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On 15th-16th November leaders and high level representatives of regional intergovernmental organisations and civil society organisations from around the world will meet in Madrid for the conference “Strengthening Global Peace and Security for Development: the Role of Regional International Organizations and Civil Society.” This unique meeting, hosted by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), will take place in Madrid, Spain.  

For those of you who are not in a position to travel all the way to Madrid, different means and tools will be made available to still follow the presentations, weigh in on the discussions and ask pertinent questions. You will be able to:

• follow the conference live, since the entire first day of the conference will be broadcast live on-line, at www.partners4peace.com/webcast.
• participate in the on-line discussion forum, and even send in questions to be asked to any of the speakers.
• follow the live tweets straight from the conference, by following @gppac and respond or pose questions through #partnes4peace.  

Both in the lead up and during the conference, different forms of content will be posted on-line at www.partners4peace.com/latest, including videos of interviews with some of participants, blogs, articles and statements.  

To participate and engage, you need to become both a member of the Peace Portal and of the community of the conference in particular. You can do so by following the following two sets of instructions; 

• create an account on the Peace Portal. Here is a simple guide http://www.peaceportal.org/guidelines.  
• become a member of the community and use the discussion forum. Here is how to do it http://www.partners4peace.com/help.

23-24 October 2011, Kathmandu, Nepal  – The Centre for South Asian Studies in Kathmandu in collaboration with the GPPAC South Asia Regional Secretariat organized  a two-day seminar  titled “Building Bridges and Promoting People to People Interaction in South Asia” in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 23 to 24 October 2011. The roundtable aimed to share experiences and lessons learnt from other regional organizations and to promote greater interaction among South Asians as well as encourage wider participation in SAARC's activities as a means to contribute to the progress of member states of South Asia. The inauguration of the roundtable was held on 23 October and was graced by H.E. Uz. Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed, the Secretary General of SAARC.

Delivering the keynote address, the Secretary General elaborated on the various efforts made by SAARC in facilitating Regional Corporation in diverse areas. However, it was also highlighted that the regional body had not always met the hopes and aspirations of South Asians. Her Excellency stressed on the need for strengthening SAARC and its institutional mechanisms and also of the importance of promoting people-to-people contacts within the region. For a full transcript of her speech, please click here.

The roundtable was attended by members of various civil society organizations in Nepal and across South Asia. On 24 October, the participants visited the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu and met with Secretariat officials where the role of SAARC in the region as well as possibilities for greater CSO engagement with SAARC was discussed. The participants also visited the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament (UNRCPD) in Kathmandu where they were briefed on the UNRCPD activities as well as on how civil society organizations can collaborate with the Centre on peacebuilding and conflict prevention activities. A report on the roundtable proceedings together with the papers presented will be published by the Centre for South Asian Studies and RCSS.

For more information, click here or check out an article in the Telegraph Nepal about the roundtable.

The campaign to gather considerable citizen support to the peace talks between the Goverment of the Philippines (GPH) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has gained added momentum with the endorsement of the campaign by the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC).

The public opinion backlash to the recent encounter in Albarka, Basilan and the continuing impasse over the implementation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) emphasizes the need to mobilize citizen support for dialogue and consensus building.

The One Million Voices for Peace in the Philippines Campaign aims to gather the support of people from all over the Philippines and the rest of world, to signify their desire for an end to the conflict in the country and present these to the conflict actors to press them to work for a peaceful, just and comprehensive political settlement to the armed conflicts in the Philippines.

A website for the One Million Voices for Peace (www.onemillionvoicesforpeace.org) allows for the "voices" to be expressed in a variety of ways: including your name and email on the form provided, subscribing to the OMV4P YouTube channel, "likes" from Facebook accounts, and following the campaign on Twitter. 

Please visit the One Million Voices for Peace in Mindanao website, and add your name to the "voices" calling for peace in Mindanao. 

NEW YORK, NY – Thursday, October 27, from 3:30 – 6:00 p.m., on the 10th Floor of the United Nations Church Center at 777 United Nations Plaza, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, headquartered in The Hague, is organizing a public roundtable to present concrete conclusions from the “Taking Women Beyond 1325” discussions in New York.    

