A monthly selection of the best new research and resources on local peacebuilding worldwide, as chosen by Insight on Conflict.
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Paix sans frontières building peace across borders The latest issue of Accord from Conciliation Resources focuses on cross-border peace building. The publication examines peacebuilding from both ‘beyond’ – for example, international organisations such as the European Union – and ‘below’ the state. The sections on peacebuilding below the state include chapters examining local peacebuilding in Colombia and community approaches to the Lords Resistance Army in Uganda.
Theories of conflict resolution and their applicability to Afghanistan The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) have published “Theories of conflict resolution and their applicability to Afghanistan”, a report into how different methods of conflict resolution are being used in Afghanistan. The recommendations include the need to encourage local peacebuilding as a way of supporting other methods of conflict resolution.
Social Embeddedness and Conflict Potential “Social Embeddness and Conflict Potential” explores social connections between people in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and how these relate to peace and violence. By comparing levels of social connections prior to the war the paper finds that communities have become more isolated. But the author argues improving social ties between communities can help remove prejudice, tackle political manipulation aimed at exploiting ethnic tension, and reduce the likelihood of violent conflict.
Kenya’s peaceful referendum and challenges for the 2012 elections The Coalition for Peace in Africa looks at the recent constitutional referendum in Kenya, and asks why there was not a repeat of the post election violence of 2007. The report finds that the biggest factor in ensuring a peaceful vote was civic education. The report also looks at what challenges there are for preventing violence in the 2012 elections.
Community-Based Peacebuilding: Exploring the limitations of a promising approach In Community-Based Peacebuilding CARE explores local peacebuilding. The report argues that the approach has fundamental limitations, and it is based on many questionable assumptions. Some of the criticisms raised include the limited impact of local peacebuilding, the problem of indentifying who the “community” is, and the danger of supporting negative and exclusionary norms.
The Complexities of Culture and Reconciliation in Burundi “The Complexities of Culture and Reconcilation” examines Burundian culture in a historical context and it’s impact on post-conflict development projects. The authors argue that only with a solid understanding of Burundian culture can successful projects be implemented. Among the areas covered are DDRR, reconciliation and justice.
Salam Shabab: Views and Voices of Iraqi Youth Salam Shabab (Peace Youth) is an Iraqi realty TV show which finds young “Ambassadors of Peace” to promote peace in their communities. In “View and Voices of Iraqi Youth” USIP examines the views of the participants and viewers, with the goal of understanding the perspectives of this future generation of Iraqi leaders.
