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In 1945, Christian Aid was born out of the need to respond to the effects of violence and conflict of this time. In the following 70 years we have worked in many conflict-affected countries and settings, often working directly on issues of violence and peace. While we are not a specialist peace building organisation, tackling violence and building peace is a strategic priority.
We are seeking:
- increased protection for those most vulnerable to violence – and equipping them to address the causes of violence, to tackle impunity and resolve conflict peacefully
- the development of peaceful and effective alternatives to violence and armed conflict
- to support broad social movements for change with women at the centre that successfully address root causes of violence and act to transform them with justice.
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Our approach
Our partnership model is at the heart of our approach to tackling violence. This approach allows us to root our work in the concerns of communities, either by working on conflict within communities or linking communities' concerns to national and international processes.
Our partners work to:
- protect communities
- reduce violence
- transform conflict.
We believe that the key elements to creating sustainable peace are:
- understanding the power and the politics of change in any context
- a context-specific approach
- a commitment to gender.
We work in hard-to-reach places and have the potential to reach the most excluded in any situation, to create social cohesion, strengthen local capacity and support empowerment.
In many places where there is conflict, violence and state fragility, our partners have the ability to act as a relationship broker. Christian Aid supports our partners to access response mechanisms, donors, the media, advocacy platforms and other actors.
We believe in tackling violence as it is a major driver of poverty and a barrier to development. We believe the world can and must be changed so that there is equality, dignity and freedom for all.
Results
Our work on violence and peace building includes specific interventions and a cross-cutting focus in the following areas:
Violence reduction and peace building connected to development interventions
This work aims to build peace by directly targeting drivers of violence and working on root causes. Our work includes an Irish Aid funded programme in Angola, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Central America, Colombia, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (IoPt), and programmes in Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Egypt.
Peace building interventions
National peace and reconciliation processes interventions mainly involve key influential actors such as religious leaders and represent community concerns. Examples of our work in this area include programmes in Colombia, South Sudan, Myanmar, IoPt and Zimbabwe.
Humanitarian interventions designed to be sensitive to conflict
This approach involves using specific tools to:
- conduct a conflict-aware context analysis
- monitor and evaluate development and humanitarian programmes in the context of endemic violence and conflict
- take into consideration the conflict dynamics that a particular context presents during the whole project/programme cycle.
Read more about our humanitarian work.
Gender sensitive work and gender-based violence
Our work in this area includes projects in Malawi, Kenya, DRC and Zimbabwe, and a regional programme in Latin America.
Read more about our work on gender and inclusion.