This UN-focused roundtable will highlight specific recommendations on how the United Nations can move beyond 1325 and promote the role of women in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. These recommendations will be fed into the Open Debate on 1325 in the UN Security Council. The International delegates, based on direct international experience in conflict zones, will discuss what can be done to change the way women are portrayed in the media regarding their role in peace and security. The recommendations will be presented to and reflected on by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN.   

Biographies of all the international participants can be found here: http://www.peaceportal.org/web/taking-women-beyond-1325/home   

Some of the international delegates participating in the roundtable will include:

• Nighat Said Khan, prominent feminist activist and academic in Pakistan, founder of the Women's Action Forum and Executive Director of the ASR Resource Centre. 
• Visaka Dharmadasa Parua, founder and chair of the Association of War Affected Women and Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action, based in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
• Carmen Lauzon-Gatmaytan, Program Manager of the Initiatives for International Dialogue and anchored the Asia Circle 1325.
• Nana Berekashvili, the Head of Program on Minorities and Gender at the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation.
• Maja Vitas, Communications and PR coordinator at Nansen Dialogue Centre in Serbia. 

“Women play a crucial role in reducing violent conflicts around the world, but the coverage on women in the media often reinforces the image of women as the victims of war,” said GPPAC’s Marte Hellema. “While there is no question that women all over the world suffer the consequences of conflict and violence, focusing on their victimhood takes away the possibilities for empowerment and the ability to play a proactive role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.”  

“Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to three women for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work is an indication of that same challenge,” Hellema continued. “They are receiving the prize together as women, not as individuals that have made great contribution to peace. The United Nations, primarily through UNSCR 1325, is working on changing this misconception about women in relation to armed conflict and war, but more focus is needed on women’s role in conflict prevention, including how this is portrayed in the media.”  

“We need to use community media platforms - including social media where appropriate - to produce content that highlights the values and diversity of women’s viewpoints,” says Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls of femLINKPACIFIC: Media Initiatives for Women, a Fiji Island based feminist women’s NGO that uses a community media platform, including a mobile radio station and a rural women’s media network.  

“Despite women’s productive efforts, their participation in peacebuilding, post-conflict recovery, and efforts to enhance the oversight and accountability of the security sector, is still a matter for debate,” continued Bhagwan-Rolls. “Women still struggle to be heard at the negotiating table and in leadership roles, and are not given sufficient recognition and resources to do their work.”

Starting today, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) and the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) are holding an online dialogue on the topic of  “UNSCR 1325 in Europe and Beyond”. The dialogue runs from 3 to 7 October 2011 on the Peace Portal. Civil society representatives from all continents have signed up to participate in this event to share their views and experiences and to evaluate progress on different strategies to implement UNSCR 1325. The participants will exchange lessons learned and identify ways forward towards an effective and full-fledged implementation of the Resolution. The outcomes of the dialogue will be summarized and recommendations circulated widely. 

To follow the dialogue and discussions, click here.

Today is the International Day of Peace. A day that is celebrated, honoured, remembered and observed throughout the world as a day of ceasefire and peace. We hope that you have joined in one or more of the many activities that are being organized.

Many members of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) have or are organizing events and festivities for the 21 September. To see some of examples of these activities from Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, click here!

On 19 and 20 August 2011, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) Southern Africa Regional Steering Committee Workshop met in Durban, South Africa, to discuss developments in the Southern African countries, emerging themes, and a strategic plan for the region.

The workshop was conducted as part of ACCORD's role as the GPPAC Regional Secretariat for the Southern Africa region and was organised to provide a platform for a more active and revitalised Southern Africa GPPAC Regional Steering Committee.

 Civil Society Organisations (CSO) presented on the history and current state of conflict in the countries of Angola, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The first day of the workshop allowed for a very open discussion on each country and the current and potential issues. The following day was then aimed at identifying emerging themes and developing a strategic plan for the region.

 The workshop was a chance to further engage CSOs in the area and work to collaborate more effective around conflict issues within the region. The group is actively working to create a short and long term work plan for the region with focus around electoral violence and early warning response mechanisms. It will also work to engage the Southern African Development Community more effectively in the coming months around these key areas.

