Peacebuilding

  • Urgent Demand for Inclusion in the “Accelerated Afghan Peace Talks”

    Afghan society including civil society organisations, community leaders, religious scholars, youth, women activists and networks, victims, professional organisations, religious scholars, Tribal/Community leaders, scholars, experts, men and more, have in this historic National Peace Gathering, brought together over 1350 Afghan society representatives from every District and Province in Afghanistan and many more Afghan Diaspora have participated via a Facebook livestream.

    PDF icon Statement of National Peace Gathering-English Version.pdf
  • A House Divided: Can Afghan Elites resolve their differences in the pursuit of peace?

    This report examines the range of views held by key members of the Afghan political elite about future prospects for peace, how these views compare to those held by civil society and women rights activists, and how they might be consolidated into a coherent platform in order to enable a common voice in negotiations with the Taliban. The report draws on 20 qualitative, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with representative from across the political spectrum and civil society in Afghanistan (six of whom were women) carried out in Kabul between mid-December 2019 and mid-February 2020.

    PDF icon A HOUSE DIVIDED - AWEC 2020.pdf
  • Survey of The Afghan People on The Intra-Afghan Peace Negotiations

    By Maryam Baryalay and Nasim Sadat of Social Research and Analysis Organisation; The survey of the Afghan people on the intra-Afghan peace process was conducted to explore the position of the Afghan population on key points and principal issues relating to the peace talks. The Afghan peace process has been lengthy and arduous, marked by breakthroughs, talks, derailments, and the collapse of talks ever since it unofficially began in 2008/9. Despite repeated impasses in the process, efforts continued in one way or another to build trust between the US and the Taliban, as well as between the Afghan government and the Taliban. In October 2018 the US government decided to engage in direct talks with the Taliban for the first time—a long-standing demand of the movement. After several rounds of talks over a period of 16 months, both sides finally reached an agreement in February 2020. The agreement contained four provisions: (1) halting attacks against US troops and interests by the Taliban, (2) reduction and withdrawal of US troops phasewise from Afghanistan, (3) releasing or swapping Afghan prisoners on both sides, and (4) starting intra-Afghan peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.2

    PDF icon SURVEY OF THE AFGHAN PEOPLE ON THE INTRA-AFGHAN PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.pdf
  • Afghan Women Demand a Just and Accountable Peace

    Dear Leaders of the Member States of NATO and the United Nations,As we mark nineteen years since the devastating attack on the World Trade Center which claimed more than 3,000 innocent lives and the ousting of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, we send this letter on behalf of 15,0001 Afghan women from across Afghanistan to thank our international allies for their sacrifices and support in helping us rebuild our democratic systems, broken institutions, and empowering our youth to use their energy and talent for developing our country...

    PDF icon Afghan Women Letter to NATO Member States and United Nations.pdf
  • Provincial Women’s Networks Perspectives and Recommendations for Intra-Afghan Negotiations

    Following the historic National Consultative Peace Jirga, which endorsed the release of the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners, all milestones for beginning the Intra-Afghan negotiations are achieved. Now no side has any excuse for delaying the negotiations. We, the members of Provincial Women’s Network from 15 provinces of Afghanistan, would like to encourage both the government and the Taliban to respect the call of Jirga delegates for beginning the negotiations as soon as possible...

    PDF icon Provincial Women's Networks Perspectives and Recommendations.pdf
  • Pushing the envelope: Creating successful and inclusive women’s rights programming in Afghanistan – what is possible and how?

    This paper looks at the experiences of delivering the three-year European Union-funded project called 'Strengthening women’s role in peace' (2016–2019). The project  made significant progress on issues related to women’s participation and protection by adopting a considered, conflict-sensitive approach to engagement based on a thorough and nuanced understanding of the actors who are able to influence a project's activities and participants. International Alert and the Peace Training and Research Organisation (PTRO) look back at their experience of delivering this work and highlight key points that shed light on the methods and approaches that can be used in similar programming in the future.

    PDF icon WomensRightsProgrammingPossibilities_2018.pdf
  • The State of the Enabling Environment of Civil Society in Afghanistan 2018

    This is the third iteration of the State of the Enabling Environment of Civil Society in Afghanistan (SEECA) research produced by the Afghanistan Institute for Civil Society (AICS). In this research, civil society is defined as a third "space" outside the state and market wherein actors and groups participate to advance common interests, which is less restraining than he conventional definition that focuses on organisations only. This report presents key recommendations for both government, civil society and international donors to ensure prosperity in Afghanistan. 

    PDF icon AICS-SEECA-2018.pdf
  • Incremental Peace in Afghanistan 2018

    BAAG is pleased to share the latest publication of Conciliation Resources Accord series titled 'An Incremental Peace in Afghanistan'. Conciliation Resources is an independent international organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence, resolve conflicts and promote peaceful societies. 'An Incremental Peace in Afghanistan' brings together a variety of voices to discuss pathways to peace in Afghanistan. BAAG's Director Jawed Nader and Trustee Fleur Roberts were pleased to contribute to this research through exploring 'Inclusive Local Peace Building in Afghanistan' and asking 'how have local peacebuilding initiatives contributed to inclusive peace in Afghanistan?'   

