This briefing provides a situation overview of the Central African Republic up to August 2013, based on interviews and information gathered during two visits to CAR in May and August 2013 by Conciliation Resources staff and associated consultant, Guus Meijer.

This research report presents key findings from the selected border region locations in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. It outlines key challenges to border communities in the region, with the aim of informing policy dialogues with relevant national government authorities on cross-border community security.

Legitimacy in peace processes includes participation – so people have a voice; representation – so people's concerns are heard; and performance – so people see results. Legitimacy is vital to the support of a peace process, and can help make peace stick. To explore how legitimacy can help build sustainable peace, Conciliation Resources brought together 38 practitioners, policymakers and stakeholders from a diversity of backgrounds for a two-day reflection.

This practice paper - the first in a series on different themes related to Conciliation Resources' peacebuilding insight – explores the role played by the International Contact Group (ICG) for the Mindanao peace process in achieving a framework peace agreement, and examines the contribution of hybrid mechanisms to the field of mediation and conflict transformation.