Hate speech and disinformation on social media are often blamed for the growing divisions in the country, as well as throughout the Niger Delta Region. Peace News spoke to experts and social media influencers in Nigeria to understand the problem better and understand what solutions might work to reduce it.
Home Blog
Libya: How COVID-19 is impacting peace and conflict
On October 23, 2020, the two main warring factions in Libya signed an agreement for “a permanent ceasefire in all areas of Libya.” The accord followed talks in Geneva under the 5+5 Joint Military Commission, a UN support mission to bring peace to Libya, with the two main warring factions.
One side is the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), an interim government created from a UN-led initiative. The other side is the eastern-based Libya National Army (LNA), led by the commander Khalifa Haftar and supported by countries such as Egypt, the UAE, and Russia. This ceasefire agreement came months after the COVID-19 outbreak and the UN’s call for a global ceasefire during the public health crisis.
As in many countries, the public health crisis has highlighted corruption and fragility in Libya. During much of the pandemic before the ceasefire announcement, violence continued while cases rose. In Sebha, a municipality in the south where thousands of people had been displaced due to fighting, there was an eightfold increase in COVID-19 cases. Many displaced persons are living in overcrowded conditions which allowed for easy spread of the virus. On top of the health crisis, the Libyan economy was also hit by an extensive blockade on oilfields and ports by the LNA. Haftar demanded redistribution of the oil revenues, arguing that much of the money made by the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) was being diverted to mercenaries for the GNA.
The blockade lasted until mid-September and likely cost the country $9.8 billion in lost revenue. It also directly impacted civilian life, worsening electricity and fuel shortages in the country.
According to Peter Maurer, The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on a visit to Libya, “People have little electricity, drinking water, sanitation, or medical care in the middle of a growing pandemic.” Additionally, many daily wage earners and migrants have been hardest hit as income opportunities have disappeared and prices of staple foods have jumped.
The worsening crisis appears to have acted as a stimulus, pushing GNA and LNA leaders towards a ceasefire agreement. According to Dr. Mietek Boduszyński, a scholar with the Middle East Institute, “It is possible that one positive consequence of the pandemic was that it helped motivate the warring sides to sit down at the negotiating table.”
The two sides agreed to return frontline forces to their bases and to the withdrawal of all foreign forces within three months. In a sign of good faith, there has been relative calm leading up to the new round of talks began on November 9 in Tunisia. This dialogue includes a variety of constituencies in Libya, with the participation of Libyan women, youth, and minorities. The forum is ongoing and will hopefully create a framework with a set timeline for national elections.
Although Libya has a history of failed peace initiatives, UN special envoy Stephanie Williams is hopeful and stresses the need for international backing for the success of this ceasefire.
Israel and Palestine: How COVID-19 is impacting peace and conflict
Israel and Palestine stand out among conflict-fragile countries during the COVID-19 outbreak for their high number of deaths per million and their temporary cooperation at the start of the pandemic. Although neither Israel nor Palestine responded publicly to the UN ceasefire call, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lauded Israel and Palestine for their cooperation during the early part of the outbreak. Ultimately, this cooperation struggled to last and was unable to bring either party closer to a peaceful solution.
At the outset of the pandemic, COVID-19 posed both a challenge and an opportunity for the conflict. The virus outbreak occurred while Israel was still unable to form a coalition government and the legitimacy of the Israeli government was in decline. As the virus was rapidly spreading across Israel and Palestine, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas conducted “telephone diplomacy,” leading to a joint fight against the coronavirus. Many hoped this cooperation could ignite continuing negotiations towards establishing a peace solution for the conflict.
This relationship, however, quickly changed in June when Israel announced it would continue annexation plans in the West Bank, which is illegal under international law. In response, the Palestinian Authority made the decision to end cooperation and refuse tax revenue transfers from Israel in an effort to pause Israel’s plans. Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, stated that this breakdown in cooperation would further complicate the response to an escalating COVID crisis.
As Israel moved forward in its plans and the Palestinian Authority rejected options to cooperate, Mladenov said, “this situation could have serious repercussions on the ability to control [the virus’] spread and its impact on people’s lives.”
In August, Israel suspended annexation plans as part of its agreement to normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, however, two months later, Israel once again resumed settlement activities. The High Planning Committee set out its largest collective advancements to date on October 14 and 15, advancing 5,000 settlement housing units.
“Settlement-related activities…undermined the prospect of achieving a viable two-State solution in line with UN resolutions,” said Mladenov.
Throughout this, the Palestinian Authority has continued to reject cooperation with Israel.
The economic fallout from the pandemic has particularly impacted the legitimacy and power of the Palestinian Authority. Mladenov stated “the viability of the Palestinian Authority is being severely undermined by an economic and fiscal crisis that has been exacerbated by the Palestinian decision to end civilian and security coordination with Israel.”
Cooperation between Israel and Palestine is necessary for the public health crisis but also crucial to the stability of the Palestinian Authority. Despite these challenges, Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas agreed to hold elections in early 2021—the first in nearly 15 years—moving towards ending over a decade of infighting.
Although the COVID pandemic has not significantly impacted relations between Israel and Palestine, Palestinian President Abbas called for an international conference in 2021 to launch a “genuine peace process”. While Israel has shown limited interest in this initiative, it’s timing lines up with a new US administration which could support and momentum. Furthermore, Israel will continue to attempt regional peace following recent normalization of relation agreement with Bahrain, the UAE, and Sudan.
Iraq: How COVID-19 is impacting peace and conflict
Iraq has been one of the hardest hit countries in the MENA region by the coronavirus. With 213 deaths per million people as of the end of August 2020, Iraq’s death rate is about twice that of the global average. The weakened healthcare system and vulnerable populations created by its conflict against ISIS from 2014-2017 has complicated the Iraqi government’s response to the pandemic. Although ISIS was mostly forced out of its territories in Iraq by the end of 2017, it remains active. The humanitarian, governance, and economic impacts of coronavirus have complicated the ability the Global Coalition against ISIS to respond to the continued attacks by the militant group.
On December 9, 2017, Iraq’s Commander-in-Chief Haider al-Abadi announced the defeat of ISIS within Iraq’s borders. Although ISIS lost 95% of its territory in Iraq, it has remained active and continues to carry out guerilla attacks across Iraq and Syria. During COVID, these small attacks have increased, reflecting a surge that began before the pandemic and a strategy intended to take advantage of the weak COVID response. Belkis Wille, a senior researcher for the Conflict and Crisis Division at Human Rights Watch stated, “While the country has been focused on battling COVID-19, we’ve seen a worrying trend (which was already the case before the pandemic hit), of small scale ISIS attacks.”
Iraqi military officials claim ISIS has doubled down during this crisis and has escalated its attacks from local intimidation to more complex tactics such as IED attacks and ambushes. Wille explains that one factor in the increasing violence is “the government has had less of an ability to address these kinds of attacks since the pandemic.” The most recent quarterly report by the Inspector General for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S. operation against ISIS, notes how the security environment has changed with COVID-19. The report claims the militant group is taking advantage of the pandemic by filling in the vacuums left by reductions in military forces due to COVID-19, as military personnel on duty have decreased by 50%.
The Iraqi government struggled to handle the pandemic after its first case in the end of February. COVID spread while the government was already responding to mass protests, US-Iran tensions, and declining oil prices. Although the government attempted to impose strict restrictions to slow the spread, enforcement was very difficult. Congregations of religious pilgrims defied these measures, including on March 20 when hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims traveled to a shrine in Baghdad. Emergency funds that were necessary to bolster the weak healthcare infrastructure were already depleted due to plummeting oil prices, requiring the health ministry to seek charitable donations for its COVID response.
The combined threat of COVID and shocks in the oil market are likely to stress food supply chains in Iraq. Food production is already behind the 66% growth in population in the past 20 years and the $40 billion deficit from dropping oil prices complicate the heavily-government-funded agriculture system. Additionally, the UN estimates that there are already 1.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, a population that would likely feel the brunt of the diminishing oil revenues and fiscal deficit. Iraq’s dependence on oil revenues and weakened healthcare structure has prevented a strong response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In turn, these weaknesses have encouraged ISIS to increase attacks. Although the U.S. report determines that there has not been a “resurgence,” ISIS is attempting to take advantage of vulnerabilities caused by the pandemic to regain some influence in the region. As Iraq continues to struggle in managing the multiple crises of the pandemic, ISIS will continue exploiting the situation and further complicate the Iraqi government’s response.
Central African Republic: How COVID-19 is impacting peace and conflict
COVID-19 reached the Central African Republic with its first case on March 14, 2020, just a month after the first anniversary of the Political Accord for Peace and Reconciliation. Signed in February 2019, the objective of the accord was to “promote dialogue between the Government and armed groups…to put a definitive end to the crisis.” Fourteen armed groups agreed to respecting the legitimacy of the government and disarming while the government agreed to decentralizing and creating a more inclusive governance system.
In UN Secretary-General Guterres’ report on the anniversary of the Accord, he noted that although violence decreased overall, there were still many violations of the agreement. Igor Acko, a CAR analyst with the United States Institute of Peace in Bangui, said “the ceasefire was delightfully violated every day by armed groups since the beginning and with COVID, this trend is continuing.” The lack of good faith from several armed groups and follow-through from the government caused the January 2020 deadline for disarmament to be missed. Although the number of deaths from conflict have decreased by 25% from March-August 2019 compared to the same period in 2020, there have been multiple major incidents, such as attacks on National Election Authority (ANE) agents working to register voters ahead of the presidential election in December.
In 2020, the priorities of the CAR government were to move forward with the Political Accord for Peace and Reconciliation and prepare for the upcoming elections, however, COVID-19 has complicated these processes. The pandemic has “exacerbated the humanitarian crisis.” Although there have been less than 5,000 cases and a relatively small number of deaths, the economic shutdowns to mitigate the virus are heavy burdens on an already fragile society. Prices for imported food increased by 31% and urban transportation costs increased by 67%. These price changes are especially impactful on refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), who make up 25% of the population. Humanitarian aid is a necessary part of creating access to food and healthcare for vulnerable populations in CAR, however, Acko stated that, due to travel restrictions, “doctors and expatriate NGO workers were not able to come to help,” leaving many IDPs and food insecure people without support.
Despite these challenges, many NGOs are attempting to create solutions to the economic impact of COVID-19. For instance, the Youth Education Pack (YEP), funded by Education Cannot Wait and led by the Norwegian Refugees Council, offers vocational training to students in the face of school closures. Similarly, in the face of limited face masks, the World Bank’s Londo Project in CAR produced over two million masks to help people comply with the government’s mask mandate.
Today, the upcoming elections remain the priority in moving forward peacefully towards a fairer and more inclusive democracy in CAR. Secretary Guterres called this a “decisive [period] for the country” and called on all stakeholders to ensure a free and safe election. Earlier during the pandemic, the ruling party attempted to extend the presidential term, arguing the pandemic would prevent a fair election. In June, the constitutional court decided on the case, rejecting the delay and ensuring the election will be held this year. Still, there have been disruptions in voter registration due to the pandemic. As the pandemic and violence continues, it will be crucial for election authorities to ensure the public in CAR are able to fairly participate in the upcoming presidential election.
People Choosing Peace: US virtual race to support youth in conflict zones
A virtual fundraising event this month across the US is aimed at supporting and connecting youth in conflict zones. Play for Peace has launched Level Up: Race for Humanity 2020, from September 1 to September 30, pivoting to meet COVID-19 restrictions.
“After a long summer of staying inside, join Play for Peace for this entirely virtual event that invites participants to get up off the couch to elevate their hearts, minds, and bodies with challenges, activities, and exercises created for individuals and groups of all ages, ending with the big race,” said Sarah Gough, Play for Peace Executive Director.
“Walk, bike, or roll your 2.2K to 20.2K journey, and embrace the new sense of peace within yourself, while inspiring your community and supporting peace around the world.”
Participants can sign up as an individual, create a team, or join an existing team on the Level Up page. Everyone who registers will receive a digital training toolkit, for home or outside, and can opt in to earn electronic badges. Participants of all ages can complete activities individually or with your classroom, friends, and family following physical distancing guidelines.
Egypt heads to Amman, Ramallah to revive peace efforts
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Jordan and the West Bank earlier this month to reiterate Egypt’s rejection of the Israeli plan to annex parts of the Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank. Egypt believes that the chances of achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians should be based on a two-state solution to establish an independent Palestinian state on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital… Read more here.
Climate emergency ‘a danger to peace’, UN Security Council hears
“The climate emergency is a danger to peace”, said Miroslav Jenča, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, as he called on peace and security actors to play their role and help speed up implementation of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.
“The failure to consider the growing impacts of climate change will undermine our efforts at conflict prevention, peacemaking and sustaining peace, and risk trapping vulnerable countries in a vicious cycle of climate disaster and conflict”, he said.
Mr. Jenča briefed the Council at the start of an open video-teleconference debate on climate and security, one of the key themes of this month’s German presidency of the 15-member body.
Noting that the consequences of climate change vary from region to region, he said the fragile or conflict-affected situations around the world are more exposed to – and less able to cope with – the effects of a changing climate.
Peacekeeping link “It is no coincidence that seven of the 10 countries most vulnerable and least prepared to deal with climate change, host a peacekeeping operation or special political mission”, he said.
