peacewatch summer 2011

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UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE

INSIDE2 StartinganAf-PakDialogue

4 Afghanistan:PreparingPeacemakers

5 Pakistan:TrainingtheMediators

6 TrainingU.S.Advisers,BuildingAfghan

Ministries

7 GrantsatWorkinIraq

8 USIPDoesPeaceMultiplicationinNigeria

9 GrantsatWorkinNigeria

10 WorkingagainstViolenceinSudan12 StrengtheningJusticeandSecurityin

theHimalayas

14 MixingBusinesswithPeace

14 PeopleontheMove

15 ConveningPower

USIP Ming DiereneSlving Rel Prblems in Diiul Ples

As the last American troops are sched-uled to leave Iraq this year, and the firsttroops will leave Afghanistan starting thissummer, the civilian side of the U.S. government must step up to assume a greaterrole in the void of the military.

The February conference, held in part

nership with the U.S. Army CombinedArms Center (CAC) at Fort LeavenworthKansas, and the Simons Center for theStudy of Interagency Cooperation, is thethird annual interagency symposium.

The sponsoring organizations hoped touse the opportunity to engage key government leaders and focus on the challengesthat lie ahead as the U.S. transitions frommilitary to civilian control in Iraq andAfghanistanand then for the eventua

From Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan, theU.S. Institute of Peace uses the power ofits neutrality to bring together groups thatmight not otherwise meet or coordinate,thereby helping to facilitate dialogues thatare critical to national security and foreignaffairs.

In that spirit, in early February, USIPcohosted a two-day, off-the-record meet-ing with nine agencies ranging from theNational Security Council to State to theDepartment of Defense to Justice andCommerce and othersincluding 28 bu-reaus, offices and commands from eachto focus on the transitions from military tocivilian control in Iraq and Afghanistan,and eventually to the Iraqi and Afghangovernments.

USIPs Jacqueline Wilson welcomes Sudanese workshop participants. For more on USIPs field activities in Sudan,

see page 10.

UNItED StatES INStItUtE of PEacE

PeaceWatch

Summer 2011

One day we must come to see that

eace is not merely a distant goal that weeek but a means by which we arrive athat goal.

MartinLutherKingJr.

USIPthink. act. teach. train.

continued page 7 >>


2/16usip making a difference

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usip making a difference

They are mostly Pashtuns on both sides ofthe northern Afghan-Pakistani frontier,but their shared ethnic heritage has notprevented their neighboring homelandsfrom emerging as a huge fount of insecu-ritynot only a concern for both nationsbut for the wider world, too. Impoverish-ment and unemployment are severe, whilegovernance remains weak. Radical Isla-mist-inspired terrorism by the Taliban andother groups and the military responses toit weigh heavily on life on each side of the

border. In short, the famously mountain-ous terrain is home to too little hope andtoo many angry, young men, as MaryHope Schwoebel, a senior program officerat the U.S. Institute of Peace, puts it.

Yet it is into these strategically vital ar-eas that the Institute has launched a uniqueattempt at outreach, with the aim of helpingto channel the frustrations and demandsof marginalized people into productive,peaceful directions.

Since early 2010, USIPs Cross-BorderDialogue Initiative has brought together

more than 300 people, teaching the skills ofpolicy advocacy and negotiation and, at thesame time, building bridges between com-munities suffering from endemic violenceand separated by a tense national border.In areas where people typically feel ignoredby their governments and are unable toimprove their circumstances, the initiativehas offered a means of peaceful access topower, says Schwoebel, who is leading theproject.

While this behind-the-scenes work doesnot garner the same headlines as terrorist

attacks and military crackdowns, it layssome of the groundwork for a more stable,democratic and prosperous future.

The initiatives participants are drawnfrom both sides of the famed Durand Line,drawn in 1893 to separate the domains ofthe British colonial government of Indiafrom those of Afghanistans emir. It nowserves as the border between Afghanistanand Pakistan. The group gathered by USIPhailed from the Afghan provinces of Nan-

gahar, Kunar and Nooristan and in Paki-stan from the Bajaur, Momand and Khyberagencies. They included mullahs, maliks

(tribal leaders), business people, local gov-ernment officials, civil society representa-tives, media and academics. USIP officerssifted through the lists of potential partici-pants with an eye to create balance in termsof tribe and clan identity, area of origin,and religious and political affiliation. TheInstitute collaborated with two leading re-gional nongovernmental organizations, theWelfare Association for the Development ofAfghanistan (WADAN) and the Pakistan-based Sustainable Peace and DevelopmentOrganization (SPADO). After the USIP-led

training, the initiative moved into a seriesof small-group dialogue sessions, followedby two larger conferences, in January 2011in Kabul and in February 2011 in Islam-abad.

The initiative drew on important workdone by USIP to create networks of Afghanand Pakistani facilitators. Twelve of thesefacilitators from each sideall trained inthe ways of mediating tribal- and commu-nity-level conflictswere selected to help

guide the discussions. Says Keith Bowen,the senior program officer in charge of theNetwork of Afghan Facilitators, By orga-

nizing our effort this waytraining, men-toring and coaching facilitators who aredoing the work themselvesweve spreadthe dialogues into troubled areas where wecannot currently go. The facilitators willalso be able to continue this work long af-ter we leave.

The U.S. Agency for International Devel-opment (USAID) funded the the initiative,

Fast Fact: In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the law that established USIP during the Cold War.

