March 2015

Research this month

Natural resources and conflict: a guide for mediation practitioners

In conflicts involving natural resources, sustainable outcomes are even more desirable because the shared benefits of these resources often cross tribal, societal, communal, and national boundaries. Collaboration over their ownership, management, and use is therefore critical to peace and stability.

Natural resources and conflict, from UNEP, provides a guide as to how mediation can be used as an effective tool for resolving disputes over natural resources. It offers practical advice to mediators drawing on extensive, hands-on, experience.

Breaking the hourglass: Partnerships in remote management settings – the cases of Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan

The true equity of partnerships between local and international actors can be questioned when one side has all the money and holds most of the decision-making power. This dynamic is more nuanced in a remote management setting because while the international players continue to hold all the money, the local players hold all of the access.

Breaking the hourglass, from the Feinstein International Center, examines partnerships between international and local organisations in situations where international organisations have limited access. Looking at the examples of Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan, the paper highlights some of the particular challenges of working in such an environment, and provides recommendations.

Youth & consequences: unemployment, injustice and violence

A growing body of evidence increasingly contradicts the assumptions driving bread-and-butter stabilization programs ... In various contexts, studies conducted over the past decade have found little or no evidence linking unemployment and violence.

Youth & consequences, from Mercy Corps, looks at the assumptions on which many programmes intended to prevent young people from taking part in political violence are based. Drawing on research from Afghanistan, Colombia, and Somalia, the paper argues that many of these assumptions are misguided.

Conflict-sensitive adaptation to climate change in Africa

By not focusing solely on the linkages between climate change and conflict in Africa, this volume takes the discussion further, considering conceptual issues, highlighting key thematic issues of concern for adaptation in Africa, as well as considering case studies, tools and policies for conflict-sensitive adaptation to climate change.

Conflict-sensitive adaptation to climate change in Africa, from ACCORD, is a collection of articles from academics, practitioners, and policymakers looking at all aspects of conflict sensitivity in climate change adaption in Africa. The entire book is available for free download.

Building peace in permanent war

Terrorist lists ‘shrink the space’ for international peace facilitation in intrastate conflicts by, for instance, criminalising third-party mediation and negotiation support, and impeding confidence-building with listed actors and ‘insider mediators’.

Building peace in permanent war, from the Transnational Institute, explores the impact of counter-terrorism policies, particularly terrorist listing, on peacebuilding practice. Based on research from Somalia, Israel/Palestine, and Turkey/Kurdistan, the report demonstrates how the work of local and international peacebuilders has been affected.

From the blog

The changing of the guard: Burkinabé civil society says no to coup by stealth

By Boris Somé: Boris Somé reports on political drama and the role civil society is playing in ensuring a peaceful democratic transition in Burkina Faso Read more »