General

Since the widespread violence broke out in the south of the country in April and June this year, International Alert has sent staff members to Kyrgyzstan on three separate missions in the past two months. Their purpose was assessment and to start to engage in face to face meetings with politicians, religious leaders and leaders of civil society groups from all sides of the conflict. On this basis, we have put together a comprehensive peacebuilding plan for the country with three key strands:

International Alert is proud to present our new publication on "International Engagement in the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict Resolution Process", a collection of papers from Georgian and Abkhaz researchers analysing the effectiveness of international engagement in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict resolution process, with a specific focus on the post-August 2008 period.

In just two years’ time, elections in Sierra Leone will mark a decade since the end of the bloody civil war. Since the war was officially declared over, there have been some notable achievements. The country’s first peaceful and democratic handover of power from one political party to another took place in 2007. Free health care for all pregnant and breastfeeding women has been introduced to combat Sierra Leone’s alarming maternal mortality rate.

Kyrgyzstan is slowly moving forward after the June 2010 violence in the south of the country that left hundreds dead. On 10th October, parliamentary elections were held in a peaceful manner and characterised as relatively fair. 56 per cent of those with the right to vote went to the polls and cast their vote for one of the 29 parties contesting the 120 seats in the Parliament. According to the OSCE and European Parliament election observers, the elections ‘constituted a further consolidation of the democratic process’*.

PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 29th November 2010

A roundtable on Georgian-Abkhaz relations organised by International Alert took place in Brussels on 29th November with experts from the South Caucasus and representatives of European institutions and the UN.

Dialogue participants shared their analysis of past and current policies and future prospects in relation to the conflict and its regional implications. Participants discussed what different actors and sides to the conflict, in particular civil society, can contribute to conflict transformation and resolution.

Background

The Republic of Guinea in West Africa is rich in natural resources, but its people remain poor. Guineans have endured decades of autocratic governance, but they currently have an opportunity to turn a new corner towards a more democratic future. International Alert has worked there for the past few years, helping Guineans seize this opportunity for change and with a particular focus on holding dialogues where people can discuss and envisage practical ways forward.

Over 100 students debated youth policy and ways to prevent the growth of radicalism as part of an International Alert project in Tajikistan. In October 2010, International Alert worked with a number of talented students who facilitated five roundtable debates aimed at fostering dialogue and a common understanding of the causes and remedies of the religious radicalisation of youth in Tajikistan.

The West Africa Programme at International Alert (IA) has been actively working with partners from the region for many years in seeking to transform conflicts in the area through projects that contribute to bringing about social justice and peace. We are very much aware that other actors have also played a role in conflict transformation in the region. This overview is designed to provide an insight into the history of IA’s work there, particularly since the inception of the West Africa Programme in 1998.

Overview

International Alert welcomes the opportunity from the European Commission to comment on the
“provisional draft non-paper” on EIDHR programming for 2005-2006. Below we have outlined some
recommendations for thematic and sub-thematic priorities, for indicators and some lessons learned of
implementing EIDHR funding which we hope will contribute to this process.

Full report

International Alert works for peace in war-torn and war-threatened countries in Africa, Asia and Eurasia. In 2003 we continued to work on more than forty projects - both with our partners in regions affected by conflict and at the advocacy and policy level.

Review

This is an armed and warring world. There have been over 125 armed conflicts of varying scale since the end of the Cold War at the end of 1989, with a combined death toll in that period of at least 7 million people, of whom 75 percent are generally estimated to be civilians. Forty armed conflicts were active during the course of 2004. The vast majority of these armed conflicts are not between states but within them, albeit usually with external involvement.

Full report

This is the first issue of International Alert's newsletter.

In this issue:

• Congolese women speak out against sexual violence
• New look, new website
• Preventing conflict in Sao Tome and Principe
• Celebrating peace with Liberia’s media
• Recognising gender and peacebuilding at the UN
• Promoting conflict-sensitivity by corporations
• New publications
• How to get involved

Update 1

International Alert has been working for almost 20 years to build peace in countries and territories affected or threatened by violent conflict. This work reflects our vision of a world in which, when people pursue their human rights and seek chances of betterment for themselves and their communities, the conflicts that arise are pursued with honesty, with forthrightness, and also with wisdom so that they do not erupt into violence.

Annual review 2004-5

This is the second issue of International Alert's newsletter.

In this issue:

• Local Business, Local Peace
• Spotlight on Guinea
• Encouraging DFID to take a peacebuilding approach
• The impact of corruption in the South Caucasus
• Supporting peace through our resource centres

Update

A legitimate, representative and capacitated civil society is essential for effective statebuilding and a condition for sustainable peace in Nepal. Donor support to civil society in the Nepali conflict context can be conceptualised in a number of ways. Strategies can broadly focus at the national, district and community levels, or on urban and rural constituencies. Similarly, a temporal distinction can be made between short-, medium- and long-term strategies.

Full report