The Right Way to Build Peace in Congo

Japan ranked 101th out of 135 countries in the Gender Gap Index in 2012 and the participation of Japanese women in politics and economy is low. It is necessary to change the working conditions of both men and women and to educate young people and children about gender equality and on building peace at school and communities through media and peace museums. Although the political and economic position of Japanese women is low, they have contributed to rebuilding community at the grassroots level to build peace. Several women’s organizations try to improve the life of women and children and build peace such as the Japan Federation of Women’s Organizations, the New Japan Women’s Association and Mothers’ organizations. These women have worked hard on nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, human rights, the environment and sustainable development in cooperation with women in other countries. The successful opposition against the construction of nuclear power plants in Kochi shows that it is important to educate citizens, especially women, and that they can make a great change for building peace by rebuilding the community.KeywordsAtomic bombCommunityJapanNuclear energyPeacePollutionWomen

In this sixth edition of the Deusto Social Impact Briefings (DSIB), researchers at Deusto (http://www.deusto.es/) seek to disseminate their findings beyond the confines of the academic world and help to fulfil the University’s declared mission to transform today’s society. For the University, “research and innovation with social impact” should help to bring about fairer, more diverse and inclusive societies aligning local and regional initiatives with global societal goals in a process of participatory design and co-creation through multi-stakeholders partnerships. In a context of increasing policy and societal demands, the DSIB targets social organisations, individual users, policy-makers and/or businesses with the aim of providing them with useful guides, recommendations and good practices to face the challenges of social transformation. Collaboration with stakeholders is crucial for Deusto researchers to define questions that foster social impact, sustainable development and innovative solutions. The DSIB are short, monographic presentations that seek to highlight the research capabilities at Deusto through projects carried out by research teams from the University in topics with high social relevance. They are published in print and online (in Spanish and English) once a year, and can also be found on the Deusto Research website1. Under the Master Plan for Social Impact and in line with the 6 i’s Research Model2, the University selected two research projects with great potential for social impact which would be suitable for publication in this series according to the following selection criteria: 1. Social impact of the project or research initiative put forward in three areas: a. Contribution of the project in its own topic or area to social transformation, development, welfare and justice. b. Cooperation with non-academic actors outside the University on the development of the research project. c. Ability of the project to provide responses from the academic world to social challenges, in line with substantial advances in the relevant knowledge area. 2. Interest and relevance of the group and the proposal presented. 3. Inclusion of an interdisciplinary perspective, with monographic publications linked to topics associated with the social challenges undertaken by the five interdisciplinary platforms. This sixth edition of the DSIB presents the main results of research conducted under two broad-based projects conducted jointly by research staff and actors involved in topics of great social relevance such as the future skills will be transformed towards renewables and How can the teaching of history help discredit violence and build peace in the Basque Country. This issue comprises the following two briefings: 1. What future skills will be transformed towards renewables? seeks to disseminate RENSKILL’s results on how to define what profiles will be required for future engineering jobs linked to sustainability, demonstrating a growing social impact for being able to influence the design of school subject programmes, the prioritization of government training policies related to the field of sustainability and the orientation of companies’ training plans. 2. How can the teaching of history help discredit violence and build peace in the Basque Country? presents the conclusions and recommendations that resulted from the research process developed within the Learning Community on Memory, History Education and Peace Building in the Basque Country. The goal is to encourage open dialog and critical exploration of the ways in which teaching new generations about violent pasts may contribute to discrediting violence and building peace. We would like to thank all the researchers and social actors involved for their joint efforts in the complex task of re-shaping the outcomes of their research into a more accessible format. We hope this will be useful and that it will fulfil the potential for social impact we seek, becoming a valuable tool for specialists, individual citizens, public-sector and social actors working in the relevant fields. We would also like to say thank you in advance for any new proposals, suggestions and comments that readers interested in this initiative may wish to make with a view to improving it in future editions.

