News and Insight

In the predominantly Muslim region of Western Mindanao in the Philippines, we are working with communities to resolve local conflicts, and strengthen relationships between them and local authorities.

Co-founder and CEO of mediatEUr of 11 years, Antje Herrberg, has resigned from her position as the chairwoman of the board and has been positively discharged of her role by the members of the organisation.

Conciliation Resources has joined other international NGOs to support an amendment to the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Bill.

Conciliation Resources has long supported peacebuilding work in border regions that are deeply affected by conflict and often neglected, securitised or misgoverned.

From east and central Africa to the Caucasus and Kashmir, peacebuilding in borderlands involves going against the grain of official narratives about why violence persists, supporting the agendas of people who have been marginalised, and sustaining relationships across psychological and physical divides.

Borderlands are often overlooked or neglected in peace processes. Despite a growing emphasis on inclusion, responses to borderland instability tend to prioritise security, pacifying or sealing off borderlands, or negotiating deals among central or regional powers that do little to empower borderland communities.

Last week, young people from the Somali Regional State (commonly known as the Ogaden region) gathered in London to discuss how they can participate in, and influence, the ongoing peace process in Ethiopia.

“What is conflict doing to me, how do I affect conflict and where can I engage to contribute to building and sustaining peace in Somalia?” To address these questions and strategise around them, mediatEUr’s board member, Kathrin Quesada, visited Mogadishu from 8 to 12 October, together with the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA).

The Board members and staff of Conciliation Resources are saddened to learn of the sudden passing of our friend and former trustee Professor Chandra Lekha Sriram.

Ten years ago, on the 21 of October 2008, the first truck drivers and traders met on the Chakothi-Uri Bridge in Kashmir. The governments of India and Pakistan had just opened up the Line of Control (LoC) for limited trade as a measure aimed at building confidence between the different sides in Jammu and Kashmir. After six decades of violent conflict and the absence of any connection between the two sides, this marked a fundamental step for trust building and peacebuilding in the region.

This weekend saw the signing of an historic peace deal, between the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Government of Ethiopia. Conciliation Resources has been supporting this process for the past six years.

Conducting research to improve conflict prevention and peacebuilding programmes comes with its share of challenges. Ilona Howard, consortium manager for the Peace Research Partnership (PRP), outlines some of the ethical and practical challenges researchers face and what we can do to address them.