International Alert

International Alert We are an international peacebuilding NGO, supporting peace by tackling the root causes of conflict.
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We had a great evening in Kinshasa, launching our new report ‘Troubled Waters on Lake Albert: Conflict Dynamics and Pros...
27/05/2026

We had a great evening in Kinshasa, launching our new report ‘Troubled Waters on Lake Albert: Conflict Dynamics and Prospects’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The need to address instability and encourage peaceful cooperation is especially clear around Lake Albert, at the border between 🇨🇩 DRC and 🇺🇬 Uganda. This strategically placed region, rich in natural resources such as fisheries and oil, faces enormous pressure from climate change impacts, resource competition, and the presence of armed groups.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province in eastern DRC has put even more strain on community trust and unity. Conflict and displacement have already weakened these bonds, making it harder for people to come together against shared threats.

❗To tackle both new and ongoing challenges around Lake Albert, it is urgent to understand the complex conflict dynamics and find practical ways to restore stability and .

That is the focus of our new report, developed jointly by Trocaire and International Alert through the Conflict Sensitivity Hub.

It explores the evolving conflict dynamics, the concerns of communities who rely on the lake for their livelihoods, and ways forward for governments, international partners and civil society to help address instability and contribute to sustainable peace.

⬇ Check the links in the comments below to access the report in English and French.

Many thanks to the Swedish Ambassador Ambassade de Suède à Kinshasa / Embassy of Sweden in Kinshasa for hosting such a timely event and putting a spotlight on this vital research.
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With thanks to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency Sida - Styrelsen för Internationellt Utvecklingssamarbete for supporting the research and the publication of this report.

Union européenne en République démocratique du Congo

At the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, everything depends on - economic development, regio...
26/05/2026

At the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, everything depends on - economic development, regional cooperation, climate resilience, biodiversity protection, and effective response to global health emergencies.

❗Lake Albert is one example of a place where, without peace, the risks to investments, energy plans, livelihoods and ecosystems will only grow. The current Ebola outbreak only makes it clearer.

A new joint report by Trocaire and International Alert through the Conflict Sensitivity Hub explores how climate pressures, the growing presence of armed groups and rising demand for land, oil and fish are combining into serious stability risks around the lake.

Drawing on in‑depth analysis and local perspectives, the report sheds light on:
▪️ Evolving conflict dynamics and drivers of violence
▪️ How new and long-standing challenges are impacting everyone who depends on the lake’s precious but fragile resources
▪️ Concrete, practical ways to reduce violence, rebuild trust, and create fair, predictable rules for sharing and managing these resources

Lake Albert’s vast natural wealth can drive peaceful cooperation, effective Ebola response, resilient livelihoods and sustainable growth for the whole region – but only if peace is treated as an urgent priority, not a distant goal.

⬇️ Follow the links in the comments to explore the summary for key entry points and context, as well as the full report and its recommendations.
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With thanks to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Sida - Styrelsen för Internationellt Utvecklingssamarbete Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency and Trocaire for supporting the research and the publication of this report.

Humanitarian, development, and climate work cannot afford to be ineffective where it is needed most. Yet many programmes...
21/05/2026

Humanitarian, development, and climate work cannot afford to be ineffective where it is needed most. Yet many programmes still aren't addressing the deeper conflict dynamics that determine whether they succeed or fail.

⬇️ In her latest blog for Bond, our Senior Conflict and Gender Advisor Elizabeth Laruni shares how integrating conflict sensitivity and peace-positive approaches can help programmes to increase their impact.

Working in places affected by conflict and instability means responding to new risks that interact with long-standing challenges. Climate shocks, health emergencies, and rising inequality add to issues like poverty, exclusion, and weak institutions.

If left unaddressed, they fuel tensions and violence that drain resources and reverse hard‑won gains.

Grounding programmes in a solid understanding of conflict dynamics and proactively creating opportunities for people to work together for a shared future can make a big difference. This doesn’t add extra burden to already stretched teams, nor does it turn every project into a peacebuilding initiative.

Instead, these approaches deliver more impactful and sustainable results within existing work by building stronger connections across communities, institutions, and sectors.

