Conflict Prevention

Our approach to conflict prevention is based on the conviction that security and development are intertwined and that there can be no development without security, there can be no security without development, and there can be neither security nor development without respect for human rights; if we do not work for all these causes, none of them can come into existence.

IEGS approaches conflict prevention and peacebuilding at local, national, regional and international levels. This is because conflicts nowadays do not respect borders and may have spill over effects in one or another form. In a more globalized and interdependent world, conflict anywhere threatens peace and security everywhere.

Underpinned by our other thematic focus and priority areas, our approach mainly focuses on building national capacity for peacebuilding and conflict prevention. We do this- because we believe improved national capacity for conflict prevention is more effective and sustainable than employing an international prevention intervention. People and their states hold the primary ownership of their peace and development. As trusted broker and convener, we help establish mechanisms to prevent conflict, manage contestation and social unrest and build peaceful locally driven solutions that promote trust, inclusion and social cohesion.

In fragile countries, we provide top quality early warning and mobilize political will for early response to address the root causes of conflict to sustain peace and security. We do this, because prevention is better than the cure. Through sound conflict analysis, we identify the root causes and developed toiler-made solutions that reflect local reality and context. In this regard, our focus is always to enable people themselves, identify the drivers and explore a win-win solution. We think creating solutions by a third party without enabling those who suffer the problem are not sustainable.

In conflict affected countries, we work by brokering inclusive dialogue, engaging diverse stakeholders to find a sustainable solution to the crises. We do this through many relevant initiatives, including building national mechanism for conflict prevention, facilitating inclusive dialogues, undertaking multi-track diplomacy and or if necessary providing the specific technical and policy support to countries to adopt pro-peace policies.

In post-conflict and transitional countries, we help governments put together stronger institutions that are accountable and able to deliver core state functions such as security, rule of law, justice and public services. In this regard, our higher attention goes to gender responsive governance and women’s leadership in national politics and governance.

Within this thematic area, one of our growing focus is on building regional cooperation and trust in some of the highly fragile regions. We do this, because we believe that while the bulk of current conflicts are intra-state wars, at least a third are internationalized – with foreign forces from one or more other countries in the fight – exacerbating regional and wider international tensions and rendering conflict resolution significantly more complex.

Governments, the UN, donors and other international organizations are engaged in dealing with the consequences of these conflicts, particularly record number of IDPs and refugees since World War II. Major military powers such as the United States and Russia are busy dealing with violent extremism groups in different regions.

At IEGS we think that the key to addressing the humanitarian crises in The Middle East, Africa and Asia is not only an increase in funding to aid agencies and NGOs, but to invest more in resolving the conflict. We argue donors to invest more in addressing the root cause of conflict that provides the breeding ground for these conflicts. We believe that an effective strategy to counter the spread of violent extremism in MENA, Africa and Asia is to transform regional confrontations into regional cooperation and build lasting trust and confidence around mutually beneficial interests.