Differences exists between regions, within regions and within communities, with climate-related security risks impacting women, men, girls and boys in different ways, he said.
In the Pacific, rising sea levels and extreme weather events pose a risk to social cohesion, he said.
In Central Asia, water stress and reduced access to natural resources can contribute to regional tensions.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America, climate-driven population displacement could undermine regional stability. And in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, the effects of climate change are already deepening grievances and escalating the risk of conflict – providing fodder for extremist groups.
Outlining some actions that Member States can take together, he said that new technologies must be leveraged to strengthen the ability to turn long-term climate foresight, into actionable, near-term analysis.
Mr. Jenča also recommended stronger partnerships that would bring together the efforts already being made by the UN, Member States, regional organizations and others, to identify best practices, strengthen resilience and bolster regional cooperation.
Photo: UNDP Somalia/Said Isse
Peacebuilders on putting the Global Fragility Act into action
The U.S. government (USG) is preparing to unveil a new strategy over the coming months to tackle the underlying causes of fragility and conflict in vulnerable countries around the world. The strategy comes at an important time, just as the United States and other international donors seek to respond to rapidly increasing health, food, and other emergency needs as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. It will be critical that in line with the new strategy, this aid does not inadvertently stoke new tensions, say peacebuilding experts.
Read the full story here and more about the Global Fragility Act here.
Photo: Travis1776
Nelson Mandela on peace, poverty and race
This year’s Nelson Mandela International Day has a particular poignancy. Against a backdrop of protests against racial injustice, and COVID-19 amplifying inequality, his words resonate as much as ever. Through his work as a human rights lawyer, prisoner of conscience, and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa, Mandela has become one of the most recognized peacemakers of our time.
Read the full story here and learn more about Mandela in our video story below.
10 anti-racism quotes to draw strength from
After Black Lives Matter protests erupted across the USA, and throughout the global community, sparked by the death of George Floyd, it became clear that well-meaning platitudes won’t cut it. We take a look at 10 inspirational quotes that go a little further. They alone won’t change the world, but you can draw strength from them while you do.
Photo: Twitter “If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you recognize that your liberation and mine are bound up together, we can walk together.” – Lilla Watson
Photo: WikiCommons/Rob Mieremet “I am where I am because of the bridges that I crossed. Sojourner Truth was abridge. Harriet Tubman was a bridge. Ida B. Wells was a bridge. Madame C.J.Walker was a bridge. Fannie Lou Hamer was a bridge.” – Oprah Winfrey
Photo: Encyclopedia Britannica “I look at an ant and I see myself: a native South African, endowed by nature with a strength much greater than my size so I might cope with the weight of a racism that crushes my spirit.” – Miriam Makeba
Photo: NASA“For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us.”- Donald Williams
Photo: WikiCommons/Genevieve“The only wrong thing to say is to say nothing.” – Meghan Markle
Photo: WikiCommons/Associated Press “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality…. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Photo: Gorupdebesanez “Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.” – Eugene Ionesco
“No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise.” – Marian Anderson
Photo: Barack Obama Presidential Library “History has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own.” – Michelle Obama
Photo: WikiCommons/BastienM “If you want peace, work for justice.” – Pope Paul VI
Op-Ed: A just peace is possible
Opinion: Dylan Mathews, CEO of Peace Direct, shares his own experiences, uncomfortable discussions and hopes for the future.
The murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis last week has rightly prompted outrage across the US and in other cities around the world. While the stories of police brutality in the US are all too common, what made this killing particularly horrific in a world desensitized to violence was how routine and deliberate it was.
This was a killing in slow motion, over a period of almost nine minutes. Nine minutes when each of the police officers had ample time to consider whether their actions were appropriate; nine minutes to alter their actions as onlookers begged them to check Floyd’s pulse. Nine minutes to ask themselves whether their use of force was proportionate, while the man they were arresting was handcuffed, unarmed and pinned down face first on the street, with an officer’s knee on his neck.
Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged with Floyd’s murder, chose not to change his course of action, and in doing so was signalling to those around him, including his fellow officers and onlookers who were filming him, that George Floyd’s life had absolutely no value; that black lives do not matter. The deeply ingrained racism and injustice that this exposes is itself a form of violence, what we in the peacebuilding world call structural violence.
I hope that you have never experienced the type of racism that many black and other people from minority backgrounds continue to experience in the UK, US and in other parts of the world. As a brown child growing up in an overwhelmingly white community outside of London, I remember stones being thrown at me and being told by adult strangers to ‘f**k off and go back to your own country.’ I remember feeling humiliated, frightened and angry, because the UK was ‘my country’ and because as a child I couldn’t understand why adults would hate me simply because of the color of my skin. Those experiences affected me deeply and have driven me to work for a world where such structural violence no longer exists.
Every person deserves to live free from fear, humiliation and persecution, and to live the life they value. This is what we at Peace Direct strive for in everything we do.
Structural violence is every bit as destructive as armed or physical violence, and it affects many more people. It is the violence of racism and prejudice that leads to high rates of incarceration of people from black and minority backgrounds. It is the violence of poverty and inequality that lead to early deaths and limited life choices. It is the violence of sexism and misogyny that leads to persistently high levels of gender-based violence across the world.
As an international peacebuilding organisation based in the UK and US, we have a responsibility to work actively within our own communities to build a society based on justice, nonviolent transformation of conflict, and human dignity for all. In fact, if there is one lesson that we must all learn from this week’s events is that we all have a responsibility to confront structural violence wherever we see it. To do this we have to take some uncomfortable steps. We have to acknowledge that many of us benefit from a dominant culture that has its roots in our colonial past, in the slave trade and in the exploitation and subjugation of other peoples. This culture, if left unchecked, leads to incidences which we saw in Minneapolis, where a white man can take the life of a black man with impunity. We also have to recognize our own biases and prejudices as these can unintentionally do harm to others. And we have to be active, both in our listening to others and in our actions, so that we do not become bystanders to oppression. I often remind myself that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.
So much of our work at Peace Direct focuses on directly supporting local people’s efforts to stop violence and build peace in some of the most volatile parts of the world. But a lot of this work is not on the front lines of what we think of as traditional wars. It’s about undoing systems of injustice and building lasting peace, which inevitably means addressing structural violence. It’s about tackling issues such as women’s rights in Pakistan, or supporting young people to have a voice in community decision making in Mali. And it’s about recognizing and supporting justice and peacebuilding in the US at this time. This work is as urgent as the reintegration of ex-soldiers in DR Congo or the mediation work of local peace committees in Syria. All are required to build a safer and more secure world. Peacebuilding is required in all our local communities.
As the US grapples with deeply embedded systems of racism, the role of local peacebuilders will be more important than ever. In communities across the United States, mediators, faith leaders, human rights advocates, activists, young people, and other local leaders are actively working to de-escalate violence, sustain nonviolent action, support mourning, rebuild relationships, and open pathways for a more just and peaceful future. They are pushing back – nonviolently – against the further militarization of their society and proposing positive, peaceful solutions instead. These local peacebuilders are vital, often unseen and under-supported, in the immediate crisis and the long, difficult work ahead.
Despite the grief and anger we feel, we also remain hopeful that a just peace is possible. Local peacebuilders around the world – and the history of people power and peacebuilding in the US – demonstrate every day that systems of oppression and violence can be overcome. We are reminded again, as Indian author Arundhati Roy has said, that “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.”
Report Released: Peace and security in the Central African Republic
After several failed peace processes, a peace accord was signed in 2019 by the Central African Republic government and 14 armed groups. With the country now preparing for elections in December 2020, this research from Conciliation Resources looks to understand the views of local communities in Bossangoa and the Western Border Zones, in order to inform effective, proactive policy during this crucial period and beyond.
Read the report here.
COVID-19 and Conflict: Violent Extremism
The COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the globe is reshaping dynamics in fragile states and conflict zones. In this video, part of USIP’s #COVIDandConflict series, Kateira Aryaeinejad and Bethany McGann examine the pandemic’s impacts on violent extremism: how extremist groups are exploiting the crisis, whether it is impacting recruitment, and how it complicates efforts to counter violent extremism.
Read the transcript here.
UN on Colombia: COVID-19 must not derail peace agreement
The global COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on Colombia, but it cannot be allowed to derail the Latin American nation’s quest for sustainable peace after five decades of conflict, the Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in that country told the Security Council in a video conference meeting in April.
Carlos Ruiz Massieu, who is also the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to Colombia, said that the pandemic will impact on the implementation of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, signed on 24 November 2016 between Bogota and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia‑People’s Army (FARC-EP).
It is encouraging to see Colombians finding creative responses to the crisis and responding positively to calls for unity as authorities at all levels take measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, he said, noting how implementing parties are embracing video technology to continue their work.
However, while the National Liberation Army (ELN) — which is still in negotiations with the Government — has declared a month-long ceasefire for April, clashes involving illegal armed groups are continuing, he said.
“At a time when all efforts must be focused on fighting the pandemic, we urge all illegal armed actors in Colombia to desist from continuing to perpetrate violence upon vulnerable communities, including indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities,” he emphasized.
He told the 15-member council that the international community has a “collective obligation” to ensure progress in implementing the 2016 peace agreement.
“Peace in Colombia cannot and should not be a casualty of this pandemic,” he added, calling for ongoing progress to fully implement the Final Agreement, including on three priorities that the Secretary-General set out in his latest report on the Mission’s work.
Also briefing the council was David Santiago Cano Salazar, youth representative, who said all Colombians who lived through the conflict have suffered from the consequences of violence. Having grown up in Medellín, he said he remembers neighbors who were killed, corpses on TV, the sounds of gun shots and pervasive fear. While the peace agreement fulfilled hopes, he said it also raised expectations that peace would finally take root in rural Colombia.
“We should not need a pandemic to argue for the silencing of weapons,” he said, urging the Council to see COVID-19 as a reminder that “we are stronger when we are united”.
In the ensuing discussion, council members agreed that Colombia must forge ahead with implementing the peace agreement and that violence — particularly in rural areas — must come to a halt.
Broadcasting Peace: Lessons from peacebuilders in DRC
The Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is beset by ongoing conflict, violence and political instability, and atrocities – crimes of substantial magnitude that are carried out in a widespread or systematic way – continue to be inflicted on civilians, with devastating repercussions. Despite a change of national government in December 2018, violence has been steadily rising across the eastern provinces, spurred by a lack of government legitimacy, weak state authority, limited access to formal justice mechanisms and cross-border tensions…
Read the full story here.
People Choosing Peace: Nuran (Iraq)
My name is Nuran, and I am 17 years old.
I am from Mosul, but am a displaced resident in Baghdad now. I know how quickly, and easily, you can lose your home and your city and be displaced for reasons beyond your control.
I lived under the rule of ISIS for one year – it was a dark period of my life, but I survived. I developed myself in the field of writing, and I became editor. I published in some magazines and wrote many articles.
When I come to Baghdad I was afraid of the new life I would find, I expected it to be difficult to co-exist with the Sectarianism going on, because of the media broadcasting ideas that displaced people will face terror and intimidation in the hands of the “other”.
When I arrive in Baghdad I was surprised by the kindness and great sympathy for displaced people from the people of Baghdad, and the amount of friends I made.
Now I am very happy, because I realized how wrong my impression was – it was an idea planted by people who do not want good things for this country.
I can tell you honestly: We are one humane society, and we will stay. We will help, and love, each other.
Born in Captivity: Integrating LRA children
Many stories about the infamous Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by the infamous Joseph Kony, focus on child soldiers – kidnapped and recruited. However re-integrating children born in captivity, is now presenting a huge hurdle for peace in central Africa.
The LRA, have abducted at least 30,000 people since they began, and women like Florence were forced to marry fighters.
“I think I was abducted in 1997, I stayed in the bush for about two or three years,” Florence told Peace News.
For these women, returning home is an enormous challenge.
Sean Poole, from leading advocacy organization Invisible Children, said that socially, there’s a stigma attached to having spent time in the LRA.
“In central Africa there’s a lack of understanding from many communities of what the LRA truly is,” Mr Poole said.
“One of the more difficult challenges within the LRA context is women who have been forced into what is essentially sexual slavery, and assigned as a – quote-unquote – “wife” to an LRA commander,” he said.
“These women are often time impregnated, and have children in captivity, and in most cases when they escape, they escape with children.”
“They return home with – essentially – kids who are foreign to their own community and are really highly stigmatized because they’re single mothers with children from a rebel commander.”
“It is incredibly challenging, and very devastating to see how that plays out locally.”
While progress has been made in re-integration programs for abductees, and the US and Uganda have announced a withdrawal from the hunt for Joseph Kony on the grounds that the LRA is greatly diminished, children born in captivity are a second generation to suffer the devastating impact of the LRA.
“I think probably the biggest issue lingering issue is children who were born in captivity,” said Timothy Fadgen, an East African expert at World Vision.
Not all communities reject returnees, and there is hope.
“To see that those children are treated fairly, that the mothers are treated fairly – that is an on-going challenge, and it’s something that the community in Uganda is dealing with head-on,” Mr Fadgen said.
“In places where this is working it’s because the local communities are engaged,” said Mr Poole.
“You have to not only support LRA victims that are returning home, but also community members who have suffered trauma at the hands of the LRA, yet were never abducted,” he said.
“Supporting trauma services at the community level drives down stigmatization; it also drives down isolation for individuals and creates more community cohesiveness.”
