General News

On 1st November 2011, five years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Nepal, political parties finally made a breakthrough by signing a historic 7-point agreement in Kathmandu.

The agreement decides on the contentious issues of army integration, constitution drafting and power sharing.

Why is it important?

Two thousand representatives of governments, the UN, other multilateral organisations and NGOs will shortly convene in Busan, South Korea, as the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to discuss the effectiveness of overseas development aid.

It’s countries affected by armed conflict that face the toughest development challenges. What would success at Busan look like for them?

New thinking on development and conflict

In our 25th anniversary year, International Alert invited a group of influential and highly respected peace advocates to become Patrons. We are greatly honoured to have the support and endorsement of two Nobel laureates Archbishop Dr Desmond Tutu and Wole Soyinka, and of Brian Eno and Mark Stephens CBE.

In September 2011, International Alert invited the famous Ossetian artist and humanist Magrez Kelekhsaev to conduct art master classes for schoolchildren in three districts of South Ossetia, as part of Alert’s post-war psychosocial rehabilitation programme.

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.