Sinan al-Hawat is a London-based researcher specialising in complex emergencies and humanitarian aid. He holds an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as a postgraduate degree in Islamic Studies and Humanities from the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London.
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Wisam Elhamoui is a Syrian civil society activist focusing on emergency practice and conflict transformation. He is currently working in Gaziantep, Turkey, on a project to empower local emerging governance structures in non-regime held areas of Syria. He holds an MA in Development and Emergency Practice. He has written and contributed to research on the Syrian crisis, with a focus on ceasefires and conflict prevention.
Brian Gormally is director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, a human rights NGO in Northern Ireland. Before that he was Deputy Director of the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NIACRO) for 25 years and an independent consultant working mainly in the community and voluntary sector, specialising in justice, community policing and human rights. He has also been involved in international peace-related work in South Africa, Israel/Palestine, the Basque Country and Colombia.
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Captain Ray Apire was abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in 1993 from his home village of Lamola in Kitgum district, northern Uganda. He served as the LRA’s Chief Catechist (faith teacher) until he surrendered to the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) in 2004. Since then he has counselled new LRA returnees at the UPDF Child Protection Unit in Gulu.
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Rt. Bishop Ochola was formerly Anglican Bishop of Kitgum Diocese in northern Uganda. He is a Board member and Ambassador for Peace at Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative, and the founder and Chair of the Acholi Education Initiative. He remains a committed peace activist.
Ojera James Latigo is Program Director of Uganda Historical Memory and Reconciliation Council, and Research Fellow and Academic Coordinator at the Marcus Garvey Pan-Afrikan Institute. He is also a consultant for Conciliation Resources’ East and Central Africa Programme.
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Accord Insight Issue 2: Engaging armed groups
Simon J A Mason is a senior researcher and head of the Mediation Support Team at the Center for Security Studies (CSS), Zurich. As part of the Mediation Support Project (a joint project of the CSS and Swisspeace, funded by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs) he focuses on mediation research, training and process support. He is one of the coordinators of the Mediation Support Network.
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This past quarter has seen northern Uganda’s traditional leaders try to reconcile former LRA abductees and combatants with their communities with a powerfully symbolic ceremony. But we are reminded that winning back the trust of family and neighbours takes a long time and hard work on both sides.
Local populations living in conflict zones often bear the brunt of armed violence. But they are not simply passive victims – their relationships with armed groups are much more complex, and can offer opportunities for building peace. A new Conciliation Resources’ publication Local engagement with armed groups: in the midst of violence, looks at how communities have been able to influence the behaviour of armed groups away from violence.
