Understanding State Fragility: Perspectives on Policy Relevant Research

The Conflict Prevention Working Group (CPWG) organized a civil society panel for a conference on state fragility at Carleton University. This one-day conference was sponsored by the Faculty of Public Affairs and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. David Carment and Yiagadeesen Samy presented their research on failed and fragile states, undertaken within the framework of the Country Indicators for Foreign Policy (CIFP) project. The research has produced a fragility index to rank countries according to their fragility in the aspects of state authority, legitimacy and capacity and in their aggregate fragility. It has also looked at trends over time and factors that influence fragility and developed a methodology for country assessments. On the civil society panel, Mike Weickert (World Vision), Tag Elkhazin (Sub Sahara Centre) and Nipa Banerjee (University of Ottawa) presented civil society experiences with programming in fragile states. A report on this matter will be forthcoming.

For more information about the CPWG or any of the items listed here, please contact Silke Reichrath at: prevention@peacebuild.ca

New Fact Sheet on Sexual Violence and Conflict

The Gender and Peacebuilding Working Group (GPWG) is focusing its efforts on addressing the problem of sexual violence in conflict. The GPWG has published a new fact sheet in both official languages on sexual violence in conflict. - Read the fact sheet - The GPWG has also participated in two events on the current conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has highlighted the central role of sexual violence in the strategies of armed groups in the conflict.

November saw the official launch of the Women's World Congress 2011, a gathering of feminist researchers and activists held every three years in a different region of the world. The Congress will bring several thousand researchers and activists working on gender equality to Ottawa in 2011. The Congress will be preceded by several regional meetings of organizations working on gender equality in Canada. The GPWG is a member of the executive committee for the Ottawa Congress.

For more information about the GPWG or any of the items listed here, please contact Kate McInturff at: gender@peacebuild.ca

Crisis in the DR Congo

Peacebuild's Peace Operations Working Group (POWG), in partnership with the Africa Studies Committee of Carleton University, hosted a public panel discussion on the "Crisis in the DR Congo" on November 24th. The event was designed to raise awareness of the current situation in the DRC and focused on three themes: gender-based violence in the conflict; The role of MONUC and prospects for regional peace and security. Speakers included Alex Neve, Secretary-General, Amnesty International Canada, Philip Lancaster, former Chief of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR), MONUC, Victor Amissi, VISION GRAM International, Peggy Mason, Peacebuild, Bernard Taylor, Partnership Africa Canada and Keith Martin MP (Liberal). Over 90 people attended the event, which included government officials, students, members of the Congolese community and NGOs.

The POWG also hosted a brown-bag lunch December 1st on the "Crisis in the North-Kivu and the DRC" with members of a delegation of the national Episcopal conference of Congo (CENCO). The members of the delegation were Bishop Fridolin Ambongo, President of the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, Bishop Fulgence Muteba, President of the Episcopal Commission's Social Communications and Sister Marie-Bernard Alima Mbalula, General secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of the DRC and General secretary of the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Association of Central African Episcopal Conferences. The delegation was in Canada to meet with politicians, government officials and religious leaders. The delegation also traveled to Washington and Europe for similar meetings.

For more information about the POWG or any of the items listed here, please contact Clare Morris at: powg@peacebuild.ca

Canada Signs Treaty Banning Cluster Bombs

On December 3rd, Canada became part of the first global treaty banning cluster bombs, joining more than 100 countries at a signing ceremony in Oslo. The signing follows 18 months of intense negotiations known as the “Oslo Process” and marks the start of the treaty’s implementation worldwide. Cluster munitions are dropped from aircrafts or fired from artillery, exploding in midair to randomly scatter hundreds of small explosives or "bomblets." Many of these fail to explode and can years later kill civilians. Signatories include France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada. The countries with important military capabilities that have declined to sign the cluster-bomb ban include the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan

For more information about the SAWG or any of the items listed here, please contact Maribel Gonzales at: mgonzales@ploughshares.ca.

Peacebuild takes part in International Meeting of the
Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict

In October, Peacebuild representatives Rena Ramkay and David Lord participated in the International Steering Committee meeting of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) in Soesterberg, The Netherlands.

GPPAC is the world-wide civil society-led network to build a new international consensus on peacebuilding and the prevention of violent conflict.

Issues discussed during the meeting included development of the existing thematic task forces and options for possible new ones, reforms to the governance structure of GPPAC, engagement with the NGO Forum on the Responsibility to Protect, and a Workshop on Early Warning/Early Response and Civil society organizations engaging with regional, sub-regional and other inter-governmental organizations in Côte d’Ivoire.

Hope for Change at the Annual Conference
of the Alliance for Peacebuilding

David Lord, Gerald Ohlsen and Silke Reichrath of Peacebuild attended the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AFP) Annual Conference in Annapolis, MD in late October 2008.

The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) began in 1999 as an informal network of applied conflict prevention and resolution organizations in the United States. It has since opened up its membership to organizations based in other countries. Like Peacebuild, AfP plays a leadership role in developing and disseminating innovative approaches to peacebuilding, including collaboration between conflict resolution organizations and organizations in the fields of development, relief, human rights, and security.

On the eve of the American presidential elections, the annual meeting of the AfP provided a great opportunity for the peacebuilding community to discuss how the change in the American administration and in the international climate would affect Peacebuilding. The meeting also included a day of exchange with global counterparts and U.S. government leaders on Capitol Hill. A civil society panel saw presentations on the activities of peacebuilding networks in Canada (by David Lord), the UK, West Africa, and globally. Government presenters from the Defense Department, the Institute for Peace, State Department and USAID discussed their perspectives on civil-military coordination, the 3D approach to security, and conflict-sensitive programming.

RESOURCES

Policing in Afghanistan:
Still Searching for a Strategy
The latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines the difficulties of professionalizing the Afghan National Police (ANP). Despite greater international attention to the sector over the last year than ever before, efforts have not been matched by effects
...read

Somalia: War crimes devastate population
Source: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
New report examines war crimes regularly committed by all parties in the escalating conflict in Somalia...more

ANALYSIS: UN peacekeeping faces crisis as funds, troops dry up
Source: Reuters
U.N. peacekeeping is headed for a crisis, with demand for blue helmets around the world skyrocketing, financial contributions dwindling and reserves of well-trained soldiers drying up... read

FEATURED PEACEBUILD MEMBER

Partnership Africa Canada (PAC)

Susanne Emond is the Programme Manager at PAC

PAC undertakes research and policy dialogue on human rights, human security and sustainable development issues affecting Africa. The organization's most important programme deals with natural resource extraction and conflict. In 2000, PAC helped identify the problem of conflict diamonds, participating in the creation of the Kimberley Process, and it continues to participate in all aspects of the process. At the same time, PAC is working with civil society organizations, governments and other stakeholders in several African countries to identify ways of helping artisanal diamond miners and their communities enjoy better and more sustainable livelihoods. Other main programmes include support for civil society in the African Peer Review Mechanism governance programme; support for civil society action to promote biodiversity in West Africa; and support for a civil society programme to prevent violence against women in DRC.