General News

The repeated recurrences of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict since 1992 following the break-up of the Soviet Union, along with the increasing isolation of South Ossetia from the outside world have resulted in widespread trauma and the destruction of South Ossetian social fabric. In particular, since the latest flare-up of violent hostilities in August 2008, working on such a prolonged and deep conflict requires an extremely careful and balanced approach based on the principle of “do no harm”.

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.

On 1st and 2nd December 2010, International Alert hosted a meeting of political analysts, sociologists, journalists, bloggers and civil society activists from the Caucasus to begin to design a new research project examining how to address myths and stereotypes that feed into conflict dynamics in the region.

International Alert hosted a roundtable on Georgian-Abkhaz relations in Brussels on 29th November with experts from the South Caucasus, Russia and representatives of European institutions and the UN. This roundtable was the culmination of a two-year dialogue through research process between Georgian and Abkhaz experts which International Alert has been facilitating with a view to contribute new thinking on conflict related issues to as wide an audience as possible.

International Alert recently published a report examining women’s representation in parliament in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Drawing on local views, Women, elections and violence in West Africa provides an assessment of the current state of women’s political participation in the two countries ahead of their forthcoming elections in 2011 and 2012.

Alert is pleased to present its most recent publication on the Caucasus: Dialogue on security guarantees in the context of the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict. This paper presents the separate analyses of both Georgian and Abkhaz civil society experts on the need for security guarantees in the region, the reasons why the two sides have been unable to agree on these and the barriers and opportunities for future agreements.

Who?
Trevor Maisiri

Background

As the current coordinator of the European Group on Training (EGT), International Alert recently launched a new website containing programmes of courses and new training resources.

International Alert and partners recently organised a regional exchange programme in Kathmandu and in Dharan and Biratnagar, in the eastern Terai region of Nepal, between key Nepali and Sri Lankan business leaders.

December 2008 saw International Alert, in partnership with the Government of Liberia, host the largest peace and cultural festival held yet in the West African republic of Liberia. Taking place on a large football field in the centre of the capital Monrovia, and attended by between 30–40,000 people on both days, this was the fourth consecutive festival that Alert has organised in Liberia since the end of the civil war only six years ago.

International Alert recently took part in a meeting with ten Dutch INGOs and representatives from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss local governance in the DRC.

In 2006, elections were held in the DRC amid high hopes that they would bring about positive change for Congolese people and mark a turning point after decades of weak and unaccountable governance, which remains a primary driver of this country’s instability.

International Alert recently launched a new publication series, part of the project ‘Strengthening the Economic Dimensions of Peacebuilding’.

We are pleased to share with you International Alert’s briefing on Public Security in Nepal and the final versions of our security and justice snapshot series. The work for these was carried out as part of the Initiative for Peacebuilding, a consortium led by Alert and funded by the European Commission.

We reported in the last e-bulletin that International Alert has been lobbying for changes in the way that overseas development aid works for conflict affected countries.

Since that report, when we told you that we had met Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for International Development, we have met a number of other parliamentarians and advisers who are playing a key role in drafting the forthcoming Department for International Development White Paper. This will be a crucial opportunity to shape the way that future aid is designed and delivered by the UK.

The Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN), a project co-founded and supported by International Alert, recently visited London and Brussels to promote its work on economic approaches to peacebuilding and to publicise the initial results of its recent research. Between 17th and 25th March Alert’s partners gathered in London for a strategic planning meeting that was followed by seminars conducted by CBDN at King’s College in London and at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.