Posted on December 19, 2019 by Alex Williams - Uncategorized
PCi hosted a panel discussion on behalf of the Conflict Sensitivity Hub at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London. Tim Molesworth, PCi’s Senior Adviser, Conflict Sensitivity and Peace Technology, PCi facilitated the discussions – which were also livestreamed on Twitter, enabling conflict sensitivity practitioners to engage in the conversation from around the world. Click here to view a recording of the panel discussion.
PCi seeks to contribute to developing the concept of conflict sensitivity; advocate for incorporating conflict sensitivity into policy and processes; and support the conflict sensitivity of international assistance activities in contexts where they are delivered. Speakers included Rachel Goldwyn, Senior Conflict Sensitivity and Peacebuilding Adviser at World Food Programme; Elias Sadkni, Director at House of Peace Foundation; Albert Souza Mulli, Conflict and Stabilisation Adviser for the British Embassy to Libya; Heloise Heyer, Conflict Sensitivity Lead at PeaceNexus; and Pilar Domingo, Senior Research Fellow at Overseas Development Institute. @CSC_hub on Twitter
Posted on March 28, 2020 by Alex Williams - Uncategorized
PCi produced a brief note on potential conflict sensitivity considerations relating to the COVID-19 response in Libya, developed as part of the Conflict Sensitive Assistance (CSA) in Libya forum. The note is intended as a resource to support assistance planners and project staff in taking conflict sensitivity implications into account when preparing to respond to COVID-19.
The virtual event (6 December 2021) discussed the findings of the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) and the Peaceful Change Initiative (PCi) publication.
The event and publication seek to re-examine the UK’s presence in fragile and conflict affected countries (FCACs) around the world at a time of continuing global geopolitical competition and added fragilities generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of climate change.
There are many groups and countries involved in Syria, who bring their own agendas to the context, making conflict dynamics extremely complex. In 2018, Peaceful Change initiative worked to bring together International NGOs, UN agencies and donors, working in Syria to start a conversation on the delivery of humanitarian, development and peacebuilding assistance. The aim was also to explore understanding around conflict sensitive approaches and the interaction of aid with the conflict, which can have positive and/or negative effects.
Two meetings were convened for representatives from 7 Syrian NGOs, from both government and opposition controlled areas and 13 International NGOs and UN agencies. In the meetings, the Syrian context was analysed to support increasing awareness of what drives peace and what drives the conflict in Syria. This helped implementing agencies to apply a conflict sensitive approach, when delivering aid, in efforts to minimise negative effects and the risk of exacerbating the situation – and maximise positive effects by identifying opportunities, to build peace.
A one one-day exploratory War Economy Retreat was also convened for 7 Syrian NGOs, alongside a parallel retreat organised for 9 donors and 15 international implementing agencies. Some examples of how assistance interacts with the conflict were explored with a couple of examples outlined below.
Distribution Effects
The benefits of assistance are distributed unevenly and reinforce existing social, political or economic divisions or tensions
Or assistance can reduce tensions between groups when assistance is delivered across existing tensions or divisions in a collaborative manner
Economic market effects
Intervention may distort the local economy
Or the intervention could build supply chains across conflict lines
Some key insights from these meetings include:
It is not the norm for projects in Syria to explicitly take conflict sensitivity into consideration and the development of conflict sensitivity tools could enhance the effectiveness of aid
Embedding conflict sensitivity into a project cycle may create challenges due to the monitoring limitations in Syria
In early March, Peaceful Change initiative (PCi) delivered a training on Conflict Sensitivity and Communications to international assistance providers working in Libya. The relationship between the communications environment and peace and conflict in Libya was explored including the polarised media and social media environment; the use of communications as a political tool and the expression of inter-group tensions online. Participants were able to look at how their communication activities may feed into the peace and conflict dynamics with negative or positive impacts and discussed how to manage such impacts. They also learned about how their communications could be used as a tool to support conflict sensitivity.
Conflict sensitivity comes from the recognition that humanitarian, development and peace-related assistance may have unintended impacts on peace and conflict. PCi works to promote conflict sensitivity in policy and practice within the humanitarian, development and peace fields.
The training is part of a broader training series provided through the Conflict Sensitive Assistance (CSA) in Libya programme, funded by the European Union and the Embassy of Switzerland to Libya. The training series provides different staff functions of international assistance providers working in Libya with the understanding, confidence and tools to apply conflict sensitivity to their work. For more information, send an email to libyacsa@peacefulchange.org.
PCi’s Senior Peacebuilding Adviser Raj Bhari, with a colleague from International Alert, facilitated a working group on peacebuilding at the Syria Peace Process Support Partner Event on 20 June 2019 in Beirut, Lebanon. The European Union and Germany set up the Syria Peace Process Support Initiative to contribute to peacebuilding in Syria, based on the implementation of UNSCR 2254. The workshop session facilitated forward-thinking discussions on what the track-three peacebuilding agenda in Syria needs to encompass and the possibilities and entry points for track-three peacebuilding in the current Syrian context.
Tim Molesworth, PCi’s Senior Adviser, Conflict Sensitivity and Peace Technology, participated in the annual meeting of the global Conflict Sensitivity Community Hub in Beirut, Lebanon, from 17-19 July 2019. The Hub brings together international and local organisations to promote and develop the concept and practice of conflict sensitivity.
The 2019 Hub meeting provided an opportunity to exchange knowledge, experience and tools relating to conflict sensitivity between participating organisations. Tim presented PCi’s experience facilitating the Libya Conflict Sensitive Assistance Forum since 2013, sharing some of the lessons learned and discussing how the experience could be relevant in other contexts. The meeting also provided an opportunity for the Hub to connect with the recently established Local Conflict Sensitivity Forum in Beirut facilitated by House of Peace, and to share perspectives.
PCi is mentioned in an article by Nate Wilson, ‘Coronavirus Shows Why Libya Needs to Build its Institutions’, published on 14 April 2020 for the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). The article highlights that institutional support to improve the Libya COVID-19 response must take into account conflict dynamics at a regional, sub-regional and even community level. USIP advocates for organisations working in Libya to use their analysis, as well as analysis from PCi, Mercy Corps, Danish Refugee Council and others, “to inform their decisions, then they can use aid to connect groups in conflict, ensure that it is inclusive, and thereby maximize benefits. This will surely benefit Libya beyond the immediate crisis.”
PCi urges “those with the ability to stop the suffering” in conflict-affected areas to take action now and ensure unimpeded and sustained access for organisations delivering aid and medical supplies in response to COVID-19.
PCi provides conflict sensitivity advice to embassies, donor agencies, UN agencies, international NGOs and research organisations. PCi is currently the Coordinator of the Conflict Sensitivity Community Hub (until September 2020).
Under the coordination of Peaceful Change initiative, the Conflict Sensitivity Community Hub has addressed policy and decision makers in an open letter sharing key recommendations on how governments, donors, UN and NGOs can deliver international aid in a conflict-sensitive way in the context of COVID-19. Along with tangible advice on best practice, the Conflict Sensitivity Community encourages decision makers to ensure that adjustments to the situation prioritise analysis and communication, local adaptation and the promotion of peace. Please read the full letter here.
In its role as the CSC Hub coordinator, PCi currently facilitates a range of exchanges between NGOs to commonly reflect on conflict-sensitive responses to COVID-19.
In this webinar, PCi’s Senior Advisers Lesley McCulloch and Anthony Foreman share key findings of a new report on the challenges and opportunities of, and lessons learned from, 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.