PurposeThis article analyzes an approach to public diplomacy that involves leveraging local voices. It demonstrates the power of culture, particularly in collective settings such as festivals, to engage citizens in countering violent extremism, building peace and tolerance, and fighting corruption. Four case studies from Mali illustrate how integrating historical and living culture into peace-building strategies works effectively in this West African nation torn by jihadist and ethnic strife.Design/methodology/approachThe author has used a field-based approach. The conclusions presented here are based on her own experiences in Mali, as well as hundreds of conversations with Malian colleagues and officials. The cultural diplomacy/soft power/hard power framework for the article is based on her own experiences as US Ambassador to the Netherlands, 1998–2001.FindingsCulture, especially music, has unparalleled and untapped capacity to bring people together across differences in Mali, and to inspire them to envision a positive future for their country, and to work to achieve it. The lessons from the Mali case studies can be applied elsewhere.Research limitations/implicationsThese Malian case studies demonstrate that culture belongs at the center and not the periphery of peace-building. They also show the efficacy of the “leverage local voices” approach to cultural diplomacy. The findings here are based on my experiences and those of others working in Mali.Practical implicationsBased on the findings from these Malian case studies, local cultural expression and actors should be integrated into efforts to build peace and counter violent extremism.Social implicationsThese Malian case studies also demonstrate that shared cultural events help build social cohesion in societies frayed by conflict and/or violent extremism. In countries with high illiteracy rates like Mali, song lyrics help convey socio-political messages of peace, tolerance, and unity.Originality/valueThe “leverage local voices” approach to cultural diplomacy offers a different model than the traditional method of sending artists from the originating country (such as the USA) abroad. Local voices – whether living or from the past, as in the case of the Timbuktu manuscripts – have greater credibility and resonance than foreign ones. That culture works so effectively toward reconciliation, social cohesion and building peace in one of the most challenging environments in the world – Mali – suggests that other countries and regions should also explore and exploit the power of culture to dampen violence and orient the population to living together harmoniously.

The study examines the incessant cases of ethical challenges in research and peacebuilding in the Nigeria’s conflict environment. Due to rampant corruption and lack of specific national ethical framework, and regulatory committee and resources that have affected societal values and culture of ethics and integrity, peace and conflict researchers and practitioners are prone to unethical conducts. Some are committed knowingly and unknowingly. This aspect of professional life has not been closely scrutinized, let alone proffers suggestions to. Perhaps, ethics frameworks and administrations are just beginning to be mainstreamed into development work in most part of the world. Therefore, drawing qualitative data from a wide range of personal, career and desk top sources from the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, which is the government’s apex agency saddled with the responsibility of investigating causes and dynamics of conflict, and advising decision makers on best policy alternatives, build peace and engage in advocacy, the study identifies numerous ethical problems that include copy and paste, manipulations of data, unhealthy competition/rivalry among researchers and peacebuilding practitioners working in the conflict field. The research uncovers approaches the institute adopted to ameliorate the problems and promote ethical standards among its research and peacebuilding teams that included trainings and constant reminders of the need to protect the integrity of individuals in the team and the Institute as well as the need to project a good image for the country. The inability to re-think ethical regime and legal norms in the country could fuel violent conflict and terrorism, and militate against the goals of conflict management in the country that is seriously desirous of peace and security.

“Let us create space”: Reclaiming peace and security in a Kenyan Somali community

The US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq led to more than a million people being killed, displaced five million from their homes and shattered countless more lives. It was a colossal, premeditated war crime. Leaders of governments in the countries responsible for this enormity seek to minimise and forget about it: to ‘move on’. We must not let them, because they want to retain the option of making the same political decisions, condemning more innocent people to death, somewhere else in the future. Contributors to this book are united in saying: never again. They examine how and why this unmitigated disaster for humanity was allowed to happen, and how we can prevent it being repeated. And they imagine more peaceful ways to engage with conflicts and crises in times to come. It raises a question: what will you do to help end war and build peace?

