Peacebuilding and Sustainable Peace| Robert Bosch Stiftung

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The Situation

War and armed conflict affect the lives of some two billion people worldwide and impede the positive development of entire countries and regions. Even societies that no longer face violent conflicts often have to deal with their aftermath for decades to come. In around 60 percent of all civil wars, violence escalates again within an average of just seven years after a peace agreement.

The Goal

We support societies affected by violent conflicts in their transformation toward sustainable peace. Local stakeholders who are highly familiar with the conflict and the region design their peace processes. Peace is more than just the absence of violence: It also involves the strengthening of structures and institutions that characterize peaceful societies.

Our Strategy

Transforming conflict into sustainable peace requires time and approaches on all levels of society. Therefore, we provide medium- to long-term support in selected regions to people and organizations directly affected by conflict. Together with regional stakeholders, we set up initiatives that shape inclusive peace processes and implement projects locally. The ongoing development and implementation of local peace approaches require collective efforts. Hence, we promote exchange among academics and practitioners globally while contributing findings of our work to peacebuilding debates and activities. Furthermore, we take the relevance of climate change, migration, and inequality into consideration.

Insights

Publication

Participatory Approaches to Conflict, Climate Change and Environment

Social cohesion

Fostering resilience in Ukrainian society

The “Ukrainian Community of Dialogue Practitioners” aims to help people in Ukraine cope with their traumas,...

Inclusive peace

How does diversity succeed in Yemen? And what does that even mean in the Middle East?

War in Israel

“The key is to recognize that even in this situation, we still have the opportunity to act.”

Opinion

Does trauma prevent peace?

Traumas are passed on from generation to generation. Dealing with traumatic experiences appropriately is...

Graphic Novel

How the perspective of women can advance a peace process

Monica McWilliams was at the negotiating table to end the Northern Ireland...

Peacebuilding

"Building peace means self-empowerment"

Local peacebuilding aims to strengthen peace processes through local activism.

Munich Security Conference 2024

Not for, but with the Sahel - why we need a new security strategy

A look ahead to the Munich Security...

Publication

Rising Temperatures, Falling Resources

Opinion

Accountability, justice and “winning the peace” in Ukraine

War crimes, ecocide, social trauma: the challenges of rebuilding Ukraine are...

Publication

Climate change effects on conflict dynamics in Iraq

World Peace Day 2023

A Lot Doesn't Always Help a Lot: What is needed after the war

Currently, Ukraine needs weapons and military aid - but what about when the...

Publication

Energy Injustice and its Role for Environmental Peacebuilding

Report

An oasis for peace: This school aims to be a place of understanding

In workshops, Jewish and Arab population groups in Israel pursue peaceful...

Interview

“What is happening now in Israel is unique - and then again, not.”

Israel will be even more impacted by climate change in the future but...

Publication

Innovative Practices

The Robert Bosch Stiftung's Approach to Peacebuilding

Munich Security Conference 2023

Discussion on Climate-Related Migration and its Geopolitical Implications

Climate change will force hundreds of...

Points of conflict

Surviving and co-existing in a changing world

Climate change intensifies conflicts. Conflicts foster climate change. We take a look at three places,...

Lebanon’s water shortage

Can a 1,500-year-old method secure peace in the age of climate change?

Since the state is not adressing the problems, an environmental organization...

Infographics

The Links between Climate Change and Conflict

In the Middle East, climate change exacerbates existing conflicts and leads to new disputes. We explain the...

Interview

“Climate security is particularly conducive to risk forecasting”

The International Crisis Group identifies early warning signs for violent...

Peace initiative

Putting Principles into Practice: New Paths to Lasting Peace

In two years of work, the Principles for Peace initiative has laid a new...

MENA region

Climate Change Threatens Peace and Security

Read the dossier

Decolonizing Peacebuilding

Why Race and Power also Matter in the Peacebuilding Sector

Cooperation with the Global South

“Preventive development policy is sustainable security policy.”

Federal Minister Svenja Schulze...

The Chain of Influence Framework for Systems Change

Shifting Power to Local Peace Actors

How can a better environment for locally-led peacebuilding be created? The...

