How can civil society best contribute to conflict management in the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected settings, despite (or thanks to) an ongoing pandemic? Whilst already active in Yemen and Libya’s fragile contexts, the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS) expands its scope of work to Syria in collaboration with the Political Settlements Research Programme (PSRP) of the University of Edinburgh over the course of 2021.

Can COVID-19 be seen as a tool of conflict or opportunity for peace in these contexts? How does one manage and build peace as civil society actors in countries with fragile and/or fragmented institutions and unsafe power structures? This session offers an opportunity for peer exchange among local peacebuilding practitioners and researchers in Syria, Libya and Yemen, sharing best practices and challenges met in their efforts for peace and sustainable development.