Peace Building and Conflict Management  | | "Gacaca" court session in Rwanda – USAID
has supported these tribunals as an essential
component of reconciliation and peacebuilding.
Photo courtesy of Internews.org |
The Issues
Open conflict leaves a legacy of fear, hostility, and trauma that needs to be addressed before people can return to the business of development. The Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation (DCHA/CMM) works with local partners and USAID field missions to address the legacy of violence through activities such as support to local and regional peace processes, restorative justice programs, ethnic dialogue, inter-faith peace building, and grassroots reconciliation.
Through this work, USAID seeks to strengthen moderate voices and rebuild ties between divided communities.
Our work
DCHA/CMM supports a broad range of crisis response and conflict mitigation activities that respond directly to overt violence or the imminent threat of violence. Crisis response and conflict mitigation activities can take a variety of forms including:
• Mediation of specific disputes and facilitation of peace negotiations
• Training in peace-building, conflict management, mediation, and conflict analysis
• Peace media and peace education
• Community-based reconciliation
• Reintegration of militia groups into communities
• Mechanisms for restorative justice, such as truth and reconciliation commissions or shared history projects
• Psychosocial and trauma counseling
• Conflict research and analysis
• Early warning models and response protocols
• Future scenario/instability development and planning
Many, but not all, activities related to crisis response and mitigation would not exist absent violence, and so phase out shortly after the abatement of conflict and the reestablishment of stability. DCHA/CMM has supported a range of programs in this area, including support to Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen the capacity of local organizations to mediate on-going religious disputes in the north of the country and resource based disputes in the Niger Delta. The office has also provided support to a number of peace processes, including those in Uganda, Sri Lanka, Colombia and Kosovo.
Specifically, the Support to Peace and Stability in Kosovo program increases the understanding of public opinion concerning the status talks as well as inter-ethnic media cooperation and coverage of final status negotiations while also developing broadcast media content that enables the people of Kosovo to understand the community needs behind divisive political positions addressed in the status talks. Activities include inter-ethnic journalist documentaries, a TV magazine and a reality show.
In Colombia, DCHA/CMM supported a conflict mitigation and management program, which integrated the principles and practices of restorative justice in Colombian communities affected by violence. The alliance established Peace Restoration Centers in urban and rural areas around Cali, Colombia’s third largest city and capital of the Cauca Valley Department.
The Sri Lanka Peace Support Project bolsters talks to end the decades-old conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Government. The project builds public support for peace among civic groups, businesses, and media outlets. Activities range from a pro-peace tele-drama and national peace survey to support to government research and policy coordination on peace-process related matters.
In Uganda, DCHA/CMM supports peace initiatives at the national and community levels in Northern Uganda, an area devastated by the two-decades long Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency. Through a mix of peace-building and reconciliation activities, including special attention to economic growth and access to justice, these programs work to build an integrated, coordinated and holistic strategy for peace and development at the grassroots and regional level in northern Uganda and then link them to the national level in Kampala.
DCHA/CMM also collaborated with the Africa Bureau and USAID/Uganda in formulating a post-conflict Northern Uganda Recovery and Reconciliation Strategy, particularly in reviewing options and identifying activities that address cross-border issues for recovery and reconciliation in Uganda and Sudan.
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