International Alert

06/10/2026

The South Caucasus is experiencing significant political shifts, with domestic politics, bilateral diplomacy, and broader geopolitical events increasingly interconnected.

Navigating these transformations in nuanced, conflict-sensitive ways that build mutual trust and understanding relies upon continued dialogue among Armenian, Azerbaijani, and international experts. A process that International Alert has been engaged in for many years.

Last week, our joint workshop with RUSI - Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies provided a forum to examine key political developments and on-the-ground realities, including ways to reduce conflict risks, strengthen regional ties, and enhance prospects for durable peace.

We were privileged to bring together leading voices from the region alongside the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Magdalena Grono, FCDO Deputy Director for Central Asia and Eastern Neighbourhood, Mark Clayton, as well as UK analysts and policymakers.

These ongoing exchanges offer a unique opportunity to create a shared understanding of the context and develop insights and analysis that inform policy decisions and public debate.

This workshop is part of Alert’s ongoing work to promote dialogue and understanding across the conflict lines in the South Caucasus that we carry out with Baku Press Club and Yerevan Press Club. We’re grateful to our partners for their continued support and contributions to the quality of the discussion.

Funded by the European Union

Press Klub Yerevan Press Club European External Action Service - EEAS

23/09/2026

Forty years ago, peacebuilding looked very different. So did we.

Back in 1986, we set out to help build a world where violence doesn’t have to be the answer, where communities can choose hope over hatred and dialogue over division.

Since then, we've kept evolving, kept standing up to new and existing barriers to peace, and stayed true to one mission: building peace together with the people closest to the conflict.

Because everything we've achieved, we've achieved alongside them.

👇Scroll through for a look back at the partnerships, the lessons, and the moments that shaped who we are today.

Peacebuilding is more urgent now than it has been in generations.
That's precisely why this work can't stop now – and why we won't.

👏To every partner, donor, participant, and supporter who's been part of this journey – thank you. Here's to shaping the next chapter, together.
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Sida - Styrelsen för Internationellt Utvecklingssamarbete Irish Aid

21/09/2026

This International Day of Peace comes at a time when is at its lowest ebb for generations. And yet people living through and working against conflict and war – from Ukraine to the DRC – are more resolved than ever.

Because something has become clearer than ever: peace was never the reward for progress. It is the foundation for it.

Without it, fails.

Without it, healthcare, education, economies, and futures crumble.

Take it away, and everything else people were building can fall.

But even at some of the darkest times for peace, hope remains strong – and so does the determination to act on it.

For this International Day of Peace, we asked those working for peace in some of the most challenging contexts: what still gives you hope?

👉 Hear from people who aren't waiting for the challenges ahead to get easier before they act. Watch – then tell us what gives you hope for peace where you are.
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UK in Nigeria Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Open Society Foundations Canada’s International Development – Global Affairs Canada

10/09/2026

👇Read a new blog from our Lebanon team about why building peace in and through education cannot wait - and why it is crucial for long-term stability, recovery, and development.

Building peace in and through education cannot be an afterthought in Lebanon.

As violence permeates daily life and war disrupts stabilisation efforts, schools across the country can be too easily boxed into two narrow roles – learning spaces, shelters for the displaced – instead of drivers of development and pillars of stability.

Schools becoming spaces where peace can take root offer far more: a generation growing up free from trauma and division, one that sees peace as the highest value – making long-term recovery possible.

For that to happen, children need teachers who can lead the way, and teachers need training and support to work differently. But a genuine shift in approaches can feel like an extra burden amid extreme pressure and stretched resources.

🙌 Our long-standing work in Lebanon proves this challenge is surmountable.

In their latest blog for NORRAG, our Lebanon Country Director Layal Assaad and Ruth Simpson explore how schools can expand their role from delivering knowledge to shaping values and social cohesion – and what this may look like in practice.

⬇️Read the full blog - link in the comments.
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MEHE Lebanon - وزارة التربية والتعليم العالي
UNESCO Office in Beirut
CRDP LIBAN

07/09/2026

Inclusive peace processes lead to better, more lasting outcomes. So why are young people still so often left out of these efforts in conflict contexts, especially in places where they make up most of the population?

For those working in these spaces, the barriers are both numerous and familiar: power imbalances, tokenism, cultural norms and local sensitivities that take time and care to navigate, and resourcing that rarely stretches to sustained engagement.

🔎 The good news is that shifting these dynamics is possible, and solutions are already starting to emerge.

We spoke with Emmy Auma, our Horn of Africa Hub Director, and Kadiatou Keita, our Sahel Hub Director, about barriers, trends and enablers for young people's engagement in peacebuilding. A few things that stood out:

▪️ Young people are not a homogenous group. Real impact depends on involving those living under different conditions of access, gender, education and displacement, not just those most easily reached - as our work in Kenya and Mali shows.

▪️There needs to be a shift from just hearing from young people to redistributing power. This means working with institutions that typically value hierarchy and showing them the benefits of giving young people real decision-making ability.

▪️Economic opportunities matter, but they aren’t enough on their own. Voice in policy conversations and rebuilding trust between young people and authorities does more to address the root causes of exclusion than jobs alone.

▪️The real opportunity is resourcing and partnering with youth-led networks directly. Connected across communities and often more trusted locally than national institutions, they are vital part of peacebuilding infrastructure, not just an outreach channel to tap when needed.

