Region: Global

Building peace in a multi-polar world

We now live in a multi-polar world. The US, the UK and the EU no longer project the hard and soft power required to credibly to maintain the international norms and institutions that have sought to manage violent conflict since World War II. In a multi-polar world we can anticipate a new era of great power rivalry. We can anticipate that more countries and armed groups will calculate to take a chance on violence with less fear of severe consequences.

This era will be characterised by greater complexity, unpredictability and very sensitive to changes in climate and economic conditions. As peacebuilders we need to confront some deeply uncomfortable questions about how our existing tools and methodologies will stack up and how we, as a community, can be part of preventing some of the worst outcomes in terms of violent conflict. 

Reflecting on how peacebuilders can respond to this increased potential for chaos and violence, four core actions spring to mind: 

Support to renewed international norms and institutions

The UN and other post-WW II institutions are already under what appears as existential pressure. There are many reasons to feel cynical about the efficacy of the UN and other international institutions. At a time where we are looking to support localisation and decolonisation agendas, they are also easily decried as serving the interests of Western countries.  However, these institutions have also presided over the most peaceful era in recorded history, with a sharp decline in deaths from war since 1946, and more people than ever being governed by democratically elected governments.

International institutions and norms represent the best chance of channelling disputes between states into arbitration and problem solving rather than the use of force. They will be critical to preventing a race to the bottom with respect to climate change measures and responses. A core priority for peacebuilders should be to work in broad coalitions across the North and South to support the evolution of international institutions that can manage modern problems and conflicts. In so doing, peacebuilders should engage across diverse contexts to help negotiate the inclusive set of values that can underpin institutions and norms as they evolve. The UN’s 2023 New Agenda for Peace offers one starting-point for reflection, critique and development. 

Work within our own communities

European politics are seeing a rise in populism, nationalism and far-right political platforms. Perhaps tapping into an increasing levels of public distrust in politicians and “elites”, some of the political platforms that are finding electoral support actively seek to overthrow the existing political order – including through violence. Liberal democracy is, so far, the best political idea that Western countries have had for how to manage conflict amongst their many constituent parts. History suggests that we should be very cautious about an increased potential for violent conflict as a result of these political shifts. We are likely to see deepening of divisions within our own European societies that may well find violent expressions.

Additionally, populist/nationalist governments are likely to be less supportive of the type of values-based international institutions that is required to manage conflicts and challenges a multi-polar world. Speaking from the perspective of a UK-HQ’ed organisation, it is clear that European peacebuilders can play an important role in using our tools and knowledge to help maintain social cohesion and tackle drivers of violent conflict within our own societies.

In addition, European peacebuilders should work with a wide range of coalitions within our own societies to counteract nationalism and extremist narratives and to maintain liberal political and democratic institutions. We should seek lessons learned from peacebuilding colleagues in other parts of the world who have worked against populist and autocratic governments. 

Developing shared concepts of sustainable peace

European and other Western peacebuilding organisations tend to define sustainable peace with reference with liberal political theory. It is important to acknowledge that peacebuilders in other parts of the world express scepticism with liberalism, not least for its focus on individualism, state centricity and neglect of locally specific traditions, initiative and ownership. For many, political liberalism is further tarnished by the societal and environmental impacts of economic policies and practices (neo-liberalism).

Overcoming division and working in solidarity as peacebuilders will be critical in a multi-polar more chaotic and violent world. Therefore, peacebuilders from across the world must continue to meaningfully engage in discussion to develop shared understandings of what sustainable peace means. This will contribute to shared efforts to localise peacebuilding work and create a platform for supporting each other’s work towards peace within our respective communities.  

