Emerging Issues
A number of emerging issues in peacebuilding were identified over the course of Peacebuild's operational review and strategic plan development in the summer and fall of 2007. With the financial support of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Peacebuild explored a number of these issues via its Emerging Issues initiative launched in early January 2008.
The goals of the Emerging Issues Project are to:
- Work with network members and other experts to generate and articulate new evidence, analysis, and policy and programming options;
- Generate foreign policy input;
- Contribute to policy development processes with partners; and
- Develop the Peacebuild network, by tapping into and deepening the expertise, and research and strategic capacities of the membership.
Outputs
Four reports and a synopsis document have been developed on the following themes:
- Governance, Democratization and Violent Conflict;
- Youth, Gender and the Changing Nature of Armed Conflict;
- Governance, Democratization and the Revisioning of Gender, Youth and Relations of Power;
- Religion, Violent Conflict and Peacebuilding;
The methodology used to generate the four reports was loosely modeled on the "Fast Talk" process developed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). Experts in each of the four fields were identified and asked to provide a written response to a list of questions developed by Peacebuild.
The reports were launched at a March 2008 roundtable at which university graduate students also presented papers linked to the Emerging Issues topics.
