Peacebuilding

Peace and development go hand in hand – you cannot have one without the other. We work to promote peace around the world and assist with non-violent conflict resolution. 

The vital importance of peacebuilding

Around two thirds of Germany’s development cooperation partner countries are affected by crisis, conflict or war. This has severe consequences for local people: their livelihoods are threatened, they experience physical and mental suffering and many are forced to flee their homes. 

War and conflict destroy state structures and services  and inhibit economic development. This can cause lasting damage in terms of societal cohesion and confidence in the state. 

Our approach

• Analyse the causes in detail 
  Violent conflict can obliterate years of development gains in next to no time. Consequently, it is important to identify the causes early on and tackle them systematically. We strengthen state institutions and civil society, teach civil conflict management methods and get conflict parties talking to each other.
• Build trust 
  Achieving lasting peace, justice and reconciliation requires that societies reckon with past violence and injustices. To this end, we support our partners in dealing with the past. This paves the way for a more peaceful future and helps to prevent renewed violence.
• Work with partners locally 
  We collaborate closely with our partners to implement peace agreements. This involves us supporting local peacebuilding approaches and crisis-prevention and violence-prevention strategies. All of our advisory services are tailored to specific local situations to avoid unintentionally exacerbating the conflict. Human rights and equal opportunities are foundational to everything we do.     

Peace and development go hand in hand 

Peaceful political solutions and prevention measures are crucial to sustainable development. The causes of conflict cannot be addressed in a vacuum. Peaceful and inclusive development can only be sustained through close cooperation between all sectors of society. 

Peacebuilding work must be linked with other areas such as education, business and health care. Complex global challenges and multiple crises require close working relationships between actors to address the causes and the effects of conflict. 

Peace is one of the cornerstones of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, which the international community has committed to implementing. Indeed, Sustainable Development Goal 16 is dedicated to peace, justice and strong institutions.      

What we do:

• Support peace processes
• Promote dialogue and mediation processes
• Advise on transitional justice and dealing with the past
• Defuse conflict and prevent violence
• Teach about peace
• Train journalists in conflict-sensitive reporting
• Provide psychosocial support to people in situations of displacement and crisis
• Create transparent administrative structures and processes for managing (natural) resources