Sring n af-Pk DilogueBy Thomas Omestad

Participants present action plans for addressing cross-

border issues.



UNITED STATES IN STITUTE OF PEACE

with people from both countries recitingPashtun poetry. The overall effect was tobreak down some of the reservationsand biasesthat had hindered meaningfulcross-border conversation in the past. Forinstance, some of the conservative Afghanmullahs, recalls Schwoebel, came to acceptthe presence of a young Pakistani womanworking with a nongovernmental organi-zation involved in the discussions. Theybecame kind of a family over the course ofa year, she says. The transformation was

palpable.The initiative also provided an oppor-

tunity for people from the tribal regions tospeak directly to senior representatives oftheir central governmentsand with unac-customed sophistication, as they used theirnew training to create PowerPoint presen-tations, supported by statistics and videoclips of interviews with local citizens, torecommend policy changes. Afghanistansdeputy minister of education said the sug-

turning to USIP in part because of the In-stitutes mix of academic and practical, on-the-ground skills, as well as the f lexibility ithas to operate informally and without all ofthe same strictures that other U.S. govern-ment agencies would face in attempting thesame work in politically fraught Pakistanand Afghanistan. We have the power toconvene a wide variety of people in a non-partisan way, says Schwoebel. Her ideafor the initiative drew on her own previ-ous work on cross-border dialogues in the

Horn of Africa (involving Somalis, Ethio-pians and Kenyans) 12 years ago, then as aconsultant to USAID.

The discussions between Afghans andPakistanis ultimately centered on the needfor progress in three issues intimately af-fecting daily life in the tribal regions: edu-cation, employment and peacekeeping. Theparticipants broadly agreed on the need forfamilies to send their girls to schools and forschools to retain female teacherssensitiveissues in these religiously conservative ar-eas. Indeed, some Taliban elements have

targeted girls schools for terrorist attacks.On employment, Afghans and Pakistanislaid out ideas for agricultural developmentsuitable for the rugged terrain, for creating

job opportunities in gemstone mining andmarble quarrying and for easing restric-tions on cross-border trade to spur moreeconomic activity. Both sides of the bordersuffer from dramatic joblessness that is afactor in attracting some to radicalism. Fi-nally, those in the dialogues focused on theroles that religious leaders, tribal elders andthe media can play in contributing to the

prevention of violence in the region. Theyalso want the United States to help their twogovernments improve bilateral relations.

With encouragement from USIP, Afghanand Pakistani participants in the dialogueswere paired up as roommates. At the endof each session, visitors received traditionalgifts from their host-country counter-parts, such as Afghan turbans or dresses orPakistani walking sticks. Meetings ended

WethoughtAmericanswereonlyinterestedinwar,HaroonShinwari,aPakistanipoetwhojoinedintheinitiative

process,wroteafterward.Nowweknowyouarealsointerestedinpeace.


Participants sit outside while discussing thorny cross-border issues with USIPs Mary Hope Schwoebel.

gestions were feasible and that he would tryto see that they are implemented. He addedone idea of his own: conducting primaryeducation in each areas mother tongue.

Some international donor agencies alsofound the initiative had broken new groundfor them as they wrestled with the difficulties of working in volatile tribal regionsJapanese officials saw the recommendationsas guides for how to invest developmentfunds in Pakistans Federally AdministeredTribal Areas, commonly known as FATA

Canadian officials a lso expressed interesin bringing initiative participants into aprocess that they are managing to addressborder issues.

The project also seemed to dent negativeimpressions of the U.S. role in the regionWe thought Americans were only inter-ested in war, Haroon Shinwari, a Pakistanpoet who joined in the initiative processwrote afterward. Now we know you arealso interested in peace.



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afghnisn: Prepring Peemkers

Inevitably, the intensity of U.S. involvementin Afghanistan will ebb. Looking ahead tothat time, the U.S. Institute of Peace hastrained a network of Afghan facilitatorsto mediate conflictswithin and betweenfamilies, localities and communities.

This hands-on peace promotion shouldleave a practical legacy: Weve built per-manent capacities that our facilitators willbe able to draw on long after Americanand other international efforts have begunto wind down, says USIPs Keith Bowen,

the senior program officer leading effortsto build the Network of Afghan Facilitators(NAF).

Modeled after a USIP program in Iraq,about 45 Afghans have received trainingsince 2008; they include tribal and civil so-ciety leaders concentrated in the countryseastern provincesa region critical to U.S.policy aims. Twelve of the Afghan facili-tators have joined in the Institutes recentCross-Border Dialogue Initiative, joined by12 from Pakistan.

The Afghan facilitators have mediatednumerous local disputes. On at least 18 oc-casions, they have tackled family or tribal

disputes, many involving abuse of women.They have brokered settlements on issuesof internally displaced persons in Daikundiand Khost provinces, water in Badakshanand property in Nangarhar.

Such tensions have been routinely ex-ploited by the Taliban, warlords and otherantigovernment groups. The Taliban and

By Thomas Omestad


PeaceWatch (ISSN 1080-9864) is published three times

a year by the United States Institute of Peace, an

independent, nonpartisan national institution established

and funded by Congress to help prevent, manage and

resolve international conicts. The views expressed herein

do not necessarily reect views of the Institute or its

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write to the United States Institute of Peace, 2301

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PeaceWatch is available at www.usip.org/peacewatch.

