Sustainable Peace Research Articles

The application of Geographical Information Systems to armed violent conflict resolution and peacebuilding: a literature review

Many conventional approaches to resolving armed violent conflicts, including negotiations, peace talks, and stabilization, have been adopted, especially in Asia and Africa, but sustainable peace is still illusive in some of these areas. Most of these approaches emphasize the economic and political aspects of peace negotiations and tend to ignore the spatial component. There are several innovative technologies, such as smart cell phones, the internet, Global Position Systems (GPS), and satellite data for mapping armed violent conflict resolution. However, GIS has been recognized as an invaluable tool, a decision support system, and has the potential to assist in conflict resolution. This paper aims to review literature on the application of GIS in the prevention of armed violent conflict, its resolution, post-conflict reconstruction, and peacebuilding. The literature review reveals that while GIS continues to be applied in armed violent conflict resolution and peacebuilding, several challenges remain, including amongst others, its availability, its acceptance by conflicting parties, its accessibility, the accuracy of its data, and the expertise of GIS personnel undertaking the data analysis and integration of data from different sources. A suggested area of further study includes either the application of remote sensing to violent conflict resolution or an integrated application of GIS and Remote Sensing to armed conflict resolution.

What drives attitudes towards the reintegration of former fighters? Insights from a conjoint experiment in Nigeria

Reintegrating ex-combatants back into society is one of the most challenging, yet fundamental components to building sustainable peace. While previous work has extensively evaluated the reintegration trajectories of ex-combatants, there is still little understanding of how citizens think about reintegration. In this article, we systematically analyze which former fighters people prefer to reintegrate into society. Based on theories of threat and justice, we develop a heuristic framework that explains how information about the motivations and behavior of ex-combatants shapes public preferences about whom to reintegrate. We test this framework using a conjoint experiment conducted among approximately 2,000 (former) university students in Nigeria. We find that our respondents are more forgiving towards former fighters who were forced to join the insurgency and expressed remorse afterwards, while being less willing to reintegrate more militant and less repentant offenders. Similar informational cues shape respondents’ evaluations of how successful the reintegration process would be and what punishment would be appropriate. Taken together, the results underscore the importance of perceptions of risk and fairness in driving attitudes towards reintegration. Finally, subgroup analyses revealed that these heuristics are broadly held across different demographic and conflict-related fault lines. While caution is warranted when generalizing these results, insights gained in this specific context are nonetheless an important step towards advancing our understanding of reintegration processes in conflict-affected countries.

Macroservicing: a commentary on services as constructive engagement for sustainable peace, prosperity and well-being

PurposeThis study aims to introduce the term, concept, mission and practice of macroservicing to recognize the ascent and obligations of Homo Servicus and to broaden and reinvigorate the service discipline. The author shares a framework for constructive engagement via macroservicing; services provisioning throughout ecosystems, particularly marketing systems, to eliminate or mitigate social traps, to reduce disenfranchisement and suffering and to enhance well-being in the system and stakeholders of the system, which ultimately includes everyone.Design/methodology/approachSynthesis of literature was drawn from several disciplines, including macromarketing and social psychology, and relevant streams of research to make key points about existential threats from social traps, and their resolution via macroservicing.FindingsComplex social traps and systemic challenges – e.g., war, poverty, environmental degradation – require systemic services-marketing solutions by catalytic institutions in ways that engage vulnerable people and address needs of stakeholders, locally, regionally and globally.Research ImplicationsFurther study of socioeconomic/market phenomena and a framework that must be understood and can be studied empirically to design, coordinate and deliver appropriate services throughout ecosystems.Practical ImplicationsBusinesses, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and citizen-consumers can use the framework and related text to inform and to guide collaboration and decision-making vis-à-vis services reach and efficacy throughout their communities, states, regions or alliances.Originality/valueThe commentary offers fresh perspectives and insights; an adaptive, practical framework for systemic analysis and humane problem resolution to enhance individual quality of life, community eudaimonia and planet well-being. Emphasis is placed on the inclusion of under-served or disenfranchised consumers in marketing system(s) and solutions that emerge from macroservicing to facilitate access and inclusive services provisioning.

