COORDINATION: POINTS OF CONTACT

This chapter provides a framework for coordinated, multi-level peacebuilding approaches,

aiming to maximize diverse contributions without centralized control. Here’s a breakdown of
the ideas with real-life examples:

1. Peace Inventory
- The concept of a peace inventory aims to compile and keep track of all active
peacebuilding efforts, ensuring that resources are effectively aligned. In real-world contexts,
one similar initiative is the Peace and Development Advisor Program by the United Nations,
where peace inventories are used in countries facing crises to assess ongoing peace efforts,
preventing overlaps and ensuring local peacebuilding efforts are acknowledged.

2. Communication between Top and Middle Ranges

- Bridging the gap between top-level (official diplomacy) and grassroots-level efforts is
crucial. A real example is the Good Friday Agreement (1998) in Northern Ireland, which
involved coordination between top-level negotiations and middle-range and grassroots-level
efforts, like community dialogues and local councils. This helped sustain the peace process at
both political and community levels.

3. Peace-Donor Conferences
- This idea promotes the gathering of international donors, governments, and NGOs to
support peace initiatives in targeted ways. For instance, The Berlin Conference on Libya
(2019) is a recent example, where international stakeholders, including the UN and regional
organizations, coordinated efforts to stabilize Libya by pooling resources, setting a common
agenda, and working towards a lasting peace agreement.

4. Strategic Resource Groups

- A strategic resource group involves gathering expertise across disciplines to provide
peacebuilding insights and support conflict transformation stages. For example, in South
Sudan, the UN and the Life and Peace Institute worked with historians, diplomats, and
anthropologists to guide UN peacebuilding strategies and foster local conflict resolution
efforts, supporting holistic, locally-grounded peacebuilding.

5. Linking Internal and External Peacemakers

- Integrating efforts by local peacemakers with international peace initiatives creates a
balance between external intervention and local agency. An example is UNAMID (the
African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur), where peace efforts included extensive
collaboration with local mediators and peace committees to align global initiatives with
regional peace mechanisms, adapting external support to reinforce local structures.

6. Somali Example (Life and Peace Institute)

- The chapter’s reference to LPI in Somalia illustrates these principles in action, where LPI
served as a bridge among grassroots Somali peacemakers, UN personnel, and international
stakeholders. Their work helped to support Somali-led reconciliation efforts, foster dialogue
among community elders, and provided a sustainable framework for peacebuilding amidst
changing UN leadership and the complex Somali conflict environment.

In sum, this framework shows how a flexible, coordinated approach leveraging local
resources, expert input, and strategic international support can foster sustainable peace, as
demonstrated in cases like Northern Ireland, Libya, South Sudan, and Somalia.
PREPARING FOR PEACEBUILDING

This chapter’s emphasis on peacebuilding as a framework for training offers a compelling

view on how training in protracted conflict areas should be adapted to empower individuals
and communities. Let’s break down some of the main points and illustrate them with real-
world examples to make the concepts clearer and relatable.

DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO TRAINING

1. Contextualizing Training in Peacebuilding:

The chapter criticizes traditional conflict training for relying heavily on prescriptive models
that don’t always address the unique needs of each conflict situation. In many cases,
peacebuilding requires customized strategies that resonate with the specific cultural, social,
and political environment of the conflict zone. For instance, when NGOs and peacebuilders
operate in Afghanistan, they often find that top-down strategies developed in Western
countries are not as effective. Instead, engaging with local elders and community leaders who
have insight into regional dynamics has proven to be more impactful in building trust and
finding resolutions. This approach respects cultural values and uses local resources, which
aligns well with the chapter's call for context-driven training.

2. Capacity and Relationship Building:

The chapter highlights that capacity building is about empowering individuals to believe
that they can effect change. A real-world example is seen in Sierra Leone’s post-conflict
recovery. Local youth groups were trained not just in peace negotiation techniques but also in
community organizing and problem-solving skills. This empowered them to take on local
issues, from small-scale agriculture to school rebuilding. These initiatives built confidence
among the youth and enabled them to see themselves as agents of change in their
communities. Relationship building also became key, as these youth groups fostered
connections across former lines of division, helping to break down stereotypes and build a
shared future vision.

3. Process/Context Approach:
Instead of simply transferring a “package” of skills, this approach focuses on understanding
the conflict's context and designing specific training responses. For example, in Colombia,
various organizations worked on peacebuilding by incorporating ex-combatants into
community projects. These programs were designed not just to rehabilitate individuals but to
respond to community fears and reintegrate former fighters in a way that builds trust. These
training programs were process-driven, allowing ex-combatants and community members to
collaborate, building peace by addressing actual needs rather than applying a one-size-fits-all
approach.