President: Richard H. Solomon

Executive Vice President: Tara Sonenshine

CFO: Michael Graham

Vice President of Outreach and Communications:Stephanie Fouch

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Director of Public Affairs: David Early

Senior Writer/Editor: Liz Harper

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Photo Credits: Bill Fitz-Patrick, AP Photo, and Staff

Board of Directors

Chairman: J. Robinson West

Vice Chairman: George E. Moose

Members: Judy Ansley, Anne H. Cahn, Chester A. Crocker,

Kerry Kennedy, Ikram U. Khan, John A. Lancaster Stephen D.

Krasner, Jeremy A. Rabkin, Judy Van Rest,

Nancy Zirkin

Members ex ofcio:

Michael H. Posner, Department of State

James N. Miller, Department of Defense

Ann E. Rondeau, National Defense University

Richard Solomon, Institute President (nonvoting)

PeaceWatch

others have been able to choose and armone side in local disputes, eliminate theopposition and add areas to their sphere ofinfluence, Bowen says. The State Depart-ment and the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment have funded part of the USIPnetwork.

The program essentially trains thetrainers, Bowen says. Most members havegone on to instruct others in conflict man-agement and peacebuilding. USIP materi-als have been used in much larger training

efforts by a local partner, the Welfare Asso-ciation for the Development of Afghanistan(WADAN). Afghan officials also selectedseveral USIP-taught facilitators to help withlast summers National Consultative PeaceJirga. Overall, says Bowen, The number ofpeople impacted is measured in the thou-sands, on our way to tens of thousands.

USIPs Linda Bishai photographed three children outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, on one of her trips to the region.



UNITED STATES INSTITUT E OF PEACE

Fast Fact: USIP currently works in more than 30 countries, including Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

Pkisn: trining he Mediors

With Pakistans internal troubles andcross-border issues with Afghanistan askey factors in the security outlook for all ofSouth Asia and the United States, the U.S.Institute of Peace has brought its conceptof building a network of facilitators to thecountry. The approximately 55 Pakistanistrained since 2009 to mediate and manageconflicts form a defiant, if peaceful, coun-ter to the pull of extremism.

Says Nina Sughrue, the Institute seniorprogram officer who leads the effort, This

is about creating and connecting a group ofpeople who are devoted to peace, and thatis absolutely in our national security inter-est.

The Pakistani facilitators primarilycome from the conflict-ridden FederallyAdministered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khy-ber Pakhtunkhwa (KPP) and the Swat Val-ley. An ethnically diverse group of bothgenders, they include people from non-governmental organizations, academe and

journalism, as well as tribal and religiousleaders. They take a lot of physical risks on

behalf of building peace in their troubledcommunities, allows Sughrue.

Like the parallel Afghanistan program,the idea is to train those who will trainothers, and essential support comes from alocal partner, the Islamabad-based Sustain-able Peace and Development Organization(SPADO). SPADO this year will publish an

Institute-funded manual laying out tradi-tional Pakistani mediation methods, aug-mented by the USIP training.

The networks efforts are already payingoff. One facilitator mediated a dispute inMianadam in Swat that pitted the PakistaniArmy against some villagers. The facilita-tor convened government and Army offi-cials, community leaders and shop ownersover the complicated issues stemmingfrom the confiscation and demolition of a


USIPs Linda Bishai and Nina Sughrue meet with one of

the working groups during the advanced training for the

facilitators network in Pakistan.

market. Three months of effort yielded anamicable resolution. Elsewhere in Swat, another facilitator brought together 16 groupsdelivering relief and rehabilitation to areasdevastated by last years flooding. That coalition negotiated with security forces formore help and better access to the area. InKPP, meanwhile, facilitator-run dialogueseased ethnic tensions in remote districtsallowing badly needed development workto resume.

By Thomas Omestad

Participants in the advanced training workshop in Islamabad with USIPs Sughrue and Bishai and local partner, Sus-

tainable Peace and Development Organization.

Participants in the second facilitators training workshop negotiate during a simulation as USIPs Sughrue looks on.



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Fast Fact: USIP opened a permanent office in Baghdad, Iraq in 2004.

trining U.S. advisers, Building afghn Minisries

When the Pentagon decided to deploy se-nior civilian advisers to Afghanistans Min-istry of Defense in May 2010, it turned tothe expertise at USIP.

Working with the Pentagon, USIP de-veloped curriculum for the Ministry ofDefense Advisers (MoDA) Training Pro-gram, which provides Department of De-fense (DoD) civilian experts with tools andapproaches for effective mentoring andcapacity building. DoD considers MoDAtraining one of the most comprehensive

and effective pre-deployment training pro-grams for senior advisers headed to workwithin Afghanistans Ministries of Defenseand Interior.

MoDA prepares advisers to make in-formed and educated decisions in an envi-ronment that needs the solutions only theirexpertise can offer, says Nadia Gerspacher,MoDAs lead instructor for the portion of

the program to which USIP contributes.Gerspacher says the coursework gives stu-dents the knowledge to support the Afghansecurity ministries while allowing Afghansto come up with their own solutions tobuild a better-performing government.

The program allows them to assess, ana-lyze and evaluate the continually changingenvironment and thus identify expertise toshare with Afghan counterparts, she says.

The job of a senior adviser to an Af-ghan ministry is one of the most nuancedroles that Americans play in Afghanistan.Advisers have to be part mediator, partmentor, part expert but cannot force their

know-how. Take a hypothetical exampleof a need for a ministry to develop its ownprocess for accepting military equipmentdonated from foreign nations. Its a capacitythat many developing nations lack, and thismakes it difficult for a fledgling military to

accept new trucks or helicopter parts, forexample.