Consequentialism – Deontology Theorising, Armed Humanitarian Intervention, and the 2012-2013 Central African Republic Crisis

Abstract Despite the challenges that have greeted Responsibility to Protect (R2P) interventions in Africa, the need to authorise R2P remains compelling. Drawing from secondary sources, this study interrogates the R2P intervention in the Central African Republic (car) from within the frame of the ‘consequentialism’ and ‘deontology’ debate, contending issues, and the extent to which such interventions enhance or inhibit further institutionalisation of the doctrine. Though the existing peacekeeping mission – which was further amplified by the mobilisation of R2P via UN Security Council Resolution 2127 – reflects the deontological position of halting attacks against the civilian population, the emerging issues and relapse into deadly conflicts in the post-intervention era amplifies consequentialism’s main criticisms. The study concludes that the R2P experience in car highlights the value of both theoretical positions. However, it is imperative for the consequentialist position to strengthen its arguments for civilian protection by considering the moral argument of the deontologist. This is key to improving armed intervention through the phases of planning, implementation, and post-intervention for the purposes of achieving sustainable peace.

Women Empowerment through Entrepreneurship in Violent-conflict Settings: Challenges and Opportunities

Empowering women through entrepreneurship in violent-conflict contexts not only improves socioeconomic welfare of women but also help in restoring peace and social inclusion in society. This paper aims at exploring the challenges and opportunities facing women empowerment through entrepreneurship in violent-conflict contexts. A qualitative research approach is employed for achieving the objective of the study. Data for the study were collected through an in-depth semi-structured interview and participant observation. A total number of twenty-three (23) participants were purposely selected from five different communities affected by Boko Haram insurgency in Northeast Nigeria. The major findings of the study revealed that the challenges facing women an entrepreneur in a violent-conflict context is multifaceted and efforts to curtail these challenges also require a comprehensive and all-inclusive approach. The study further revealed that apart from the numerous challenges, violent-conflict environment also presents wide range of opportunities for exploitation. The study recommends that a more gender-sensitive entrepreneurship program is needed to achieve a sustainable peace in violent-conflict settings. Also, the need for adequate orientation for targeted beneficiaries towards achieving purposeful women empowerment programs.

Insecurity: A Cause And a Product of Conflict, Towards the Need for Independent Indigenous CSOs and Economic Hardship

This paper explores the human security and economic hardship in the North-East after more than a decade long conflict with the insurgents. The paper unravelled that communities and towns do not have to flee even though successes were made largely as most villages and homes. It also discovered that people are still suffering from the consequences of the conflict economically and socially. If the inequities that gave rise to it are left unaddressed, there is the likelihood of a relapse into conflict. Therefore, it is recommended that the government should improve its work to provide security for the people. The formation of independent indigenous civil society organisations is paramount to checkmate the activities of the government. The approach employed PLS-SEM and tested two hypotheses for clear prediction and assumption as met. The CSOs can become important actors in reducing violence and facilitating the conditions necessary for building sustainable peace. However, such indigenous CSOs must shift focus and strengthen their abilities to mobilise expertise and resources from their domestic constituencies and reduce the excessive dependency on foreign donors. They must also reject any international support that resembles negative external imposition

The Urgency of Research and Strengthening Entrepreneurship Policies in Generating Business Models in Ex-Conflict Areas

Entrepreneurship contributes a lot to the economic growth of a regional area. In former conflict areas, entrepreneurship is a mechanism to facilitate prosperity and peace. The involvement of former conflict actors in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) provided them opportunities to enjoy peace dividends and repair the order of life damaged by prolonged conflict. Even so, failure of MSMEs become a problem because it causes economic stagnation and has the opportunity to create new conflict. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the importance of research and strengthening policies related to entrepreneurship in former conflict areas. This study was conducted in Aceh Utara District using a qualitative approach. The data collection process carried out observation, interviews, and document studies. The empirical facts were analyzed by the stage of data reduction and data categorization, data display, and conclusion. The results showed that one of the causes of failure in MSMEs developments is weak policies and regulations related to community business empowerment. This fact was raised because the policies presented by the stakeholders were not based on research. Indeed, strengthening policies related to MSMEs can be done by making the results of studies and social mapping the primary basis for policymaking. Thus, the development of the MSMEs model for former conflict actors in Aceh has effects on increasing welfare and maintaining sustainable peace.

The gender-resilience nexus in peacebuilding: the quest for sustainable peace.

