Global levels of violence are at a 25-year peak, reversing the promising reduction in conflicts recorded in the 1990s, undercutting global stability and development gains, and driving record levels of forced displacement. 2017 proved to be a challenging year for peacebuilding. Real concerns emerged about nuclear conflict, resulting in the Bulletin for Atomic Scientists moving the hands of its symbolic Doomsday Clock thirty seconds closer to midnight. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, violence continues to cost the world economy $14.3 trillion a year, exacerbating global threats like disease and trafficking, and underpinning the most critical US security challenges, including violent extremism. UN Secretary-General António Guterres summed up the crisis well in his 2018 New Year message, proclaiming we need “a red alert for our world."

Violent conflict at Europe’s doorsteps, record levels of forced displacement and a concentration of poverty in fragile states have shown the importance of building sustainable peace. At the same time, global power shifts and the rise of populism and nationalism are just a few illustrations of a world in transition where existing institutions, norms and practices are increasingly questioned. It is not yet clear what impact these changes have on the political and financial support to peacebuilding. This is why ECDPM is currently conducting a study to investigate the changing environment for peacebuilding in Europe.

It seems like the world is in free fall as peace has remained elusive for most people. Even stable democracies are experiencing their fair share of political instability. It would not be out of place to question the notion of a “free world.” Predictability has become problematic as voters defy, once reliable, exit polls in their political choices. It is ironic that in its quest for more stability and positive peace our choices have the exact opposite effect.

A young observer once told: “Our role here is to reduce tensions and facilitate dialogue. But this only works if we make it our priority to listen to people!” (sic-somewhere) Undoubtedly, crisis prevention is a vital crossroads for the search for and guarantee of peace. This crossroads unfolds into scenarios, making visible the different actors involved in conflict - either triggering or suffering from political, military, social and economic upheavals. Even when conflicts are endemic in the history of a society, the prevention of conflict escalation and work towards peaceful transformation through dialogue remains important.

Nigeria, with a population of approximately 186 million people, has been experiencing various forms of conflict since independence in 1960. These conflicts include struggle over control of oil and gas resources, dispute over communal land ownership, conflict between pastoralists and farmers, ethnic and religious divisions and violent extremism. The International Dialogue for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS) and its New Deal is a great opportunity to address these challenges of conflict in Nigeria holistically.

The Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies (CPCS), based in Siem Reap, Cambodia, has supported efforts to transform conflict away from violence across Asia for more than a decade. CPCS draws from the wealth of conflict transformation experience in Cambodia when we intervene to address ethnic conflict in Myanmar, assist with political transition in Nepal, encourage reconciliation in Sri Lanka, or accompany the long peace process in the Philippines.

Political crises associated with the challenge of state and nation building are the main sources of insecurity in Africa. Most episodes of violence are associated with conflicts over political power at the highest level. The Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Burundi, and Central African Republic are current examples, which confirm the profoundly political dimension of recurrent violence and instability.

To accompany the FriEnt Peacebuilding Forum 2017 we have launched the next online discussion series. This Blog shall provide a platform to gather perspectives and expectations from international partners of the FriEnt members towards German contributions to civilian crisis prevention and peacebuilding.