Experts like Gerspacher say its not thejob of the American adviser to tell the Af-ghans how to duplicate such a processthatwould be unrealistic, politically foolhardyand would likely not workbut to givethem the tools to create their own policyon how to do it. The USIP portion of theMoDA programs coursework on forgingcoordination or organizational develop-ment helps fill in those gaps.

In addition to giving students the tools

they need to help build the ministry, theidea is to train American advisers on howto eventually sit back and let the Afghansdo it on their own, she says.

The MoDA advisers deploy with a keenunderstanding that their mission rests onAfghan-led reform efforts and tools toprovide the support and knowledge to filla gap, says Gerspacher. This awarenessallows them to perform effectively by hav-ing impact, eliciting buy-in by local actors,and facilitate sustainable and viable reformefforts.

The USIP portion includes areas suchas language and culture, ministry capacitybuilding, policing, mediation, negotiationand a session on gender roles.

What were helping the DoD personneldo is make a mind-set shift from a practi-tioner to an adviser, says Gerspacher. Andits a question of creating a strategic plan toget buy-in, she adds.

By Gordon Lubold


MoDApreparesadviserstomakeinformedandeducateddecisionsinan

environmentthatneedsthesolutionsonlytheirexpertisecanoffer,says

NadiaGerspacher.

USIPs Paul Hughes teaches American senior strategic advisers about insurgencies and how to use that knowledge to be

effective in the MoDA deployment to the MOD or MOI of Afghanistan.



UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE 7

Grns Work in Irq

USIPs Grant program supports and de-velops the capacity of Iraqi nongovern-mental organizations (NGOs) to promotepeacebuilding and reconciliation, and tostrengthen the rule of law.

Recent accomplishments of grantees in-clude collaboration between one NGO andthe Police Academy in the northern city ofKirkuk.

Due to ongoing political tensions in thenorthern region, the NGO in December2010 started conducting training work-

shops with law enforcement officials. InKirkukan ethnically diverse city withArabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians andothersthe goal is to improve conflictresolution skills and intercommunal toler-ance. The grantee organization is target-ing an overall figure of 250 officers andpolicemen throughout the entire trainingprogram. The series of workshops will lasta year, with several workshops each month.Their objective is to increase stability andsecurity in the region by reducing tensionsand improving trust between law enforce-

ment and the public.In Baghdad, a local womens organiza-

tion envisions how disabled women canplay an important role in peacebuildingand has supported emerging peace activ-ists who became disabled due to ethnic andsectarian violence. In fact, the director ofthis NGO had previously participated inUSIPs womens toolkit for collaborativeproblem solving, a three-phase approachto improving womens leadership in Iraq.

Also in Baghdad, one of USIPs granteesis developing a comprehensive transitional

justice program that involves public educa-tion on the issues of rights, truth and rec-onciliation, as well as formulating strategiesthat could be adopted and implemented bythe Iraqi Parliament. In early 2011, thisNGO recognized and sought to address amore urgent need in Iraq: ensuring peacefuldemonstrations in the nations capital. Iraqipeople, students, youth and civil society ac-tivists held rallies sporadically in different

areas of the country, with street demonstra-tors and sit-ins mainly expressing demandsfor social justice, better services, employ-ment opportunities, anti-sectarian prac-tices and anticorruption, as well as a betterdistribution of Iraqs national resources andwealth among its people.

The NGO began a series of workshopsto train people about principles of peacefulexpression of rights and the mechanismsof conducting successful and peacefuldemonstrations. The workshops took place

in Baghdad, Kirkuk and Basra. The par-ticipants of the workshops came out witha clear understanding of best practices thatwas quite visible in the way they conductedthemselves during demonstrations, in theirability to keep out outsiders who tried to in-filtrate their groups, and in their success inpreserving calm during protest events.


By Raya Barazanji

handover to the Iraqi and Afghan governments. Discussions were tense.

For instance, who will maintain themassive infrastructure the U.S. has built inIraq and Afghanistan? What will it cost tosustain host nation militaries, and who wilpay for that cost? Who will provide security

for the U.S. civilians the military leaves behind? What agreements need to be in placeto ensure their safety? Answers dont comeeasy. But most people agree that those an-swers must come soon.

We have not attempted this type omassive transition between our own agencies since the Marshall Plan, said BethCole, USIPs director of intergovernmentaaffairs and lead editor of Guiding Princi-ples for Stabilization and Reconstruction,the first strategic doctrine ever producedfor civilians engaged in peacebuilding mis-

sions. Its a collective responsibility, butwere not used to divvying up these rolesand responsibilities, she said.

Therefore, USIP can offer a safe placefor agencies to come together and discuss

very difficult issues, Cole noted.Beyond this February symposium, as

this issue of PeaceWatch highlights, USIPseeks to build bridges and provide the safespace for various groups to convene and re-solve problems.

USIP Mking Differene

from page 1

USIP President Richard H. Solomon and Lieutenant

General Robert L. Caslen, Jr., commanding general of the

U.S. Army Combined Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth,

at the 3rd annual Interagency Symposium, held at USIP

headquarters

A USIP grantee in the southern Iraqi city of Basra is

turning the citys concrete security walls into colorful

murals that depict womens collective call for peace.



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USIP Does Pee Mulipliion in Nigeri

USIP trainers in March 2011 completed afive-day exercise in Nigeria for NigerianArmy peacekeepers who are preparing todeploy across the continent for a host ofmissions.

