Peaceful Change initiative | 25B Lloyd Baker Street, London, WC1X 9AT

We work with communities to prevent or reduce violence that has been triggered by radical and divisive change. We aim to mitigate the effects of violence on people’s lives, while laying the foundations for long-term peace and stability.

News

Libyan Peacebuilders Network Hosts “Peacemakers Awards” in Benghazi, Libya

Photograph of participants at the Peacebuilders Awards

PCi’s partner, the Libyan Peacebuilders Network, organised and hosted the “Peacemakers Awards” in Benghazi on 8 February 2019. The event was planned to bring attention to the work being done by Libyans throughout the country to manage conflict in their communities and promote peace for Libya. The event recognised the work of a number of groups and individuals including the elders from the Tebu and Zawiya tribes in Kufra, elders of the western Mountain tribes, the Social Council of the Werfalla tribe and the elders of Cyrenaica. A special award was presented to Aisha Aizadma from Harawa for her role in addressing the conflict between the Al-Gedaddfa and Awlad Sulaiman tribes in Sebha.

PCi Supports Training for Armenian Youth in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding

A namebadge and certificate from the event

PCi’s Programme Advisor, Artak Ayunts, conducted training (February 3 2019), for young bloggers and vloggers from Armenia on Conflict Transformation and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the Alternotion project which aims to create an online platform of cross-border storytelling on cultural similarities of Armenian and Azerbaijanis. The training was part of an EU-funded PeaCE project (Peacebuilding through Capacity Enhancement and Civic Engagement) implemented by Eurasia Partnership Foundation aiming to encourage young Armenians and Azerbaijanis from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh to develop a shared vision for peace in the region through learning the conflict transformation and peacebuilding methodologies.

Project Update: PCi Invited To Speak At A Kyiv Roundtable Event In Ukraine

PCi participated and spoke at a Kyiv Roundtable event co-organised with the parliamentary Human Rights committee and hosted at the Ombudsman’s Office, Tuesday 23 October 2018

PCi participated and spoke at a Kyiv Roundtable event co-organised with the parliamentary Human Rights committee and hosted at the Ombudsman’s office on Tuesday 23 October 2018. The Roundtable focused on the conflict in eastern Ukraine and sought to promote ways to engage across divided communities and promote dialogue in the interests of achieving practical changes for vulnerable people in conflict-affected areas. As part of the Panel input, participants also shared experience from PCi practice on institutionalising dialogue at a local level in Ukraine. The Panel of speakers comprising the PCi session of the Roundtable included: Jonathan Cohen, Executive Director of Conciliation Resources; Natalia Mirimanova, a conflict resolution practitioner; Craig Oliphant, a Senior Adviser at Peaceful Change initiative and Anthony Foreman, a Senior Adviser with Peaceful Change initiative.

Project Update: PCi Provides Support To Research Report On Dialogue In Ukraine

Dr Tatiana Kyselova who presented the Research Report “Understanding Dialogue in Ukraine: A survey based study – Analytical Report 2018” in Kyiv, with support from PCI, on October 24 2018

PCi has supported the publication of the Research Report “Understanding Dialogue in Ukraine: A survey-based study, Analytical Report 2018”, which was launched on Wednesday 24 October 2018 at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Museum. The research was conducted by the Mediation and Dialogue Research Centre, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and presented at the launch by Dr Tatiana Kyselova. The goal of the study was to obtain quantitative data in order to test hypotheses developed during an earlier study about patterns and risks relating to track-three dialogues in Ukraine. Click here for the Research Report (full) in English or Ukrainian and the Research Report (Summary) in English or Ukrainian.