Resilience and gender have become new buzzwords for expressing renewal in peacebuilding. This article unpacks the gender-resilience nexus in theory and analyses global trends and variation in peacebuilding policy and practice. It advances an analytical framework based on three central pillars of peacebuilding: process, outcome, and expertise. A comprehensive analysis of 49 international peacebuilding handbooks, produced by leading international organisations for policymakers and practitioners in the field, is conducted. The results show how the integration of the gender-resilience nexus signals new ways of understanding conflict dynamics and peacebuilding. Yet, gender peace expertise is ‘thin’ with regard to policies and practices of resilient conflict transformation. By way of conclusion, we suggest three directions to be taken in research to advance and refine the gender-resilience nexus. First, the politics and contestation of peacebuilding need to be problematised and explored further. Second, the understanding of resilience in peacebuilding needs to shift emphasis from conflict management to conflict transformation. Third, the positionality of peacebuilding actors and local contexts need to be probed further.

Effectiveness of African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance in Rwanda and Uganda

Peaceful, credible, consensual change of power through democratic practices is considered a factor in sustainable peace and development of countries globally and in Africa. The promotion of democracy, election, and governance in Africa has been suffering from different problems, particularly those related to the non-consensual change of constitution and unconstitutional change of government (s). Problems related to this are due to some leaders who do commit themselves to the effective implementation of some continental instruments, including the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance (ACDEG). The study interest was looking at the weaknesses of the ACDEG while identifying the electoral democracy practices in Rwanda and Uganda in view of the ACDEG. The study used an explorative approach in order to discuss the weaknesses and the effectiveness of the aforementioned instrument toward electoral democracy in Rwanda and Uganda. The study used the documentary analysis technique in order to analyse the collected data. The analysis showed that provisions of the ACDEG are not respected in some countries. Rwanda and Uganda do not comply with the electoral democratic practices provided by ACDEG due to their historical background and due to some weaknesses identified in the instrument. To this end, the study proposed solutions including the empowering of ACDEG by ratifying and implementing it. By considering the historical contexts of some countries, the study suggested that political succession as a democratic practise should be given its value. It means that principles in the instrument should be effective from the time countries have signed and ratified it.

Managing the Menace of Cattle Rustling and Banditry in North Rift Kenya: The Role of Pokot Women

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to create a discourse surrounding women role in combating cattle rustling and banditry in north rift, Kenya. The article underscores that Pokot women play key roles in instigating cattle rustling and banditry in the north rift region. While media generally perceive women as passive bystanders, it projects men as the protagonists and antagonists during conflict. The thinking that women are only victims of conflicts, just because of the biases in reporting by the media, needs to be critically looked into.
 Methodology: The study relied on secondary sources where information from books, journals, periodicals and online opens sources was acquired before deep content analysis was carried and presented in prose.
 Findings: The study found that although women bear the brunt of conflicts as the post-Cold War examples clearly show, they are not always on the receiving end. Thus, the suffering that women go through because of conflicts has made them become active participants in such fights. While the article conceded that there are several other causal factors accounting for cattle rustling in the north rift, it finds that the role of Pokot women in fuelling livestock theft is a crucial one.
 Recommendation: The article recommended to policy makers that, if meaningful and sustainable peace is to be made in the north rift, they should consider engaging Pokot women in the peacemaking processes.

Funding Precarity and Women's Peace Work in Colombia, Nepal, and Northern Ireland

Abstract Civil society supports peace work in many ways, including through education, advocacy, health outreach, data gathering, expertise- and experience-sharing, event-running, community mobilization, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding. However, there are limited funds available to support this work, even though key development, peace, and security actors, including the United Nations Secretary-General, have acknowledged that developing the capacity of civil society to support peacebuilding efforts required increased investment. Scarcity of funding has created important political dynamics that affect the work that civil society can do. This study uses a qualitative semi-structured interview design to elicit information about donor funding dynamics and imperatives from expert research informants across three conflict-affected countries: Colombia, Nepal, and Northern Ireland. We explore funding dynamics, various organizational features that influence mobilization strategies, and the impact of COVID-19 on women's civil society groups working on peacebuilding. We argue that, while it is an ongoing concern, scarcity of funding is not the only inhibitor to effective peace work. Donor priorities, and embedded assumptions about the value of peace work—largely undertaken by women and women-led organizations—also challenge the viability of continued efforts toward sustainable peace.

