Why are we running this project?
Peacebuilding efforts in the region mostly focus on the elite level. Community leaders often emphasize tensions between the groups, while members of the community show more willingness to compromise. Yet, locally-led approaches have not always been able to contribute to the resolution of conflicts. They frequently deal with each minority group individually, resulting in inter-community tensions and “aid competition”. In contrast this project aims to focus on the local level and bring all communities together to find commonalities and discuss relevant local issues that are often ignored by local elites.
What are our goals?
The project aims at empowering the whole minority population of Ninewa to find common ground and overcome differences. This in turn has the potential to develop joint capacity to pressure community leaders as well as local authorities to reach compromise.
How does the project work?
The project identifies through key-informant interview and household surveys issues of common concern and interest among the different minority groups. Through focusing on cross-cutting societal groups (such as farmers, women, or youth) relevant issues and challenges are established and addressed through community dialogue and information sharing sessions. Pre- and post- dialogue surveys allow for the learning process and progress of the communities to be tracked and better understood.
Who are our partners?
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is a renown think tank in the fields of security, conflict, and peace. SIRPI is convinced that understanding where conflict is rooted - while also considering economic, social, political, and environmental factors - is necessary for developing sustainable peace.
Al Tahreer Association for Development (TAD) was established in 2003 in Mosul, Iraq, to contribute to building peace through promoting a culture of dialogue among different communities as well as between communities and national and subnational authorities. Its aim is to establish peaceful coexistence between the different ethnic and religious groups in the province and Iraq.