Occasional papers, articles and analysis

Conciliation Resources' occasional papers allow staff, programme associates and partners to reflect on issues arising from their practical work. They include staff papers and analysis developed as part of programme activities, plus think-pieces and articles written for outside conferences, publications and the media. A linking theme is community responses to armed conflict.

Accord and policy papers

• Renegotiating the political settlement in war-to-peace transitions Catherine Barnes, Policy Adviser, Conciliation Resources. Paper commissioned by the UK Department for International Development, 20 March 2009.
  
  
• What if Ocampo indicts Bashir? Celia McKeon, Director for Policy, Communications and Comparative Learning, Conciliation Resources. Article posted on the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) blog Making Sense of Darfur looking at the International Criminal Court's actions in Sudan. June, 2008
  
  
• Civil society: participating in peace processes Celia McKeon, Conciliation Resources. Chapter published in People building peace II, Paul van Tongeren, Malin Brenk, Marte Hellema and Juliette Verhoeven eds., Lynne Rienner Publishers, London, 2005
  
  
• The politics of peacemaking Celia McKeon, Conciliation Resources. Article published in The Liberal (Charity of the Month section), Issue IV, July/August 2005.
  
  
• Owning the process: the role of civil society in peace negotiations OneWorld.net guest editorial, Celia McKeon, Conciliation Resources. March 2004.
  
  
• From the ground up: exploring dichotomies in grassroots peacebuilding Celia McKeon, Conciliation Resources. October 2003.
  

Caucasus

• The Karabakh trap. The conflict between Armenians and Azeris over Nagorny Karabakh (NK) continues to pose serious dangers to the South Caucasus’s future but is still low on the international agenda. A new paper by Conciliation Resources programme associate Thomas de Waal analyses the current situation and argues for more long-term strategic thinking in debates on how to move forward one of the world’s most closed and confidential peace processes.
  
  
• No peace without democracy. The Georgian public is divided in its assessment of the August 2008 war over South Ossetia. Some question the government’s position that military action was necessary to prevent a Russian invasion. The events are assessed in various ways by the people in South Ossetia, the Georgian heartland, and Abkhazia. In all three regions, civil society activists see their future – whether together or apart – in the establishment of stable democratic structures. Without these, it is impossible to create long-term stability and peace. Original article by Mira Sovakar, Conciliation Resources (in German only) of a version published in Osteuropa. November 2008
  
  
• A question for the global community. In the wake of the conflict between Russia and Georgia, the world must ask: how do we deal with breakaway regions? Article by Rachel Clogg, Conciliation Resources, published in the Guardian, Comment is free online section. 14 August 2008
  
  
• The Rose Revolution and the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict: light at the end of the tunnel? Article by Rachel Clogg, Conciliation Resources, published in Johnson’s Russia List Research and Analytical Supplement, issue no. 24, May 2004
  
  
• Georgia: Changing the guard Jonathan Cohen, Conciliation Resources, published in The World Today, [Royal Institute of International Affairs], January 2004 [pdf 1.2mb download]
  
  
• The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict: reflections on four study visits to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Clem McCartney, Jonathan Cohen, Rachel Clogg, February 2003
  
  
• Southern Caucasus: struggling to find peace Chapter by Jonathan Cohen, Conciliation Resources, published in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia, Paul van Tongeren, Hans van de Veen and Juliette Verhoeven eds., Lynne Rienner Publishers, London, 2002
  
  
• Abkhazia: ten years on. Article by Rachel Clogg, Conciliation Resources, commissioned by the Association for the Study of Nationalities Analysis of Current Events in 2001.
  

General

• Peacebuilding works: a British foreign policy priority. Speech given by CR Director Andy Carl at Conciliation Resources' 10-year anniversary event, November 2006
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• Bridging the practice-to-policy gap in transforming conflict in Asia, the Pacific and beyond: an international NGO perspective. Andy Carl, Conciliation Resources (2002)
  
  
• Supporting local capacities for handling violent conflict: a role for international NGOs? Andy Carl, Director, Conciliation Resources
  
  
• La participacion pública en los procesos de paz principios para orientar la política y la práctica, Conciliation Resources Accord Programme, presented at International Peace Academy policy forum, New York, February 2003.

Uganda, Sudan

• Coming home: Analysis of the ‘push and pull’ factors affecting LRA commanders returning to civilian life in northern Uganda [pdf 340kb download], Conciliation Resources and Quaker Peace and Social Witness, 2006. An understanding of what has prompted commanders to return to their communities is a useful tool to inform local and international peacebuilding. This is being used by our local partners to help design work on the ground.
  
  
• Dealing with the past: experiences of transitional justice, truth and reconciliation processes after periods of violent conflict in Africa [pdf 644kb download], Anika May, Conciliation Resources, 2005. This review of justice, truth and reconciliation approaches in Africa is being used in discussions with our partners to help inform the development of local justice mechanisms. 
  
  
• Falling through the net. Returning adult, ex-combatants in northern Uganda [pdf 228kb download], Conciliation Resources in collaboration with Human Rights Focus (HURIFO) Gulu, September 2004. This report analyses the needs of abductees who have returned from the LRA as adults. It was launched at a workshop in Gulu for practitioners.
  
  
• Learning from past experiences to Inform ruture efforts: the conflict in northern Uganda, Speech by Professor George B. Kirya, High Commissioner for Uganda at a seminar organized by Conciliation Resources and Kacoke Madit, May 2002

West Africa

• NEW Civil society's role in Sierra Leone's security sector reform process: experiences from Conciliation Resources' West Africa programme. Rosalind Hanson-Alp, Conciliation Resources. Working paper published in the Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform's Sierra Leone Working Paper Series (edited by Dr Paul Jackson, University of Birmingham and Peter Albrecht, International Alert) as part of the research programme 'Security system transformation in Sierra Leone 1997-2007'. October 2008
  
  
• Negotiating non-violent relationships at local level in Sierra Leone. Reflections on community peace monitoring and the role of state institutions, Michael Hammer, Conciliation Resources, CCTS working paper, January 2006
  
  
• Who do people turn to for policing in Sierra Leone? [pdf 136kb download], Bruce Baker, article published in Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 23,3, Sept. 2005. Article mentions our partners Bo Peace and Reconciliation Movement (BPRM) and Sulima Fishing Community Development Programme (SFCDP).
  
  
• Vulnerability of border communities - are we protecting them enough? Mariama Conteh, Conciliation Resources in HRD Watch Vol 2, Issue 2, 2005, pp: 2-3.
  
  
• A path to peace: Indigenous conflict transformation and peacebuilding in southern Sierra Leone. Article by Mariama Conteh, Conciliation Resources, published by the Commonwealth Foundation. April 2004.
  
  
• Tackling Sierra Leone's youth crisis, Jeannette Eno, Conciliation Resources. Article published in the European Union ACP-EU Courier. May-June 2003. [also available as pdf 64kb download]
  
  
• Sierra Leone elections - six-month extension implications and challenges, Dennis Bright, 2002
  
  
• Sierra Leone - the conflict and the world, Dennis Bright, 2001

For older occasional papers see the archive.

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