoting core values of the Conflict Transformation Framework

MPI, as it implements its programs, promotes its core values which include: nonviolence,
multiculturalism, solidarity, transforming relationships, empowerment, culture of peace, and respect
for human rights. These permeate the entire institution and its programs.

2. Building and strengthening networks among MPI participants and alumni

MPI develops mechanisms for the formation of vibrant and dynamic alumni networks in the region.
Through MPI, relationships are strengthened and the web of connections is expanded to the networks
of the alumni, creating a critical mass of inter-connected peacebuilders in the region.

3. Fostering south-to-south connections between peacebuilders and institutions

MPI builds relationships with peacebuilding institutes in Africa, Asia, Fiji and North America which
includes sharing of human and material resources, exchanges, and other forms of collaboration.

Justpeace
06 July 2021

1: an adaptive process-structure of human relationships characterized by high justice and low

violence 2: an infrastructure of organization or governance that responds to human conflict
through nonviolent means as first and last resorts 3: a view of systems as responsive to the
permanency and interdependence of relationships and change.
Lederach, J. P. (1999). The Challenge of the 21st Century. In European Centre for Conflict
Prevention, From People Building Peace: 35 Inspiring Stories from Around the World (pp. 27-
36). European Centre for Conflict Prevention.