Can Iraqis Reclaim Baghdad for Peace?
By Qais Qasim
In an infamous park in Baghdad, where killing squads used to dump bodies, one group of residents are building peace with a book, and arts, festival.
A’adhamiya is a Sunni majority neighborhood to the north of Baghdad. It was the site of clashes between Iraqi insurgents and US forces, as well as sectarian tension. Gangs were known to dispose of victims in a local park, Al Akhtall , and the park was nick-named Al Akhtar (The Dangerous) for its violent reputation.
But local residents are re-claiming it for peace. They recently organized a fair for literature, music, and art.
One of the festival’s organizers, Mohammed, said the community is deeply affected by the region’s violent past.
“This festival could be called a proactive event, to resist – and defeat – violence, and fanatics,” Mohammed said.
“Today, these young activists are trying to show the real image of A’adhamiya,” he said.
Another organizer, Bakker, said all of the workers and performers at the festival had volunteered, and that the books were free for visitors to take.
“It is all about solidarity,” Bakker said.
“Our message, as young people of this neighborhood, is to spread the culture and habits of reading,” said another festival organizer, Ameera.
“Also, to encourage civil spirit inside Baghdad city,” she said.
“We are a contemporary, civilized, society. Our society used to be built out of grudges, revealed after 2003. We need to shine – Baghdad is a beautiful city, filled with signs of love and life. A’adhamiya was denigrated by violence for a certain period of time, but that doesn’t reflect the local population.”
Does Climate Change Increase Conflict?
Today’s wars are often attributed to ethnic conflict or extremism, but environmental factors could also be behind tensions.
South Sudan’s conflict has raised fears of genocide, with over 1.6 million refugees fleeing the country, but the region has also faced increased temperatures and a lack of rainfall. The UN has recently declared the country a famine zone.
It’s not the only conflict zone battling environmental extremes, and growing research suggests there’s a link. Water shortages in Yemen have been blamed for tension there, and severe drought is believed to have contributed to Syria’s war.
One study found that for each 1 standard deviation change in climate – towards warmer temperatures or more extreme rainfall – caused the frequency of inter-group conflict to rises by 14%. Last year, another group of scientists showed that climate disasters like heat-waves or droughts enhance the risk of armed conflicts in countries with high ethnic diversity. With the Earth’s temps expected to increase 7.2 deg F (4 deg C) this century, this could pose a serious threat to peace around the world.
Linking climate and conflict is a controversial issue. Some scholars warn that inflating the links between conflict and climate change could be damaging to both areas of study. However, evidence on the ground appears to be increasing.
“The stories we get in America, or in New Zealand, I suppose – tend to have more to do with the melting of the ice caps, to do with climate change,” said Timothy Fadgen, from World Vision.
“One of the biggest things I have found, through review of my reports, has been the disruptions to subsistence farming, caused by droughts,” he said.
“So it’s critical that normal rain patterns exist in order for people to even have enough to grow to eat, never mind to grow to trade.”
For post-conflict communities, scarce resources can also re-ignite fighting.
“If you have a large number of people that are in the process of being re-socialized, from having basically been part of an organization that would go and loot, and rob, and kill to get what it wants – you know, it’s a battle,” Mr Fadgen said.
“When people are extremely poor, and pushed to the brink, things happen that you wish wouldn’t, and we are in a position now to do our best to ensure that it doesn’t happen,” he said.
Top 10: Peacebuilding Quotes
We’ve gathered 10 inspirational quotes to remember, from peacebuilders all over the world:
“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
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”
– Martin Luther King Junior
“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
– Nelson Mandela
“Peace in every home, every street, every village, every country – this is my dream.”
– Malala Yousafzai
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
– Albert Einstein
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
– John F. Kennedy
“It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace.”
– Andre Gide
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
“All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
– John Lennon
“Peace begins with a smile.”
– Mother Teresa
A “Zone of Peace” in Southern Africa: Exploring the Causes of Peace
Op-Ed: Johan Brosché and Kristine Höglund work in the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University. Here, they discuss their latest project.
Peace research is meant to contribute to the prevention of violence, and to the establishment of sustainable peace. Despite this dual concern, an overwhelming share of peace research addresses the causes of war and violence, rather than the causes of peace. Overall, attention has primarily been on countries that have experienced armed conflict – such as Israel-Palestine, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Colombia and Somalia – while those spared from large-scale violence have been neglected.
In our research we shift the focus from the causes of war to the causes of peace and study a zone of peace in Southern Africa, consisting of Botswana, Malawi and Zambia. These three countries have been spared from civil war since they gained independence half a decade ago, despite being surrounded by seven countries plagued by violent conflicts. The prevailing peace in these three countries are even more surprising since Africa is the world’s most conflict-affected region with one third of all inter- and intra-state conflicts since 1946 taking place on the continent. Our project aims to explain why peace has prevailed in these three countries, despite being part of the world’s most volatile continent and with their neighbors struck by conflict.
In doing so, we strive to generate new insights about the variations of peace and its conditions by seeking answers to previously overlooked questions. By studying the cases where war and violence have been absent, we avoid drawing conclusions that are applicable to only the very violent cases. This approach will also be useful to refine existing theories, since the causes of peace and the causes of war are not mirror images of each other.
Preliminary research from Malawi indicates that four factors are particularly important for understanding Malawi’s relative peace. First, although ethno-religious identities are strong in Malawi, they are less politically salient than in many other countries. Moreover, ethnic communities live in relative isolation, which means that local conflicts tend to play out within, rather than between, communities. Second, Malawi’s political elite has adopted a political culture that preserves status quo and that has served to contain tensions. Third, although poverty motivates protests in Malawi, it has also had a pacifying effect. Fourth, important institutions have served to promote peace: the armed forces have stayed out of politics and religious organizations have been important in bridging political divides at times of crisis.
These insights are important for identifying potential risks that could lead to escalating conflict, but also provide inspiration for how to address and manage conflicts before they turn violent. Further analysis of Botswana and Zambia will complement and nuance our understanding of Southern Africa’s “zone of peace”. We call on fellow researchers – and other concerned actors – to devote more attention to the conditions underpinning peaceful development and peaceful societies, since such understanding is necessary for its achievement.
Photo by Geoff Gallice
Reconciling America
The USA is currently experiencing rhetoric of political violence at a level not seen since the Civil War. Peace-builders are concerned, and warn that this is often a precursor to more widespread physical violence.
So what should we do to avoid political conflict?
Melanie Greenberg, CEO of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, said there are three groups who can effectively help promote peace in the USA.
The first group is political leaders. They can focus more on similarities, and pass bi-partisan legislation.
“I think presidents who talk about what brings us together, and that celebrate the strength that we have being such a diverse community sets the stage then for more bi-partisan kinds of initiative and policy,” Ms Greenberg told Peace News.
Media is the second component to peace-building in America. Reporters and editors can be less sensational, and focus on stories about what unites people.
“Increasingly, people use their media in a bubble,” Ms Greenberg said.
“And I feel like the media in this election were very divisive, because there wasn’t a lot of story-telling of what brings us together, what commonalities there might be between a Hillary Clinton platform and a Trump platform,” she said.
The third group essential for peace-building is citizens.
“We’re seeing such high levels of division right now in our country, and I think it is incumbent on us as citizens, not just to look to our leadership for how we are going to come together,” Ms Greenberg said.
“We have to find ways of finding people who don’t agree with us – and talking with them.”
Land Mines: The Legacy of War
Chaom knows the importance of clearing landmines after conflict. He was 7 months’ old when he lost his leg in an explosion in Cambodia. After the war there his father was employed by The HALO Trust to help clear unexploded mines, and now Chaom grows cassava on cleared land, providing for a son of his own. His country is one of many living in the shadow of war.
Globally, 6,461 people died in 2016 because of mines left over after conflicts.
“The countries which are the most deeply affected are Cambodia, Angola, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan,” said Louise Vaughan from The HALO Trust.
The HALO Trust has destroyed 1.5 million landmines since their inception, and their de-mining training offers employment for people who may not have any other source of income after violence in their region has ended.
“It’s their very local, specialist knowledge, their memories, their technical expertise, and their dedication for ridding their country for their children, for their grandchildren – they have that,” Ms Vaughan said.
“No other person is going to be so invested in wanting a country to be free of land mines than the people who actually live there,” she said.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty to ban mines, in which 80% of countries outlawed antipersonnel mines, but in some conflicts improvised mines are still being used.
“You’ve got new countries that are facing hugely insecure futures due to the proliferation of IEDs [Improvised Explosive Device] in contemporary conflicts – places like Syria, Yemen, and Iraq,” Ms Vaughan said. “I think in the case of Syria, we’re finding that as various areas become liberated, more IDP’s will return, but they will be at risk from this huge IED legacy,” she said.
The biggest problem organisations like The HALO Trust face is sourcing funding. States have agreed on a goal to be land-mine free by 2025, but financial support has dwindled over the last 20 years.
“Now, unless there’s a huge international donor commitment to meeting that deadline, it will simply come and go,” Ms Vaughan said.
Cover Photo: Rodney Evans/AusAID
Can Celebrities Help Bring Peace?
We are used to seeing celebrities raising awareness for crises and conflicts. It’s not just their fans listening to them: George Clooney has addressed the UN, Nicole Kidman has spoken to US Congress, and Ben Affleck has advised the U.S. Secretary of State.
But not everyone is star-struck. Critics argue that celebrities can sometimes do more harm than good, with some going so far as to accuse certain celebrities of creating “humanitainment”.
In areas affected by conflict, celebrities often visit sites as ambassadors or advocates – they may set up charities, represent international organizations, and draw attention to the situation. From afar, they often act as witnesses to a crisis, good-will representatives, fundraisers, and activists.
Regardless of how well-meaning a famous figure may be, there are concerns that celebrity projects may focus on only one angle of a crisis, impose elitist or outside interventions, simplify complex situations, and encourage support only for a short time at a crises worst moment – not before or after.
Dr Ilan Kapoor said celebrities bring their own bias to developing regions, shaping the global public’s understanding.
“I think the media are complicit in this, because the media is constantly looking for quick answers, the spectacular, the glitz and the glam,” Dr Kapoor told OESFE.
“So by using celebrities we tend to get very quick pictures – we tend to look only at the symptoms and not at the broader causes.”
So, how can celebrities get it right?
Dr Alexandra Budabin, from the University of Dayton, said that while celebrity activism is very powerful, celebrities need to do their homework, and take the responsibility of speaking for others very seriously. Supporting local initiatives is one way of doing this.
“The best way to help those groups is to join them in something they are already doing, rather than to impose our ideas,” Dr Kapoor said.
Dr Lisa Richey, from Roskilde University, agrees. She told us: “Celebrities cannot ‘save’ floundering organizations but can bring additional resources to support good work being done.”
Ben Affleck’s work in the DRC is an example of this approach, and the actor often focuses on local organisations, and individuals, when discussing a crisis.
Academy Award-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou is an Oxfam Global Ambassador, and he told us he was impressed with the local response he saw on a trip to Nigeria recently.
“Local communities and organizations are the true first responders and have experience, access, and insights that are invaluable during a crisis and to solve everyday challenges that vulnerable communities face,” Mr Hounsou said.
Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk works with international organisation War Child, and she told us celebrities do have an important role to play. She said authentic understanding and conviction is very important.
“One cannot speak from the heart without being truly exposed to, and educated on, the issues. That’s not allowed,” Ms Kreviazuk said.
Fear vs Empathy: Response to Refugee Crisis
Last year, the UNHCR declared an unprecedented 65.3 million displaced people. Nearly 21.3 million refugees were recorded. Over half were children.
Security fears have seen restrictive refugee and immigrant policies from several countries, and support for political parties pushing such policies. But this hasn’t stopped communities around the world from welcoming refugees, and warning against misinformation.
Companies like Airbnb have offered accommodation for stranded refugees, and Canada has offered support, claiming diversity is a strength.
Suzanne Akhras is the founder of the Syrian Community Network in the USA, and she said resettlement is hard enough, and that fear-mongering makes it worse.
“It worries [Syrian refugees], it upsets them greatly,” Ms Akhras said.
“Because they feel like ‘we escaped this terrible regime, we don’t want to go somewhere else where we are labelled as the extremists, as the terrorists’,” she said.
“They want to go somewhere they can live their life in peace.”
Her organization does cultural sensitivity training, and she believes immigrants have much to offer their new homes.
“It’s going to be a difficult transition, let’s not pretend it’s not hard,” Ms Akrhas said.
“It’s going to be very difficult, but I think in time they will be the ones who will re-invigorate, I think, the economy.
“Certainly in the north side of Chicago there are so many refugees, and right now – in the last ten years – there has been a boom to that part of the city because there’s refugees from all over the world living there. Iraqis, Somalis, Bhutanese, Vietnamese – so that area is very diverse, and doing very well now. You know, all these businesses booming.
“So I think Syrians will come with some innovations, some ideas – and I am sure down the line we will hear of a Hummus brand that was started by a Syrian – a Syrian refugee.”
When it comes to the global refugee crisis, individuals and governments are torn between fear and empathy. However, for peace to flourish, experts say avoiding stereotyping is important, and recognizing refugees as individuals, fleeing war and terror, is crucial.
Cover Photo: Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau welcomes refugees. Courtesy of Government of Canada.