Project Update: PCi CEO Addresses ECFR Meeting On Libya Stabilization

PCi’s CEO Fleur Auzimour Just addressed the meeting hosted by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on 5 September 2018 in Berlin, which examined how Germany and European partners could more effectively strengthen stabilization efforts, that advance a meaningful political process in Libya. The meeting: “Order from Chaos: Stabilising Libya the Local Way” bought together a range of Libyan and European interlocutors that included Abdelbari Shinbaro, the Deputy Minister for Local Governance of the Libyan Government of National Accord; Dr Christian Buck, Ambassador and Regional Director for the Near and Middle East and North Africa German Foreign Office; Suliman Ali Zway a Libyan researcher/journalist and Tarek Megerisi, Policy Fellow at ECFR.

Project Update: Young Armenian and Georgian Leaders Benefit from Training

PCi Programme Advisor,
Artak Ayunts

Between 11 and 15 July 2018 PCi’s Programme Advisor, Artak Ayunts, conducted a training for young leaders from across the South Caucasus in the Georgian city of Kobuleti on the subject of “Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding”. The training was part of a larger project “Youth for Peace in the South Caucasus”, which aims to build trust among young activists from different parts of the region, who will work at peace camps in Armenia and Georgia for teenagers with mixed nationalities. The training was organized with the support of the international non-governmental organisation HEKS-EPER and several NGOs from across the South Caucasus region: Syunik Development NGO, Regional Network of Peace and Reintegration, Lazarus Charity Foundation of the Patriarchate of Georgia, and The Union of Azerbaijani Women of Georgia.

Project Update: Ukraine Conference Tackles Conflict Drivers With PCi Support

Ukraine Conference to build local capacity that tackles underlying drivers of conflict

Between March 12-14, 2018, PCi, together with its partner Institute for Peace and Common Ground (Ukraine), held a conference to present and reflect on the challenges and achievements of supporting Dialogue Initiative Groups in four communities in Donetsk Oblast. The conference, attended by national parliamentary deputies and mayors of communities across Ukraine, took place under the UK Government’s Conflict Security and Stability Fund and looked to engage policy makers in discussions on steps that could be taken at an institutional level to build local capacity that tackles underlying drivers of conflict.

Project Update: Training Ukrainian NGOs in Peacebuilding / Conflict Sensitivity

Photo Credit: Ukraine NGO Forum

PCi Senior Advisors Raj Bhari and Anthony Foreman were invited by the Ukraine NGO Forum to give a training of trainers on ‘Essentials of peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity’ to 20 Ukrainian NGO representatives. Participants in the 4-day training will look to apply conflict-sensitivity to their own day-to-day work and conduct trainings in their own communities on how to deal with underlying causes of conflict. This activity was part of Building for the Future, a project supported by the UK’s Conflict Stability and Security Fund.

Webinar: UNDP | Youth and The Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE)

PCi’s Project Coordinator for the Libya Stabilisation Facility Project, contributed to a UNDP webinar focusing on Youth & the Prevention of Violent Extremism. He talked about the current Libyan context and the challenges it presents to countering violent extremism, exploring some possible approaches to transforming the role of youth from victims or targets into agents of change. His contribution can be found from minute 58.00 at this video link.

Event: Peacebuilding and the Role of the Civil Society in Syria and Libya

PCi’s Senior Advisor, Raj Bhari, participated in an event organised by the British Council in London to discuss the role of civil society in peacebuilding in Syria and Libya. The event was attended by academics, practitioners, government representatives, artists and activists. Other panellists included Yosra Nagui from Swisspeace, Geoffrey Howard from FCO, and Anas Darkawi from the Asfari Foundation. The discussion focused on findings and lessons learned in relation to inclusion, identity, and engaging youth in peacebuilding.

Webinar: Conflict Sensitivity in Remote Programming

In this webinar, PCi’s Senior Advisors, Lesley McCulloch and Anthony Foreman, shared key findings of a new PCi report on the challenges, opportunities and lessons learned of mainstreaming conflict sensitivity in remote programming contexts. They discussed the evolution of the remote programming model employed in Syria and Libya, where PCi works to support and build the capacity of local leaders to manage conflict.

