Peacebuilding is a core intervention for Norwegian Church Aid in upholding human dignity and in contributing to an environment conducive to sustainable long term development.
The main victims of these conflicts are civilians, in particular women, children, young people and the elderly. Direct attacks on civilian populations, such as violence and murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence are increasingly used as strategies of war.
International peacebuilding initiatives are often conducted with limited local and popular involvement and legitimacy.
Our work
Norwegian Church Aid is focused on mobilising structures within civil society to become engaged in peacebuilding in violent conflicts. We establish contact between local communities and policy makers and ensure that the perspectives of civil society actors are included in formal peace processes.
Our goal is that actors representing religious communities actively participate in peacebuilding processes that contribute to shaping sociopolitical change, both locally and nationally.
- Building capacity and mobilising faith communities for peacebuilding
- Facilitating meeting points and structures for cooperation between strategic civil society actors who are in a position to address violent conflicts
- Supporting and facilitating peace-building initiatives that address the sources of conflict
Religious communities are a relevant presence at all levels of civil society and have great potential for peacebuilding. People representing these religious communities will be central actors in Norwegian Church Aid’s peacebuilding work. In addition, we place particular emphasis on the inclusion of women in all peacebuilding work, at all levels.
Where we work
The following geographical areas are covered by our ‘Faith communities and peacebuilding’ programme: The Great Lakes region, Eastern Africa, and South Asia.