Rare Display: The Art of Peace
We often see art reflecting war but a new exhibition has opened in France: The Art of Peace.
The Petit Palais in Paris is displaying famous icons of peace, with more than 200 original treaties, symbols, and rare objects, on show. Recognizable images sit side-by-side with rare memorabilia in this display of diplomacy.
Picasso’s peace dove is an emblem the world embraced, and the powerful sketch is a draw for historians. Paintings of peace talks highlight major events, such as Adolphe Roehn’s depiction of Napoleon’s meeting with Russian Tsar Alexander I in 1807.
The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended Europe’s Thirty Years’ War, is also on display. More obscure items include a gold-leaf letter from the King of Siam (Thailand) to Napoleon, following a friendship treaty signed with France.
The exhibit highlights origins of peace movements, and the achievements of peace-makers over centuries.
Can Cartoons Build Peace?
Political cartoons are often viewed as entertainment, but could cartoons also be used to build peace?
The power of graphic art has long been recognized.
“If we go all the way back to World War I, the US government took political cartooning so seriously that it established a bureau of cartooning,” said Dr Rafael Medoff, director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.
Festival’s like Graphic Brighton look at conflict and resolution in comics, such as cartoonists’ roles in the Arab Spring, and Kate Evan’s depictions of anti-war activist Rosa Luxemburg. Graphic Brighton curator Alex Fitch said war comics play an important role in our culture, and can bring the experience of conflict to readers in a way that text alone cannot. Comic books are being used to connect with youth to warn them of the realities of war, and they can give a voice to minorities in conflict. For example, the influential Maus by Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman, and the story of comic book pioneer Lily Renee in Escape Artist both bring genocide survivor stories to life.
“Graphic novels, especially in recent years, that have dealt with subjects such as the Holocaust or genocide, have increased sensitivity,” said Dr Medoff.
Given that cartoonists are often at the center of controversy, however, is there a danger in war and peace comics?
“Ultimately it’s in the hands of the creator, in other words the cartoon is just the instrument. The cartoonist has the ability to use his or her artistic and cartooning skills for good or bad, Dr Medoff said.
“There’s nothing more important in the world than peace,” he said.
“I would like to hope that comic book creators, artist and writers, can play some small role.”
Bénin: Democracy without Development
Op-ed: Markus Bayer is Ph.D. student and research fellow at the University of Duisburg Essen‘s Chair of International Relations and Development Policy.
We all know places where history was written. The Winter Palace in St Petersburg and the Bastille in Paris where the Russian and the French Revolution were triggered, or the railway wagon in the Forest of Compiègne where the First World War ended. Most of these places have a history of violence.
The Hotel PLM-Alédjo in Cotonou/Bénin has a different story. It is the place where the so-called third wave of democratization hit the African continent. It became the center of a political earthquake that sent shockwaves through the whole continent.
This impact was quite astonishing since the small country, located between Togo and Nigeria, has long been considered the “sick child of Africa”.From its independence in 1960, Bénin was riddled by numerous coups d’états, and today it remains one of the poorest states in Africa. But, from February 19th to 28th 1990 la Conférence Nationale des Forces Vives de la Nation – the Conference of the Living Forces of the Nation – convened in the Hotel Alédjo.
Initially intended as an advisory institution to get necessary reforms on track, the Conference declared itself sovereign and began working on drafting a new democratic constitution and molding the transition to democracy. The conference itself was the consequence of huge waves of protests and strikes, which made the country ungovernable during 1988 and 1990, and eventually enforced le renouveau democratique – the democratic renewal. As a result of the consultations, the first free presidential election was held in 1991, won by Nicéphore Soglo.
Consequently, Bénin’s Mathieux Kérékou became the first president on the African mainland who was defeated at the polls and peacefully resigned. Bénin’s democratic transition was so successful that many countries – like Togo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Namibia – adopted the concept of a National Conference to preside over the process of negotiating the transition and drafting the constitution, albeit with mixed results.
Since then, Bénin has held six consecutive presidential elections and witnessed another three peaceful democratic turnovers of power. Four peaceful turnovers is quite impressive and remains unequaled in Africa. In comparison, the most consolidated African democracies (South Africa, Namibia and Botswana) have never witnessed a peaceful turnover since their transition.
The people of Bénin are very proud of their role as democratic trailblazer and, as a consequence, feel deeply committed to their constitution. However, Bénin’s democracy has an Achilles heel. Being a low income country, Bénin has not witnessed much economic development since its democratization. Since 1990 the annual growth of the GDP per-capita has been at around 2%, with major setbacks in 2005 and 2010.
The current state of the PLM Hotel Alédjo, the birth place of Bénin’s democracy, metaphorically resembles the current state of democracy in Bénin. After the hotel went bankrupt the place underwent a conversion. People moved into the bungalows where the conference delegates were once housed, and now grow vegetables on the former lawn.
Bénin is an example of democratization without development, a combination that brings some serious problems with it. Communists in Bénin say: “We fought for freedom and bread – we did get freedom, the bread is still missing”.
Even if this lack of economic development is unlikely to undermine the democratic consensus, it represents a severe obstacle for developing it further. So, twenty-six years after the democratic renewal Bénin remains a young and imperfect democracy in its consolidation phase, trapped between democratic principles that bring freedom, and anachronistic systems that secure a living.
The main building of the hotel is now in decay, but it still contains the two most valuable assets for the democracy in Bénin – first, the legacy of a peaceful, consensual transition and second, the physical voters register for the national and presidential election.
We can only speculate what a great democracy Bénin would be if its democratization, rooted in a nonviolent uprising and a national conference, was backed by a solid economic upturn.
Ewan McGregor meets Iraqi Youth: Forced into Fight or Flight
UNICEF Ambassador and Scottish actor Ewan McGregor recently drew attention to the plight of Iraqi youth when he visited the Harsham Displacement Camp in northern Iraq.
The situation for children in Iraq is becoming increasingly desperate. According to the UN, around 3.6 million children – one in five – are at serious risk of death, injury, sexual violence, abduction and recruitment into armed groups.
For youths like 16-year-old Laeth, future choices are limited. Laeth was forced to flee his home in Mosul after his father was killed in conflict, and he now lives with his grandmother in a caravan in the Harsham camp.
“We lived in Mosul and our lives were good,” Laeth said. “Before coming here I used to go to school. Sometimes I would go and say hi to my mother. I used to go out with my friends, we used to have a good time, it was very nice.”
Despite his situation, Laeth has chosen to channel his emotions into music and performance, helping as a volunteer at the camp. It’s not something many youths in Iraq have to opportunity to do. Peace-builders have warned that many Iraqi youth like Laeth face a difficult choice between fight or flight.
A recent report by the International Crisis Group shows that dis-enchanted youth in Iraq have become easy quarry for predators, be they IS, Shiite militias or populists preaching Iraqi nationalism.
The report claims that the youth of Iraq are its greatest asset, and that while the government’s reform capacity may be limited, it must address its youth crisis as its top priority if it is to hold Iraq together.
Findings show that the current vacuum sucks youths into one of three directions: protests (with aspiration to dramatically transform a non-functioning system); fighting groups on either side of a sectarian divide; or migration toward Europe. This counters conventional wisdom that youth of Iraq are being radicalised on a large scale, and suggests that young Iraqis are not radicalised so much as recruited into organisations that provide community and direction, regardless of ideology.
If that is the problem, then what’s the solution?
The International Crisis Group says the solution lies in giving Iraqi youth viable alternatives that can reduce fighting groups’ ability to attract them in the first place.
Fleeing Kony’s LRA: “Invisible Child” reveals
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group perpetuated violence in northern Uganda for almost 20 years. The group was led by the infamous Joseph Kony, target of the global Kony2012 campaign, and areas like Gulu, Kitgum, Dokolo and Lira were hit particularly hard.
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group perpetuated violence in northern Uganda for almost 20 years. Rehabilitation programs, medical care, and employment initiatives help with the damage from the war. But for women and children kidnapped by the rebel group, re-entering society is extremely difficult. Nancy* was one of these abductees, and she was brave enough to tell us her story.
Nancy was just 12 years old when she was kidnapped in 2003. She was taken from a village about 25km north of Gulu town, during a night invasion by the LRA.
“There is a boy from my village who joined the rebel group (LRA),” Nancy told Peace News.
“He was asked to write the names of all the girls he knew from the village,” she said.
“Unluckily, my name was first on the list. He wrote a total of eight names, all were girls. We were then invaded in the night, they had torches. Whosoever the boy identified on the list had their hands tied. A lot more people were abducted that night but their interest was girls.”
Nancy said she was forced into military training with the LRA, and spent 2 years as their captive. At one point during her captivity, she said two of her friends tried to escape, but they were recaptured before they got too far. Nancy said she and six other girls were forced to execute the escapees by stoning them to death.
Eventually, Nancy and another friend were able to escape, running away early one morning and hiding in a nearby plantation field. She made it to a military camp, where she spent a month before moving to the Gulu Support the Children Organization for further rehabilitation.
After returning, Nancy said she struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder. She would hallucinate about being back in captivity and the stress eventually lead to her dropping out of secondary school. She moved to another town to avoid retribution from the murdered girls’ families.
“My mother did not take me back to the home where I was abducted because life would not be easy for me,” Nancy said.
“At the new home we went to, no one knew me,” she said.
“Sometimes if you talk about this sort of a story, people will judge you differently, others will despise you and others will think of you as a murderer. There are others who had their relatives abducted and never returned and yet I did return. So some people will not be happy about you and could consider you as an accomplice to the rebels and their evil activity yet I never was abducted at will.”
Despite what she has been through, Nancy is still positive and said she forgives her captors.
“On the issue of forgiveness, I forgave them because I never want to judge anyone, you can never know the circumstances under which a person joined the rebel group so I cannot hold any grudge against anyone.”
Nancy has met with former-LRA members and said she hopes for a better future for both victims and former fighters.
“When I see them return, I am glad they will start a brand new life like the way I have tried to restart mine.”
The LRA is still active in areas of Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo where they kidnapped 728 people in the last year alone.
Abby and Kyalu: Rape in the DRC
War is often measured in fatalities, but many more suffer trauma – particularly form rape in conflict. In 2006, during the war in the DRC, over 400,000 women were raped. That’s over 1,000 per day, and the problem still continues.
The impact of sexual violence, on both victims and families, is long-lasting. When Kyalu was raped during the conflict in the DRC, her husband Abby couldn’t bare it.
“When I think about what happened to my family, I always wanted revenge,” Abby told GoodFight Media.
“It’s hard to forget the past, when violence still surrounds you,” Kyalu said.
Separated when they were abducted by rebels, Abby and Kyalu reunited in Goma. Kyalu was pregnant, and she went to her parents to have the child.
“Finding out what they did to my wife was unbearable, I felt powerless,” Abby said.
“It was difficult for him to accept my son who was conceived from rape,” Kyalu said.
“I felt so much frustration, I became violent with everyone around me,” Abby confessed.
Now, with the help of group therapy from the Living Peace Institute, Abby and Kyalu are rebuilding their relationship.
“He started talking to me differently,” Kyalu said.
“The best thing that happened was re-establishing communication with my wife,” Abby said.
Dr Benoit Ruratotoye, Training Director at Living Peace Institute, said victims are only part of the story.
“Historically we have put most of our energy into helping the victim, and it’s very important that we continue that work,” he told GoodFight Media.
“But in order to stop the cycle of violence, we must also focus on the source. And the source is men.”
Living Peace, part of Promundo-US, trains group therapy leaders, helping men break cycles of violence.
“The population must find a way to cure itself, we are fighting culture, and culture is powerful,” Dr Ruratotoye said.
“But I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Cover Photo: Promundo-US
Top 5: Youth Building Peace
Mike Jobbins, SFCG Youth Ambassador to the UN, recently said youth organisations are fed-up with rhetoric about the next generation being just beneficiaries of peace-building projects. He claimed that young people are already strong, and need to be more effectively engaged. “The ways that young people choose to change the world, aren’t going to be shaped by governments,” Mr Jobbins told the UN. “Young people are the last to accept injustice, and because we live in a fundamentally unjust world, it’s by building on the strengths of children and youth that we can channel energies to ultimately address the most serious problems that all of our societies face.” So, what are youth doing for peace? Check out these five youth organizations already making a difference:
- YaLa Young Leaders started in Israel, and is a fast-growing online Middle East peace movement. YaLa provides free citizen journalism training, and gives a voice to over 1 million youth across the MENA region.
- In Lebanon, the International Youth Foundation have created a program called Passport to Success®. It helps people under 24 stay in school and acquire professional skills.
- The clever folks at Peaceful Change Initiative are mapping social peace in Libya. Their Social Peace Index reveals local needs during the political transition that’s happening there.
- African Youth Initiative in Uganda encourages reconciliation, especially in villages affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Radio-talk shows, leadership training and conflict mitigations help victims, survivors, and even former fighters.
- In Pakistan the Youth Development Foundation found the best way they could build peace was encouraging tolerance. Their “I am Karachi” tour engaged with youth in volatile regions, promoting respect for diversity.
DISTURBING THE PEACE: New Film Reveals Hope for Israel/Palestine
Born into conflict, generations of Israeli and Palestinians have taken up arms against each other. But a new film reveals an incredible story of peace-building from the region. Disturbing the Peace follows former enemy combatants: Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters who have joined together to say “enough”.
