Peace and development: promoting state and civil society cooperation

Context

Around two billion people live in countries gripped by violent conflict. Most of the conflicts take place in countries in the Global South, which are often affected by multiple global crises.

Civil crisis prevention and peacebuilding are therefore becoming increasingly important in German and international development cooperation. Against this background, the Peace and Development Working Group (FriEnt) was founded in Germany. It is an association of state organisations, church-based organisations, civil society networks and political foundations.

FriEnt pools expertise from government and civil society, draws on experience from partner organisations and networks and documents overall peace and security needs.

Objective

Strategies and approaches to peacebuilding and civil crisis prevention are further developed in the German and international context.

Approach

The project supports FriEnt's network management and communications work. It advises members on current trends and challenges in peacebuilding, and provides financial resources.

A steering committee is responsible for political management and determines strategic goals and priorities. The project team acts as a knowledge and learning platform and is currently working on international processes such as the United Nations' 2030 Agenda and the German Government's guidelines.

FriEnt currently has the following members: the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Brot für die Welt, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), Misereor, the Civil Peace Service Group (ZFD), the Platform for Civil Conflict Transformation (PZKB) and the Berghof Foundation. The working group works together closely with other national and international organisations.

Last update: November 2023