4. Sustainability and Strategic Design:

The concept of strategic training emphasizes the importance of long-term planning and
sustainable change. This is well-illustrated by Rwanda’s recovery following the 1994
genocide. Training programs there have not only aimed to build negotiation skills but also
focused on sustained community healing and reconciliation. “Peace Clubs” were created in
schools to educate students on conflict resolution and the importance of unity, fostering long-
term cultural shifts among the younger generation. By embedding these values within schools
and communities, the peacebuilding training transcends short-term effects, contributing to a
sustainable culture of peace.

In summary, these examples from Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Colombia, and Rwanda help
demonstrate how peacebuilding training can be context-sensitive, empowering, and
relationship-focused. The chapter’s focus on strategic, sustainable approaches suggests that
effective peacebuilding is less about imparting skills and more about fostering the social
conditions necessary for lasting peace.

DEVISING AN INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PEACEBUILDING

The development of an infrastructure for peacebuilding involves transitioning from violent

conflict to a shared, peaceful future. It requires proactive changes in relationships at all levels
of society, which can only be sustained by creating a common vision and responding to the
existing crises. This process is dynamic, not static, and must be adapted to each specific
context. An integrated framework with categories like crisis management and long-term
vision is essential for peacebuilding. In the crisis phase, understanding and addressing
immediate issues, such as identity conflicts, are critical to breaking the cycle of violence. At
the same time, creating space for a collective vision, especially in settings marked by
generational trauma, is necessary for lasting change. Peacebuilding is a continuous, context-
sensitive process that involves both immediate responses and long-term strategic
development.The development of an infrastructure for peacebuilding involves transitioning
from violent conflict to a shared, peaceful future. It requires proactive changes in
relationships at all levels of society, which can only be sustained by creating a common
vision and responding to the existing crises. This process is dynamic, not static, and must be
adapted to each specific context. An integrated framework with categories like crisis
management and long-term vision is essential for peacebuilding. In the crisis phase,
understanding and addressing immediate issues, such as identity conflicts, are critical to
breaking the cycle of violence. At the same time, creating space for a collective vision,
especially in settings marked by generational trauma, is necessary for lasting change.
Peacebuilding is a continuous, context-sensitive process that involves both immediate
responses and long-term strategic development.
To move from crisis to peace, people must imagine and create a shared vision of their future,
even while still in conflict. This vision should not be a fixed, final goal but a collective
process that helps guide immediate decisions and actions. The infrastructure for
peacebuilding involves both individuals and institutions. The "people" aspect focuses on
finding and preparing key agents of change who can bridge divisions and create connections
across different levels of society. The "institution" aspect emphasizes the importance of
organizing society to support long-term, sustainable peace. Peacebuilding requires
developing skills like understanding the current crisis, analyzing future violence, and creating
strategic responses. One important skill is "dilemma framing," which helps people find ways
to address conflicting goals, like providing aid while avoiding its misuse in conflict. By
recognizing dilemmas, peacebuilders can find creative solutions that move toward lasting
peace.
TRANSFORMATIVE TRAINING: AN EXAMPLE

Over the past fifteen years, a strategic and comprehensive approach to conflict transformation
training has been developed, especially in Colombia, which faces a prolonged and violent
conflict. In collaboration with organizations like Justapaz, the idea was to move away from
one-off training events and instead establish a continuous, long-term learning process. This
approach combined theoretical workshops with practical application, supporting participants
as they worked through conflict transformation strategies in their local contexts. It
emphasized a holistic view of peacebuilding, connecting different societal levels, from
grassroots to government negotiations. Real-life examples of this approach can be seen in
various conflict zones around the world, such as South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, which similarly combined community-level involvement with high-level
political dialogue. In Colombia, this method has led to the creation of a national community
justice network, with sustained relationships among diverse groups, improving long-term
social change and peacebuilding efforts.

In this conclusion, the chapter emphasizes that peacebuilding education and training should
be strategically designed to have a tangible impact on the conflict system. Training should
address three key needs: responding to immediate crises, fostering a shared vision for the
future, and developing an infrastructure to support long-term change. Transformative training
is framed as an intentional intervention in the conflict, not just an educational tool for
individuals. The design of such training should focus on who participates, using it as a venue
for relationship-building, and adopt a process-oriented approach that links local knowledge
with strategic peacebuilding responses.