They formed the bi-partisan group Combatants for Peace, and the film reveals their inspirational journey.
Disturbing the Peace, a film by Reconsider, has already won awards, and acclaim at its New York screening. A Los Angeles premier is set for later this week.
Director and Producer Stephen Apkon said the film is different to most Hollywood cinema because it doesn’t follow a traditional good guy/bad guy plot line.
“We like to see our lives in the way we see our movies, which is to clearly identify who’s the hero and who is the villain,” Mr Apkon told Peace News.
“The challenge of this movie was to make a movie in which there is no ‘villain’ if you will. If there were to be a ‘bad guy’ it would be the narrative itself that we get stuck in.”
Mr Apkon said the messages in the film have resonated with a far wider audience than just in the MENA region.
“You don’t have to look very far to realise we are living in an increasingly polarised world,” he said.
“What happens in that polarisation is the way we look to balance it, is the further somebody goes out on the extreme the further we go out on the opposite extreme. And we end hate with hate, conflict with conflict,” he said.
“What we’re talking about is how do we move toward each other? How do we hold multiple narratives at one time? By doing that with respect and honour for each of those experiences it allows for new narratives to emerge.”
For an EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW of the film click here.
LIFE AS A REFUGEE: Inside Ugandan Camps
Imagine if 1 million people were suddenly displaced because of a war. How would you house them?
This is the problem the world faces today from the 3-year-old civil war in South Sudan, but this is not just a statistic – it’s the reality faced by many individuals and families, whose lives have been turned upside down.
In September 2016, Peace News visited UNHCR refugee camps in Arua, Uganda, near the border of South Sudan, and spoke to people who had fled the fighting.
Manas Lokudu worked in Yei, selling mobile phones, before the violence in his town escalated
“The biggest panic came when my brother got shot,” Mr Lokudu said from Ocea/Rhino Camp.
“He and others were preparing a village bridge along South Sudan-DRC road, around Mitika area,” he said.
“There was a scuffle between the SPLA-IO and the SPLA around the area. But upon their return, the SPLA started shooting randomly at civilians. It is the government force (SPLA) that shot my brother, right at his house.
“At that moment I took him to town in Yei…there was no one in Yei in all clinics to attend to him! All doctors were scattered…everyone went to their villages, others had left for Uganda. I realised my brother’s condition was not good. I tried my best to get him out into Uganda.”
Mr Lokudu and his brother made it to Uganda, and are recovering, but they lost everything when they crossed the border.
“”When I came to Uganda I didn’t carry any money on me,” Mr Lokudu said.
“I didn’t even bring any item of my business. All that is left in the house. Not even any money that I had at home. The money that I had deposited in the bank is still there. There is no way I can go back to collect it. Here is the problem why I can’t go. You know, once you are out of [South] Sudan to another country, and you stay away for four or five days…upon return you are considered to be a rebel. Immediately you are picked up [by government security forces] to be killed or to be imprisoned, just like that!”
His story is like so many others, and while refugee camps offer some safety life there is still hard.
Mother-of-five Dusman Ronah left Yei with her children and said she is grateful to Uganda, and the UNHCR. Ms Ronah is in Ariwa village/Rhino Camp and said she is worried about her family’s future.
“In the level of education…I completed ordinary secondary level of education, since 2011, and the knowledge that I [have] is going,” Ms Ronah said.
“If they can at least bring something for us, who have gone a step forward, it would be better than us wasting our education for nothing” she said.
“Like for me, I want my children to go to school.”
Sitima from Ocea/Rhino Camp said water is a big issue for refugees in the camps.
“When you get here [to collect water] at 6 am, you wait long, and actually get to return at 8pm, but sometimes…at 9 pm,” she said.
The UNHCR, and its partners, told Peace News they are trying to find additional sources in the water-stressed area.
Juma Denis Daniel was a social worker in Yei before he fled, and he is worried about family and friends left behind.
“You don’t know what’s happening in your own country, about the network, and there are people there – there are a lot of people there – they are friends, they are people that you work with, and I still don’t know if they are dead or if they have taken refuge,” Mr Daniel said from Ariwa village/Rhino Camp.
Of 1 million refugees from South Sudan, 400,000 have fled to Uganda, and 56,000 are in the Rhino Settlement in Arua. Thirty-five thousand have arrived in the last 3 months.
Can Sport Help Build Peace?
With so much of the world tuning into the Olympics in Rio, we wanted to know, can sport be used to build peace?
The town of Pinga in the DRC has been the site of horrific violence, with rebel groups and government forces clashing there as part of the country’s ongoing civil war. So it’s no surprise that tension remains between the main groups in the small town in North Kivu.
When global organisation Search for Common Ground (SFCG) got to Pinga, the relationship between Nyanga and Hunde communities there was at breaking point.
“They were no longer talking to each other, they refused to speak to each other, go to the same central locations, community locations, they refused to have any sort of contact with each other,” SFCG sports organizer Rigobert Luhinzo told Peace News.
Opening a direct dialogue about the conflict wasn’t really an option for the ethnic groups in Pinga – so instead, SFCG a soccer match.
“So it was a first step toward bringing people together, to have some sort of communication, even though it wasn’t necessarily about conflict, it was about social cohesion – that was the initial communication and message.”
With teams made up of half of one group, and half of another, communities that are otherwise in conflict, can begin to communicate, rely on and work with each other in a very real and concrete example. Mr Luhinzo said this game, and sport in a wider sense, has a major role to play in de-escalating tension, and are an easy and inexpensive way of breaking down barriers.
“It’s probably helpful in any environment,” said SFCG DRC National Co-ordinator Kevin Osborne.
“But in environments that are in conflict, we find this to be one of the only way to get people to come together.”
Sport has been emerging as a powerful peace-building tool for some time, for example, did you know that a ping pong tournament in 1971 is credited with breaking the diplomatic ice between the United States and China, leading to the restoration of full diplomatic relations? But sport has really gained traction as a peace-building tool in the last few years.
At an International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said it was a powerful tool.
“Sport has become a world language, a common denominator that breaks down all the walls, all the barriers,” he said.
Africa on the Ball is another organisation that realizes the value of sport, and the ability it has to bring divided communities together. Co-founder Andrew Jenkin says he saw an incredible example of this through his work at a school in Tanzania. Social divides were very obvious there, especially between Asian and African students.
“I think that’s the really important thing, it doesn’t matter what background you’re from, social class, status within society, with football the rules are the same for each side and you’re working together on the same team,” Mr Jenkin said.
“I think that’s a really key message, and because anyone can play sport anywhere around the world it can be a really important mechanism for bringing people together.”
Reconciliation in Rwanda
When we hear about Rwanda we are often reminded of the horrific genocide that occurred there in 1994, claiming the lives of nearly 800,000 people.
But what we don’t hear about Rwanda is the incredible progress made along the path to reconciliation and recovery.
Since the genocide that saw the mass murder of the Tutsi population at the hands of a Hutu government, the country has been grappling with reconciliation. The ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) has instituted a broad social engineering project designed to “never again” allow the scourge of genocide to “take root in the hearts and minds” of Rwandans.
National and local courts (called Gacaca courts) held trails of those accused of genocide crimes and a National Unity and Reconciliation Commission was established in 1999. The commission oversees peace education, trauma counselling, research into causes of the conflict, and training of local leaders.
“I used to cry when I heard the stories, and I didn’t think it was possible to forgive the people who killed my family,” genocide survivor Marie Mukagasana told Trócaire.
“They talked to us and slowly we were able to stop crying, and talk about the past,” Ms Mukagasana said.
“We felt strong enough to get some training, and after the training things changed. When we met we started to talk, to say ‘hello, how are you?'”
One of the areas in which the reconciliation process has shown strength is in a gender-inclusive approach.
Rwanda is now one of the few countries in the world that meets the goal of having a 30 percent female quota in parliament. Nearly 64 percent of members of its lower house of Parliament are women, far exceeding countries like the USA and Australia.
But according to some observers, the Rwandan reconciliation presents difficulties as an essentially “top-down” approach. Rwanda’s self-stated success in reconciling Hutu and Tutsi communities results from a centralized approach, and victims reconcile in spaces shaped by an official narrative of history.
With this kind of program there isn’t much room for diversity – the concept of “one Rwanda” may overlook different accounts of the genocide. Academics like Susan Thomson warn that there needs to be a more individual, grass-roots approach.
“We have a situation in Rwanda where elites tend to put forward ideas that are quite at odds with how regular people live their lives, and this is not new perse under the RPF, it’s something that has deep historical roots,” Dr Thomson told Peace News.
“If I were to make a suggestion it would be to allow trust to emanate from the government for the people, in the hopes that overtime there would be space for healing, space for dialogue, space for conversation,” she said.
Cover Photo by Trócaire.
Why did Colombia Reject Peace Deal?
A historic peace agreement was reached this week between the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP, offering an end to the longest-running armed conflict in the Americas, but the accord was rejected by the Colombian people.
A national vote saw the peace agreement rejected by a narrow margin. The pre-count reported the “no” vote at 50.22 percent, ahead of the “yes” vote at 49.77, from 99 percent of the polling stations, according to Colombia’s election authority.
Voters turned to social media to explain their reasons for voting down the peace accord. Many argued that they supported peace in Colombia, but that the terms of the agreement were too lenient on the rebels involved. Voters like Jorge Eduardo Arango were angered by comments that Colombia had voted ‘against peace’.
“Saying that No vote is against peace is like saying that Si vote is against justice. Both inappropriate,” Mr Eduardo Arango said.
Another voter explained “We didn’t vote no to peace. If it were that simple, everyone would vote for yes. We voted no to corruption and injustice.”
Many also voiced their disappointment with the result. Bogotá resident and reporter Mayra Báez Jimeno tweeted: “I keep seeing the data of the vote from the towns that HAVE lived war. They are all up 80% yes. I feel like we failed them.”
The war between the Colombian government and the rebel group FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army or Fuerzas armadas revolucionarias de Colombia) has raged for 52 years, spanning several generations.
Approximately 16.9% of the population in Colombia are direct victims of the war, and between 1958 and 2013 an estimated 220,000 people died (177,307 civilians and 40,787 fighters). More than five million civilians were forced from their homes between 1985 and 2012 – the world’s second largest population of IDPs. The negotiations that eventually led to the peace agreement began in 2012, and took a pain-staking four years to complete.
The peace accord was signed on Monday, September 26th, in Cartagena, by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño (known as Timochenko). The success of the accord hinged on how the state choose to address the needs of people affected by the civil war, and the deal divided voters (only a 40 percent turnout) almost evenly. The ballot was heavily shaped by politics in the country. President Santos campaigned for the accord’s approval, while his main political rival, former president Álvaro Uribe, campaigned against it. Uribe, and other critics claim the deal favors FARC leaders, pointing to guerrilla warfare tactics FARC used in the conflict.
Chief negotiator for the Colombian government, Humberto de la Calle, said that the accord was the best possible, although it required compromise from all parties.
“Surely the accord we’ve achieved isn’t a perfect accord,” he said. “We all probably would have wanted something more. We here at the table would have wanted something more. But the accord achieved here is the viable accord, the best possible accord.”
Under the peace accord, the FARC would have transitioned to a political party, and be given a limited number of non-voting representatives in Congress. Rebel commanders would eventually be allowed to run for office (as full representatives) if they were cleared of any criminal charges and war crimes. The FARC promised to demobilize and disarm its 7,000 fighters, monitored by the United Nations, within 180 days. A smaller ELN rebel group is still active in the country, as are right-wing paramilitary groups.
The European Union had announced they would suspend the FARC from their list of terrorist organizations, and representatives from the US said the status of FARC would be reviewed by the US State Department.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Cartagena for the signing of the peace accord earlier in the week, and met with victims of the conflict. He said that Colombia had many challenges ahead, but that the peace accord marked the beginning of many opportunities.
“Peace is hard work,” he said. “Anybody can pick up a gun, blow things up, hurt other people, but it doesn’t take you anywhere. What life is really all about is trying to build community and trying to help make life better for everybody around you.”
“Think of the violence that has taken so many lives and held Colombia back from growing, developing, and becoming a country that lives in peace and stability every single day.”
What is Peace Journalism?
Have you noticed that news media often cover war and violence, but rarely peace and reconciliations?
“Very rarely do I see things which I think are balanced,” Peace Process Consultant Paul Clifford said in the film Peace Journalism in the Philippines.
“The media unfortunately, in many instances, I think have got sucked into this notion that it’s all about the war on terror,” he said.
But a new style of conflict reporting is emerging. Peace Journalism is a way of reporting war in a way that aims to balance sensationalist stories.
Dr Johan Galtung founded the field of Peace Studies, and has been working on Peace Journalism since 1960. It is now taught, and practiced, world-wide. He said Peace Journalism is a way of “counter-acting” mainstream media.
“Above all,” he told Peace News, “telling the positive stories.”
The field is about approaching war-reporting with peace in mind, according to leading figures like Dr Jake Lynch from the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
“There are many different ways of reporting conflicts,” Dr Lynch told WACC Global.
“What we say is that in some cases you can report them in such a way as to create opportunities for societies at large to consider and value non-violent responses to conflict.”
Dr Julia Hoffmann told UPeace that journalists do have an impact on conflict, and that cannot be ignored.