ACCORD is actively working to create an information sharing platform that would provide a working space for CSOs throughout the region.

See http://www.accord.org.za/news/3-peacebuilding/909-accord-hosts-gppac-southern-africa-regional-steering-committee-workshop-in-durban

One year on after the 10th anniversary of UNSCR Resolution 1325, its implementation in the EU and beyond remains a challenge. So far, 26 countries, including 13 EU member states have developed National Action Plans. Earlier this year, the EU released a report based on indicators of the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and 1820 in its policies and practices. The UN is currently fine-tuning its own set of indicators. Yet, much remains to be done.  

To evaluate progress since 2010 and exchange lessons learnt on further implementation of UNSCR 1325, the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) invite you to take part in a 5-day online dialogue, from 3 to 7 October 2011, hosted by the Peace Portal, bringing together civil society organisations from Europe and beyond. 

If you would like to join us please register with Gesa Bent, Coordinator Gender at the GPPAC Global Secretariat, by 20 September 2011.  

For more information, please click here.

On August 04, 2011, prominent human rights activist and President of the Human Rights Centre, Viasna, Mr. Ales Belyatski was arrested by police of the Department of Financial Investigation of the Committee of State Control. He was incriminated with violating part 2 of article 243 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus: “Concealing income of an exceptionally large volume”. Mr. Belyatski faces a possible sentence of seven years of prison plus property confiscation. GPPAC Eastern Europe calls for the immediate release of Mr. Belyatski, as well as the dismissal of all charges against him.

The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) Eastern European is a network of civil society organizations, and think tanks from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Romania and Bulgaria. Since 2003 they have been working on issues related to conflict prevention and transformation in the Eastern European region, cooperating with International Organisations, State Institutions, Community Based Organizations and well as Academia.In this situation GPPAC Eastern Europe calls for:

1. The immediate release of Ales Belyatski and a the dismissal of all criminal charges against him. 
2. The international community to apply all possible political and legal measures to pressure the government of Belarus to release Ales Belyatski as well as all other political prisoners, being held in the Republic of Belarus.

 For the full statement, click here.

On Sunday 4 September 2011 Peace Boat will dock near the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam. In addition to more than 1,000 passengers, this Peace Boat voyage also includes survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, as well as several people that have been strongly involved with the recovery, reconstruction and reflection after the Fukushima disaster earlier this year. 

Seizing the opportunity of having the ship in Amsterdam a roundtable session to reflect on safety and security concerns of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons will take place from 13:00-16:30. Speakers will address the consequences of nuclear radiation, and the perceived value, safety, security and risks of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

Among the speakers will be a Hibakusha, a survivor of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Ike Teuling of Greenpeace the Netherlands, Takemura Shinichi, cultural anthropologist and member of the Japanese Government appointed Reconstruction Design Council, which overlooks the post-Fukushima recovery, Susi Snyder programme leader of the Nuclear Disarmament Programme of IKV Pax Christi and Yoshioka Tatsuya, founder and director of Peace Boat.

In addition to the panel discussion, Peace Boat will also show a photo exhibition from the affected areas after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March. So far the exhibition has visited China, Singapore, India, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Tunisia, France, Spain, Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala and Mexico. (http://peaceboat.jp/relief/reports/photo-exhibition)  

For more information, click here. To see the agenda, as well as background information on the speakers and organizations, click here.  

July 28-29, 2011 – Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University 

This meeting was a learning workshop that brought together participants from GPPAC, USIP, UNDP-BCPR, WWIS and the BEFORE Project to identify key lessons that have been learned so far about what “works” to prevent political violence, and what questions should drive our analysis to improve efforts going forward.  This workshop was co-sponsored by the BEFORE Project, CDA Collaborative Learning Projects and the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, the latter of which is provided financial support.

One key outcome of the reflections was a possible collaborative project on learning within the context of conflict prevention. This collaborative project will place emphasis on the need to begin a deep analysis of our preventive action efforts, to create an environment where we can learn from each other, and to identify what kinds of evaluation and analysis we need to do together in the future to improve our understanding of primary prevention and how to do it well.  It will also explore the possibility of a combined effort to document conflict prevention work more systematically through an action-research project or other research efforts. A compiled report of this meeting will be shared soon.