👇 Two distinct contexts, yet similar lessons and reflections. Read Emmy and Kadiatou's interview - link in the comments.
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United Nations Youth UN Youth Affairs

04/09/2026

"Consulting only a young person in Kinshasa about resolving the conflict in eastern DRC is like trying to settle a land dispute by questioning the neighbours instead of the owner."

For Olivier Mayeri, a young peace and development leader from Bukavu, eastern DRC, that distinction isn't abstract. It's the difference between peace efforts that reflect what's happening on the ground, and ones that don't.

In a region facing yet another war, mass displacement and the expansion of armed groups recruiting young people by exploiting their frustrations, the cost of ignoring the voices of those most affected by conflict but largely absent from proposed solutions is measured in lives.

Olivier decided to do something about it.

Through Kizazi cha Amani (Generation of Peace, in Swahili), our project with Pole Institute, he’s teamed up with like-minded peers to learn how to analyse conflict, build regional and local networks, and carve out a shared vision for peace.

👏 Now, he's helping carry a Youth Agenda for Peace, drafted by young leaders from the Great Lakes, directly to decision-makers and inspiring others to step up alongside him.

⬇️ Read his story - link in the comments.
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Supported by European External Action Service - EEAS

14/08/2026

This may look like another feel-good post about young people. Look closer.

It's evidence of palpable, positive shifts young people are driving for lasting stability across five conflict contexts.

Meet Kibet, Gohar, Olivier, Hawa and young leaders from Nigeria's Youth in Climate Leadership platform. Each is showing up with ideas, courage, local knowledge, and the readiness to act.

And each is already transforming their community – from a shared farm on a former conflict hotspot in Kenya, to new jobs steering young people away from armed group recruitment in Mali.

These efforts are not just side projects to "real" peacebuilding. They are peacebuilding.

What they're proving is that a future worth building together starts with trusting young people as partners and backing their leadership today, not someday.

⬇️ Meet all five in our post and see what that backing makes possible.

In the coming weeks, we'll share more of these stories – starting with Gohar from Armenia, who built the country's first guide to nonviolent communication, now helping her peers turn conflict into dialogue. Link in the comments.

💭 If you've worked with young people in conflict-affected communities, what's one lesson that's stuck with you? Share your thoughts below.
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With support from Irish Aid, Austrian Development Agency, European External Action Service - EEAS and in partnership with Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops-Catholic Justice & Peace Department, Public Journalism Club (PJC) Հանրային լրագրության ակումբ (ՀԼԱ), Pole Institute and Jireh Doo Foundation

12/08/2026

Partners in practice, not just principle. Young people bear conflict's harshest costs while also holding immense capacity to change it.

Over a decade since the adoption of the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, progress with meaningful engagement and real power-sharing has been slow, even as that potential keeps going untapped.

We spoke with Kadiatou Keita, Alert’s Sahel Hub Director, and Emmy Auma, International Alert Horn of Africa Hub Director, about why "for" young people still happens far more often in peacebuilding than "with" and "by" young people.

Through our experience in conflict-affected regions, we've seen that leaving young people out isn't just a problem on its own. It's a symptom of a deeper tendency toward fragmented responses, when what these contexts need is genuine participation and integrated solutions.

⬇️ Read Kadiatou and Emmy’s interview about the main barriers holding youth engagement back, the cost of inaction, and where real, positive change could realistically start.

💭 Where have you seen youth engagement move from symbolic to meaningful? What made the difference? Let us know in the comments below.
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10/08/2026

Meet Lawrence and Kibet. Division and violence used to mark their lives. Now, they are working side by side to sow seeds for a peaceful future at a shared tomato farm.

In Kenya's Kerio Valley, communities from two counties – West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet – clashed for land, livestock, and identity for generations. Cattle raiding and revenge attacks were part of daily life. But new pressures created by climate change made competition for shrinking resources even more violent.

🙌 Today, some of the same young men who used to be in conflict are farming side by side on KACHE, a joint venture built on a former "no-go zone."

One rule made it possible: everyone leaves prejudice behind and instead rolls up their sleeves to work together for a shared future.

Establishing this farm took patient but persistent efforts to rebuild trust between people who'd spent years fighting each other.

That trust is now paying off. KACHE's harvests put food on the table, let communities move freely across the border, and are drawing interest from investors beyond the region.

Our latest story from International Alert Horn of Africa how the 'Powering Peace through Climate Action' project sparked KACHE and other community-led ventures that are now building security, economic opportunity, and lasting peace.

⬇️ Read the full story - link in the comments.
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With support from Irish Aid and in partnership with the Catholic Justice and Peace Department (CJPD)

03/08/2026

How do you help people heal from a trauma as deep and brutal as the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda?

To this there is no simple answer, but Jane Abatoni Gatete, Member and Former Executive Director of our partner organisation, ARCT Ruhuka Rwanda Association of Trauma Counsellors, has important lessons to share.

In a new episode of BBC World Service's The Conversation, Jane discusses insights from her 25 years of working with genocide survivors as British forensic psychologist Dr Gwen Adshead reflects on her own learnings.

Despite working in different contexts, both experts shared common insights on supporting recovery, highlighting how approaches to trauma and mental health have evolved, and the important role of group therapy and social reconnection in healing.

International Alert Rwanda has worked with Jane Abatoni Gatete and her colleagues for many years, as part of the mental health and psychosocial support that has been a vital component of post-genocide healing and reconciliation.

👇 Listen to the full programme - link in the comments.
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