Big data applications for climate-conflict research

America may not be at war, but it is not at peace. Recent public and political rhetoric have revealed the escalation of a pervasive and dangerous “us versus them” ideology in the United States. This powerful book is motivated by the contributors’ recognition of continuing structural violence and injustice, which are linked to long-standing systems of racism, social marginalization, xenophobia, poverty, and inequality in all forms. Calls to restore America’s greatness are just the most recent iteration of dehumanizing language against minority communities. The violation of the civil and human rights of vulnerable groups presents a serious threat to American democracy. These deeply rooted and systemic inequities have no easy solutions, and the destructive nature of today’s conflicts in America threaten to impede efforts to build peace, promote justice, and inspire constructive social change. Acknowledging the complexity of building peace in the United States, this volume represents the first step in envisioning a more just, peaceful country—from the grassroots to the highest levels of leadership. The editors have brought together a diverse group of scholars, conflict resolution practitioners, civil society leaders, community peacebuilders, and faith leaders who are committed to pro-social change. Collectively, they examine how best to understand the current issues, deescalate destructive public rhetoric, undermine the “us versus them” polarity, and support those currently working for positive change. Together, the contributors share experiences and perspectives on the past, present, and future of peacebuilding; develop a vision for how we can collectively respond in our communities, campuses, and congregations; and catalyze action during this pivotal moment in America.

The peacebuilding space in Zimbabwe has been contested by a plethora of actors, which include Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). This thesis focuses on civil groups that engaged in peacebuilding in post-independent Zimbabwe. Despite their presence, the country remains in a negative peace mode with continued resurgence of structural-related conflicts. This points to the weaknesses of CSOs’ modus operandi of building peace. To address this, the study sought to develop, implement and evaluate a peacebuilding strategy that strengthens community-based CSOs in building positive peace in Zimbabwe through the use of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and political intelligence1. The research design of the study was two-tier, combining explanatory and action research approaches. The qualitative data methods collection used include documentary review, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGD)s. A total of 43 participants were involved in the interviews and FGDs. Findings from the baseline data indicate that CSOs have failed to translate the prevailing negative peace into positive peace because they follow elitist or liberal peacebuilding models. To address this problem, I carried out inclusive knowledge gathering with an action research team. From the team’s responses, I designed a training manual to enhance CSOs’ peacebuilding activities through IKS and political intelligence. The concept of IKS is embedded in sustainable peacebuilding and a development approach. The training was conducted with members of a CSO2 based in Harare but engaged with grassroots in rural parts of Zimbabwe. The findings in the first evaluation showed that the training was successful, and participants learnt a great deal on how they can best build peace using IKS and political intelligence skills. The participants noted that working with local people generates context-specific solutions that are demand- driven and attractive to the beneficiaries. In the second evaluation participants in the training and local people interviewed highlighted that there was a great change in the manner in which CSO(A) was conducting its peacebuilding campaign. There was great involvement of the local people, use of proverbs and adoption of a stakeholder mapping. This approach led to the generation of legitimacy and local ownership of the peacebuilding programme. The ultimate result was that a culture of tolerance, respect and unity was created in the rural community. The study concludes that sustainable peace and development can be realised when CSOs build peace using IKS and political intelligence skills. I recommend that CSOs should continuously be trained and conduct peacebuilding using IKS and political intelligence in other parts of the country. The study is significant in that it combines theory and practice of building durable peace with CSO(A) through action research. The theory of sustainable peacebuilding was realised through training and implementation of building peace through the use of IKS and political intelligence skills.

United Nations Organisation outlined measures for promoting women’s participation in peace and development efforts through the forward looking strategies for advancement of women participation for conflict resolution and peace building, especially in conflict areas. The purpose of the research is to show how women in Nigeria’s conflict areas have contributed and could increase their contribution to conflict resolution and peace building .The research investigates the following, nature of conflict and insecurity challenges in Nigeria, how women and girls are affected and how they constitute asset or obstacle to peace and happiness in society. Using the content analysis research method the research found the occurrence of sexual and gender based violence in conflicts and insecurity situations in Nigeria. Parties to conflicts and insecurity benefit strategically from the subjugation of women .The research concluded and showed through its recommendations how women can continue to resolve conflicts and build peace in conflict areas in line with the third goal of the United Nations Organisations’ Forward Looking Strategies for advancement of women’s participation for conflict resolution and peace building .