Critical Review of Sustainable Peace, Mediative Dialogue and Social Media

This paper attempts a critical review of the interplay between social media, sustainable peace and mediative dialogue. The paper is grounded in efforts to achieve Goal 16 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Peace Justice and Strong Institutions. It is the aim of Goal 16 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, give justice to all and make possible effective, responsible and all-encompassing institutions at all levels. The paper traced the history of the Sustainable Development Goals to the United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment held in 1972 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations are developed from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other earlier initiatives of the United Nations. Peace is singled out among these goals, and mediative dialogue is a means to achieving this goal. The advent of the Internet, among other technologies, has significantly changed the ways people communicate globally. Social media in particular is taking a significant role in the ways people, groups and nations resolve conflicts. Through philosophical reflections and qualitative analysis, the paper recommends a framework for deploying mediative dialogue, through social media, for sustainable peace. It is, therefore, concluded that harnessing the strength of the philosophies of the phenomena of social media, sustainable peace and mediative dialogue is a veritable tool for conflict resolution and also for actualizing the aspirations for global peace as inspired by Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

Monuments of the Exiles and Memorialisation of Shared Heritage Between Mozambique and Tanzania

The Tanzanian landscape has a long history with exiled nationalist organisations from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. The case of Mozambique is unique. It was in Dar es Salaam that FRELIMO (Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) was born in 1962; but the great Mozambican nationalist Edward Mondlane was assassinated in the same city in 1969. This paper presents the ruins of the FRELIMO camp in Nachingwea, Tanzania, to elaborate the state of preservation of the monuments and how such preservation may contribute to sustainable peace between these two neighbouring countries. There are recognisable photographs and written historical documents concerning FRELIMO in both Mozambican and Tanzanian libraries, museums, and archives. Adding the landscape as another layer of evidence juxtaposes the limitations unveiled in other sources; enhances our understanding of the activities that took place during exile including those of the subalterns (residential houses, food carriers, couriers, recruiting sergeants and foot soldiers); and underlines the process of how sites of African liberation struggles are remembered and memorialised.

Feminist advocacy in the agenda for implementing Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development initiatives in Monrovia, Liberia

abstract Literature has much to say about the socio-economic, and political, impact of civil wars on women. The Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) policy framework was designed by the African Union (AU) in response to the devastation caused by civil wars in post-conflict African countries. While contexts differ in each country, the framework provides a general outline of steps to be followed by an African country emerging from civil war, in pursuit of successful post-conflict reconstruction and development programmes. Of interest to this article, using Monrovia (Liberia) as a case study, is the extent to which the AU PCRD policy initiative recognises the agency of women as being central to the process, and whether it bolsters their capacity and access to discussion around the table. It proposes that feminist advocacy is a precondition to push for positions on post-conflict peacebuilding in which women play a key role. This in itself is contingent on the effectiveness of government mainstreaming of gender equality and women’s voice in policy and government. The potential of women as contributors to peace-making and conflict resolution processes and commitment to sustainable peace is not in question in Liberia’s history. What is missing in action is Liberian women’s presence and mobilisation around long stalled reconstruction and rebuilding. Drawing from a mixed-method research study conducted in Monrovia between April 2019 and April 2021, research found the AU PCRD policy initiative is ineffective, as it considers women on paper, in isolation from the specific context in which women can assert power through representation and voice, not only in participating in post-war reconstruction but in Liberia’s political decision-making forums. Wider social gender power imbalances and inequalities experienced by women are directly linked to their lack of presence and visibility in driving the peace, security and reconstruction processes. There is a need to be able to demand accountability in the commitment to post-war reconstruction. As major stakeholders in the post-conflict reconstruction programme, women should be at the top of Liberia’s reconstruction programme, consistent with the AU PCRD framework agenda objectives.

Cultural Values Revitalization: A Post-Conflict Peace Building Effort in Ambon City

Ambon has experienced a social disaster in the form of a conflict that occurred in 1999-2004. Many attempts were made to overcome it. Basically, the Ambonese people have unique traditions and cultural symbols that can be a means of uniting them, but small emotional flareups still appear which cause further friction and conflict, therefore revitalizing the local cultural values is important. The revitalization of Ambonese cultural values and traditional symbols is important. Currently, the gap in communication and understanding of noble values, local wisdom, and the meaning of cultural symbols is the main obstacle in efforts to use it for reconciliation. This research reports the aim of finding a strategy for revitalizing cultural values and cultural symbols in Ambon, as one way to promote sustainable peace and rebuild Ambon's identity as a city that is full of local philosophy and cultural wisdom. The method used is a qualitative method with post-disaster management analysis. The research finds that a revitalization process strategy for reconciliation can be done by means of (1) Building integration of local wisdom and culture in public space, and (2) internalizing the local values and the marking of cultural symbols.

