June 2012
Over recent months there have been a number of positive developments in negotiations between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Maintaining lines of communication is important in any peace process. On June 8 the NGO members of the International Contact Group for the Mindanao peace process traveled to Camp Darapanan, the headquarters of the MILF. While there, they exchanged views on the current status of these negotiations.
June 2012
Since 2000, the Amnesty Act has been one of the crucial tools employed by the Ugandan Government to end the conflict with the LRA. More than 12,000 former abductees have benefited from Amnesty and abandoned rebellion. The government has now allowed the Act to lapse. In light of this development, 19 organisations met recently in Uganda to discuss the implications this has for regional peace efforts.
May 2012
The Lord's Resistance Army conflict has not been far from the international media spotlight in recent months. There seems no shortage of opinions about how to bring Joseph Kony's 25-year terror campaign to a close. But what of the people who are affected by ongoing violence from all sides in the conflict? Find out how we're working with women in East and Central Africa to help them build trust within and between communities. Together, we can find peaceful alternatives to violence.
May 2012
Lebanon is still not a post-conflict society. Power sharing and liberal economic growth have failed to deliver stability – more than two decades on, the fragile peace is punctuated by repeated outbreaks of political violence. Civil war sectarian animosities and power struggles have become entrenched. The international community has a role to play in transforming ‘negative stability’ in Lebanon into ‘positive peace’ and we've recently been in Brussels presenting our recommendations to EU policymakers.
April 2012
It's seven years since India and Pakistan, after decades of conflict and separation, opened up a limited travel route between the divided sides of Jammu and Kashmir. Coinciding with the recent visit to India of Pakistan's President, our peacebuilding partners in the region launched the results of a new opinion poll. Looking at issues such as the future of cross-Line of Control trade and the situation faced by divided families, this first survey of its kind suggests that traders are optimistic despite the challenges they face.
April 2012
In this joint press release, Conciliation Resources, Oxfam, Cafod and Christian Aid, along with 10 local organisations, stress that renewed military action against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) risks triggering further devastation for local people in DR of Congo, Central African Republic, and South Sudan unless more is done to protect civilians and prevent retaliations by one of Africa’s most brutal rebel groups.
April 2012
Dix organisations locales et internationales affirment ce mardi 24 avril qu'une nouvelle action militaire contre l'Armée de résistance du Seigneur (LRA, Lord's Resistance Army) risque d'avoir une fois encore des conséquences dévastatrices pour les populations locales de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), de la République centrafricaine (RCA) et du Sud-Soudan si rien n'est fait pour protéger les civils et prévenir les représailles de la part de l'un des groupes rebelles les plus violents d'Afrique.
March 2012
Recent developments in Colombia suggest that the government and FARC each now recognise that violence is not solved by more violence. In a Spanish article for Razón Pública, Kristian Herbolzheimer, Director of our Colombia and Philippines programmes, suggests that Colombia can learn lessons from its own past – both its successes and mistakes – to identify a new approach that is far more inclusive than peace negotiations. Both sides have taken important steps but the challenge remains to define the roadmap to peace.
March 2012
Insight
We've been working with peacebuilding partner Saferworld on an 18-month project to bring the opinions of local people in conflict-affected communities to the attention of national and international policymakers. Now, together in Brussels, we're presenting the lessons learnt from all 18 national and regional conflict analyses. Find out more about the project and watch a short film that explains why the voices of people most affected by conflict must be heard when policy and programming decisions are being considered.
March 2012
Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) recently visited Catalonia during a trip organised by Conciliation Resources and the School of Peace of Barcelona. The MILF and the Government of the Philippines are currently negotiating an end to more than four decades of armed conflict in Mindanao. As part of the International Contact Group for this dialogue we have been providing assistance to the ongoing negotiations. Find out more about what lessons the MILF group drew from the situation in Catalonia.
March 2012
In March staff from our Accord programme travelled to Beirut to meet with partners, project advisers and authors as momentum builds towards our upcoming edition on Lebanon. Provisionally titled 'Positive peace? Reconciliation, reform and national self-determination in Lebanon', this publication will review peacebuilding in the country to examine its effectiveness, as well as opportunities and priorities for progress. Find out more about the project so far and the final stages towards publication.