Opinion

Only Sustainable Solutions to Environmental Crises Can Take Away Their Power to Drive Conflict

#recorded

Forging New Paths for Peace and Hope

How can we create sustainable peace and give people in crisis areas new hope? The Principles for Peace...

Publication

Chain of Influence Framework for Systems Change: Shifting Power to Local Actors

Interview

The Difficult Security Situation in the Sahel Region

Between two appointments at the Munich Security Conference 2022, Hanna Tetteh...

Guest contribution

“The Sahel Is also a European Challenge”

At this year's Munich Security Conference, the Robert Bosch Stiftung focused on the stabilization and...

How Can We Achieve Sustainable Peace?

To story

Opinion

Enough Is Enough: It’s Time to Take Local Actors Seriously!

A call for a new approach to international peacebuilding.

“Local Peacebuilders are the Core of Building Sustainable Peace”

Read the interview with Mie Roesdahl from Conducive Space for Peace.

Publication

A Global System in Flux

Interview

New Paths to Sustainable Peace

War and armed conflict affect the lives of some 2 billion people worldwide. A new initiative that includes Bert...

Publication

Foundation News in Bosch Zünder 1/2021

The Path to Lasting Peace

Why have previous peace approaches generally met with such little success? And which paths can lead to lasting...

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Discover our work

Peace

European Fund for the Balkans: Democracy and Regional Integration

Peace

Peace Direct

How can power and resources be shifted to local actors? We support the peacebuilding organization Peace Direct, which is dedicated to transforming the international peacebuilding system.

Peace

Re-Imagine the INGO (RINGO)

How can international non-governmental organizations be reshaped and contribute to a changed role for global civil society?

Peace

Conducive Space for Peace

We support the non-governmental organization Conducive Space for Peace to initiate changes in international peacebuilding.

Peace

Principles For Peace - Charting a Path for Lasting Peace

Peace

Support Program Conflict, Climate Change and Environment in the Middle East

Peace

Developing Local Peacebuilding Capacity in Ninewa, Iraq

Peace

Supporting local dialogue to address climate security risks in Iraq

Peace

KAPOK Project - Peace Initiatives in the Border Region of Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Ghana

Peace

Support Program Environmental Policy and Social Justice in Israel

Peace

People's Coalition for the Sahel

Since 2020 the People’s Coalition for the Sahel works on strengthening civil society to influence policy change and hold stakeholders...

Peace

Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies

The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies is an independent think-tank that seeks to foster change through knowledge production with a focus on...

Peace

Molad – the Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy

Peace

Local peace initiatives at the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia

Peace

Trauma in Peacebuilding

We are training staff of Palestinian and Israeli peacebuilding organizations, providing both trauma support for them and lessons on how to integrate a trauma-informed approach into all programming. We foster collaboration and...

Our focus

We contribute to sustainable peacebuilding by supporting local approaches in selected regions and within the global peacebuilding system. Together with local peacebuilders, stakeholders, and organizations, we conceptualize and implement activities that address local needs. Thus, we contribute to sustainable and positive peace in the respective regions.

Our Activities in the Sahel

Our work focuses on the border region between Burkina Faso and the neighboring coastal states of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. There is an urgent need for preventive peace approaches in these coastal states which are increasingly under threat by the spreading violence in the region.

Our Activities in the Western Balkans

The aftermath of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the persistent instrumentalization of ethno-nationalist discourses continue to shape the region to this day. The border regions between the countries of the Western Balkans as well as those with neighboring EU member states hold particular potential for peacebuilding activities: These regions are familiar with pragmatic, cross-border cooperation, something which locally-led approaches can build upon.

Our Activities in the Middle East

Home to around a quarter of a billion people, the Middle East has long been the scene of numerous conflicts with significant regional and international implications. Within our activities, we particularly address the nexus between conflicts, climate, and environment, whereas the conflicts in Iraq and Yemen are regional focuses.

Promoting innovation in international peacebuilding

We support transformative projects and actors that push the global peacebuilding system toward better addressing the needs of local peacebuilding actors. By working with initiatives and organizations that build on existing systems or fundamentally rethink forms of peace cooperation, we strive to empower local actors to play a leading role in the field of peacebuilding.