This year will see the first annual Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute (NARPI) Summer Training in Seoul and Inje, South Korea. The two-week training will not only equip participants with peacebuilding skills for their work at home, but will also help to connect organizations and communities from across the region and beyond. The 50 participantscurrently registered hail from Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. 

The training has been organized by the NARPI administration team, centered at KAC, in collaboration with the NARPI steering committee, comprised of individuals from the following organizations in Northeast Asia: Blue Banner, Korea Peace Foundation, Maritime State University, Peace Boat, Peace in China, Taiwan Grassroots Alliance for Peace, Transcend Japan and World Friendship Center. NARPI Summer Training participants will choose one from a list of three courses per week and participate in a field trip to the DMZ in between the two five-day courses. 

Week 1 (8.16-8.20)

Understanding Conflict and Peace by Jujin Chung & Wendy Kroeker

Theory and Practice of Peace Education by Kathy Matsui & Loreta Castro

A Framework for Restorative Justice by Jae Young Lee, Carl Stauffer & Howard Zehr 

Field trip (8.21-8.23) House of Sharing; DMZ tour 

Week 2 (8.24-8.28)

Historical and Cultural Stories of Peace in NE Asia by Hiro Katano & Kyoko Okumoto

Trauma: Awareness and Response by Al Fuertes & Jungki Seo

Peacebuilding Skill Development: Mediation, Dialogue, etc. by Jae Young Lee & Wendy Kroeker 

For additional information please click here, see http://narpi.net or email NARPI at admin@narpi.net

On 22 July 2011, about 90 stakeholders met at the Silver Springs Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya, to participate in the validation of the National Conflict Mapping Report and mobilizing support for early warning early response in Kenya. The stakeholders were drawn from civil society networks, government and intergovernmental bodies, UN agencies as well as other development partners, media, inter-faith institutions and academicians. The forum was convened with partnership from the NSC (under the Ministry of Internal Security), UNDP, Nairobi Peace Initiative –Africa (NPI-A), PeaceNet and Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) Global Secretariat.  

Prior to the December 2007 general elections in Kenya, various initiatives were undertaken by both state and non-state actors, including civil society, the media, UN agencies and the government, to encourage peaceful campaigns and elections.  Following the violence that broke out with the announcement of the disputed Presidential elections, further initiatives were undertaken, this time aimed at averting the violence and encouraging the resolution of the electoral dispute through dialogue. Among the numerous responses to the crisis by the various actors, NPI–Africa, in its role as the Regional Secretariat of GPPAC in Eastern and Central Africa, commissioned a study on how “Mobilizing Early Response” a national early response mechanism would look like for Kenya. That project was entitled “(MERP I)”. Similarly, the National Steering Committee on Peacebuilding and Conflict Management, with financial and technical support from UNDP Kenya, commissioned a National Conflict Mapping and analysis process in June 2010. The latter was undertaken and a draft Report was presented to the stakeholders’ meeting on 22 July 2011 for validation.  

For a more thorough report, please click here.

The GPPAC Regional Secretariat for South Asia is pleased to announce the launch of the GPPAC South Asia website. The website is hosted on the Peace Portal and offers information about the regional network’s work in the fields of peacebuilding and conflict transformation, activities of its members and other regional developments. It is also envisioned that the website will strengthen the connectivity between the civil society organizations working in the region.

The GPPAC South Asia website was created with the support of the GPPAC Peace Portal and is maintained by the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), which is the Regional Secretariat for GPPAC South Asia.

You can visit GPPAC South Asia at www.peaceportal.org/web/gppac-south-asia/home

The Peace Portal  has just launched a worldwide contest for the peacebuilding community: the “Stories of Peace” Challenge. You are invited to share your story and experiences on peace and preventing conflict and tell us about initiatives in your part of the world. 

The 25 best stories will be published in "People Building Peace 2.0" and winners receive ten copies of the book. One of these winners will be offered customized features and professional services on the Peace Portal, worth € 500,-, for free! 

