International institutions, governments and NGOs must learn from, promote, and support the invaluable contributions of local peacebuilders in fostering sustainable peace worldwide. Bureaucratic reports take a lot of time and effort to build, but rarely provide local peacebuilders with space to reflect, build relationships or provide feedback for their funder.
By promoting successful local peacebuilders to aid learning, share their insights and collaborate with the wider peacebuilding sector, we can strengthen the global peacebuilding system and advance the collective goal of achieving lasting peace for all.
We call on international institutions, Global North governments and NGOs to:
- Facilitate spaces where local peacebuilders learn from each other. Promote knowledge sharing and facilitate learning partnerships that enable safe and receptive spaces for local peacebuilders to learn from each other’s experiences. Share this learning with the international community and discuss negative and positive partnership experiences.
- Diversify and challenge the typical approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning by supporting approaches and tools that resonate with individuals on the ground. This will allow traditionally marginalised voices to express themselves, for example through art, prayers, healing sessions, interviews and group consultations.
- Set up monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that ensure constituent accountability for funders, NGOs and local partners.
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Photo Credit: Juan Felipe Rubio, Efeunodos, Shift the Power Summit 2023.