Project Update: Increasing Women and Youth’s Participation in Peacebuilding

A series of targeted trainings have sought to increase the participation of women and youth in the peacebuilding activities that PCi conducts in 14 areas across Libya. As a result, an additional 40 women joined the local Partnerships and 14 peace actions designed and led by youth were delivered. The actions ranged from countering divisive narratives and building trust between different groups to providing job opportunities for ex-combatants.

Project Update: Transforming the Ways Communities Manage Conflict in Syria

Our Syrian Peace Resources Network has been working to bring together local community leaders in order to empower them to play a more active role in resolving conflicts. The result has been the establishment of community committees that promote dialogue as a method to resolve local problems. The committees support the peaceful management of conflicts by mediating peaceful solutions to disputes, increasing human security through service delivery, and stopping the spread of violence. Read more

Project Update: Social Peace Partnerships Active in 14 Areas Across Libya

PCi supports SPLD Partnerships in 14 municipalities across Libya. The Partnerships bring together representatives of different community groups, and are aimed to build trust and strengthen relationships between the community and the local authorities, as well as between different community groups. PCi provides ongoing support to the Partnerships through a pool of Libyan Trainer Mentors, strengthening skills in areas such as mediation, negotiation, gender inclusion, and peacebuilding programme design and delivery.

Project Update: Online Platform for Conflict Sensitive Assistance in Libya

PCi, in partnership with humanidev.tech, has launched OPSECA, a new online analysis and planning tool to help practitioners more easily manage the humanitarian and development planning cycle. Within the context of the Conflict Sensitivity Assistance in Libya Forum, OPSECA will provide the Forum participants access to ongoing conflict analysis, to help the international community better plan support to Libya in a conflict-sensitive manner.

Resources

Research Report: Understanding Dialogue in Ukraine

A survey of participants in track-three dialogues was conducted between March and April 2018 by the Mediation and Dialogue Research Center, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, with support from PCi. This was to test hypotheses developed during an earlier study about patterns and risks relating to track-three dialogues in Ukraine. “Understanding Dialogue in Ukraine: A survey-based study, Analytical Report 2018” can be downloaded here in English, Ukrainian and Russian.

Communication Pack to Promote SPLD Methodology Developed for Libya

A Communication Pack has been developed by PCi to support Trainer Mentors in Libya to design and implement actions aimed to promote PCi’s Social Peace and Local Development (SPLD) methodology in key locations across the country. For more information on the communication pack contact: general@peacefulchange.org Download the Communication Pack Flyer in English and Arabic here.

Libya Case Study: Ubari Social Peace Partnership

In 2015, PCi supported the establishment of a conflict sensitive mechanism known as the Social Peace Partnership in Ubari, following successful delivery of a Social Peace and Local Development Programme in 2014. 20 Social Peace Partnerships are now established across Libya. This Case Study outlines evidence of the active role that the Ubari Social Peace Partnership has played to reduce tensions and prevent outbreak of violent conflict.
Download the case study here

Report of the Conflict Sensitive Assistance for Syria Retreats

Key findings and recommendations from three retreats with Syrian NGOs, international implementers, and donors. Participants reviewed the conflict-sensitive approach to assistance delivered in Syria.
Download in English or Arabic

Report of the CSA Front Cover

2017 Progress Report

PCi’s first progress report presents impact stories from our work in Syria, Libya and Ukraine.
Find out more

Conflict-Sensitive Assistance for Libya Forum

The latest updates from the Conflict-Sensitive Assistance for Libya Forum are now available. The Forum regularly convenes representatives of international organisations to jointly review the context in which assistance to Libya is being delivered, with a view to maximising the impact of the international community’s interventions.
Find out more

Ukraine: A Peacebuilding Agenda to Bridge the Divide

Reflecting on the situation in the east of Ukraine, the paper proposes a peacebuilding agenda for local and international organisations.
Find out more

More Resources…

To find out more about our activities, please visit our Programmes page.

Syria Programme

Libya Programme