Submit and share your story on the Peace Portal before August 31st 2011!

To do so or to get more information on the challenge visit the Challenge homepage on the Peace Portal. 

Crowdsourcing (CS) is increasingly being used as an alternative system to the traditional mechanisms of generating conflict information to shape response and peace building interventions. Through gathering information from a number of newer and widely used systems – such as social media communication ecosystems, emails and mobile phone technology – CS acts as a hub for information generated voluntarily and anonymously. Pioneered by the works of Ushahidi and others in the field of crisis mapping, CS has played a central role in crisis awareness and elections monitoring. The question that remains to be answered and explored further is what role crowdsourcing can play in anticipating conflict and generating information that can shape and inform the prevention of the more operational violence.

On 27^th June 2011, a multi-stakeholder brainstorming session was convened by GPPAC in collaboration with other partners to reflect on the conditions under which credible crowdsourcing for prevention (CCS4P) can be utilized in conflict-prone areas to inform violence prevention interventions and peace building efforts. This one day round table brought together GPPAC representatives for East and Central Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa, representative from UNDP -BCPR, GPPAC’s Peace Portal and the government of Kenya.

You can find the full report by clicking here. It contains key reflections from the meeting with the intention to further develop a background document that will inform GPPAC and other stakeholder work in electoral violence prevention.

“I foresee this group having a very strong say in defining the political agenda and shaping the public discourse on Russia-Georgia relations”, concluded one of the prominent media experts attending the dialogue meeting of Russian and Georgian independent political experts held in Istanbul in June 2011. The symposium “Georgia-Russia Relations: How To Overcome Current Stagnation” marked yet another step taken by the members of the Istanbul Process in an attempt to bridge the growing gap between Russia and Georgia. 

It was back in 2008 that the idea of a Russian-Georgian dialogue process was proposed by ICCN, a Tbilisi based organization, following the five-day war in Georgia in August 2008, which resulted in deaths of hundreds of civilians and displacement of thousands. Back then, these events altered the political landscape in the region dramatically and brought relations between Russia and Georgia to, perhaps, their lowest point since the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

The first meeting of prominent independent political experts and opinion leaders from Georgia and Russia was organised in Istanbul shortly after the war, within the framework of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) regional activities. This was the first direct Georgian-Russian cross-border exchange of positions and opinions regarding the August 2008 crisis, which marked the beginning of a series of consultations covering a wide-ranging spectrum of strategic topics.  

The questions of fundamental causes of the conflict and the key factors which triggered the military actions, the influence of the overall geopolitical context in the region on the current dynamics between two countries, as well as the mechanisms to support stabilization of relations between Russia and Georgia, cut across every discussion and every initiative taken as part of the Istanbul Dialogue Process since 2008.   

The Dialogue participants provide their analyses attempting to unmask political myths influencing consciousness of both societies across the conflict divide. Political motivation defining relations between Russia and Georgia is often hidden in the rhetoric, while two societies “may both be suffering from a severe form of intoxication with political illusions”, emphasized one of the experts analysing psychological roots of the conflict. Despite high damage caused by the August events, there is a range of dividends that both countries gained as a result, argues another participants describing a contradictory “paradox of war” phenomenon.  

While Dialogue participants deconstruct dominant political narratives of their respective states, the difference in their own relations becomes apparent - throughout the discussions of last three years the two sides were able to make a significant shift from at times confrontational perspectives towards a place where communication becomes more transparent, allowing to uncover some of the deeper value-based issues related to Russia-Georgia relations. The level of confidence and trust between participants developed so far allows to initiate joint actions. In 2010 a first joint publication of analytical essays was produced by the participants. The publication “Russia and Georgia, The ways out of the crisis” has been presented to key international and regional policy actors, as well as civil society in Moscow and in Tbilisi, becoming one of the key advocacy tools used by the group to disseminate and elaborate upon joint policy recommendations.  