“Journalists are party to the conflicts they cover – whether they want to [be] or not,” she said.
Peace Journalism is not always easy. Dr Annabel McGoldrick, from the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, admitted it can time-consuming.
“Reaching people in remote areas and hearing what they have to say is, by definition difficult,” she said in her film with Dr Lynch, Peace Journalism in the Philippines.
“It can’t be done every time something happens.”
But it is possible.
Dr Steven Youngblood, director of the Center for Global Peace Journalism, said that the style of reporting isn’t just relevant to reporting on direct violence, and can be applied to any form of conflict. Peace Journalism can even be used to cover domestic politics, including elections.
His advice for applying Peace Journalism closer to home?
“Don’t just report about polls and surveys – and this is a big problem with American media, who particularly in this election cycle (with Donald Trump) have become obsessed with polls and so on,” he said.
“We wouldn’t suggest that you don’t report polls and surveys, but that when you over-report them as a consequence you end up under-reporting issues that really matter to the public.”
Peace Journalism means less sensation, and more context, so citizens can understand the bigger picture and make informed decisions.
Can Theater Help Resolve Conflict?
While much of the world’s focus on conflict is on the most violent stages and the immediate peace negotiations necessary to stop war, there is very little attention paid to preventing violent conflicts before they start and making sure conflicts that have ended do not start again.
One powerful way peace-builders are promoting non-violence and re-uniting divided groups is through theater.
In South Sudan, international organisation Search for Common Ground is using participatory theater to diffuse tensions between groups in refugee camps.
The beauty of participatory theater is that the issues dealt with come from the communities watching, and are very relevant for the audience.
“In this type of theater you speak to audiences and learn about the problems that exist within a community,” said Search for Common Ground actor Micheal Franco Ladu Wani.
“Then you put it into a form of drama and present it as a subject to the audience, allowing them to provide solutions, instead of bringing your own solutions to them,” he said.
In Yemen, theater has been a useful tool on the ground, despite horrific conditions. Entrenched violence, and the direct impact on children in particular, is a major concern in Yemen, with one English teacher from Sana’a saying that the “school environment and community as a whole are overwhelmed with violence”.
However puppet shows and games have proven to be effective in addressing the social norms of violence in schools, and encourage children to look for non-violent solutions in their everyday encounters.
“We are working in education, working with community dialogue, working with awareness raising and on child protection, working with youth, trying to maintain that social cohesion, trying to focus people’s energy at a local level, at a very local level,” said Search for Common Ground country director Shoqi A. Maktary.
“In such an environment, where people hear the aeroplanes circling around their heads, and they still go to school, they still have fun in the school and learn something – that means a lot,” he said.
Footage courtesy of Search for Common Ground.
Immigration: What Do We Get Wrong?
Britain’s vote to leave the EU inflamed the global debate about immigration and refugees. The aftermath of Brexit saw an outburst of anti-immigration sentiment, with reports of hate crime in the UK increasing 57%.
This fear, and often hatred, of immigrants is not unique to the UK. In Australia violence has broken out between anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters and in the US, Austria, and a number of other countries, anti-immigration rhetoric has propelled political leaders and parties.
However, research shows that many of the reasons cited by opponents to immigration are often misguided. Leading UK researcher Bobby Duffy discovered that when it comes to immigration – we often get our facts wrong.
His studies show that immigration numbers are half of what people believe they actually are, and that our public perception of immigrants as mainly refugees and asylum seekers is incorrect – it’s actually a small percentage of immigrants.
“It’s quite common that people think immigration is double the scale that it actually is,” Mr Duffy said. “That’s not just a British phenomenon, you see the same thing in most developed Western countries, and lots of other countries too as people overestimate the proportions of the population that they make up.”
Other mis-perceptions include the kind of immigrants that make up the population – it’s not all refugees and asylum seekers.
“People think that is the most common, and the largest proportion of immigration, when actually it’s the smallest, compared to people who immigrate for work or study or for family.”
Yet another misunderstanding is what immigrants bring to an economy. Anti-immigration supports often cite job competition, but it’s not the full picture. “At some level, immigrants will increase job competition in the economy and in other parts of the economy they will be creating jobs,” Mr Duffy said. “The reality, from an economic perspective, is that immigration probably is a net benefit, almost certainly a net benefit to the economy at an aggregate level.”
And fears that immigrants bring more crime? It turns out that’s untrue too. Dr Walter Ewing from the American Immigration Council says immigrants are actually less likely to be criminals than native-born citizens. He says criminal accusations of immigrants are sadly, not a new thing for America.
“Unfortunately, this is a hundred year old tendency to demonize and scape-goat immigrants for the nation’s problems,” Dr Ewing said. “People were saying this about Italian immigrants when they first arrived, and then you find the exact same rhetoric being used about Mexican immigrants today.”
“I actually went and looked at some of the speeches from the 1890’s in Congress about the Italians coming in – the fear was that they were criminals, that they would never learn English, that they would steal our jobs…You could just substitute in Mexican or Salvadorian and it’s the exact same rhetoric.”
But changing people’s views of immigration is not just about clearing up the facts, researchers warn it’s a much more emotional, and local, response to that.
“It’s much easier to demonize someone you’ve never talked to, or about whose lives you don’t know. So I think it’s just as important to spread the human side of the immigrant experience, as well as the facts and figures.”
Hope may also lie with a younger generation.
“Looking to the future, it’s a very different view among millennials, on average,” Mr Duffy said. “We have half the levels of concern about immigration among millennials in Britain, twice the level of trust in the European Union, twice the likelihood to vote to remain in the European Union, it’s just a much more open, and international, outlook among that generation.”
“It seems from the data that we have a cohort coming through that will be, on balance, more open – less worried about diversity, less worried about the threats of diversity, than the current balance of the population.”
Storytelling: Peace-building or Problematic?
In 2012, the world learned about Joseph Kony and the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, through the Kony 2012 campaign. But many years before this Betty Bigombe showed incredible bravery when she ventured into the jungle to negotiate with the group.
It was 1992, and she was a government minister in Uganda, negotiating with warlords known for their violent guerrilla tactics and child abductions. Realizing the value of meeting face-to-face, Ms Bigombe was able to open up a dialogue with the rebels and she went on to become a lead negotiator in Uganda’s ongoing peace process.
“I made up my mind, I was going to do everything possible, to reach out to the war lords, and talk to them,” Ms Bigombe told the United States Institute of Peace.
“To talk them into a peaceful solution,” she said. “I was determined, because I felt that if meeting with the rebels could bring peace – could save lives – it was worthwhile making the commitment.”
Many hold up Ms Bigombe’s success getting the rebels to the negotiating table as an example of the power of words in war, and Tara Sonenshine from George Washington University believes that Ms Bigombe’s storytelling skills were an important mechanism to engage with the rebels.
“Ultimately she was able to knock down walls and ultimately reach consensus with very violent people,” Ms Sonenshine said.
Ms Sonenshine argues that stories are an integral part of any approach to peace-building. “I think that without a story, you don’t have any grasp of the human dimension of war and peace,” she said.
Individuals sharing their experiences of war can be a useful way for communities to begin the healing process post-conflict. If people get an opportunity to tell their story to those who were their enemies in war, it can also be a key way to bring about reconciliation.
By discussing what happened, trying to view events from the other side’s perspective, and ideally creating a common narrative, the chances of past grievances fuelling future violence can be reduced.
“It’s a way for community grief, community cleansing, for community expulsion of hatred, and for confrontation and moving forward in building a post-conflict society,” Ms Sonenshine said.
But storytelling as a peace-building tool has drawn criticism, mainly over concerns for whose story is being told and remembered, and whose is absent. Ms Sonenshine says this is an important aspect to be wary of, but that is doesn’t negate the benefit.
“The only down-side, I think, is when stories themselves are not inclusive of all dimensions of a community,” she said. “So I think we have to be open to telling not just two sides of the story, but the many sides of a story. And the down-side is that in missing a piece we may miss the whole, but that’s not a reason not to tell the story, it’s more encouragement to tell all the stories.”
Interview with Betty Bigombe conducted by USIP
Cover photo: Christian Katsuva Kamate/ICRC
10 Young Leaders Building Peace
So often we see angry young people in conflict, here are 10 who are peace-building:
Emma Watson, UK
Actress Emma Watson became a UN Ambassador for Goodwill at the age of 24. When her speech for the HeforShe campaign went viral her passion for women’s rights resonated with advocates around the world.
Victor Ochan, Uganda
Victor grew up surrounded by conflict in the Lira district in northern Uganda, but he chose to be a peace activist. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and is a UN Global Goals Ambassador. His organization, the African Youth Initiative Network (Ayinet), helps thousands of victims of the Ugandan civil war get treatment and overcome the traumas of the war.
Nino Nanitashvili, Georgia
Nino has dedicated her career to peacebuilding and development through evolving technologies. She founded the first technology-oriented professional community in Georgia and directs a project that brings Georgian and Abkhazian youth together through online games.
Chris Eigeland, Australia
Chris is the Australian youth representative to the UN, founder of The Schoolbag initiative, and director of Global Voices – a not-for-profit providing pathways for young Australians to contribute to international diplomacy.
Omang Agarwal, India
Omang is the Asia Representative for the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network. He founded Youth for Peace International and is a big believer in peace through education.
Khalida Brohi, Pakistan
Khalida is the founder of Sughar Women (now Sughar Empowerment Foundation), a nonprofit empowering women in 23 villages across Pakistan. Through a six-month course with Sughar, women gain business skills and graduates get small loans to start businesses and help connecting to markets.
Ahmad Shakib Mohsanyar, Afghanistan
Ahmad wants to counter the narrative that youth need to leave Afghanistan to improve their lives. He founded a social media campaign titled “Afghanistan Needs You”, which strives to make Afghanistan a better place for young people.
Esra’a Al Shafei, Bahrain
Esra’a is an advocate for freedom of speech and civil rights. She founded Mideast Youth, an online forum that amplifies the voices of dissent in the Middle East and North Africa, to promote social justice.
Basel Almadhoun, Palestinian Territories
Basel believes debates can change people’s ways of thinking, so he organises debates in Gaza. He received wide-spread media attention for his work organizing TEDx talks in Gaza to bring dialogue to a wider audience.
Malala Yousafzai and Shiza Shahid, Pakistan
You have no doubt heard of Malala, the young woman shot by the Taliban who went on to found The Malala Fund, but you also need to know about the fund’s co-founder and CEO Shiza. She has been beside Malala through it all, and is a driving force behind the fund’s good works. All around the world, youth like these are working for peace right now to build a better future. Don’t give up on them.
Can Video Games Build Peace?
We know that video games are great entertainment…but can they also help build peace?
Today, forty-four percent of the world’s Internet population play games online, and the industry is experiencing rapid growth in many conflict zones around the world.
In the Middle East, where many of the world’s conflicts are centred, sixty-five percent of mobile Internet users have games on their devices, making it the game industry’s fastest growing region.
Ever played PeaceMaker? In this exciting game, players become the head-of-state in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to try to achieve a resolution. We spoke with Eric Brown from Impact Games (the company behind PeaceMaker) and he said gaming provides many benefits to the peace-building community.
“One story from very early on,” Eric said, “was when we had one group playing it and when they started having a discussion about the real issues they were saying things like ‘Well, when I was the Palestinian president, this is what I did’ and things like that.”
“So, in terms of all those things people like to talk about in games – empowering and making them feel like they are learning through experience, and having that opportunity to explore – they were all really good things to see,” he said.
Also working across conflict divides is Games for Peace, which brings Jewish and Arab youth in Israel together to interact in digital spaces like Minecraft and Team Fortress 2.
Peace Park is another skill-building game where players have to restore peace in a communal park by understanding visitors’ interests. The designers behind this game said they were wary of trying to balance overall goals with a genuinely interesting game.
Nino Nanitashvili from Elva Community Engagement told us that during the development of Peace Park, they actively involved the gaming community to help us design the levels.
Other examples in this emerging space are Peace Superheroes and Search for Common Ground’s Battle for Humanity, which is soon to be released. These games aim to challenge enemy images, shift audience attitudes and encourage positive social behaviours such as civic engagement, conflict management, and tolerance.
Op-ed: Humanitarians and Civilians at Risk: Why Peacebuilders and the World Should Care
Op-ed: Melanie Greenberg is the CEO and President of Alliance for Peacebuilding.
Arguing that the world is currently witnessing the highest level of human suffering since the Second World War, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon convened the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul on May 23 in order to take action. Participants from 173 Member States, including 55 Heads of State and Government, pledged to undertake concrete steps to prevent conflict and enhance the protection of civilians in armed conflict. According to a robust body of International Humanitarian Law, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977, civilians and noncombatants are to be protected, and the means and methods of warfare restricted. These are bedrock principles of international law, and are considered the most sacrosanct rules protecting innocent civilians during times of war.
The Summit saw a renewed commitment to these principles of International Humanitarian Law, with promises to prevent atrocities, hold violators accountable, assure access for aid to those in need, and incorporate locals, women and youth into local development, outreach and aid projects.