For anyone who wants to see how their work can become more resilient in fragile and conflict‑affected settings, Elizabeth’s blog is a practical next step.

🔗 Read her latest piece - link in the comments below.

After decades of conflict, trust does not return quickly - and although political negotiations are crucial, they alone a...
11/05/2026

After decades of conflict, trust does not return quickly - and although political negotiations are crucial, they alone are not enough. Peace agreements only hold if the people they affect are willing to live with them. That’s why civic peacebuilding remains critical in the South Caucasus.

There is now renewed momentum in the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process. But behind the headlines, experts, civil society actors, and policymakers across the region, Europe, and the UK have been sustaining dialogue for years.

➡️ Our programme has supported these efforts by creating regular opportunities for experts to engage on recent developments and connect high-level political shifts with realities in each society.

One such meeting took place in London last week, convening leading regional experts from Armenia and Azerbaijan to assess current opportunities and risks for the peace process - and what comes next.

We organised this event with the Baku Press Club Press Klub and the Yerevan Press Club, which jointly run a media platform PressClubs.TV offering expert analysis on various issues affecting relations between the two countries.

Trust is built through time, consistency, and spaces where people can safely reflect on the past, make sense of the present, and imagine a shared future. This is what allows political progress to be understood, tested, and ultimately supported by those it will affect most.

Our experience working on peace processes proves that agreements are more durable when there’s sustained engagement with and between different society groups, beyond official talks. Without that, even well-designed deals can remain fragile or disconnected from the societies they aim to stabilise.

👇 Discover more about our work on civic peacebuilding in the South Caucasus and access expert analysis on current developments in the region - links in the comments.
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This work is made possible through the financial assistance of the European Union.

Peacebuilding is urgently needed in Lebanon and must be a central part of the response to the current crisis, not an aft...
01/05/2026

Peacebuilding is urgently needed in Lebanon and must be a central part of the response to the current crisis, not an afterthought.

Effective response to the impacts of the war is not just about immediate humanitarian assistance. It must include efforts to lower tensions across the country, heal divisions between communities in distress, and support responses led by their urgent needs.

In our new blog, Alert Lebanon Projects Manager Maria Geagea explores three urgent challenges facing communities across Lebanon right now, why they require urgent attention, and how peacebuilding can - and should - help address them.

➡️Hate speech and misinformation

➡️Tensions between host and displaced communities

➡️Stress and uncertainty

Lasting solutions to violence depend on social stability. But communities devastated by conflict can only build it if they get support to manage pressure and local tensions peacefully.

Peacebuilding cannot wait in Lebanon. Read the full blog for more.

27/04/2026

In a world struggling to achieve peace – let alone make it last – peacebuilding has never been more critical. Meanwhile, 500 times more is spent on weapons than on peace.

The results speak for themselves.

Building peace means much more than diplomats making a deal or brokering a ceasefire, welcome as those things can be. For people to live lives of security, dignity and opportunity in their communities, they must shape the solutions to violence – solutions which address the root causes of tension, and build trust.

🔎 What needs to change for peacebuilding to become a priority, not an afterthought?

⬇️ Our Executive Director Nic Hailey sat down with journalist Marianne Perez on her podcast 'Au cœur du possible' to answer the burning questions about peacebuilding, its role and impact:

▪️Peacebuilding vs. diplomacy and peacemaking – what's the difference?
▪️Measuring peace – is it realistic, and how do you do it?
▪️Peace and development – why neither works without the other
▪️Peacebuilding in fragile contexts – what it genuinely offers to humanitarian and development organisations.

If you work in conflict-affected contexts or simply find yourself questioning whether sustainable peace is still achievable, this conversation is for you.

▶️ Listen and watch the full episode with Nic – link in the comments.

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If you’re working with communities where there’s conflict – this is for you. Coming soon: everything you need to know ab...
24/04/2026

If you’re working with communities where there’s conflict – this is for you. Coming soon: everything you need to know about Peace and Conflict Analysis, broken down, step by step.