    PDF icon Accord-Afghanistan-Report-27-WEB.pdf Accord Issue 27 'Incremental Peace in Afghanistan'
  • Inclusive Peacebuilding Approaches in Afghanistan 2018

    This research focuses on inclusive peacebuilding approaches in Afghanistan as carried out by NonGovernmental Organisations (NGOs), with a focus on community and civil society participation, and partnership models in Afghanistan. 

    PDF icon Peacebuilding paper public version upd 05Mar18.pdf
  • AREU: Transitional Justice - Views from the Ground on How Afghanistan Fares, November 2016

    Transitional justice is a vehicle that renews the trust between the population and the state. It is the range of processes and mechanisms associated with society’s attempts to come to terms with the legacy of large-scale abuses, to ensure accountability, serve justice, and achieve reconciliation. Speaking to respondents across five Afghan provinces, this study seeks the views of Afghans on their preferred transitional justice policies, and whether these policies should be a precursor or linked to the peace process. Further, the research specifically seeks the views on whether any type of compromises should be made in the current context. In particular, it asks across five provinces whether accountability for past human rights abuses remains a priority. A Policy Note accompanies this, Perceptions of Peace and Justice from the Field - Eleven Years after ‘A Call for Justice'

    PDF icon AREU Transitional Justice-Views from the Ground on How Afghanistan Fares.pdf, PDF icon AREU Perceptions of Peace and Justice from the Field -- Eleven Years after “A Call for Justice.pdf
  • Cordaid: Peace is Priority No. 1, August 2016

    In this submission for the upcoming Brussels Conference, Cordaid calls for renewed national and international commitment to peace in Afghanistan. Seeing it as a prerequisite for equitable and sustainable development in the country, they propose inclusive, locally-owned dialogue to be underpinned by strong, sincere regional and international support. Part of their proposal includes a 'Group of Friends of the Afghan Peace Process', bringing together women, youth, civil society and warring parties in negotiations to boost chances of long-term stability and security. 

    PDF icon Peace is Priority No 1_Submission for the Brussels Conference on Afghani....pdf
  • Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Peace Index 2016, June 2016

    The Institute's annual report places Afghanistan as the 4th least peaceful country, and records a deterioration in the country's overall peace score. While still accounting for a small percentage of the total number of global violent deaths, terrorism has grown steadily over the past decade and the majority of terrorist activity is highly concentrated in five countries: Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria. In addition a re-escalation of the conflict environment in Afghanistan saw a 427 per cent increase in yearly internal conflict deaths from the 2008 to 2016, from 4,210 to 22,170.

    PDF icon Global Peace Index 2016 Report.pdf
  • Bond: What Development Means to Diaspora Communities, Nov. 2015

    This report examines the relationship between Diaspora communities and INGOs. The report states that both Diaspora communities and INGOs want to create positive change in developing countries, but their priorities, strategies and ways of working differ substantively. The report also notes that given their different approaches, they often operate in parallel to each other, with few regular opportunities to interact and collaborate. Communication and engagement have to be planned endeavours that take up resources and require capacity. Diasporas tend to lack trust in INGOs and their effectiveness. Moreover, the language and images used by INGOs often lead to mistrust, frustration and a sense of disconnection. Many Diaspora communities believe that INGOs perpetuate negative stereotypes and oversimplify the serious issues that affect the lives of their families and friends in their countries of origin. The report also makes recommendations on how to improve this relationship between Diaspora communities and INGOs.                                                                                               

    PDF icon what-development-means-to-diaspora-communities-1115.pdf
  • UN Women: Report on UNSCR1325, October 2015

    In 2000, the Security Council adopted resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security—the first resolution to link women’s experiences of conflict to international peace and security. In October 2015 in New York, the Security Council convened a High-level Review to assess 15 years of progress, informed by this Global Study, "Preventing Conflict, Transforming Justice, Securing the Peace." Afghanistan features prominently as a country which has struggled to implement the resolution, but seen some progress.At the launch of the report Member States made concrete, financial commitments to fund the Study's recommendations.

    PDF icon UNW-GLOBAL-STUDY-1325-2015.pdf
  • International Crisis Group: The Future of the Afghan Local Police, June 2015

    The Afghan Local Police (ALP) began as a small U.S. experiment but grew into a significant part of Afghanistan’s security apparatus. The ALP has perhaps 29,000 men deployed in 29 of 34 provinces.  Whilst in some districts the ALP has enhanced security, in others it is considered a primary cause of security deterioration.  International Crisis Group's report explores the reasons for this and poses recommendations for the Afghan government, US Dept. of State and donor countries. 

    PDF icon IntCrisisGp-the-future-of-the-ALP.pdf

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