August 2010

Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Peacebuilding: Towards Change in Concepts and Approaches

Against the backdrop of the 2010 Review of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and the Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre (Noref), hosted a seminar for peacebuilding policy-makers, researchers and practitioners to reflect on their work. As the seminar proceedings show, a central conclusion was the need for "meaningful local ownership" in peacebuilding, and a greater voice for Civil Society Organisations.

Extensive research into the causes of local conflicts in Sothern Sudan. Based on over 300 in-depth interviews, Southern Sudan At Odds With Itself argues that standard explanations for local conflicts - 'tribalism' and interference from Khartoum - are inadequate, with the real causes being a complex mix of disputes over resources, territory, and other grievances, closely linked to a lack of clarity from the Government of South Sudan and international agencies.

ACCORD have started a new series of policy briefs with Strategies to Prevent and Manage Electoral Violence. It starts from the premise that election violence is a 'sub-category of political violence' in need of special attention, and they offer strategies and recommendations for reducing the likelihood of conflict.

The MICROCON working paper The EU, Civil Society and Conflict Transformation in Western Sahara (pdf) examines the activities of local civil society organisations in the Western Saharan conflict, in order to indentify possible areas for more effective EU involvement. The paper finds that on both sides of the conflict, many civil society organisations are contributing to continuation of the conflict. However, the paper does find ways in which the EU can encourage and empower those civil society organisations that play a peacebuilding role.

Identifying Conflict and Violence in Micro-Level Surveys (pdf), from the Households in Conflict Network, aims to develop a generic module assessing how individuals and households are affected by, and perceive, violent conflict. With the goal of enabling researchers to reliably compare across different situations and time periods, the article also contains a review of current practices and methodologies.

October will bring the tenth anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for the systematic involvement of women in peacebuilding. Despite this resolution, women remain targets in conflicts and often excluded from conflict resolution structures. To help spread the message that women have a vital role to play in peacebuilding, a number of organisations, including International Alert, Oxfam, Amnesty International and Women for Women International, have launched No Women, No Peace, a creative competition calling for films, photos, stories and other pieces of artwork that show the potential of women in peacebuilding.