On January 20th, IPI together with the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN, cohosted a virtual panel discussion on “Reflections and Lessons on UN Support to Local Mediation Efforts.”Track 1 mediation processes involving national political and military leaders have increasingly struggled to deliver comprehensive peace […]
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Track-1 mediation processes have increasingly struggled to deliver comprehensive peace agreements that address fragmented conflict dynamics and include local communities’ needs. As a result, local mediation has increasingly been a focus for the UN, including for UN peace operations. UN peace operations can play an important role in supporting local mediation initiatives, whether these initiatives […]
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IPI was the scene, on September 28th, of a lively discussion among senior United Nations mediators and the author of a new book called Negotiating Peace: A Guide to the Practice, Politics, and Law of International Mediation.The author was Sven M. Koopmans, a past member of UN and European Union mediation teams, international lawyer, academic, […]
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Libya’s overarching statelessness, and the violence and lawlessness that result, permeate the country, which is plagued by local-level conflicts. However, local mediation efforts have flourished over the last few years. As a senior UN official noted, “Local mediation is the best thing that has happened in Libya since the revolution.”This report examines these local mediation […]
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A broad-based mediation plan in South Sudan to try to forge peace after violence devastated the country between 2013 and 2015 unraveled in a year, plunging the country back into conflict. On April 30th, IPI and the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations held a policy forum to discuss the subject and launch […]
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In 2013, the world’s newest nation—the Republic of South Sudan—descended into civil war. External actors moved quickly to convene peace talks under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), leading to a comprehensive peace deal in August 2015. But the agreement unraveled just a year later, before it could be implemented, and the […]
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An April 19th policy forum at IPI took up the vexing dilemma that arises when peacemakers face choices between settling an armed conflict and holding to account those responsible for severe human rights violations.“Many think that peace is more important than justice or vice-versa,” said Christian Wenaweser, Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, […]
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On March 15, 2018, the Syrian armed conflict entered into its eighth year. Since 2011, attempts to facilitate a political solution to the Syrian conflict have either failed or stalled. Amidst this deadlock, one track that has not stalled is the civil society track. Against the odds, progress can be observed at this level as […]
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To prevent civil strife and reinforce social unity, Muslim countries need to engage in a culture of mediation at the domestic level, Nejib Friji, Director, IPI Middle East & North Africa, told an audience at the first Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States Conference on Mediation in Istanbul, November 23rd.The conference, organized by the […]
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On November 6th, Marie-Joëlle Zahar, IPI Senior Fellow, and Delphine Mechoulan, IPI Policy Analyst, presented the main findings of their report “Peace by Pieces? Local Mediation Initiatives and Sustainable Peace in the Central African Republic.”The report, which by can be found here, describes and analyzes the impact of local mediation activities in the Central African […]
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UN Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin discusses the challenges that emerge as states increasingly frame conflict and violence through a terrorism lens, rather than a peace lens, and the repercussions for local mediation and human rights…
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Robert O. Mendelsohn, professor of forest policy and economics at Yale University, discusses the global forces creating unprecedented changes over the next few centuries,…
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The Ivoirian case shows that DDR programs continue to perpetuate gendered hierarchies and stereotypes; women and girls continue to be…
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The International Peace Institute is an independent, international not-for-profit think tank with a staff representing more than 20 nationalities, located in New York across from United Nations headquarters. IPI is dedicated to promoting the prevention and resolution of conflicts between and within states by strengthening international peace and security institutions. To achieve its purpose, IPI employs a mix of policy research, convening, publishing and outreach.
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