Peacebuilding

Sudan faces challenges on many fronts, among them an ongoing conflict in Darfur, a fragile Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the north and south that ended decades of civil war, and upcoming nationwide elections at every level of government in 2010 (the first elections since 1986).  The US Institute of Peace is engaging all of these issues in an effort to help build a more stable Sudan. 

Peace doesn't automatically return when the guns stop firing or an agreement is signed. This team works to advise newly-forming governments and institutions, promote and maintain community reconciliation, and help different groups on the ground to coordinate their efforts to maintain security and provide services.

Representatives of the Partners for Democratic Change's new Center in Colombia, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Due Process of Law Foundation will host a roundtable discussion about these mechanisms for democratizing justice at the community level. Discussion with invited experts will explore other experiences of community dispute resolution, as well as the challenges community justice mechanisms face and how they have been addressed. 

Instructor Peter Weinberger discusses the USIP Academy course "Engaging With Identity-Based Differences." This course outlines strategies and distinctive challenges for third-party mediators and other advisers, including countering hate speech and exclusionary policies, engaging religious and tribal leaders, establishing trust through intergroup dialogues, and other measures.

Vice President Biden warned politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina that failure to adhere to the "only real path" ahead could bring a descent into "ethnic chaos." Yet the threat of violence for Bosnia and the corresponding actions that the leaders of Bosnia, the US, and the EU should take are hotly contested.

Women are an important part of the peacebuilding equation. Too often they are excluded or marginalized in the peace process. Limiting or excluding women in the peacebuilding process not only leaves a critical resource untapped but also hinders a society's recovery. Admission fee is required.

The Asia Foundation will release findings from its fifth public opinion poll, "Afghanistan in 2009: A Survey of the Afghan People," the most comprehensive survey conducted in all 34 of Afghanistan’s provinces.