The course is part of the State Depart-ments African Contingency OperationsTraining and Assistance program, orACOTA, which USIP has worked with overthe last few years. The ACOTA programteaches conflict mediation and negotiationtechniques to African security personnel

who will perform peacekeeping missionsand so-called peace enforcement for thesemissions across Africa. This was USIPsfirst such program in Nigeria, though USIPhas conducted ACOTA trainings in otherAfrican nations.

USIP experts held the workshop fornearly 30 officers and enlisted soldiers ofthe Nigerian Army at its Peacekeeping Cen-ter, part of the Jaji Military Training Centernorth of Kaduna. It was an appropriate spot

for USIP trainingthe center was estab-lished more than five years ago as a wingof the armys Infantry Corps Center andSchool to train troops for peace supportoperations. Nigeria is known for havingthe most experienced cadres of peacekeep-ers: It is one of the largest nations in Africathat contributes troops to peacekeeping op-erations and in the 1960s contributed forcesto the first United Nations peacekeepingmission in the Congo.

What is really unique about this train-

ing is, first of all, they are so enthusias-tic, says Mary Hope Schwoebel, a seniorprogram officer for USIPs Academy forInternational Conflict Management andPeacebuilding who helped conduct thetraining.

The workshop focused on developingnegotiation techniques and was designedfor students to practice mediation and com-munication skills, according to its three or-ganizers, USIPs Jacqueline Wilson, Debra

Liang-Fenton and Schwoebel. The programalso aimed to provide an overview of basicconcepts when it came to protecting civil-ians, using role-play at a mock checkpoint,for example, or discussing ways to mitigatethe chances that disagreements can turn

violent. One of the most popular aspectsof the training was the part in which USIPinstructors taught the soldiers how better tolisten, and then use mediation and negotia-tion skills to resolve issuesessential toolsfor managing conflict.

USIP has worked in partnership withthe State Departments ACOTA programssince 2008 and has run more than 20 train-ing workshops in six African countries overthe last three years.

USIP has gained a partner that reallydovetails with its mission to make a contri-bution to the management and resolutionof international conflicts in African con-flict areas, says Ted Feifer, dean of studentsand acting dean of institutional outreach

By Gordon Lubold


USIPs Jacqueline Wilson, Mary Hope Schwoebel and Debra Liang-Fenton work with members of the Nigerian Army at their Peacekeeping Center in Nigeria.




Fast Fact: In 2008, USIP established a full time presence in Afghanistan.

Grns Work in Nigeri

In the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, smallconflicts can escalate quickly and claimhundreds or even thousands of lives. To ad-dress conflicts before they escalate, USIP in2008 started supporting the African Cen-ter for Advocacy and Human Development(ACAHD) in their efforts to professionalizethe traditional conflict mediation skills ofkings, chiefs and women leaders. ACAHDprovided intensive mediation and conflictresolution training to these leaders andthen provided support and mentoring for

the participants in the program to set uppeace teams in their communities. Thesepeace teams have had a direct impact in re-solving conflict and reducing violence.

In Ondo state, for instance, the effortsof the traditional rulers from Ode-Irele,Aye and Odigbo communities initiateda peace process to resolve a bitter, violentconflict over claims of ownership regard-ing land that contain tar sands and bitu-men. ACAHD worked with the traditionalleaders that participated in the program tocreate a durable resolution, thereby saving

lives and creating opportunities for invest-

ment by the bitumen industry.Similarly, in Cross River state, one o

the chiefs who participated in the programstepped back from a violent response to aperceived provocation by a neighboringcommunity in Akwa Ibom state. The chieof the neighboring Akwa Ibom communityhad allegedly set Fulani herders to grazetheir cattle on the Cross River communitys land, where the cattle caused damageto farms. Similar crises in the past havekilled hundreds of community members

and caused enormous amounts of property damage. In this case, the chief of theaggrieved community, after going throughthe training program and consulting withACAHD, pulled back from a violent re-sponse and agreed to talk with his AkwaIbom counterpart. The chiefs of the twocommunities were able to resolve the crisispeacefully.

ACAHD has provided useful insightsfor USIP and other peacemakers aroundthe world on how to support communityand traditional leaders on resolving con

flicts before they spark wider violence.

By Andrew Blum


for USIPs Academy of International Con-flict Management and Peacebuilding. Feiferrecently returned from another ACOTAtraining session in Rwanda.

Key to the program, say organizers, wasincorporating lessons learned from thosewho have managed conflict or conductedpeacekeeping operation and then applyingthose lessons to the situations the NigerianArmy would face when it deploys.

Participants were gratified to be part ofspecific training on how to prevent con-flicts, large and small. The role-play exer-cises were particularly helpful as part of apractical course on how to avoid conflict.Very good job, wrote one participant. Ilearned a lot, especially the active listening

skills and conflict analysis.The workshop included 27 members of

the Nigerian Army, including Brig. Gen.Paul Boroh, the commandant of the Peace-keeping Center, as well as other high-rank-ing officers, mid-grade officers and enlistedsoldiers. Four of the participants werewomen. Approximately 75 percent of thegroup had had peacekeeping experience.

Such training also produces new train-ers who can in turn teach new students inconflict management. ACOTA training is,as USIPs Mike Lekson says, a real peace

multiplier. Such math is particularly valu-able in Nigeria. The U.S. government con-siders the country to be one of the mostactive African nations focused on peaceand reconciliation across the continent.