The trust and a common vision developed by the participants of the Istanbul Process will serve as a legitimate platform for engaging international actors with considerable influence in the region, as well as policy and decision makers in the local and regional contexts. As importantly, the Istanbul Process participants will continue shaping the public discourse in both Georgian and Russian societies by articulating commonly developed narratives and transmitting messages from across the conflict divide with the aim to reduce current animosity and bring the two neighbouring societies closer to sustainable mutual understanding. 

For more information please contact Zahid Movlazadeh, Regional Coordinator for the Caucasus, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, GPPAC Global Secretariat: z.movlazadeh@conflict-prevention.net

On 24 June 2011 the Korean Women’s Association – including Women Making Peace member of GPPAC in Northeast Asia – submitted a statement in support of the draft National Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on Women, Peace and Security in South Korea by 32 members of parliament.

Amongst these members of parliament was Choi Young Hee Choi, Chair of Gender Equality and Family Committee of the National Assembly, who has joined GPPAC in past events, including the panel discussion “UNSCR 1325 and Peace for Sustainable Development” in February 2011 in New York, co-hosted with Peace Boat US. 

UNSCR 1325 was adopted by the Security Council in 2000. It acknowledges the specific experiences and roles of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building and calls for their full and equal participation; and it emphasises the integration of a gender perspective in all peace and security initiatives. To date, 25 countries have adopted National Action Plans to implement UNSCR 1325 and several countries are in the drafting phase. 

To read the full statement developed by Women Making Peace and the Korean Women's Association, please click here.

 "Human rights and globalization -- challenges to the media" is the theme of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn. For its fourth occurrence from June 20 to 22, 2011, Deutsche Welle once again expects more than 1,300 participants from around the world. For more information see www.dw-gmf.de. For the third consecutive year, GPPAC will be organizing a panel during the Forum. This year the theme will be ‘True Security and Human Rights in a Globalizing World’.  

Speakers will be Mr. Victor García Zapata – from Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz (SERAPAZ), Mexico, GPPAC North America – Mr. Mark Belinsky - Founder and Co-director of Digital Democracy and advisor to the GPPAC Public Outreach Programme – and Ms. Marte Hellema – Programme Manager Public Outreach at the GPPAC Global Secretariat based in the Netherlands. 

Presenters will discuss how armed conflicts and insecurity are increasingly linking different places around the world to each other. In the mean time, despite the financial crisis and its aftershocks around the globe, there seems to be a sustained upward trend in military spending, arms production and arms transfers around the globe. These developments combined are an indication of the dominating perception that military responses to risks of conflict are the most effective means of ensuring security and stability. That these measures often breach human rights, seems to be taken as an unfortunate side effect.  

The media have been instrumental in creating this myth. The sensationalising of military missions by the media and the overlooking of the human stories that are linked to such processes follow the same pattern and overshadow the ability to formulate alternatives to come to peace and stability. What is ultimately needed is recognition that current security measures will be ineffective in the long-term and that a radical rethinking of what is meant by ‘security’ is long overdue - And for the media to play a role in promoting such new thinking.  

Added on 19 June 2011

On Wednesday 6 April, a one-day Member State dialogue meeting took place on ‘Peacebuilding, Statebuilding and Situations of Fragility’ in The Hague, The Netherlands. The meeting was organised within the framework of the Civil Society Dialogue Network (CSDN), a three-year project funded by the European Commission aimed at facilitating dialogue on peacebuilding issues between civil society and the EU institutions. This report summarises the meeting, which brought together approximately 100 participants including representatives of EPLO member organisations and other civil society organisations, and officials from both the EU institutions and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  

For the full report, click here.

WANEP Côte D'Ivoire – Member of GPPAC West Africa have made a statement on the steps that need to be taken to assure that Côte D'Ivoire manages to return to a peaceful situation, including specific recommendations assist the country in overcoming the recent violence and unrest.

The statement can be found in the media section of this website or you can go directly to the statement by clicking on;

http://bit.ly/GPPACCoteDIvoireApril2011

On Wednesday, 6 April 2011, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) in collaboration with IKV Pax Christi and the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) organised a Civil Society Dialogue Network (CSDN) Member States Meeting in The Hague, the Netherlands on the topic of "Peacebuilding, Statebuilding and Situations of Fragility". The meeting was opened by the Minister for Development Cooperation and European Affairs of the Netherlands, Ben Knapen and Emmanuel Bombande, GPPAC Chair.

