The Covid-19 pandemic has not paused conflict around the world – despite calls for a global ceasefire, researchers have found. The data comes from a new digital tracking tool initiated by mediatEUr and the University of Edinburgh's Political Settlements Research Programme with support from our strategic partner Conciliation Resources and leading partner organisations.
Data suggests that even in the time of a global public health crisis, ceasefires have proved difficult to implement and hold, data from a new research tool suggests. But there are positive movements that could be built on, now backed by the UN Security Council Resolution.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh jointly developed a publicly available digital tracking tool to examine the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak on peace processes and armed conflict across the world. They assessed the progress of agreements following the United Nations’ call for a global ceasefire to support the fight against coronavirus in March. More than 170 states supported the UN’s appeal, as did other peacebuilding and religious organisations.
Researchers found that, although there was an initial surge in ceasefire announcements in nearly all regions, in some cases this has not resulted in a longstanding end to hostilities. For example, fighting in Yemen has continued, and the conflict in Libya has accelerated. The data demonstrates the challenges of reaching sustained ceasefires in complex conflicts, experts say.
The Covid-19 ceasefire tracker was developed to monitor the progress of ceasefires alongside live data on infection rates in country.
The digital tool has been developed by the University of Edinburgh’s Political Settlements Research Programme, MediatEUr, The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), ETH Zurich – a research University, Conciliation Resources, and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Further research inputs have been received by the Mediation Support Unit in the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
Professor Christine Bell, Director of the University of Edinburgh’s Political Settlements Research Programme, said:
“This ceasefire tool assists international organisations such as the UN, peacebuilding organisations, and people in-country, to monitor both the pandemic and ceasefires.”
Kathrin Quesada, SEO, MediatEUr, said:
“This innovative digital tool enables experts working on peace process support to track the cessation of hostilities in real-time, accurately identify where their support can be best-placed and have a critical bird's-eye view of the interplay between ceasefire developments and the evolution of the pandemic.”
Jonathan Cohen, Executive Director, Conciliation Resources, said:
“This digital tool gives up-to-date and accessible information about how ceasefires are working and not working to help end armed violence during the Covid-19 pandemic – essential reading for anyone interested in peacebuilding.”
Explore the Covid-19 Ceasefires Tracker here.
In 2021, mediatEUr became Conciliation Resources EU/mediatEUr.