Good Peace and Conflict Analysis isn't just for peacebuilders. It's what can elevate your work in conflict contexts. It’s what makes the difference between your intervention ‘doing some good’ or unintentionally adding fuel to the fire.

Whether you're designing a new programme, adapting to a situation that is rapidly changing, or trying to understand why a well-resourced project isn't having the impact you hoped for – it often comes down to how well you understand the context.

🔎 Not just the needs, not just the visible tensions but what's driving them, who has a stake in the status quo, and what perspectives are missing.

That's what a good PCA helps you do:
▪️Reduce the risk of unintended harm,
▪️Seize the opportunities to contribute to peace and stability, and
▪️Make decisions that hold up over time – not just at the start of a project.

Over the coming weeks, we're sharing a series walking through each part of the process – from planning and asking the right questions, to collecting data and making sense of it as the context keeps evolving.

Stay tuned for part 1. 👇 Meanwhile, tell us in the comments – what's your biggest challenge when it comes to conflict analysis?
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What gets reported – and how – can deepen divides or help bridge them. Journalists from Armenia and Azerbaijan know this...
15/04/2026

What gets reported – and how – can deepen divides or help bridge them. Journalists from Armenia and Azerbaijan know this better than most: the conflict shapes the choices they make, and their choices shape how societies see the conflict.

👉Yet good journalism can be an act of peacebuilding. This is what the teams from Baku Press Klub and Yerevan Press Club are proving – and the millions of views on their work show that rigorous, conflict-sensitive reporting not only matters, it resonates.

In a context where tensions between two societies run high and one-sided narratives still dominate headlines, they chose a different path: careful analysis, balanced coverage, and cross-border collaboration.

📰Their joint media initiative, PressClubs.TV – which we're proud to support – keeps audiences engaged with stories that are as topical and compelling as they are fair. It offers a space for a different kind of conversation – one where experts from both sides tackle hard topics constructively, focusing on solutions rather than confrontation.

The teams are confident this approach helps audiences think critically, see beyond stereotypes, and choose dialogue over division.

Discover the story behind its creation and success – and the difference it makes for relations between Armenian and Azerbaijani people.

Check the links in the comments section below to learn more about the project and watch PressClubs.TV ⬇
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PressClubs.TV is supported by International Alert in collaboration with partners Press Klub Yerevan Press Club and with financial assistance from the European Union European External Action Service - EEAS.

Rebuilding a nation and its people after unimaginable horrors must continue with the generations that come after. In Rw...
13/04/2026

Rebuilding a nation and its people after unimaginable horrors must continue with the generations that come after.

In Rwanda, 32 years on from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the hard-won progress to reconcile communities and build unity is nothing short of remarkable.

But healing needs more than reflection. It also means helping people make sense of what is happening to their country and communities in the present day – and keeping everyone committed to a peaceful future.

For today's young Rwandans, that task has its own challenges. They are growing up carrying a history they did not live, while navigating a digital world saturated with misinformation and divisive narratives.

As tensions in the Great Lakes region spill across borders and into everyday life, the pressure to make sense of conflicting messages about identity and belonging is growing.

Peacebuilding in Rwanda can’t stop now. But what does it need to look like to stay effective? And what does this mean for Rwanda's younger generation and regional stability?

⬇️ Our Rwanda and Burundi Hub Director Ariane Inkesha explores these questions in her latest blog, written for - link in the comments.


International Alert Rwanda

09/04/2026

"We fear what happens after the war."

These are the words of Amal Chehabi, a local mediator in Ein El Hilweh - a camp where Palestinian refugees and displaced Lebanese families have lived side by side under enormous pressure for years. War does not just destroy buildings. It fuels suspicion and can tear communities apart from within. Right now, that risk is real.

This is why the work of women mediators like Amal cannot wait. It extends way beyond relief to building trust, resolving disputes before they spiral, and making sure that when tensions rise, people turn toward each other. In a camp already stretched to its limits, that work is the difference between cohesion and collapse.

In her interview with Megaphone News, Amal explains how women mediators are stepping up – and why their efforts are so crucial now.

▶️ Watch the report. Share it widely.

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