Minister Knapen stated, among other things, that in crisis situations national responses to conflict, for example through the deployment of armed forces, will be much faster than those from the European level. He further commented that the EU is better at giving a unified response when focusing on "soft power", in a phase when violence can still be prevented. "That is where the added value of the EU lies." He underlined the importance of a greater engagement of the EU in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, as the EU is still "punching below its weight".

Mr. Emmanuel Bombande emphasized the overall objective of GPPAC to move from reaction to prevention in responding to armed conflicts. As exemplified by recent experiences in Libya and Cote D´Ivoire, clearly any response to a conflict where violence has already erupted is in essence too late. Learning from these experiences, the international community should be able to establish a clearer threshold for intervention, to prevent armed conflict and violations of universal human rights principles.

Around 100 people attended the meeting, including Reverend Ramadan Chan Liol, General Secretary of the Sudan Council of Churches, a GPPAC member organisation. In his contribution the Reverend stressed that a new war between North and South Sudan has been prevented in the last year and a half, in part because of timely pressure from the international community - the EU, AU and UN - on the leaders in Khartoum. Pressure which resulted from many, mostly local, civil society organizations like his own Sudanese Council of Churches, ringing the alarm for potential new violence.

Koen Davidse, Director of the Peacebuilding and Stabilization Unit of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, discussed the many lessons learned from other regions and countries that should be taken into account when supporting places like South Sudan in its quest to become an independent nation without renewed violence erupting. Something that Reverend Ramadan wholeheartedly agreed to, in particular the need for local civil society to be capacitated to take on this key role in peacebuilding. "We do not want to be watch dogs" he said, "We need to become guide dogs."

Added on 10 April 2011

A diverse group of participants from Universities, Think-Tanks and non-governmental organizations in Washington DC, came together on 1st December 2010 with a GPPAC delegation from Northeast Asia to discuss the conditions in which women in North Korea live, an analysis of the recent conflict on the Korean Peninsula, as well as next steps that can be taken in order to further the women's road to peace on the Korean Peninsula. The meeting was organized by the Partnerships for International Strategies in Asia of the George Washington University, Peace Boat US and GPPAC Northeast Asia.

Yu Chong-Ae - consultant to academic institutions and NGOs - sought to broaden our understanding of North Korea beyond issues of peace and security to focus on the conditions for ordinary people in that country. Her presentation focused in particular on the critical food situation in North Korea. In 1995, due to a combination of severe floods and destabilizing policies, agricultural production plunged, famine conditions took hold, and although there has been some improvement, agricultural production has never fully recovered.

Today, only 18.8 % of goal production is being met domestically. Agriculture constitutes 21% of GDP and it is not adequate to meet even basic nutrition requirements of the population. Ms Yu emphasized that there is a very strong cultural imperative that holds women responsible for providing food for their households. Given the straightened circumstances of most families, and the need for women to ensure food for, in turn, son, husband, daughter and lastly, herself, malnutrition is rife among women. Consequently, Ms Yu recommends that humanitarian assistance focus on agriculture, particularly through agricultural cooperatives in which women often exercise leadership positions. Areas in the North and Northeast of the country, distant from the Chinese border, are especially impoverished and should be the focus of attention.

Turning to the political and security aspects of the current crisis on the Korean Peninsula, Jung Gyunglan - chair of the Policy Committee of Women Making Peace and member of GPPAC in Seoul - traced the history of agreements (and disagreements) among the key protagonists in the conflict and intermissions in the evolving drama of events on the Korean Peninsula, using maps that located the contested and therefore perilous seas between the so-called Northern Limit Line drawn by the US and UN Command and the more southerly line advocated by North Korea. Consequently, North Korea brands military exercises by South Korea in the sea between the two lines as sources of provocation and as justification for shelling South Korean citizens on Yeongpyeong Island, resulting in deaths of two civilians and two military personnel. Given the current stalemate in the Six-Party Talks process, Ms Jung outlined a three-stage approach to building a peace regime for the Korean Peninsula. Her recommendations target officials in North and South Korea, and also consider roles for civil society groups in South Korea, Northeast Asia and around the world.

