News and Insight

The Board members and staff of Conciliation Resources are saddened to learn of the sudden passing of our friend and former trustee Professor Chandra Lekha Sriram.

Ten years ago, on the 21 of October 2008, the first truck drivers and traders met on the Chakothi-Uri Bridge in Kashmir. The governments of India and Pakistan had just opened up the Line of Control (LoC) for limited trade as a measure aimed at building confidence between the different sides in Jammu and Kashmir. After six decades of violent conflict and the absence of any connection between the two sides, this marked a fundamental step for trust building and peacebuilding in the region.

This weekend saw the signing of an historic peace deal, between the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Government of Ethiopia. Conciliation Resources has been supporting this process for the past six years.

The new Consortium of ERMES, under the lead of the College of Europe, has recently signed a FWC contract with the European Commission to support the European Union in providing mediation and dialogue support in situations of need, with the steer of the EEAS, PRISM/Mediation Support team.

Warmonger, despot, brutality, warfare - all of these words are in the dictionary, and for good reason. It’s important to have the words to express the world around us, particularly those related to violent conflict, which is on the rise around the world.

Mohammed was the leader of a violent armed gang in northeast Nigeria - a Youth Peace Platform helped him turn his life around.

The destruction caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria is visible everywhere. Suspicion and mistrust within society is rife and relationships between young people and their elders are broken. Young people are frequently targeted and groomed by Boko Haram. All have witnessed atrocities or had loved ones killed. This is Badawiya’s story.

This week, British Minister of State Alistair Burt, announced that Conciliation Resources will lead a specialist global consortium to deliver an innovative programme of conflict resolution.

Emma and Ngala were still at school when conflict broke out in Central African Republic (CAR). Their school was in the 4th arrondissement - one of Bangui’s eight districts which was hit particularly hard by the violence.

The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia (SRS – also known as Ogaden region) has a long history of armed conflict - inter-state wars, clan clashes, insurgencies and counter-insurgencies. Since 1994, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has been waging an armed insurgency against the Government of Ethiopia in the region. It’s a conflict that has threatened the stability, security and development prospects of Ethiopia, but is often overlooked – both regionally and internationally. But in the last two months, the SRS is hitting the headlines – and there seems to be some good news.