Strengthening methodologies

Peacebuilding tools and methodologies were developed in the bi-polar and subsequently uni-polar world after WW II. They have demonstrated effectiveness in confronting conflict dynamics when local solutions can be developed and sustained. As great power dynamics become a more prevalent feature of conflict landscapes, peacebuilding practitioners may find it increasingly difficult to make and maintain impact on reducing violence because great powers will have the capacity to disrupt locally developed agreements and conflict resolution mechanisms. “Geopolitics” is generally seen as above the pay-grade of peacebuilding organisations, and outside our sphere of influence. We do not have many existing tools for confronting the impact of great power interests on conflict situations. 

As peacebuilding organisations we need to develop better practices of working together within a specific country, developing shared theories of change to ensure that all our programmes use their diverse skills sets and resources to pull in the same direction and empower locally led initiatives.  Peacebuilding organisations must also urgently collaborate on developing robust theories of change for how peacebuilding can confront war in an era of great power clashes.  

Peacebuilding organisations have much to offer to address fragility and conflict. However, many peacebuilding organisations, like Peaceful Change initiative, have tended to see our role as technical – we implement projects in accordance with results frameworks, activity plans and reporting schedules.  We may now need to adopt a more activist stance where we do more to advocate for and champion the idea of peace – including within our own societies. This may require us to become more politically engaged than many of us are comfortable with. Through solidarity, collaboration and acting in coalitions we will need to find ways to claim the space to confront the trends that are driving power rivalry and conflict in the future. 

Annual Report 2022-2023

Two media professionals talking

Our vision is a world free from violent conflict. A world where societies undergoing major change manage conflict without violence through dialogue and collaboration.

Our annual report for 2022-2023 reflects on our achievements and the challenges we faced working to build sustainable peace across North Africa, the Western Balkans, Europe and the Swahili Coast region.

Read PCi annual report 2022-2023

Our peacebuilding achievements highlighted in the annual report include:

In Libya, the Social Peace and Local Development project (SPLD):

  • continued to support more than 20 Social Peace Partnerships (SPPs) comprising 928+ members who work to promote social cohesion across Libya
  • strengthened and enhanced peacebuilding technical skills and knowledge through mentoring and training support delivered in 20 target locations across the country
  • supported women’s leadership and a stronger civil society space through six gender grants, and seven grants implemented by civil society organisations, in collaboration with Social Peace Partnerships
  • continued to manage conflict issues and tensions in all the target areas across Libya – with some Social Peace Partnerships rolling out initiatives independently of PCi
  • strengthened capacity of Tier 2 Social Peace Partnerships (to become Tier 1) through five grants.

In Mozambique, PCi’s work with WeWorld’s team in Cabo Delgado included developing an understanding of conflict dynamics and conflict sensitivity risks in the communities in which WeWorld is working; supporting WeWorld’s project team to prioritise, mitigate and monitor these risks using our conflict sensitive interactions matrix; and developing indicators and tools for measuring the project’s impact on social cohesion.

In Serbia-Kosovo:

  • PCi awarded various institutional grants to support mission-led organisations in Kosovo and Serbia to empower them to pursue the core objectives of their mission to achieve social change within their own societies.
  • Through PCi’s consortium partners, grant support has been provided to the Advisory Committees established in eight target municipalities to pursue inclusive and participatory approaches to social services planning.
  • Support has been provided for a civil society-led process to undertake a campaign in south
    Serbia to inform the Albanian-speaking population of the census process – the lessons learnt from the census in Serbia will be applied to the census in Kosovo in 2023.
  • PCi has commissioned work to build and train a network of civil society organisations and media outlets with knowledge about the specific challenges.
  • PCi designed and established a first-of-its-kind initiative to support collaboration between different language media outlets in Kosovo.
  • The Kosovo–Serbia Rapid Response Mechanism (KSRRM) adopted a number of joint positions
    which were widely distributed in local media in Kosovo and Serbia, and amongst members of
    civil society and the international community.

In Switzerland, PCi engaged with the UN-led peace negotiation processes concerning Syria by providing support to the political opposition delegation representation in Geneva. No activities took place inside Syria.

