Many professionals working in conflict areas recognise that peacebuilding and statebuilding ultimately depend on the efforts of local people and institutions. Yet local peacebuilding is often equated with community-level projects that are too small for governments to handle and that can only have a limited impact.
Peace Direct believes that locally led peacebuilding can operate on a large scale. Its concept paper, Ripples into Waves, uses four external case studies to show how local peacebuilding initiatives have succeeded on a national scale and made a real impact on violent conflict.
Click here to download Ripples into Waves (pdf) (http://www.insightonconflict.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Ripples-into-Waves-concept-paper.pdf)
Stories from other projects
Read full storyPeace network in Pakistan
In the turbulent mountain region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, a 23-year-old peacebuilder has founded a network of peace activists – a brave band of young people whose mission is to halt the spread of religious extremism and rescue their peers from recruitment into militant organisations.
Read full storySri Lankans come together after flooding
In January 2011 floods hit Sri Lanka. Local peacebuilder Dishani works with young people and religious leaders to build connections and understanding betweem communities. As the floods hit the Batticaloa region, it was these connections that the people called upon to help them when they most needed it.
Read full storyCongolese Government halts cash-for-weapons
Many organisations are working to disarm fighters in Congo – many offer a cash for weapons incentive. But these programmes are accused of increasing rather than reducing the number of weapons. Local peacebuilder Henri Ladyi’s programmes do not work on this basis and the soldiers who take part do so because they have a genuine desire for peace.
Read full storyDR Congo: Militia fighters tune in to peace
In DR Congo radio is one of the few reliable forms of mass communication. The Centre Résolution Conflits uses radio to on militia fighters deep in the bush to put down their guns and come home. To do this they have helped form 119 Radio Clubs in communities all across eastern DR Congo.
Read full storySri Lanka: Community-led peace initiatives
Sri Lanka’s civil war may be over, but has left a society divided. The Centre for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation is reaching out to the local leaders of today and tomorrow to build a grassroots movement for peace and reconciliation. A recent event in Batticaloa, a province in the east of Sri Lanka, has shown how effective this approach can be
