This report summarises the key findings from two projects on NGO capacity building for conflict reduction and peacebuilding. The two NGOs, the Instituto de Enseñanza para el Desarrollo Sostenible (EIPADES) in Guatemala and the Centre for Conflict Research (CCR) in Kenia, used the Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA) tool. They tested if the tool corresponded to the needs of local peacebuilding organisations and was applicable in their political cultural context. The report presents the main lessons learned and conclusions on the challenges of building NGO capacity for peacebuilding in Kenya and Guatemala, and offers recommendations for future action. It also explores the potential of Peace and Conflict Assessment as a capacity building tool.

The aim of this report was to put the results and learning from these projects in a wider perspective, as well as identifying possibilities to increase the capacity of local peace actors. During the research it became clear that supporting NGO peacebuilding requires a broader and more political approach than just providing and developing tools. It found that it is important to pay particular attention to the political context in a country and the challenges of capacity building. The PCIA tool can be used for formulating a peacebuilding strategy but it needs to pay attention to different local views of peace.

The outcome of the two studies  - Kenya and Guatemala - point out that it is important to establish a broad-based political dialogue. This dialogue must be accompanied by an open public debate on the issues involved in peacebuilding. This report concludes that the PCIA can be used in several different forms and that some of the potential of the tool has not yet been fully realised.

Bibliographic Details

Author: Patricia Ardon, Njeri Karuru, Manuela Leonhardt, Andrew Sherriff

Publisher: 2002, International Alert

Peace & Conflict

Online Source(s)

Where possible, links are provided here to the original publication sources. Click on Source Title to open the document, but please note that this redirects you to a different website.

Language	Format	Source Title
English	PDF document	Peace & Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA) and NGO Peacebuilding- experiences from Kenya & Guatemala

Toolsets Used

The following toolsets are referenced or used in the report:

Development in Conflict: A seven step tool for planners