A Curator in the House of Memory: Restoration, Implication and the Post-Conflict Novel in Aminatta Forna’s The Hired Man

ABSTRACT Aminatta Forna’s novel The Hired Man, on post-war Croatia, attests to the author's continued interest in transitional, post-conflict societies where mass atrocity and human rights violations such as forced disappearance and ethnic cleansing have taken place. Drawing on the conceptual framework of transitional justice and memory studies, this paper argues that the novel deepens and extends the concerns of post-conflict fiction in two main ways. Firstly, it explores the role of ordinary individuals as agents of restorative justice in small communities. The actual restoration of the house at the centre of the narrative transforms the building into a permanent site of memory that challenges collective amnesia and functions as a monument to coexistence on which to model future social relations. Secondly, the narrative provides an apt illustration of Rothberg’s notion of implication, foregrounding a model of indirect responsibility for historical injustice that problematises the figure of the naïve outsider through the foreign characters in the story. The narrative will work to engage these characters in collective restorative actions in the country’s troubled progress towards a fairer and more sustainable peace. The use of situational irony to enhance the theme of the indestructibility of the past will also be addressed.

Devolution in Zimbabwe's Development Discourse a Tool for Sustainable Peace. A case Study of Umguza

Devolution in Zimbabwe's Development Discourse a Tool for Sustainable Peace. A case Study of Umguza

INSECURITY: A CAUSE AND A PRODUCT OF CONFLICT, TOWARD THE NEED FOR INDEPENDENT INDIGENOUS CSOS

This paper explores the question of human security in the North-East after more than a decade long conflict with the insurgents. The paper unraveled that communities and towns do not have to flee, even though successes were made mainly as most villages and homes. It also discovered that people are still suffering from the consequences of the conflict. If the inequities that gave rise to it are left unaddressed, there is the likelihood of a relapse into conflict. Therefore, it is recommended that the government improve its work to provide security for the people. The formation of independent indigenous civil society organizations is paramount to checkmate the activities of the government. The approach employed PLS-SEM and tested two hypotheses for clear prediction and assumption as met. The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can become important actors in reducing violence and facilitating the conditions necessary for building sustainable peace. However, such indigenous CSOs must shift focus and strengthen their abilities to mobilize expertise and resources from their domestic constituencies and reduce the excessive dependency on foreign donors. It must also reject any international support that resembles negative external imposition.

Moderation in Islam: A Comparative Case Study on Perception of International Students in Malaysia

Moderation in Islam was defined by Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as the ‘Way of Islam’. He has emphasized on opening a man’s heart to communal welfare and peace by avoiding scepticism. Moderation reifies faith, rejects extremism, and paves all roads to peaceful conflict resolution. Islamic moderation balances democratic social development in the face of restraints and boundaries to purchase sustainable peace. However, some schools of thought that appeal to Middle East and African Muslims hold forth the extremist ideology that has tarnished Islam globally. They ignore fundamental Islamic principles and archetypal Muslim characteristics thus they completely ignore Islam’s path of moderation. This study compares thoughts on Islamic moderation from the West Asian students (WAS) with the rest of Asian students (AS) studying in Malaysia. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, we have tried to achieve research objectives and found that WAS understood less of Islamic moderation than did the students from the rest of Asia. The Chi-square statistic was used to critically test the unique results of this study. The overall findings have revealed bigoted and negative WAS opinions towards Islamic moderation as well as towards non-Muslim societies. The Chauvinism appeared to be consequent to Arab permeated cultures and indoctrinations. Such perceptions and ignorance of authentic Islam affects the entire world with deeply negative overtones.
 Keywords: Social-religion Insight, Islamic Moderation, Chauvinism, Scepticism, Indoctrinations, Fundamental Islamic principles, Archetypal Muslim Characteristics, Communal Welfare, Sustainable Peace

Disaster risk reduction in mountain areas: an initial overview on seeking pathways to global sustainability.

As disasters cripple the world’s prospects for sustainable development, protecting the most vulnerable groups exposed to hazards is one of the main challenges facing humanity. Owing to the systemic nature of risk and the interactions and interdependencies between upland and lowland systems, healthy and productive mountain households and livelihoods are essential to global sustainability. This paper argues that, building on existing international frameworks, and integrated knowledge and praxis, the development of a global policy agenda should be established to build sustainable peace, sustainable security, and development.