Over the past decade, Nigeria has playeda pivotal role in the support of peace in Af-rica, providing the bulk of troops to theUnited Nations peacekeeping mission inSierra Leone and the mission in Liberiaaccording to the U.S. State Department.Nigeria has also sent many troops to theAfrican Union-United Nations mission in

Sudanall the more reason why this typeof peacekeeping training is considered rel-evant and in demand.

The initiative is very good, rewardingand productive, another participant toldorganizers. Capacity building is enhanced;this collaboration should continue.

Indeed it will. USIP expects to return toNigeria in September.

Members of the Nigerian Army participate in the ACOTA training workshop at their Peacekeeping Center in Nigeria.



10 PeeWh

Working gins Violene in Sudn

In the past year, Sudan has successfullypassed two milestones established by itsComprehensive Peace Agreement: nationalelections in April 2010 and a referendumthis January on independence for the coun-trys south. Many analysts and commenta-tors feared, in both cases, that an eruptionof violence could block the path to a peace-ful resolution of the north-south conflictlaid out in the historic 2005 accord.

Despite significant problems, the elec-tions were accomplished. And the more

recent referendum surpassed expectations,prompting relatively little violence or dis-ruptionwith the disputed Abyei regionthe primary exception. The impressiveoverall process got a helping hand from anumber of governments, the United Na-tions and international nongovernmentalorganizations. One key supporter has beenthe United States Institute of Peace, whichhas run programs to foster peace and sta-bility in Sudan for two decades.

In the run-up to the countrys nationalelections and then its referendum, USIP

conducted unique workshops with Suda-nese civil society representativesand afew security officials as wellto under-stand and head off signs of election- andreferendum-related violence. There werepredictions of gloom and doom, says JonTemin, director of the Institutes Sudanprogram. We think our workshops con-tributed to the prevention of violence.

USIPs Electoral Violence Prevention(EVP) workshops10 in allran fromJanuary 2009 to February 2010. Carryingthat model forward, two Referendum Vio-

lence Prevention (RFP) workshops wereconducted in October and November oflast year in the future southern capital ofJuba and the town of Rumbek. With theirUSIP training, the EVP participants wenton to run another 20 workshops of theirown. Both sets of workshops were fundedby the State Department-based Office ofthe U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan.

The training in both programs built oncase studies of elections and independence

referendums elsewhere that were writ-ten for Sudanese participants by SeniorProgram Officer Dorina Bekoe and otherresearchers. The case studies described

how elections in countries like Kenya andGhana and referendums in Ethiopia, EastTimor and elsewhere did or did not spawn

violence.The 10 EVP sessions were conducted

around Sudan, drawing political figures,tribal and religious leaders, non-govern-mental activists, students, teachers and

journalists in each locale. It took off likewildfire, says Linda Bishai, a senior pro-gram officer who led the training effort onthe ground in Sudan. In the conflict-tornwestern region of Darfur, rebel leaders sat

next to officials from the ruling NationalCongress Party involved in security mat-ters. In the capital Khartoum, a dramatistwas moved by the USIP effort to convert

some of its instruction into a Sudanese play,which was performed in the courtyard of alocal college. The play used humor to illu-minate sensitive issues of racism, prejudiceand women holding different views fromthose of their husbands.

A broad theme of the workshops, saysBishai, was that elections are another wayof nonviolent conflict resolution. They of-fer ways to resolve your problems withoutguns.

The workshops sought to help the par-ticipants understand how elections and


Two Sudanese workshop participants chat during a break.

By Thomas Omestad

Theexcitingthingabouttheseworkshopswasthewaytheyperformeda

civiceducationfunctioninaplacewheredemocraticcivicengagementis

verynew.Theyalsoallowedpeoplefromavarietyofpoliticalpersuasions

tointeracttowardacommongoalofpeacefulelections,saidUSIPsJac-

quelineWilson,whoalsoconductedtrainingsinSudan.

Fast Fact: USIP has been working on the ground in Sudan since 2005.



UNITED STATES INSTITUT E OF PEACE 1


Top Left: Two Sudanese shake hands during a USIP training workshop. Top Right: USIPs Linda Bishai and Jacqueline

Wilson pose for a group picture with workshop partcipants. Bottom: USIPs Jacqueline Wilson works with youth from

the rival Dinka and Misseriya tribes in Sudan during a workshop on building trust and sharing resources.

referendums can devolve into violence andwhat sorts of triggering events or tensionsto be on alert for. More broadly, the sessionsemphasized that a trip to the ballot box isonly the beginning of the responsibilities

of good citizenship. We discussed howto mediate and not to fight with familiesand schools the nuts and bolts of being apeacebuilder, Bishai says.

The exciting thing about these work-shops was the way they performed a civiceducation function in a place where demo-cratic civic engagement is very new. Theyalso allowed people from a variety of politi-cal persuasions to interact toward a com-mon goal of peaceful elections, said USIPsJacqueline Wilson, who also conductedtrainings in Sudan. These workshops

performed a civic education function in aplace where democratic civic engagement is

very new. They also allowed people from avariety of political persuasions to interacttoward a common goal of peaceful elec-tions, said USIPs Jacqueline Wilson, whoalso conducted trainings in Sudan.

The two sets of workshops illustrateUSIPs style of fusing academic work onpeacebuilding and conflict managementwith practical programs on the groundthe marrying of the think and the do,says Temin.

