General

Mid January to mid February 2010

As part of our partnership with radio station Passion for the Planet this month you can listen to the following interviews:

What impact does conflict have on our climate and what impact does climate change have on conflict?

Does overseas interference in conflict areas bring positive change or leave a lasting negative legacy?

And which countries are most vulnerable to conflict in the future?

From Dan Smith’s blog, which can be found at www.dansmithsblog.com.

A permanent memorial for Jean Charles de Menezes was recently unveiled to a small crowd at Stockwell underground station in south London, near International Alert’s office. Mis-identified as a terrorist suspect, he was killed by London police officers on 22 July 2005.

Feelings, accountability and errors

In December International Alert held a two-day dialogue workshop in London that convened the leaders of the youth and student wings of the 17 main Lebanese political parties.

From Dan Smith’s blog, which can be found at www.dansmithsblog.com.

Mid February to mid March 2010

As part of our partnership with radio station Passion for the Planet this month you can listen to the following interviews:

Just what is it that causes war and why have we had over 120 of them worldwide since the end of the Cold War in 1989?

What needs to happen for there to be a lasting peace after a conflict?

Can business influence peace? And should local businesses be included in a peace process?

Listen, on demand, to interviews with International Alert

Last year we teamed up with the UK’s leading ethical radio station Passion for the Planet and recorded a series of interviews focused on peacebuilding.

These interviews, which were broadcast on Passion for the Planet, are now being made available to listen to on demand.

Mid April to mid May 2010

As part of our partnership with radio station Passion for the Planet this month you can listen to the following interviews:

Will oil in Uganda be a blessing or a curse for the country?

Is female empowerment the route to more peaceful societies?

Why is war so much easier than peace?

‘Global Trends and Threats and the South Caucasus’ was the topic of a regional roundtable that International Alert organised in Tbilisi, Georgia on 13th April 2010. Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian experts took part in this one-day event, together with representatives from the international community and international organisations based in Tbilisi, as well as diplomats from some of the embassies in Georgia.

Mid May to mid June 2010

As part of our partnership with radio station Passion for the Planet this month you can listen to the following interviews:

Will water be the new oil when it comes to conflict?

Will climate change lead to war?

Can a radio station build bridges after the fighting has stopped?

Last year International Alert’s Secretary-General Dan Smith was selected to review the UK Department for International Development’s policy on state-building and peacebuilding, an issue which is a bit of a hot topic in many of the countries where Alert works. Smith challenged some of the UK Government’s key assumptions and provided new ways of thinking about the interlinkages between state-building and peacebuilding.

A draft policy concept on the prevention of radicalism among youth in Tajikistan was presented this week at a Forum organised by International Alert in partnership with the Committee on Youth Affairs, Sport and Tourism of the Government of Tajikistan. Over 60 government officials, political party leaders, civil society representatives, students, religious scholars and other key experts joined in constructive discussions on policy steps to increase youth’s resilience to radical ideas.

Every year we make resolutions in order to encourage ourselves to do more of the things we want to do, and less of the things that we know we shouldn’t. Even in these days of economic uncertainty, the significance of a modest amount here can make a huge amount there – where people are suffering from violent conflict.

This year, let International Alert help you to make those changes. Linking your goal to helping others can help you stick to it and, more importantly, achieve it.

Get fitter

The Third Armenian-Azerbaijani Public Peace Forum took place in Vienna between 24th and 27th March. During the 4 days of the Forum the Armenian and Azerbaijani participants worked together to develop concrete ideas and proposals for confidence building measures that could contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Third Armenian-Azerbaijani Public Peace Forum aimed at contributing to the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict took place in Vienna between 24th-27th March. The Forum, organised by International Alert, marked a mile stone in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process as it brought together for the first time all the international mediators involved in the peacebuilding process as well as a large delegation of civil society representatives from all sides of the conflict divide.

The Advocates for a Peace Covenant (APC), a group of Filipino peace practitioners convened by International Alert’s former Board Member and Senator Bobby Tanada and Alert’s Senior Policy Adviser Ed Garcia, recently initiated a consultation on a Peace Covenant based on the respect for human rights and the pursuit of social justice in the Philippines.