The meeting next shifted to develop an action plan for measures that could follow-on from the Third Northeast Asia Women's Peace Conference that was held in Seoul in October, 2010.

With respect to humanitarian issues, the group took note of Chong-Ae's presentation and recommended that research be done to produce a briefing document on the health and welfare of women and children, particularly with respect to nutrition. Research can also be undertaken to calculate the gender composition of staff engaged in providing humanitarian assistance to North Korea. Given women's role in agriculture, this sector should be targeted for technical assistance, training and other means to help boost production. Finally, a media campaign should be launched to introduce to the general public the human face of North Korean women, their everyday lives and needs for humanitarian aid.

To address the need to resume dialogue on establishment of peace for the Korean Peninsula, a number of propositions were advanced. First, Professor Dr. Myagmar D. of the GPPAC Northeast Asia Ulaanbaatar Focal Point offered that Mongolia's good relations with both North and South Korea position it to serve as a host for a meeting of representatives from the Six-Party Talks countries. GPPAC Northeast Asia Regional Representative Yoshioka Tatsuya of Peace Boat strongly advocated people-to-people contacts and advised moving away from the "macho language" that dominates discourse on these issues on both sides of the 38th parallel. As he acknowledged the cultural importance of "face," Mr Yoshioka said it is critical to develop an alternative discourse to promote peaceful resolution of conflict. Consequently, it was proposed that a next step would be to launch a "Northeast Asia Women's Peace Initiative" going beyond the annual meetings, and form a North American Steering Committee to engage in public awareness activities utilizing new media and outreach methods.

During the final discussion on women's contribution to peace processes, participants spoke of the need to link up with groups that are engaged in advocacy around Security Council Resolution 1325 that calls for women's participation in all matters of peace and security.

Finally, Ms Jolynn Shoemaker, Executive Director of Women in International Security (WIIS) gave a comprehensive presentation about women's participation in peace processes following the adoption of SC 1325. She noted that in fact less than 10% of UN peacekeepers are female and no woman currently serves as a mediator. As she described efforts around the world to involve women, Jolynn noted that women utilize diverse tactics to have an impact on the ground in conflict or post-conflict zones. In some cases, they advocate from the standpoint of women's traditional roles, in others they adopt the vocabulary of traditional security to frame the issue as an "operational imperative to achieve the mission of security on the ground." Enlisting prominent men as vocal supporters is often necessary to mainstream women's concerns into daily peace and security work as opposed to a "check-the-box mentality" that simply seeks to "add a few women." Jolynn said that it is important to understand the vocabulary of the military and peacekeeping forces and to get advocates inside these institutions. To get beyond the "token woman" stage and develop a more effective critical mass of women in positions where they can have an impact, attention must be paid to building a pipeline to move qualified women into visible positions and serving as role models. Women's advocacy groups need to learn to craft concise and effective messages to the public and constituencies of power. Jolynn notes that efforts to bring women into the peace process for the Korean Peninsula are timely.

In response to the need to coordinate the activities of peacebuilding organisations around the world, ECCP took on the role of Global Secretariat of GPPAC. As the network and its activities expanded, supporting GPPAC became an increasingly central task for ECCP.

In recognition of the importance of GPPAC in the work of ECCP and in order to strengthen GPPAC by establishing a unified structure of governance, the GPPAC International Steering Group (ISG) and the ECCP Board decided to transform the ECCP Foundation into the GPPAC Foundation. The Board of the GPPAC Foundation will henceforth be composed recommendation by the ISG. It is Chaired by Emmanuel Bombande, Director of WANEP, and consists of seven members, in effect encompassing four members from the previous GPPAC Executive Committee and three Dutch ECCP Board members.

The GPPAC Global Secretariat will thus function under the guidance of the GPPAC Foundation Board. The function of Executive Director continues to be fulfilled by Peter van Tuijl and the office remains based in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The GPPAC Foundation Board, Management and Staff remain dedicated as ever to serve the GPPAC network and the cause of conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Together we are working towards a more just and peaceful world.

Added on 3 January 2011