PCi also maintained contacts with different stakeholders in the South Caucasus and in the Ukraine.

Download PCi annual report 2022-2023

Annual Report 2021-2022

Annual report 2021-2022

Our latest annual report reflects on some of the achievements we had but also on the challenges we faced building peace in the last year.

With programmes in North Africa (Libya), Western Balkans (Serbia-Kosovo) and Europe/Switzerland (Syria) we also maintained contacts with different stakeholders in Ukraine and the South Caucasus. Our work in the year is detailed in our Annual Report, below, alongside our financial statements. Our key charitable programme activities in the year are highlighted below.

In Libya, through the Social Peace and Local Development Project (SPLD), we:

  • Continued to support more than 20 Social Peace Partnerships (SPPs) comprising 563 members, strengthening social cohesion across Libya;
  • Deepened the development of a cadre of 20 peacebuilding professionals who provide support to the SPPs as well as disseminating the SPLD approach;
  • Strengthened the approach to women, peace and security through implementation of a new project component focused on gender in six municipalities;
  • Created Livelihood opportunities through a new project component that addressed economic stressors, including conflict and COVID-19, that negatively impact on community relations, gender equality and social inclusion;
  • Supported a network of 36 peacebuilding practitioners who carry out peace actions involving 26 communities across the country.

In Serbia-Kosovo, our key achievements included:

  • Five Media Consultation Dialogues brought together media professionals from Serbia and Kosovo to work to end divisive narratives;
  • A Rapid Response mechanism was established in Kosovo to assess the impact of COVID-19 on non-majority communities, to support an advocacy strategy and increase awareness amongst government stakeholders on challenges facing these communities.

In Switzerland, we engaged with the UN-led peace negotiation processes concerning Syria by providing capacity-building support to the political opposition delegation representation in Geneva. No activities took place inside Syria.

Download the Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements (31 March 2021-30 March 2022) here.

PCi Annual Report March 2020-March 2021

Our work in the year is detailed in our Trustees’ Report, below, alongside our financial statements. Key charitable programme activities in the year were:

Continued delivery for our Libya projects, which now sees the social peace model adopted across 40 towns in the country. In the reporting period we have had a particular focus on combating hate speech which has arisen between different ethnic groups in Libya as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Working with partner organisations in Serbia and Kosovo to amplify local voices, especially those of marginalised groups, in support of equitable development. PCi’s own particular contribution has been to work with media organisations in both countries to address the way in which conflictual narratives are perpetuated.

Support to schools in conflict-affected parts of Georgia, Abkhazia to maintain education during COVID-19 disruptions. PCi facilitated the sharing of experiences between teachers across conflict divides on how to address challenges to education posed by the pandemic.

Download Peaceful Change initiative Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements 31 March 2020-30 March 2021 here

ILO launches new guide to promote social cohesion and peaceful coexistence in fragile contexts

PCi’s trustee Joan McGregor and Senior Peacebuilding Advisor Raj Bhari have been working with ILO to produce a new guide:  Promoting Social Cohesion and Peaceful Coexistence in Fragile Contexts through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). 

The guide is now available to download here: Promoting Social Cohesion and Peaceful Coexistence in Fragile Contexts through TVET.

The guide is aimed at TVET practitioners to consolidate their role as active promoters of social cohesion and peaceful co-existence.

The guide seeks to strengthen the role of skills development policies and programmes in peacebuilding efforts through inclusive learning methodologies and training in relevant core skills. 

It also provides practical guidance on how to adapt training, to mixed community groups, embed conflict resolution skills, cooperation, and other relevant core skills into training curricula, and create conflict sensitive, inclusive, and diverse learning environments for all.