It also reflects the Institutes ability tooperate more flexibly than the policymak-ing agencies of the U.S. government cantypically doin this case, with USIP po-sitioned to bring together Sudanese fromacross a wide political spectrum compli-cated by mutual suspicions and a history of

violence. Were very careful to be inclusivein these workshops. We have the agility

continued page 14 >>


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12 PeeWh


Srenghening Jusie nd Seuriy in he Himlys

The U.S. Institute of Peace has unveiled apathbreaking survey of attitudes toward thepolice, justice and rule of law in politicallytroubled Nepal, an effort that could helpguide reforms needed to tame the violenceand corruption plaguing the Himalayannations young democracy.

The year-long survey, released in thecapital of Kathmandu in early spring,marks a high point in USIP projects aimedat strengthening security and rule of lawin the country, which is wedged between

India and China. USIP programs in Nepalstarted in May 2006a few months be-fore the signing of a Comprehensive PeaceAgreement ending ten years of armed con-flict between the government and a Mao-ist-Communist movement that remains animportant political party.

Though an interim democratic constitu-tion and government are in place and high-intensity conflict is over, Nepal has beenheld back by political corruption, crime,communal tensions and insufficient re-sources to establish an effective justice sys-

tem. The survey, Calling for Security andJustice in Nepal: Citizens Perspectives onthe Rule of Law and the Role of the NepalPolice, reflects interviews with more than12,000 Nepalesean unprecedented effortto assess popular concerns along with thoseof key groups, such as the Nepal Police. The

survey was a logistical challenge, with USIPstaff training 101 surveyors, many of whomhad to hike through mountains into remote

villages, where they would set up camp anddo their interviews.

The survey found that Nepalese cite po-litical pressure above all as the reason theNepal Police is unable to provide satisfac-tory security. A large majority favored agenuinely independent Nepal Police. Theinterview results cast a spotlight on a lawenforcement and justice system that is shotthrough with political interferencefromthe actions of political parties, sitting of-ficials, the police themselves and ordinarycitizens who try to circumvent the normal

system or rig the outcome of criminal pro-ceedings. Political parties and affiliatedgroups were seen as bearing the greatestresponsibility for what Nepalese considerthe leading threats to security: bandhs(general strikes), chakkajams (road-blocks), corruption, vigilantism and politi-cal pressure. Adding to the complexity isthe presence of sporadic political violence,organized crime and ordinary criminalsas well as ordinary citizens who resort to

A member of the survey team collects information for the report Calling for Security and Justice in Nepal: Citizens

Perspectives on the Rule of Law and the Role of Nepal Police. Below: Woman at work in Nepal (photo by ShobhakarBudhathoki).

By Thomas Omestad


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14/16

14 PeeWh


Mixing Businesswih Pee

When the private sector moves into mar-kets in conflict zones, two things can hap-pen: companies can find money-makingopportunities, and those zones of instabil-ity can find long-term economic solutionsto their problems.

The link between creating strong lo-cal economies and preventing conflict haslong been established. But with so much

volatility around the world, many expertsbelieve now is the time to make somethinghappen.

The United States Institute of Peace co-hosted a special online discussion on thenexus between business and peace, bring-ing together more than 1,500 participantsin 93 countries.

The Business and Peace event, co-hosted by USIPs Center for SustainableEconomies and George Washington Uni-

versitys Institute for Corporate Responsi-bility, was part of a broader initiative that

seeks to develop strategies to align com-mercial interests in conflict-affected statesand regions with mechanisms to avoid vio-lent conflict.

It makes sense to movebeyond alluding to what thepotential may or may notbe to actually start craftingboth strategies and mecha-nisms that will allow thebusiness sector to play a

positive role in rebuilding these states, saysRaymond Gilpin, who directs the Centerfor Sustainable Economies.

The event brought together former mil-itary officers, international developmentexperts and leaders from the industry andinvestment communities. Through onlinediscussions and other methods, the eventaimed to find strategies for luring privatesector investment into conflict zones.

The private sector should not be man-dated by government to invest in unstableareas; it has to make good business sense,says Gilpin. Business people should makebusiness decisions that make sense forthemselves and their shareholders, hesays. But those goals can be aligned with

predictability and stability in their environ-ments.

The conclusions from the online work-shop, known as an e-seminar, included themain takeaway that, contrary to what somebelieve, business is not the problem in con-flict zonesit can actually be the solution.Harnessing the power of the Internet tobring so many individuals together for theevent was a cost-effective solution, Gilpinsays. Throughout the e-seminar, partici-pants generally found that private develop-ment can bridge the gap between foreign

aid, which creates dependencies, and creat-ing sustainable economies. But experts inthe seminar believe that a more detailedanalysis is needed on how business invest-ment creates stability in conf lict zones as away to help explain the need for the privatesector to get involved. Ultimately, the broadgoals of profitability and peacebuilding canbe aligned in many ways, participants inthe discussion decided.

By Thomas Omestad

People onhe Move

Stephanie Fouch joinedUSIP in January as vicepresident of outreach andcommunications. She pre-

viously served as head ofstrategic communications

at the British Embassy in Washington, DC,where she directed efforts to communicatethe UKs policies in the U.S. She developedcampaigns on Afghanistan and Pakistan,the Middle East, the global economy andclimate change. Prior to that, she led com-

munications campaigns for National Pub-lic Radio, the National Parks ConservationAssociation, USAID and the U.S. Mint,among others.

