In this short video, article co-author John Packer introduces the five persistent peacemaking challenges related to self-determination.
This article is a personal account of an ‘informal connector’ role, building relationships between the Taliban, the Afghan government and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). It recounts the story of initial personal contacts established to catalyse official dialogue between UNAMA and the Taliban, which developed across various tracks – peace, humanitarian access and the protection of civilians.
In this short video, author Ja Nan Lahtaw introduces some of the key themes of this article:
Since 2017, Sumaiya has worked with young students across Bangladesh to build awareness against hate speech. Through her organization MOVE Foundation, she designs and facilitates peacebuilding workshops to develop capacity of the mainstream (school, college and university) and marginalized (religious and ethnic minority) youths, particularly female students in peace and civic education. Through campaign #Reform53, she advocates for reforming discriminatory laws against women and LGBTQ+ people.
Since 2015, Florence has worked with traditional, religious and community leaders to promote critical thinking among communities about the threat of violent extremism and strengthen local understanding of radicalization in ungoverned spaces and border areas in the Great Lakes Region. She has facilitated mediation processes between genocide survivors and perpetrators in order to restore the social fabric, to recreate families, to repair communities, and to rebuild a unified nation in the aftermath of the genocide against Tutsi.
This Accord publication incubated during an exceptional period in international peace and security. Given the dramatic start to 2020 it could not be more apt. Covid-19 has shaken up the business model of mediation and peace process support. As this edition goes to press in August 2020 there has been an ‘innovation explosion’ in the space of a few months with significant parts of peace processes moving online. The embrace of technology that otherwise might have taken many years to realise is one fascinating development.
Tim Bunke is a social anthropologist and has been a representative of the German NGO Weltfriedensdienst within the Civil Peace Service Programme in Kenya since 2016. He supports Kenyan organisations in their work to prevent and resolve conflict in northern Kenya. He received his PhD from the University of Konstanz in 2017.
Malih J.N. Ole Kaunga is Director of IMPACT Trust in Nanyuki, an indigenous human rights organisation active in northern Kenya. A Laikipia Maasai, he has been a human rights activist for over 20 years. IMPACT works with pastoralist groups across northern Kenya.
Thania Paffenholz is the Director of InclusivePeace. With almost 30 years of experience as both an academic and policy adviser, she is internationally renowned for work on and in support of peace processes, focusing on mediation and process design, roles of civil society and women, inclusion and participation, and the conditions for sustainable peace. Thania received the prestigious Wihuri International Prize in 2015.
