General

International Alert has recently launched a paper that explores some profound questions about peace and peacebuilding in South Sudan and Sudan, as a contribution to the debate about how to build a more comprehensive and more stable peace within and between the two Sudans.

This paper uses Alert’s peacebuilding framework to explore questions about peace and peacebuilding in South Sudan and Sudan.

Important underlying factors of conflict remain unaddressed within both countries, and the paper makes three broad recommendations to those in South Sudan and Sudan who are concerned to build a more comprehensive and more stable peace, and to those in the international community wishing to support their efforts.

Full report (Low-res version)

Full report (High-res version)

In 2001 – a different time and a different world – the EU Gothenburg summit agreed to make the prevention of violent conflict a priority for the EU. Measured by money, it’s now the world’s biggest player in peacebuilding. But look around Europe now and we can ask, should peacebuilding also start to be a priority inside the EU?

This report focuses on how theories of change can improve the effectiveness of peacebuilding interventions. A review of 19 peacebuilding projects in three conflict-affected countries found that the process of articulating and reviewing theories of change adds rigour and transparency, clarifies project logic, highlights assumptions that need to be tested, and helps identify appropriate participants and partners. However, the approach has limitations, including the difficulty of gathering theory-validating evidence.

Full report

Between 21st-30th November, International Alert organised a study visit to London and Belfast and trainings in conflict analysis and conflict-sensitive journalism for a group of nine journalists working for the mainstream media in Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

A group of emerging political leaders from Sri Lanka’s Parliament and civil society have been spending the week here in the UK as part of a programme aimed at fostering reconciliation in that country’s progress toward peaceful development following the end of the three decade civil war there in 2009.

Over 120 people packed into a large Committee Room in the House of Commons on Wednesday night to hear the Voices for Reconciliation group of young British Sri Lankan diaspora members describe their vision for peace – at home and in Sri Lanka.

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?

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.