Women’s roles in peacebuilding are often marginalized, necessitating a reevaluation of their contributions to peace initiatives. Research has shown that participation of women in peace processes and peacebuilding activities can increase the chances of democratization as they are less violent and more caring, i.e more suitable for these activities. To be able to analyze the long-term changes and consequences of female participation in peacebuilding this study focused  on the women's organization the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET). Through this organization, this research sought to understand if Resolution 1325 made any long-term differences for women in peacebuilding in Liberia from 2003 until 2023.   Scholars underscores Liberian women’s pivotal role in shaping peacebuilding strategies, advocating for gender-inclusive measures. While post-conflict countries have increased women’s participation in governance, Resolution 1325’s impact needs scrutiny. Despite progress, substantial investment is needed to achieve gender parity, especially in local governance and public service. This study employs a qualitative research approach, focusing on the analysis of existing data with a specific emphasis on women’s rights organization in Liberia. The goal is to enrich understanding of women’s peacebuilding roles and the lasting effects of international resolutions from their engagement.  It was the advocacy efforts of women that led to a recognition of the interrelation between gender equality and sustainable peace. Women were included in various post-conflict mechanisms and transition processes as a result of this recognition. It is evident that the journey toward gender equality is both complex and intertwined between international resolutions, local advocacy, and the subsequent inclusion of women in leadership roles.

No description available.

This thesis is a comparative case study which investigates both formal and nonformal peace education initiatives and situates them within the socio-political, cultural, and economic landscape of Cambodia. The research employs a participatory methodology with reflection and learning as key process components. Cambodian youth [ages 11 to 15] are the primary research subjects, and Cambodian youth [ages 18-25] are the co-researchers in this inquiry. Joint cooperation with local non-governmental organisations as the key stakeholders in this research ensure that the outcomes and findings are useful for praxis as well. Based in the ontology and epistemology of critical realism, the research investigates the practice of peace education in Cambodia. It posits the need for transpection as an analytical framework and a pedagogy which comprises retrospection [looking into the past], introspection [looking inward], extrospection [looking outward] and prospection [looking to the future]. The research describes the contextual factors that (dis)enable the practice of peace education and analyses the ways in which peace education contributes to conflict transformation at the personal, relational, structural, and cultural levels. The thesis argues that peace education in Cambodia makes a deeper impression on personal and relational conflict, but that via transformative agency and through the lens of both feminist discourse, can also make a contribution to cultural and structural conflict transformation as well. Peace education is effective insofar as it operates within an enabling environment where contexts align with mechanisms to catalyse positive change. The thesis proposes that critical peace education in Cambodia should be given greater attention and enfolded symbiotically into ongoing peacebuilding initiatives. Lastly, the model of peace education for Cambodia should be locally owned, focussed on modelling, hybrid (i.e. formal and non-formal), and transpective. That is, peace education should include study of the past, deep self-understanding, critical awareness and perspective taking, and futures thinking. / Peace Institute of Cambodia

No / Recognising the failure of both internal and external parties to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Russo - Chechen war, this article seeks to establish what scope remains for international involvement to end the violence in Chechnya. By applying theories from the disciplines of conflict resolution and counterinsurgency to the confrontation, distinctions are drawn between opportunities of peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding, as well as between legitimate 'need' and exploitative 'greed' at a time of 'violent' politics. Key findings include the scope for international assistance in addressing the root contradictions of the conflict and for curtailing the influence of the 'entrepreneurs of violence'.

After nearly 20 years of negotiations and peacebuilding, Palestinians are no nearer to self-determination. This article explains this failure through an analysis of the context and peacebuilding framework created as a product of the Oslo Accords and the assumptions of Western donors about how peace would be achieved. It argues that the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) is subject to an assemblage of colonial practices - some of which are the product of Western peacebuilding. While the practices of the occupying power, Israel, has constituted one part of the colonial equation (extracting and controlling resources and settling its own people), Western peacebuilding has played another through its pursuit of a modern version of the 'mission civilisatrice'. The ideological discursive framework that binds these two parts of the colonial equation together and gives them common purpose is the 'partners for peace' discourse that has been used to justify a multitude of practices, including the arrest and detention of Palestinian politicians, military action, the withdrawal of aid and regime change.

Yes / Poor people attempting to claim a share of resources in post-conflict societies seek allies internationally and nationally in attempts to empower their campaigns. In so doing, they mobilize the languages of liberalism, nationalism and local cultural tradition selectively and opportunistically to both justify stances that transgress the strictures of local culture and to cement alliances with more powerful actors. In the case of poor widows in East Timor, the languages of nationalism, ritual, and justice were intermingled in a campaign aimed at both international actors and the national state in a bid to claim a position of status in the post-conflict order.

No / This introduction presents how views on ‘the local turn’ in peacebuilding has evolved into a significant discourse. Currently, it has ‘its moment’ and is widely used by theorists and practitioners alike, by normative localists as well as by liberal policy-makers, albeit for different reasons and with differing intensions. We suggest that international interventions for the purpose of peacebuilding cannot be justified a priori, but requires resonance at the ‘receiving end’, which the local dimension potentially offers. It is however an elusive and contested concept that requires thorough scrutiny and critical assessment. Here a collection of conceptual and empirical articles is contextualised and introduced, painting a broad state-of-the-art of the pros and cons of the local turn.

Yes / This paper looks at community peace work in Sri Lanka, and represents work in its early stages. It provides a view of peace work from the perception of a Sri Lankan community peace activist. The popular practice of treating community peace work as an apolitical exercise will be challenged. An overview of the meta-narratives of the Sri Lankan conflict will be provided, since these inform the broader analytic context which needs to be understood for successful community peace work to be undertaken. Community peace building practice, which draws from knowledge of the international conflict resolution discourse, is treated as just one `peace¿ approach among several. Community level work is seen as one contribution to the overall peace effort in finding a resolution to the Sri Lankan conflict.

Yes

Yes / Joel Joffe Trust