News and Insight

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.

“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).

Eighteen years ago, on 31 October, the UN Security Council reaffirmed the vital role women play in the prevention of conflicts, with resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. Reams of research and evidence* have proved that peace processes that include women are more likely to succeed and be sustainable – but too often the work of these women goes unrecognised.

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.

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.

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.