What does it mean to be a community of difference? Drawing on six years of ethnographic research at St. Mary of the Angels, a tiny, racially and ethnically diverse, physically underground Catholic parish in the Egleston Square neighborhood of Roxbury, Boston, this book examines embodied ritual as a site of radical solidarity in the local church. In turn, it argues for a retrieval of Vatican II’s notion of ecclesial solidarity as a basis for conceiving of the mission of the parish in an age of migration and change. At St. Mary’s, more than a century of local, national, and international migrations shaped and reshaped the neighborhood, transforming cross streets into borderlines and St. Mary’s into a waystation amid them. Weaving together archived letters, photographs, newspapers, newly examined archdiocesan documents, ethnographic storytelling, and oral histories, Reynolds traces how the people of St. Mary’s constructed rituals of solidarity as a practical foundation for building bridges across difference. She looks beyond liturgy to unexpected places and practices, from Mass announcements to parish council meetings, from the Good Friday Via Crucis through the streets of Egleston Square to the protest rituals staged in and around the parish in the wake of the 2004 Boston parish shutdowns. It is through the work of ritual, the story of St. Mary’s reveals, that we learn to cross the borders in our midst—to cultivate friendships, exercise power, build peace, and, in a real way, to survive.

In the original publication (Aristizábal and Ávila 2024), the Acknowledgement section was not included [...]

There are several platforms to build peace within higher education institutions (HEIs). Out of these, co-curricular programs (CoCPs) received considerable attention for obtaining peace-promoting effects. However, it is rare to find literature that analyzes the legal frameworks (proclamations, legislations, and regulations) that enable CoCPs to play a significant role in peace-building. This is also true in the Ethiopian HEIs context. This article attempts to find out whether the legal arrangements leave space for CoCPs so that it could acknowledge their possible contributions to promote peace within the public of the HEIs. In so doing, the Education and Training Policy (ETP), the three higher education proclamations, the Ethiopian Education Development Roadmap, HEIs 10 Years Development Plan and five selected university senate legislations were examined. The qualitative content analysis revealed that the proclamations, the road map and senate legislations indeed leave some room for CoCPs to contribute to the efforts of building peace. However, the significance of CoCPs is not explicitly stated in relation to peace. Hence, the contribution of CoCPs under the legal frameworks of Ethiopian Higher Education System (HES) as alternative peace-building mechanism is inferred.

This qualitative study examines the significance and effectiveness of participatory health training as a tool for peace building. It does so by analysing a case of training for ‘health promoters’ run by a Cambodian government health agency. The authors observed participants during the training and interviewed those involved in the courses. A developing capacity for coexistence and reconciliation between individuals who had been on opposite sides during the years of Khmer Rouge terror and continuous internal war was observed among both participants and trainers. Factors embodied in the training that facilitated favourable changes in self and in relations with others were identified as: (1) ‘space for dialogue’ was created by concrete common public health interests and urgent needs; (2) training took place ‘live-in’ style in a rural setting; (3) course contents and methods were consistent with peace education; (4) trainers had a conscious function as role models; and (5) there was continuity of effort and consequent accumulation of experience. To build peace, as well as conducting training directly on a technical topic, these essential factors need to be incorporated in the training programmes.

Immigrant-led social movements in the United States contribute to peacebuilding, catalyzing new Christian approaches to contest global violence and increase relational justice. This article is a reflective exchange on dialogue as method and praxis between two research collaborators pursuing this argument: a leader of the Latin American immigrant-led movement Movimiento Cosecha and an engaged scholar of peace studies and Christian ethics. Their conversation highlights challenges and opportunities in centering immigrant-led social change efforts in church ministries, vulnerability and power in intercultural research partnership relationships, and reshaping accountability. Key themes include the significance of long-term relationship-building, Indigenous knowledge systems, and negotiating the complexity of representation in writing rooted in collaboration. By foregrounding lived experience, the dialogue emphasizes the need for sustained, reciprocal engagement, and the co-development of ethical practices. The format itself—dialogue—shares a Latin American and Latine-inspired model for such engaged peacebuilding research and praxis.