While these commitments provide momentum for positive change, it is still a blatant fact that “countless examples of violations,” remain, according to the ICRC. Military forces in a range of current conflicts have displayed a callous disregard for International Humanitarian Law, increasingly making civilians illegal targets in a broad range of settings – from bombing hospitals, to using illegal weapons like cluster bombs on civilians, and killing aid workers. In Syria, civilians have been routinely targeted, as exemplified by the recent bombing of a hospital in Aleppo that killed 27 people, including children and doctors. According to the Aid Workers Security Database, Afghanistan is the most dangerous place in the world for NGOs, with aid workers and journalists being killed at an alarming rate, and impunity for the killers. The US and other government forces have repeatedly– mistakenly or intentionally – attacked humanitarian sites; examples include the US bombing of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, in October 2015 and the Israeli bombing of UNRWA shelters in Gaza.
By failing to denounce and prevent these acts, world leaders send the message that this violence against humanitarian workers and civilians is acceptable. The World Humanitarian Summit provided an important opportunity for governments to rededicate themselves to the norms of civilian protection and International Humanitarian Law. Though there is still a lack of official censure for clear violations of International Humanitarian Law, this Summit made possible a more hopeful vision for civilian protection on a greater scale moving forward. At the Summit, world leaders addressed war’s toll on civilians and humanitarian workers. The Summit concluded with over 1,500 commitments, ranging from a Grand Bargain about localizing aid funding to increasing the quality of education and helping the most at-risk states handle future development consequences of climate change. The Alliance for Peacebuilding calls on the US and all governments to recognize protecting civilians and aid workers as a priority now and live up to their commitments. The current level of human suffering requires us to live up to the standards that the world put in place after WWII when we said, “never again.” These are not quaint relics of a simpler time – these laws are powerful forces for stopping cycles of violence, and preventing untold misery for innocent civilians. We must not only denounce violations of humanitarian law, but just as importantly, the US should take measures to ensure respect for International Humanitarian Law, including teaching these principles to our armed forces, publicizing the importance of these laws for the general public, and enacting and enforcing clear and effective punishment for violations. If we let these laws continue to wither, they will become obsolete and useless. We must hold officials and organizations accountable for the commitments they made at the Summit, lest they fade into mere rhetoric.
As peacebuilders, we need to substantively champion International Humanitarian Law, making the case that by ignoring these laws, we not only extend human suffering to levels unseen since WWII, but we also ensure continuing cycles of violence.
Cover Photo: Arnold Felfer/UN
Is the World Becoming More Dangerous?
Rising death tolls in Syria, brutal massacres in Sudan, horrific sexual violence in the DRC, these are all news headlines we are familiar with. Reports from conflict zones paint a grim picture and you could be forgiven for thinking that our world is a worse place to live in than ever before. But is the world really become more dangerous and deadly?
The truth is no, it’s not.
Professor Joshua Goldstein wrote the book Winning the War on War, and he believes peace in the 21st century is possible.
“If you look at what’s happened to war, just over the course of my lifetime, it’s been dramatic that we have fewer wars, smaller wars and we have better tools for dealing with conflicts without resort to war,” Professor Goldstein said.
“We have made a lot of progress already, and I am not one to say ‘this is my plan for world peace’, and, ‘everybody’s going to be in harmony with each other and all our problems will disappear’, but I am one to say that we have made a lot of progress in managing conflicts, learning how to reduce the size, and number, and location and spread of wars,” he explained. “If we keep that going, if we learn what’s working, we could reduce that close to zero. Maybe we will never have 100% peaceful world, but we could get to 95%, 98% – that would be great.”
Professor Steven Pinker has also been following the trends and he agrees that we are making progress. His research shows that while the world has had rough few recent years, overall battle-related deaths in armed conflicts are trending downwards. “Not only have the numbers come way, way down, since the 1990s, but whole categories of war seem to be either gone or obsolescent. Wars between two great powers, wars between rich countries, wars in Western Europe – the kind of wars that were omnipresent through human history for hundreds and hundreds of years, all of a sudden went to zero.” So, what has to continue to keep war on the decline? Researchers suggest several key factors:
- Continue an increase in human security (that means reducing poverty and supporting development)
- Increasing women’s engagement in economic and political life internationally, and
- Confronting beliefs that legitimize violence as a tool of conflict resolution
Professor Pinker says this last factor is key. “The ideal that human flourishing is the greatest good has to crowd out other ideologies,” he said. “Religious ideologies, nationalist ideologies, dreams of national or ethnic glory, rectifying past injustices, all the kinds of motives that have lead countries to expand their territory, expand their ideology and to justify it by thinking ‘well, this is more important than whether people get killed in their 20s or live to a ripe old age’.” Interviews: Courtesy of One Earth Future
8-year-old Shares War Horror with Orlando Bloom
In 2014 war broke out in the Ukraine, resulting in nearly 8,000 deaths so far, and 2.5 million people displaced. Eight-year-old Maxim lost his father to sniper fire in the war-torn region of eastern Ukraine. His family was forced to flee their home in Luhansk, and move to Slovyansk two years ago.
When actor Orlando Bloom visited the region recently as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, Maxim’s mother told him that her son is still scared of loud noises, and has to go to therapy.
“When the conflict was at its peak. We were hiding and of course my son saw and heard everything as the artillery was right near our house,” she said. “When we came here for a long time he was afraid of thunder, elevators or a trolly bus.”
Maxim is one of 300,000 children who are in immediate need of assistance to continue their education in the region. Since the conflict broke out more than 2 years ago, more than 230,000 children have been forced from their homes and one in five schools in the region have been damaged or destroyed. Bloom visited classrooms hit by shells just three kilometers from the front-line of the conflict to raise awareness of the global education crisis facing children in emergencies like this one.
New findings show that nearly a quarter of the world’s school-aged children – 462 million – now live in countries affected by crisis. In Syria more than 6000 schools are out of use, in North-East Nigeria and Cameroon more than 1,800 schools have been shut due to the crisis there and in the Central African Republic a quarter of schools are not functioning. UNICEF have launched a new program called Education Cannot Wait, to provide continuing education for children like Maxim in emergency situations.
“Education changes lives in emergencies,” said Josephine Bourne, UNICEF’s Global Chief of Education. “Going to school keeps children safe from abuses like trafficking and recruitment into armed groups and is a vital investment in children’s futures and in the future of their communities,” he said. “Education is providing children in eastern Ukraine with the building blocks to rebuild their lives in a safe and supportive environment.”
Cover Photo © UNICEF/Georgiev
Can Iraq Reconcile?: Lessons from a Rooftop Classroom
In a crowded Baghdad neighborhood, one Iraqi teacher is providing free education for families fleeing conflict.
Qussay Kamel is teaching free lessons for families who have fled ISIS-controlled areas. Public schools won’t take students who have relocated to the district, to discourage resettlement.
More than 25 students now attend and because classes have no indoor space, Mr Kamel teaches on rooftops.
“”It’s the only thing I can offer, to help children, the children of poor families, the children of war victims, the children of immigrants, and fleeing families who cannot afford a private teacher for their own children,” Mr Kamel told Peace News.
“Or those whose parents have had basically no education at all – their parents cannot help them with mathematics or English,” he said.
Despite Qussay being Shi’ite, in an increasingly sectarian country, he doesn’t discriminate, and most of his students are Sunni.
“He is helping us with reading, comprehension, writing, and even manners – how to behave in the presence of others. He always reminds us that we are just like his own children,” Retaj, a student, said.
“He is teaching us mathematics – in a mathematics examination I got 82 of 100. My family are grateful to him,” said Aysha, another student.
“He is doing his best. He helped us avoid the extra cost of private teachers – as a family who has fled we cannot afford this. Also, he pays attention to the children as if they were his own,” said Amal, a mother of one of the students.
This Week in Peace #84: May 30
This week, will Trump’s new ceasefire proposal for Gaza work? Russia proposes new Ukraine peace talks amidst ongoing tensions. Conflict returns to South Sudan, chipping away at fragile peace.
Will Trump’s New Ceasefire Proposal for Gaza Work?
On May 28, Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, announced plans to disseminate the new term sheet soon, saying he had “very good feelings about” achieving both a temporary ceasefire and a lasting, peaceful resolution to the conflict. On May 30, Associated Press reported that Witkoff had not yet publicized this proposal, however, Israel had accepted it. Meanwhile, the outlet reported that Hamas officials said they wanted to study the proposal more closely before giving a formal answer.
A Hamas official and an Egyptian official anonymously told AP that the ceasefire calls for a 60-day pause in fighting, guarantees of serious negotiations leading to a long-term truce, and assurances that Israel will not resume hostilities after the release of hostages, as it did in March. Israeli forces would return to the positions they held during the ceasefire which ended that month. The ceasefire would also include the exchange of 10 living hostages for 1,100 Palestinian prisoners, and hundreds of food and aid trucks would be allowed to enter Gaza.
Last week, ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas resumed in Doha on May 17. Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters that both sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.” However, Israel intensified its military operations in Gaza, launching Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which involves a ground incursion. The operation killed at least 160 people on March 17. ABC News’ journalist Diaa Ostaz, reporting from Khan Younis, said the situation is “getting worse not day by day, but hour by hour.” To read last week’s report on the situation, click here.
Ever since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people, the humanitarian situation has continued to deteriorate for Palestinians in Gaza. Over 50,000 Palestinians are reported to have reported killed. Meanwhile, Israel is still holding 58 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be alive, AP reports.
Russia Proposes New Ukraine Peace Talks Amidst Ongoing Tensions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Russia wants the next round of direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on June 2, aiming for a sustainable peace settlement. While Ukraine has not yet responded, the proposal comes as U.S. President Donald Trump expressed concerns over potential delays in negotiations.
The previous meeting in Istanbul on May 16 saw Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov engage with Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky. This meeting marked the first direct contact between the two countries in over three years since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Although the officials did not reach an agreement, the meeting led both sides to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each.
Conflict Returns to South Sudan, Chipping Away at Fragile Peace
Conflict is returning to South Sudan, chipping away at the country’s fragile peace. Amnesty International on May 28 reported that violence had killed 180 people between March and mid-April amid deepening divisions between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar. Amnesty called for the UN Security Council to renew its arms embargo on the country, despite African members of the Council– including Sierra Leone, Somalia and Algeria – calling to lift it.
Amnesty’s call comes after last week, The New Humanitarian reported that the government had launched barrel bombs at civilians in Nasir and surrounding areas, who were taking refuge in makeshift shelters. This was after the armed group known as the White Army overran a military base. Citizens in South Sudan and those who had fled to Ethiopia told the outlet that the national army, currently backed by Ugandan forces, had used incendiary weapons.
South Sudan experienced a civil war in 2013 between First Vice President Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir. Kiir accused Machar of plotting against him, and Machar was removed as vice president. This led to brutal violence between armed groups supporting both figures. In 2018, a peace deal was agreed upon, however, many issues remain. Although the agreement ended a five-year civil war that killed over 400,000 people, talks stalled after Kiir sacked the former government delegation to the talks.
Keywords: Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Ukraine, Russia, South Sudan, peace, conflict, conflict resolution
Three Ways Positive Dialogue Builds Peace After Conflict in Liberia and Beyond
In the wake of violence, peace doesn’t emerge overnight—in many conflict-prone countries, tensions persist long after formal violence ends. Positive dialogue is critical at these times, as it offers numerous research-backed benefits. However, it is an often overlooked peacebuilding tool. In my research on peacebuilding in Liberia—a country recovering from two major civil wars—I have seen how ordinary people use dialogue to contribute to reconciliation, inclusion, and local agency in peacebuilding. This article focuses on three powerful ways in which positive dialogue fosters peace in fragile and divided societies.
1. Dialogue Rebuilds Trust and Humanizes the ‘Other’
After violent conflict, groups often view each other with suspicion or dehumanization. In Liberia, for example, ex-combatants and former youth militia members—many of whom became commercial motorcycle riders known as ‘pen-pen riders’—were widely viewed as aggressive and dangerous. They were stigmatized and often pushed to society’s margins.
However, through intentional community dialogue and organizing, pen-pen riders began to transform public perceptions. Grassroots organizations began to form—involving the riders both as group members and dialogue participants—and acknowledged their value in getting information to people quickly when it was needed most. They led peaceful election campaigns, distributed Ebola prevention education, and spread peaceful messages on the radio and at community events. Perceptions of pen-pen riders started to shift from “violent outgroup” to “partner in peace”—not only in the eyes of community members but in the riders themselves.
As one rider reflected, “I got to understand the importance of my life. So the only way you can enjoy life is peace.”
By creating space for people to speak—and be heard—dialogue shifted the narrative here. It reminded communities that those members who were once labeled as “threats” were also humans, neighbors, survivors, and peacebuilders.
The same principle applies globally. In the United States, hates crimes have been on the rise in recent years, showing how dehumanization can fester in silence. Dialogue, in contrast, reclaims shared humanity and challenges hateful narratives.
2. Dialogue Builds Shared Identity in Times of Crisis
When crisis happen, societies can either come together or fracture even further. In Liberia, the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic threatened to destabilize already fragile communities. Misinformation, fear, and government mistrust were rampant.
But dialogue made a difference. Local citizens, working with community partners, launched a grassroots awareness campaign. Pen-pen riders and others volunteered to disseminate public health messages and often tailored their communication to reflect local realities. In doing so, they fostered an unexpected solidarity among diverse groups of people.
In my research, we observed a dramatic shift in language, from “them” versus “us” to “we” and “our.” Through engaging in often-difficult dialogue, one member of a grassroots organization said it was because of their group “that we are working together…Why should we have division among ourselves?…The group really brought us together and made differences go away, definitely.”
