IPI’s Senior Policy Analyst, Lesley Connolly, discussed the role of local actors in advancing sustaining peace in an interview conducted at the Fri Ent Peacebuilding Forum, held in Berlin from June 13th to June 15th, 2018.

Ms. Connolly noted that in order to advance sustaining peace in practice, there is a need to overcome the barriers to working with local actors and creating more effective partnerships. As Ms. Connolly mentioned, establishing close partnerships with local actors allows for a better understanding of key concerns and need. Ms. Connolly highlighted three challenges local actors face when trying to implement projects to sustain peace: the resource gap, the recognition gap and the solutions gap. These findings were part of an initiative undertaken by Peacedirect and IPI in 2017 to examine the greatest challenges facing local peacebuilders. More information on this initiative can be found here.

As the international community works to advance the Secretary-General’s sustaining peace framework, efforts should be taken to ensure that all activities are “locally owned, regionally anchored and internationally supported.”