March 2012
Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) recently visited Catalonia during a trip organised by Conciliation Resources and the School of Peace of Barcelona. The MILF and the Government of the Philippines are currently negotiating an end to more than four decades of armed conflict in Mindanao. As part of the International Contact Group for this dialogue we have been providing assistance to the ongoing negotiations. Find out more about what lessons the MILF group drew from the situation in Catalonia.
March 2012
In March staff from our Accord programme travelled to Beirut to meet with partners, project advisers and authors as momentum builds towards our upcoming edition on Lebanon. Provisionally titled 'Positive peace? Reconciliation, reform and national self-determination in Lebanon', this publication will review peacebuilding in the country to examine its effectiveness, as well as opportunities and priorities for progress. Find out more about the project so far and the final stages towards publication.
March 2012
We welcome the announcement by Fiji's Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, on 9 March of a process and timeline for the development of a new constitution. We believe Professor Yash Ghai is an excellent candidate as chair of the Constitutional Commission that will conduct national consultations. We support our partners the Citizens' Constitutional Forum in their call for a "conducive environment which encourages freedom of speech and welcomes dialogue".
March 2012
Insight
Le fait de porter les opinions des populations locales dans les communautĂ©s touchĂ©es par le conflit Ă l'attention des dĂ©cideurs internationaux reprĂ©sente une Ă©tape essentielle pour garantir la mise en place de politiques et dâinterventions adaptĂ©es. Les personnes les plus directement touchĂ©es par les conflits ou l'instabilitĂ© comprennent souvent le mieux les causes de ces conflits et ont les meilleures idĂ©es pour les rĂ©soudre. Conciliation Resources a travaillĂ© avec son partenaire Saferworld, qui joue Ă©galement un rĂŽle de pacification, sur un projet de 18 mois, dans le but dâatteindre cet objectif. Aujourdâhui, nous prĂ©sentons Ă Bruxelles les enseignements tirĂ©s de l'ensemble des 18 analyses de conflits nationaux et rĂ©gionaux.
March 2012
At the turn of 2011, Fiji's Prime Minister Bainimarama announced the imminent commencement of consultations for a new constitution. Elections are to follow in 2014. Our partner the Citizens' Constitutional Forum (CCF) urges that processes for formulating Fiji's next constitution must be led by the citizens of Fiji. Find out about the baseline survey that CCF has recently carried out to measure and understand change in community attitudes to human rights, good governance and citizenship.
March 2012
Insight
Building peace takes time. What does ending conflict mean in practice? How do good governance, justice and human security strengthen each other? These are pressing issues for any society recovering from violent conflict and just some of the questions addressed in Accord 23: Consolidating Peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The findings from this review of peace initiatives have been presented recently to local and international policymakers in West Africa and the USA.
March 2012
International Women's Day â 8 March â marks the contribution that women across the world make to their communities. Nowhere are these efforts more important than in the field of peacebuilding.
February 2012
Building peace takes time but we make commitments to support our partners for the long-term. In countries affected by the Lord's Resistance Army conflict, we've recently taken part in workshops focusing on strategies to deal with land disputes arising out of the violence, and are supporting women in discussions about how to cope with the conflict. We're there for as long as we're needed to provide advice, support and practical resources.
February 2012
Engaging armed groups was on the agenda for students at the London School of Economics recently when Sophie Haspeslagh, Conciliation Resourcesâ Policy Analyst, shared her knowledge and experience during a seminar. In discussion with Masters students on the Peace and Conflict Studies programme, Sophie highlighted the benefits of choosing to engage all parties in negotiations but also the pitfalls imposed by proscription. How can a peaceful settlement be reached if negotiators are prevented from talking with those who are central to the conflict?
February 2012
Eleven years after the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women in conflict and peace, the gap between policy and practice remains huge. While government and rebels in the Philippines have women represented on their peace panels, there is a lot more that can be done to have womenâs voices and expertise heard at the peace talks and in the post-agreement implementation. Conciliation Resources contributed to a recent peacebuilding forum in Manila which discussed options for a process that could lead to an International Action Plan on women, peace and security in the Philippines.
December 2011
In a major advance towards enhancing cross-Line of Control (LoC) cooperation in Jammu and Kashmir, 10 major business organisations â for the first time including traders' associations from both sides â have reinvigorated the Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry founded in 2008.
December 2011
Policymakers, donors and civil society representatives met in Busan, Korea in November with the aim of reviewing global progress on development aid.