This collective identity helped bridge multiple divides. However, the work was not easy or finished. Even as unity emerged, some groups—such as Ebola survivors and pen-pen riders—continued to face stigma. Dialogue is not an instant solution, but it is an essential foundation for collective healing and peace.
Likewise, in the United States, crises like the rise in school shootings have left communities reeling. Yet in the aftermath, dialogue circles, interfaith gatherings, and youth forums have offered hope for rebuilding connection amid trauma.
3. Dialogue Enables Community-Led Peacebuilding
All too often, peacebuilding is top-down, driven by donors or foreign governments rather than local communities. However, sustainable peace is best built from the ground up. In my work, I have witnessed how relationally attentive dialogue—listening across difference and organizing for well-being—equips ordinary people to shape their own sustainable peace.
In advance of Liberia’s 2017 elections, local citizens organized a nonviolent voter education campaign. They engaged in multiple activities, including football matches, peace marches, radio talk shows, and town hall meetings. These community-driven efforts were not just symbolic, but they actively resisted attempts by political actors to inflame tensions.
This kind of dialogue-driven organizing recognizes the peace is not just a destination, but rather a daily practice. As my co-author and I wrote, “peace is constituted through the processes and act of organizing for well-being.” It is not just about preventing violence—it’s about building systems of care, inclusion, and dignity.
Today, the need for local empowerment remains urgent. Recent reports from Liberia document ongoing gender-based violence and election-related tensions. In the United States, hate speech and political polarization continue to erode trust in institutions and neighbors alike. Supporting locally rooted dialogue efforts, especially those that amplify marginalized voices, can offer a pathway forward.
Looking Ahead
Peacebuilding through dialogue is not easy. It requires patience, humility, and a willingness to listen across deep divides. But as these examples from Liberia shows, it is possible and powerful.
Governments, NGOs, and international donors must recognize and continue to support these community-led efforts. Rather than bringing in solutions, they should invest in dialogue infrastructure, such as local media, town hall meetings, youth initiatives, and grassroots coalitions. Every word exchanged in empathy and understanding is a step toward peace.
Keywords: Liberia, pen-pen riders, dialogue, positive dialogue, peace, conflict, conflict resolution
In the Llanos Orientales, Seduction is Another Weapon of War
By Lorena Andrade, a member of the Mi Historia journalism project, originally published on Global Voices.
In 2018, my life changed in ways I could never have imagined. I grew up in the Meta district in Colombia, where the law is just a suggestion and poverty is a given. There, kids and teenagers, girls and boys alike, are easy prey for the armed groups, especially for dissident wings of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).
Since forever, football has been my safe space. Every evening, after school, I’d run to the pitch with my friends and we’d train until it was too dark to see. It was at one of these training sessions that I met David. He was new at school, a 17-year old kid who’d joined to finish ninth grade. I liked him right from the start; we talked a lot, and he’d always be waiting for me at the end of training. Little by little, he worked his way into my confidence and, ultimately, into my heart. We started going out and, for six months, I thought I’d found my special someone.
But one day, after training, reality hit me like someone kicking the ball in my face. We were alone, and out of nowhere, his manner changed completely. He grabbed me roughly and told me I had to go with him. My heart stopped for a second. I tried to work out what was happening, but I was paralyzed with fear. I told him, no, I couldn’t go with him. That was when he confessed that if I didn’t go with him to join the guerrillas, they would kill him. In that moment, I realised it had all been a trap. The whole time we’d been dating, David’s real intentions had been to recruit me as a guerrilla. He’d used seduction and emotional manipulation as his weapons.
In Colombia, armed groups have always used seduction as a recruitment technique. But forcing young men to recruit even younger girls is something new in Colombia’s Llanos Orientales, our western plains.
As dissident factions of the FARC and other armed groups look to expand and fill the vacuum left by recent demobilizations, they take advantage of our vulnerability. They promise protection, safety, and a sense of belonging that so many of us lack at home. Our teachers warn us about their methods, and I myself knew stories about other youngsters who’d fallen into this trap. But I never thought it could happen to me.
I was lucky. That day, my brother saw us fighting in the street and ran to my rescue. I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t been there. Perhaps I wouldn’t be here to tell my story. Now, I still play football, but it’s not the same anymore. Something inside me broke that day. Perhaps it was the loss of innocence, the feeling of not being safe anymore, or simply no longer just being able to enjoy the pure happiness of running after a ball.
According to the Commission for the Discovery of Truth (Comisión para el Esclarecimiento de la Verdad) and the Study of the Characteristics of Disenfranchised youth [Estudio de caracterización de la niñez desvinculada (2013–2022)], published jointly by UNICEF and the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar), the victims of forced recruitment tend to come from impoverished, rural social backgrounds. Emotional manipulation is a systematic and well-established recruitment technique used by armed groups against these youngsters, and it is often teenagers, often girls, particularly those who have suffered mistreatment or abuse in their own families, who are most vulnerable to their emotional blackmail.
My story is one of many. Here in the Llanos Orientales, the promise of a better life or just a hot meal can be enough to tempt some young people into joining the armed groups. Some are kidnapped, others are blackmailed, and some are offered bribes. Methods vary, but the result is the same: we lose our childhoods and our futures.
Today, I keep fighting both on the football pitch and in life. Every day I try to get back some of what I lost, and, at the same time, to be a voice for those who can’t tell their stories. Because in all this darkness, we need to remember there is still hope, and that together, we can change our destiny.
Keywords: Colombia, seduction, youth, grooming, trafficking, armed groups, armed recruitment, child soldiers, forced recruitment, FARC, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, conflict, conflict resolution, peace, relationships, teens, teenagers
The Humanitarian–Development–Peace Nexus in Colombia’s PDET Regions
As a result of Colombia’s 2016 Peace Agreement with one of the longest-standing guerrilla groups in the world, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the government launched the Programs for Development with a Territorial Focus (PDETs) to address the country’s most conflict-affected and institutionally fragile regions. With a 15-year budget of 25 billion USD, these programs target 170 municipalities grouped into 16 subregions (map 1). They aim to reduce violence, alleviate humanitarian issues, solve structural matters that have made the conflict persist, and promote development. These objectives align with what is known internationally as the Humanitarian–Development–Peace (H–D–P) Triple Nexus. This article summarizes a recent study that evaluates to what extent the PDETs have advanced those goals, drawing on both quantitative indicators and people’s perceptions in the territories (Rettberg & Dupont 2025).
Map 1. PDET subregions and municipalities (Rettberg & Dupont 2025)
Internationally, the Triple Nexus emerged after the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit as a policy approach to address complex crises holistically. Colombia has had a rich and diverse range of research on the relationship between armed conflict, peacebuilding, institutional presence, development, humanitarian assistance, and security (Rettberg 2012; Betancur and Rettberg 2023). Since the 1980s, successive governments have launched initiatives that fused state building, security, and development, from the National Rehabilitation Plan from 1982 to 1986, Plan Colombia from 1998 to 2002, to the Democratic Security Consolidation Policy from 2006 to 2010 (González 2003; Romero 2021). The PDETs build on this history but emphasize participatory planning (Figure 1). Over 32,000 locally proposed initiatives were compiled into Action Plans for Regional Transformation (PATR), designed to ensure community ownership. While praised as an innovative model, questions remain about whether implementation has lived up to this promise.
Figure 1. Implementation Framework of the PDETs (Rettberg & Dupont 2025)
Investment, Security, and Perceptions
Findings from public investment records show that while funding for PDET municipalities steadily increased—peaking in 2021—it has largely prioritized infrastructure over community-identified needs such as education and economic reactivation. The top sectors include transportation (27%), mining and energy (13%), and rural development. Although private investment has also risen, with more businesses forming in PDET areas, the COVID-19 Pandemic and bureaucratic barriers have hindered long-term growth. More concerningly, the security situation remains fragile. Homicide rates in PDET regions have declined slightly but not as quickly as the national average, and forced displacement has increased. Social leader assassinations grew significantly, by over 40% in PDET areas from 2019 to 2021, and the regions continued to host 80% of the country’s illicit coca cultivation.
Despite ongoing challenges, citizen perceptions from the UNDP’s Escuchar a la Paz survey—conducted in 2019 and 2021 across 72 PDET municipalities—show a rise in overall satisfaction with the Peace Agreement, increasing from 36% in 2019 to 48% in 2021 (Weintraub et al. 2021). However, perceptions of security declined during that time, and positive evaluations of local development projects also fell. Our statistical analysis using logistic regression models shows that satisfaction is significantly associated with perceived improvements in security and the arrival of public goods, as well as lower levels of victimization risk. Notably, while investment initially (2019) did not correlate with satisfaction, by 2021, it had become a significant factor, suggesting that perceptions may catch up to reality as projects are implemented.
Subnational differences were also particularly significant. For instance, over 50% of residents in Macarena–Guaviare reported improved public goods, while only 12% did in the Middle Pacific and Alto Patía–Norte del Cauca regions. Regions with increased violence, like Catatumbo and the Pacific border, also saw declines in satisfaction. These disparities point to uneven state capacity, varying levels of administrative support, and corruption. Civil society organizations and the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia (Procuraduría General de la Nación), among others, have flagged irregularities in PDET contracting processes and the misuse of funds. Moreover, while the PDETs were designed to foster community ownership, implementation often failed to align with community-generated priorities. Legal limits on budget flexibility, political interference, and technical capacity gaps diluted participation. As others have noted, such gaps between planning and delivery can erode local trust (Mac Ginty & Richmond 2013; Ramírez 2021).
Implications
Our research confirms the interdependence of humanitarian relief, development, and peace in Colombia’s most vulnerable regions. The Triple Nexus is not just a theoretical model, it also plays out in practice. People who feel safer and see tangible improvements in their communities are more likely to support the peace process. Yet the promise of territorial peace remains unevenly fulfilled. The experience of the PDETs underscores the importance of adaptive localization (Koff & Masujima in press), ensuring not only participation but meaningful influence of communities over project design and delivery. Without such alignment, satisfaction will remain limited, and peace itself fragile.
A deeper understanding of subnational dynamics and political variation across PDET regions is also needed. More comparative research is needed to illuminate the barriers and opportunities for peacebuilding from below and the specificities of each case. As Colombia continues its long path toward reconciliation, the lessons of the PDETs, both their promise and their limits, offer critical insights for policymakers, practitioners, and citizens alike who remain committed to building peace through development, security, and well-being.
Keywords: Colombia, Programs for Development with a Territorial Focus, PDET, Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus, humanitarian, peace, Triple Nexus, development, peace, conflict, conflict resolution
This Week in Peace #83: May 23
This week, renewed ceasefire talks amid intensified conflict in Gaza. ASEAN plans meetings to address Myanmar crisis. US Institute of Peace regains control of headquarters. Pope Leo offers to host Russia – Ukraine peace talks.
Renewed Ceasefire Talks Amid Intensified Conflict in Gaza
Ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas resumed in Doha on May 17. Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters that both sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.” However, Israel intensified its military operations in Gaza, launching Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which involves a ground incursion. The operation killed at least 160 people on March 17. ABC News’ journalist Diaa Ostaz, reporting from Khan Younis, said the situation is “getting worse not day by day, but hour by hour.”
Ever since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people, the humanitarian situation has continued to deteriorate for Palestinians in Gaza. Over 50,000 Palestinians are reported to have reported killed. Meanwhile, Israel believes that Hamas is still holding 59 hostages in captivity in Gaza, 24 of whom are still alive.
ASEAN Plans Meetings to Address Myanmar Crisis
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plans to hold two dedicated meetings focusing on Myanmar’s ongoing civil conflict ahead of its summit next week, Straights Times reported. The meetings aim to revitalize the stalled peace process, although Asean Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn did not specify which issues would be discussed.
ASEAN’s 2021 Five-Point Consensus, which calls for an end to violence and inclusive dialogue following the military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, has been criticized by Myanmar activists as being ineffective. Critics of the consensus have pointed out that its implementation has been extremely slow, partly due to ASEAN’s “divisions, consensus-based decision-making process and non-interference doctrine,” as Sai Latt writes in Frontier Myanmar.
The country’s civilians continue to bear the brunt of the ruling junta’s actions. After a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on March 28, reports indicated that the country’s ruling junta had continued airstrikes, complicating aid delivery and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. On April 28, the London-based Centre (CIR) for Information resilience reported that it had documented 80 air attack incidents across Myanmar between March 28 and April 24. The CIR also reported several paramotor attacks.
US Institute of Peace Regains Control of Headquarters
The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) regained control of its headquarters after a federal judge ruled on May 19 that its forced removal by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was illegitimate. The incident began in March when DOGE staffers took over the building and tried to shut USIP down. The court’s decision restores USIP’s leadership and access to the building, reaffirming its independence as a non-executive branch agency dedicated to preventing violent conflicts and promoting peace.
Pope Leo Confirms Willingness to Host Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, has confirmed his willingness to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine at the Vatican. Global leaders have indicated their interest in the Vatican as a neutral institution, including US President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The Vatican has previously facilitated humanitarian efforts during the conflict, including prisoner exchanges and the repatriation of Ukrainian children.
Keywords: Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Myanmar, ASEAN, USIP, Pope Leo, Russia, Ukraine, peace, conflict, conflict resolution
