News and Insight

The new Consortium of ERMES, under the lead of the College of Europe, has recently signed a FWC contract with the European Commission to support the European Union in providing mediation and dialogue support in situations of need, with the steer of the EEAS, PRISM/Mediation Support team.

This week, British Minister of State Alistair Burt, announced that Conciliation Resources will lead a specialist global consortium to deliver an innovative programme of conflict resolution.

Emma and Ngala were still at school when conflict broke out in Central African Republic (CAR). Their school was in the 4th arrondissement - one of Bangui’s eight districts which was hit particularly hard by the violence.

The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia (SRS – also known as Ogaden region) has a long history of armed conflict - inter-state wars, clan clashes, insurgencies and counter-insurgencies. Since 1994, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has been waging an armed insurgency against the Government of Ethiopia in the region. It’s a conflict that has threatened the stability, security and development prospects of Ethiopia, but is often overlooked – both regionally and internationally. But in the last two months, the SRS is hitting the headlines – and there seems to be some good news.

In 2016, Dieudonné was kidnapped by a group of armed men as he returned home from working the fields with his family. Along with twenty five other young people from his village, he was forced to march to the training camp of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Pioneers of peace often come from communities experiencing violence. Living at the hard-edge of conflict, they feel its effects every day – and are often best placed to understand its causes.

Matar Chaib lives in a war zone. His town of Bria, in the Central African Republic, has been controlled by warring armed groups since 2013. Despite living at the heart of conflict, he knew that peace was possible, and knew that he could make a change to help protect the people of the town.

Warmonger, despot, brutality, warfare - all of these words are in the dictionary, and for good reason. It’s important to have the words to express the world around us, particularly those related to violent conflict, which is on the rise around the world.

Mohammed was the leader of a violent armed gang in northeast Nigeria - a Youth Peace Platform helped him turn his life around.