General News

On 16th October, International Alert’s partner Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN) organised the annual Caucasus Tea Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia. The aim of the Festival is to promote sectoral cooperation and popularise the Caucasus Tea brand across the region.

This summer, two amazing fundraisers (Will Gibbs and Thomas Samuel) took on the challenge of sailing around Britain, and raised some much needed money for International Alert. We managed to catch up with Will to find out how it went…

1. How does it feel now that you have completed your sail around Britain?

Jackson W Speare, Head of our Liberia Office, was interviewed by the Newshour programme for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) channel last week. In the programme, during which current Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and challenger Winston Tubman also give their thoughts on the prospects for peace in the country, Jackson talks about the view from the ground among Liberia's youth and those who do not live in the capital Monrovia.

The election, which is taking place today, is only the second election since the end of Liberia's civil war.

Watch International Alert’s powerful new video. Help spread the word that talking to one another can help stop violence and conflict. Thanks to Massive Attack, David Morrissey and HMDG for their help!

Peace Talks.
 

FOR MORE, SEE HERE

'The World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security and Development' is shifting the language of international policy on supporting peace and development in fragile and conflict-affected countries. In a briefing for the Bretton Woods Project, Monica Stephen of International Alert examines how the World Bank’s operations need to adjust to support peace and development.

The usual August calm was shattered by the disturbances across England two weeks ago. Whilst the debris is now cleared from the streets, the boarded-up shop windows and fire-blackened facades remain, reminding us of the harder process of rebuilding both physically and socially that needs to follow.  

A study visit of analysts and journalists from across the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict divide to South East Asia took place in July and August 2011.

The group visited South East Asia to look at the peacebuilding experiences of the Philippines, where they focused on both separatist and ideological conflicts, and Indonesia, where they looked at the conflicts in East Timor and Aceh.

This month, rioting and looting gripped England. At a time of uncertainty, it seemed salient (and perhaps inevitable) to ask, if the UK were a fragile state, how would we approach the events of last week, their aftermath and the future?

Building stability overseas

International Alert is proud to present the first in a series of short analytical articles on topical current affairs from the Caucasus region, with a specific focus on the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.

International Alert recently organised a study visit to Abkhazia for eight teachers from different parts of South Ossetia as part of an ongoing psycho-social and civil society capacity-building initiative.

Between 29th June and 1st July 2011, International Alert’s Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN) partners organised a Food Expo in Kars, Turkey with the aim of promoting Turkish-Armenian and South Caucasian business relations as well as regional economic cooperation and dialogue.

International Alert gave evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development yesterday, as part of their formal Inquiry into “Working Effectively in Conflict Affected and Fragile States”.