On Friday 4 April 2014 the tenth session of the UN’s Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals, addressed issues falling under cluster area eight: Peaceful and non-violent societies, rule of law and capable institutions. The inter-governmental OWG has been formed to discuss and present options for the new development framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals.
Conciliation Resources was part of a process coordinated by Saferworld and involving a wide group of civil society organisations which identified targets to promote peace as an outcome and enabler of sustainable development within the new framework. In order to go beyond a view of peace as merely the absence of violence and to address underlying drivers of conflict, the group suggested several targets which could be integrated across the framework, as well as ideas for a peace goal itself. Conciliation Resources' input also drew on our thinking and ideas on how to link gender equality and peace into into the framework, as set out in a recent publication with Saferworld.
The targets were included in an open letter to the OWG members which was endorsed by 33 organisations directly or indirectly engaged in the fields of conflict prevention, violence reduction and peacebuilding in a range of countries. Read the letter here.