Our history

How we began

Conciliation Resources (CR) was set up in October 1994 by Andy Carl and David Lord, supported by a group of advisers and volunteers. Our staunch conviction was that people living in areas affected by armed conflict should be involved in resolving their own conflicts.

We began with just two secondhand computers and a workspace donated by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting. The early days proved a time of continuous learning and turning our professional experience and contacts into concrete projects demanded much commitment.

From Fiji to Uganda

Our earliest work began in Fiji in 1995 with the newly formed Citizens’ Constitutional Forum. Sierra Leone’s civil war had reached brutal heights with half its four million people displaced when we were asked to support a community workshop to help people explore how to make themselves less vulnerable to the violence. This led to further work in Sierra Leone.

We also started consulting with international organizations to develop our publication series Accord: an international review of peace initiatives. In 1997-8 we launched our programme in the southern Caucasus. This was followed by new work in Uganda in 1999. In our first decade we have worked with partners in Rwanda, Ukraine, Russia, Somaliland, the Gambia, Liberia, Sri Lanka, the Balkans, Angola, Nepal, the Philippines and Colombia.

Our initial aspirations to be a flexible, transparent and credible organization are still very much alive. With a highly skilled team of dedicated staff and associates, we now enjoy a worldwide reputation as a professional conflict transformation organization with more than a decade of experience of peacebuilding in conflict zones and peace processes.