The role of foundations in supporting sustainable peace

By Sandra Breka, Member of the Board of Management, Robert Bosch Stiftung

The level of peace around the world in 2020 declined for the ninth time in twelve years. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a decrease in overall conflict levels, but roughly 120,000 people were killed by political violence and 45.7 million were internally displaced in 2020. Violent conflict has a profound impact on economies and impedes the reduction of poverty and hunger. Violence cost the world $14.5 trillion in economic activity in 2019 according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. 

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Donner la priorité aux contextes fragiles dans le monde de l’après-pandémie

Par Jorge Moreira da Silva, Directeur, Direction de la coopération pour le développement de l’OCDE  

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Les chocs économiques et sociaux liés à la pandémie ou en rapport avec le climat n’ont épargné aucun pays du monde en 2020, mais ils font peser une grave menace et frappent de manière disproportionnée les contextes fragiles ou touchés par un conflit. Déjà parmi les moins à même de faire face aux chocs, et dotés de capacités d’adaptation insuffisantes, ceux-ci sont aujourd’hui particulièrement exposés à ces risques. Ils ont besoin d’urgence de plus de soutien de la part de la communauté internationale, tant pour se relever à court terme que pour renforcer leur résilience face à de futurs chocs systémiques.

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Prioritising fragile and conflict affected states in a post-pandemic world

By Jorge Moreira da Silva, Director, OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, and Helder da Costa, General Secretary of the g7+ Secretariat 

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Every country has been affected by the concurrent climate, pandemic and economic shocks of 2020. But they pose a severe threat to fragile and conflict affected states with specific needs that must be addressed in 2021. Already the least able to cope, these states urgently require leadership and collective responses at scale to mitigate the multifaceted impact of systemic shocks and build pathways to sustainable peace and prosperity.

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Statebuilding without the State: Getting beyond “chicken and egg” in Somalia

By Dan Honig, Assistant Professor of International Development, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and Sarah Louise Cramer, UN-World Bank Aid Coordination Officer for Somalia

The credibility of the Somali Government hinges largely on its ability to deliver for the Somali People.” International partners clearly recognise the importance of using country systems to achieve broader statebuilding goals, as this line, taken from the May 2017 Communiqué of the London Conference on Somalia, indicates. Yet, international partners continue to deliver aid primarily through parallel systems, as the Government struggles to raise sufficient domestic revenue to deliver tangible results for its people.

DW: Lessons for Peace in Somalia 

Of an estimated USD 1.75 billion in official development assistance (ODA) for Somalia in 2017, only USD 103.9 million was delivered on budget (approximately 6% of total ODA). Excluding humanitarian aid from this calculation, the proportion of on budget aid rises to 14%, which still lags significantly behind the use of country systems in other fragile states. For example, donors delivered between 28-44% of development-focused aid on budget in the Central African Republic, Mali and Liberia in 2015.[1]

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Seizing Opportunities to Sustain Peace: A Road Map


By Sarah Douglas, Deputy Chief, Peace and Security, UN Women, and Tatyana Jiteneva, Policy Specialist, Peace and Security, UN Women


From social media platforms to the streets of major cities worldwide, women organising for equality and justice has increasingly been grabbing attention and headlines. In the field of peace and security, women’s participation has long been recognised as a critical factor for stability and recovery. It is key at a time the world is grappling with a multitude of crises that threaten decades of development, undermine people’s confidence in multilateralism and worsen risks associated with disasters.

Time and again, women’s peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts have proven to be sustainable and effective. The 2015 Global Study on Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) compiled overwhelming evidence showing improved outcomes in all areas of peace and security when women are present.1 The newly released United Nations/World Bank Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict underscores the cost-effectiveness and resilience of women organising for peace, particularly in the context of State actors with low capacity and where  resources for recovery and development are scarce.2



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