The guide will be launched at a Webinar on International Day of Living Together in Peace on May 17 2021 at 2pm UK time. To participate in the Webinar, please click on the following link:  https://ilo-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jr1K9WatS4yB2qDJRILlpg

A tool for conflict sensitive decision-making – Discussion note 1

This is the first discussion note in a series intended to inform development of a new tool for conflict sensitive decision-making related to international humanitarian, development and peacebuilding assistance.  The tool is intended to help decision makers determine whether an action is conflict sensitive before it is taken and consists of 5 tests, or questions, which should be considered. Click here for the discussion note.

This discussion note introduces and provides an overview to the tool.  Subsequent discussion notes will look into particular tests or aspects of the tool.  The discussion notes have been prepared as part of a consultation process with conflict sensitivity practitioners, donors and implementers to test and develop the tool.

PCi Annual Report March 2017-March 2018

Our work in the year is detailed in our trustees report below alongside our financial statements. Two objectives have been to build resilience in fundraising and grow our expertise and we are pleased to report that we supported 10 separate donors across 15 programmes in the year. We also met our goal to build six months of operating costs as financial reserves and carry a healthy cash balance. 

In brief our programme highlights are;

In Libya, PCi has delivered actions that contribute to local peace, development, and stabilisation through the 14 Social Peace Partnerships supporting conflict management at the sub-national level and through the Peacebuilding Network supporting a Network of 44 Libyan peacebuilding practitioners from 26 communities across the country. A number of Social Peace Partnerships have also played an important role as consultative and conflict sensitivity mechanisms to support the implementation of UNDP’s ‘Strengthening Local Capacities for Resilience and Recovery’ and ‘Stabilisation Facility for Libya’ interventions.

In Syria, PCi has delivered actions to strengthen the capacity of a group of Syrian youth in transformational leadership skills and how to apply these across conflict lines. In addition PCi has facilitated a Conflict-Sensitive Assistance for Syria retreat in November 2017 (and April 2018) and subsequently published a report on the Conflict-Sensitive Assistance for Syria Retreat  in April 2018.

In Ukraine, PCi has worked with civil society organisations working along the line between Government and Rebel-controlled Ukraine to build their skills as dialogue facilitators and accompanied community groups to deal with practical issues in constructive ways. At the international level PCi has commissioned research and convened discussions to inform the international response to the crisis in Ukraine and how assistance can contribute to addressing underlying drivers of conflict.

On the organisation front we have recruited to strengthen our capability in finance and operations, communications and expanded our outsourced services for managing Human Resources and Payroll. Looking ahead to 2019 we are aiming to complete a strategy review, an upgrade of Finance capabilities and investment and training for improving our programme and business development frameworks.

Download Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements 31 March 2017 – 30 March 2018

PCi Annual Report March 2018-March 2019

Our work in the year is detailed in our Trustees’ Report, below, alongside our financial statements. Key charitable programme events in the year were:

  • Continued delivery for our Libya programmes across a number of governmental and institutional donors;
  • Completion of our programmatic work in Syria and the winding down of operations to support this work;
  • Development of proposals and operations for the Black Sea region including Ukraine and Armenia.

A decision was taken by the Board in 2018 to wind down all programmes for the Syria region and halt taking on new work. This was due to PCi’s judgement that prevailing operating conditions inside Syria are not conducive to meaningfully deepening the organisation’s work. Also, despite some governmental and institutional interest in our proposals for Ukraine, we were unable to secure new programme work for this country. We remain in communication with donors regarding the delivery of work for 2020 onwards. However, the Board decided to open up programming in Armenia, and PCi successfully fundraised for a new project there.

On the organisation front we continued to refresh and refine our strategy and business planning and improve governance of risk management, and prepared for new financial accounting and reporting systems from April 2020. Our reserves policy for the year was executed as net-neutral in that we neither added to nor deducted from our cumulated reserves; however, we achieved our goal of £250k reserves, which broadly represents 6 months’ operations. A new reserves policy will be set at the AGM in 2019.

Download Peaceful Change initiative Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements 31 March 2018 – 30 March 2019 here