September 2015

Research this month

A more dignified and equitable humanitarian system

Local actors, based in and among affected communities year round, are best placed to understand the real needs of those communities before and immediately after disasters strike.

A more dignified and equitable humanitarian system, from Adeso, calls for reform of the international humanitarian system to enable more effective partnerships between international and local actors. The paper outlines four specific reforms that Adeso believes are essential.

Reconciliation in practice

As evaluation efforts in the field develop, donors must be mindful that their money is not creating an elite group of organizations at the expense of locally led initiatives to repair relations in a way that makes sense for their people, their culture, and the history they have lived through.

Reconciliation in practice, from USIP, seeks to better understand how peacebuilding organisations work in the field of reconciliation. The research surveys the work of 110 organisations from across the world looking at how the different groups define their reconciliation efforts and measure success.

Monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding: the role of new media

New media is increasingly and often successfully used for needs assessments and beneficiary communication but only very few examples exist in which new media are applied for (improving) monitoring and evaluation in peacebuilding contexts.

Monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding: the role of new media, from the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, looks at how new media - such as mobile phones and the internet - can support monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding projects. The paper finds that new media has much potential, but that there are too few examples of successful practice.

Towards a more effective early warning system in the Horn of Africa

Civil society organisations have played a critical role in supporting early warning and response ... Harnessing their potential to contribute to early warning and response is key to ensure these mechanisms can effectively prevent conflicts and build peace in the region.

Towards a more effective early warning system in the Horn of Africa, from Saferworld, looks at the CEWARN early warning and early response network for the Horn of Africa. The report highlights the lessons and opportunities for improving the work of the network, and provides some recommendations as to how best to improve effectiveness.

African Journal on Conflict Resolution, Vol 15, No. 1

The latest issue of the African Journal on Conflict Resolution, from ACCORD, includes articles that look at the role of women in peacebuilding in Mozambique, transitional justice in DR Congo, and art-based approaches to peacebuilding.

From the blog

The causes and consequences of cross-border conflict in Kyrgyzstan

By Ian Litschko: Cross-border cooperation can be difficult in some parts of Central Asia. Ian Litschko discusses a recent incident on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border. Read more »