MCC Peacebuilding and Reflecting on Peace Practice (RPP)

Krista Johnson MCC Peace Program Coordinator kmj@mcc.org 01/28/11, Siem Reap

MCC Peace Work

MCC works for peace all around the world (link to map)

Palestine/Israel

Colombia Peacebuilding Stories

Tanzania Mining Justice

MCC Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation

Activities with the primary objectives of preventing, mitigating and transforming violence and conflict between groups and individuals as well as addressing systems and structures that perpetuate conflict and violence. This includes activities such as:

Peacebuilding education and training, including scholarship support for continuing peacebuilding education Conflict Transformation programs which might include mediation, negotiation, dialogue, and conflict analysis activities seeking to improve communications skills, resolve conflict, and build capacity Bridge-building and dialogue work, which seeks to work across religious, ethnic and identity-based line

MCC Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation Contd

Public Engagement and Peace Advocacy work which aims to address structural violence perpetuating systems of injustice. Human rights monitoring, awareness, and advocacy Trauma Healing programming which seeks to increase resiliency and trauma awareness and enable individuals and communities to break cycles of violence. Conflict Prevention work, which seeks to prevent violent conflict by addressing persistent inequalities, structural violence and root causes of conflict by utilizing conflict assessments, and appropriate interventions which aim to impact the long-term as well as the short-term conflict situation.

Peacebuilding

Is Peacebuilding an Art or a Science? Academic Discipline or Grassroots Movement? Putting Myself on the Stakeholder Map

Reflecting on Peace Practice (RPP)

An experience-based learning process Developed by the Collaborative for Development Action (CDA) Based on 25+ case studies and feedback workshops across many contexts over a three year period Asks the question: How can international agencies engaged in peace practice make their efforts more effective?

RPP Lesson One

Conflict analysis is crucial!

RPP Lesson One

Analysis is not optional; it is essential and obligatory for peace work.

But There is no agreement about what

constitutes good analysis, and no one methodology has proven better than any other!

RPP asks the questions:

What should we work on? What are the priority issues/conflict factors?
Whom should we work with? What actors/stakeholders are the most important? Why should we work on that issue and with those people? What is the rationale for our chosen approach? Is this the right time to undertake this initiative? Given the conflict dynamics, is the time right for our proposed actions?

Conflict Analysis
The difference between Context Analysis and Conflict Analysis

Three Key Elements to Analyze:

Key conflict drivers Key peace resources Key actors

Context Analysis

Conflict Analysis

RPP Lesson One

Programs often miss the mark:

Are not relevant to the conflict

Do not affect or address main dynamics of the conflict

RPP Lesson Two

Good conflict analysis must address certain important elements

RPP Lesson Two

Good conflict analysis:
Identifies

and prioritizes key driving factors and relationships among them key actors (not key to program, but key to the evolution of the conflict or peace) points of leverage for intervention

Identifies

Identifies

RPP Lesson Three

It is critical to link ANALYSIS to PROGRAM and PEACE WRIT LARGE

RPP Lesson Three

Quantity or quality of analysis made little difference to effectiveness of programming

Failure to link program strategy to key driving factors of conflict is a major threshold reason for lack of impact on peace writ large

Theories of Change

Theory of change = assumptions about:

How achieving our goals will contribute to Peace Writ Large (and address the driving factors of conflict) How and why the activities will lead to achievement of program goals

Theories

of change are often implicit, not wellthought out, unexamined, or inappropriate

Goals are too vague, grandiose, general (coexistence, tolerance, multi-ethnicity) or too specific (activities)

RPP Lesson Four

It is not sufficient to have impact at the individual-personal level

RPP Lesson Four

Peace programs that focus on change at the individual-personal level, and do not link those efforts to change at the socio-political level

will have no discernible impact on peace Mary Anderson

Types of Change
IndividualPersonal Change
Healing/recovery Perceptions Attitudes Skills Knowledge Behavior Individual relationships Group behavior/relationships Public opinion Social norms Institutional change Structural + Cultural Change

Sociopolitical Change

RPP Lesson Five

More people work must engage key people and vice versa

RPP Lesson Five

Approaches to who should be engaged for peace:
More People Peace needs support and participation of the people Key People Peace cannot be achieved without involvement of certain people important to the peace process

THE RPP MATRIX: A tool for analyzing program strategies

Conflict Analysis: Driving Factors More people Individual/ Personal Change SocioPolitical Change Key people

Key people = Both Positive and Negative

Peace Writ Large: Vision

RPP Lesson Six

Biases of programs: Engage with the easy to reach (women, youth, etc.) Non-political, willing to cooperate, those less committed to fighting) Doing good vs. stopping bad(e.g., participatory community development, democratic governance, interethnic dialogue, etc.) Building positive pre-conditions for peace
Do not deal with dynamics and people that

RPP Lesson Seven

It is possible to assess impacts on Peace Writ Large

RPP Lesson Seven

It is possible to assess impacts based on:

Good conflict analysis Well-articulated and tested theory of change Well-defined goals (at socio-political level)

Three Key Questions for Systemic Change

1) What factors must need to be changed?
2)

What do I have and what can I do?

3) Who

can do what I cannot to bring about the desired change?

Why is it that sometimes when good programs are introduced into a conflict situation, things started getting worse or nothing seems to change?

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The RPP Matrix

More People

Where is your entry point or theory of change? Why do you do what you do?

More people approaches: Aim at engaging large numbers of people in actions to promote peace. Practitioners who take this approach believe that peace will be achieved if many people become active in the process.
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Entry Point
Key People

Key people approaches:

Aim at people or groups whom without their involvement, no real progress can be realized in transforming the conflict.

Based on the assumption that peace is only possible by involving some key categories of people in the community: Could be political leaders, warlords, or others necessary to a peace agreement.
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Example

The problem of corruption in X country. How do we address this?

More people will say that we need to train more police on the need for good policing to change their behavior Key people will say we just need to select some key people within the police force and train them. Once the key people are changed the whole system will be changed.
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8/5/2013

Levels of Change
More People 1. Individual Level Key People

Programs at this (individual/personal level) seek to change: attitudes, values, perceptions or circumstances of individuals.

Based on the theory that peace is possible, if the hearts, minds and behavior of individuals of people are changed.

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Levels of Change
More People Key People

2. Socio/political Level

Programs that concentrate at the socio-political level seeks to change: Government policies, legislation, economic structures, ceasefire agreements, constitutions, political processes, etc. Social norms, group behaviors, and inter-group relationships. These programs aim to support creation or reform of institutions which address the grievances.
8/5/2013 34

Example

While change at individual level will focus on the training of police to change their behaviors as a way of eradicating corruption in the police; The socio-political level will look beyond just behavioral change to:

8/5/2013

Police condition of service X constitution as it relates to police Police code of conduct and perceptions and behaviors of citizens/groups towards the police. Other welfare packages. Corruption in the country. etc 35

The Importance of Linkages: Does it all add up?

Programs which begin and ends within any one quadrant of the matrix are arguably not enough to build momentum for significant change.

More People

Key People

1
Individual Level

3
Socio-Political Level

4
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Example of programs linkages

More People Key People

Individual Level

1) Individuals are trained

2) Key leaders consulted

Socio-Political Level

3) Create community of peace actors

4) Peace agreement made 5) Constitutional issues addressed.

This addresses the questions of how achievements add up to 8/5/2013 Peace Writ Large?

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Thank you for the important peace work that you do! Any questions?