USIP recently welcomedAnn-Louise Colgan as di-rector of the Global Peace-building Center, which willopen in the fall. She previ-ously held senior positions at

organizations focused on human rights andon Africa policy issues, and also worked at

the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,where she managed the Genocide Preven-tion Task Force, which USIP co-convened.

Manal Omar, director ofIraq programs and author ofBarefoot in Baghdad, wasnamed among the worldsmost influential Arabs aspart of Arabian BusinesssPower 500.

David Early became USIPs director of

public affairs and communications in May2011. He was most recently communica-tions director for the national AbrahamLincoln Bicentennial Commission, wherehe re-launched their website and led out-reach campaigns for more than 40 eventsand programs over four years. Previously,he served on the media team of the U.S.Conference of Catholic Bishops and was acongressional press secretary for two Mid-western representatives.

and the connections to engage people onall sides of the issues, says Temin.

The USIP workshops revealed the de-gree to which police-community tensionsremain a major potential trigger for vio-lence. With State Department funding, theInstitute is planning to launch a series ofup to eight training sessions aimed at im-

Working gins Violene in Sudnfrom page 11

proving relations between police and localcommunities in the south, where efforts tofashion a new, national police force are pro-ceeding urgently given the approach of thesouths formal independence on July 9. SaysBishai, Its important for someone to breakthe cycle of distrust.

Raymond Gilpin


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convening Power

On January 31, 2011, USIP and Brookingsconvened a major conference centering onthe complex question of Pakistans futureand the possibilities and problems Paki-stans future may present for U.S. interestsin the country. Experts at the eventin-cluding Andrew Wilder of USIP, ChristineFair of Georgetown, Wendy Chamberlainof the Middle East Institute, Bruce Riedelof Brookings, among othersdiscussed is-sues critical to U.S. policymakers and na-tional security interests. The event resulted

in a Peace Brief titled, The Future of Paki-stan. Read the Peace Brief at http://www.usip.org/publications/the-future-pakistan

On February 25, 2011, USIP held a paneldiscussion on Afghan National SecurityForces featuring Afghan Defense MinisterAbdul Rahim Wardak and Afghan InteriorMinister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.

On March 29, 2011, the Center for Strate-gic and International Studies (CSIS) andUSIP cohosted an event featuring Liberian

Defense Minister Brownie Samukai, whodiscussed prospects for peace in Liberiaand the subregion.

On May 19, Senator John McCain deliv-ered the annual Dean Acheson Lecture inUSIPs Great Hall in Washington, DC. TheRepublican senator from Arizona calledthe Arab Spring the most consequentialevent since the fall of the Ottoman Empireand that for the U.S., it is a moment whenwe must clearly define what we stand for,and not just what we are against.

At a gathering of USIPs InternationalAdvisory Council at the Institute on May13, former National Security Adviser andSecretary of State Henry Kissinger madekeynote remarks on U.S. policy with anascendant China, the current challenges inAfghanistan and Libya.

On April 5, 2011, Israeli President Shimon Peres spoke at USIP about the prospects for peace in the Middle East and

the recent turmoil in the region. CNNs Wolf Blitzer moderated the discussion and dinner, which was hosted by the

S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.

USIPs Kim Feinstein, Tara Sonenshine, Virginia Bouvier

and Katalin Horvath met with the multiple Latin Gram-

my award winner Juanes on April 12, 2011. Juanes will

be featured as part of the upcoming Witnesses to Peace-

building exhibit in the Global Peacebuilding Center, in

which he will talk about the power of music to engage

young people in peacebuilding.

State Departments Undersecretary of State for Public

Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale gave the

keynote address on May 2 at the Institutes Exchange

2.0 conference on the future of international exchanges.

As part of USIPs Congressional Newsmaker Series, Con-

gressman Charles Boustany of Louisiana on May 10

offered his perspective on Lebanon and the Arab Spring.


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2301 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20037 www.usip.orgPeaceWatch

A decade ago, the United Nations SecurityCouncil passed Resolution 1325 (UNSCR1325), which calls for womens full partici-pation in promoting peace and security andfor greater efforts to protect women in war,particularly from sexual violence. However,

today gender-based analysis of conflict of-ten remains outside the mainstream of se-curity dialogues.

On May 5 and 6, 2011, the U.S. Instituteof Peace (USIP) and the Peace ResearchInstitute-Oslo (PRIO) held an internationalsymposium on the next decade of UNSCR1325 and a book launch for Women & War:Power and Protection in the 21st Century.The symposium further examined the is-sues of women and war, power and protec-tion in the 21st century, and explored the

implementation of gender-sensitive policiesin defense, diplomacy, development, andthe role of documentary film, media andthe arts in this endeavor.

Wmen nd WrPower nd Proeion in he 21s cenuryKathleenKuehnast,ChantaldeJongeOudraat,andHelgaHernes,editors

Speakers included:

- khleen His,deputy undersecretaryof Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces;

- ambssdr Dnld Seinberg,deputy

administrator of U.S. Agency for Interna-tional Development (USAID);

- ambssdr Melnne Verveer, U.S.Ambassador-at-Large for Global WomensIssues;

- crl kppell,senior adviser and coordi-nator for USAID Office of Gender Equalityand Womens Empowerment.

To order this volume, go to

http://bookstore.usip.org

APRIL 2011

200 pp. 6 x 9

$16.95 (paper) 978-1-60127-064-1

Toensurethatyoureceivee-mailsfromusaboutotherevents,

publicationsandresources,pleasevisit

www.usip.rg/newsleers.

peacewatch summer 2011

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