Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of Peacebuilding Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on September 1, 2018, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on global peace and security. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
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Read features, analysis and in-depth coverage from Peacebuilding Deeply correspondents, including stories about non-state actors, accountability & transitional justice, conflict prevention and inclusive negotiations.
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The leaders of South Sudan’s warring parties signed a final power-sharing agreement this month, but it remains unclear whether the deal will guarantee long-term stability in the country, journalist Samuel Okiror writes for IRIN news.
Young people are often among the most affected by conflict. But to engage with them solely as victims or perpetrators of war obscures the vital role they play in peacebuilding, writes Ghazal Keshavarzian of Elevate Children Funders Group and Catherine Thompson of Peace and Security Funders Group.
For many, seeking asylum requires repeatedly recounting your story. Conflating persecution with trauma, will have a lasting impact on the mental health and recovery of entire generations who were forced to leave home and rebuild their lives.
For more than two decades, the Sri Lankan navy has barred residents displaced from the island of Iranaitheevu from returning to their homes. A group of activists have now challenged the navy’s control and have encouraged at least 100 IDPs to return to the region.
Conflict and crisis disrupt the education of more than 80 million children worldwide. But access to high school education in war zones could help diminish support for armed groups, according to a recent study by Mercy Corps.
In many Sudanese communities, men dominate negotiations and peace talks. As coordinator of the Collaborative for Peace of Sudan, it is Rasha El Fangry’s job to convince local – and male – community leaders that women have a crucial role to play in building sustainable peace.
If the United Nations is able to place Yemen’s Hodeida port under it’s control, it would show the global community that there is still place for diplomacy in a war that desperately needs a political solution, writes the Atlantic Council’s Zara Jayant.
Somalia’s national security adviser Abdisaid Ali discusses political will, security reforms and how peacebuilding and state-building are at the heart of Somalia’s Transition Plan.
Researchers and investigators at WomanStats have created one of the most comprehensive databases on the status of women around the world, and are assessing how these data points can help explain the behavior and security of a state.
There is no end in sight to South Sudan’s conflict, which has destroyed communities and upended the economy. Even when the bullets stop, high rates of stunting – caused by persistent food shortages – will make it difficult for the country to recover.
The civil war in Lebanon ended 28 years ago, but the state remains largely divided – even when it comes to how to remember the past. One Lebanese architect is trying to change that, but the road to remembrance has been challenging.
Violations of South Sudan’s latest ceasefire have spurred concerns that continued fighting will increase food scarcity in the country. Only lasting peace can ameliorate the situation, writes journalist Stefanie Glinski for IRIN news.
Changes in family structures and lengthening life expectancies are leading the world towards a care crisis, the International Labour Organization has warned. And it’s women who will lose out the most.
The 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC fighters guaranteed the group access to public healthcare. Thousands of wounded fighters, however, are losing faith in the agreement as they struggle to access Colombia’s strained public health system.
Including civil society in international and local counter-terrorism efforts has proven to be a successful strategy for preventing violent extremism, write Lisa Oriot-Scappaticci and Lilla Schumicky-Logan of the Global Community and Resilience Fund.
The U.S. can more effectively help prevent violent conflicts around the world by conducting more routine and inclusive conflict assessments that are connected to policy and programming decisions, writes researcher Lawrence Woocher.
Australia must protect witnesses and remain transparent while it investigates members of its elite special forces for allegedly committing crimes against civilians in Afghanistan, writes Human Rights Watch senior researcher Patricia Gossman.
Gustavo Macedo, PassBlue Rresearcher, at Columbia University's Global Policy Initiative Project
To turn the language of prevention into specific actions aimed at ending sexual atrocities against women, the United Nations should learn key lessons from Guinea’s Conakry massacre, writes researcher Gustavo Macedo.
Syrian women continue to be underrepresented in negotiations to resolve the conflict, which could undermine prospects for success and weaken the foundation for lasting peace in the country, writes gender and foreign policy researcher Renee Coulouris.
In Rwanda, a country still reeling from genocide, Paul Kagame is a study in the long-term nature of post-conflict resolution, as well as a gradual slide into dictatorship, writes journalist Anne Bouleanu.
A deal ending nearly three decades of hostilities between Greece and Macedonia will not only resolve the contentious issue, but could also set a precedent for a more stable region embedded in Euro-Atlantic institutions, writes Sarah Bedenbaugh of the Atlantic Council.
At the Oslo Freedom Forum, we spoke with experts, practitioners and activists about how to build peace in their corner of the world. Karla Cruz discusses how her organization uses emerging technology to catalyze social impact in the Philippines.
Colombians will head to the polls Sunday for the first presidential election since the historic peace accord between the government and the FARC. The election results could have a significant impact on the country’s prospects for peace.
Poland’s shift to the right has made the country more fragile and raised concern in Europe. It has also sparked a grassroots protest movement that could eventually help bring voters back to the center.
Iraq is the second most improved country according to this year’s Fragile State Index. But this progress may be reversed if the country does not address one of the key sources of its chronic fragility.
After decades of silence, an archive of witness testimonies from the 1947 Partition of India is helping survivors and their families across both sides of the border confront a legacy of violence.
The U.S. is the fourth most-worsened country on the 2018 Fragile State Index. Trump’s presidency embodies the country’s current political deadlock and instability, and is likely to impact this upcoming midterm elections.
In our preliminary assessment of the 2018 Fragile State Index, these five findings caught our eye, and we’ll be closely monitoring developments in the coming weeks.
Haiti, Iraq and Mexico top the most improved list on the 2018 Fragile States Index, while the U.S., U.K. and Qatar are among the top ten most-worsened this year. We look at this data in the context of Haiti, and what it says for global stability.
The roots of violence in Congo’s Ituri province are often framed as ethnic. But powerful political and commercial interests are the actual drivers of inter-communal tensions, write Fiston Mahamba and Claude Sengenya in IRIN News.
At the Commission on the Status of Women this year, civil society won key gains in the in the Agreed Conclusions adopted by Member States. We examine their role in its development.
Documentation efforts in Syria initially aimed to collect evidence for future prosecutions. Seven years later, however, these innovative strategies have created new avenues for justice, writes Fernando Travesí, of the International Center for Transitional Justice.
The Idlib Health Directorate is a model for local networks providing public services in opposition-controlled areas and for rebuilding northwestern Syria’s shattered healthcare system, writes Abdulkarim Ekzayez, a Syrian medical doctor and fellow at Chatham House.
As world powers continue diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching a settlement to the conflict in Syria, Lebanese political science expert Imad Salamey discusses the essential elements of possible power-sharing arrangements in the war-torn country.
As Islamic State continues to lose territory in its major strongholds in Syria, activists and civil society organizations are leading deradicalization efforts, hoping ultimately to erase the militants’ ideological legacy.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has few women in its ranks – just slightly more than the worldwide average. However, they play an important role in gathering information from the population and helping the local police investigate sexual and gender-based violence.
The United Nations pledged to do more to combat sexual exploitation and sexual abuse by peacekeepers. We take a closer look at measures it recently rolled out and others that are still in the works, ranging from financial penalties to improved assistance for victims.
While women are active and successful mediators at the grassroots level, they remain largely invisible in international peacemaking. Dr. Catherine Turner says it is urgent to raise the profile of women mediators.
Afghan women need a bigger role in the nation’s peacebuilding efforts, says Quhramaana Kakar, one of Afghanistan’s leading female peacemakers. But, she tells News Deeply, ‘It will take political will.’
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