This evidence synthesis drew on a mixture of academic and grey literature. While the literature on Kenyan women and Al-Shabaab was quite extensive (albeit with gaps, e.g. on returnees), nothing was found on women and Ansar al-Sunnah/violent extremist groups operating in northeastern Mozambique and the Mozambique-Tanzania cross-border region. This report should be read in ...» more
Conflict prevention
Responding to popular protests in the MENA region
This review looks at government responses to violent protests in a selection of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Focusing on the 2011 Arab Spring protests, it finds that the initial response of most regimes was violent repression – Tunisia where the president stepped down, and Morocco and Jordan where the respective monarchies promised reform, are the only ...» more
Community cohesion projects to prevent violent extremism
This review looks at the use of community cohesion projects to prevent or counter violent extremism (P/CVE). It finds that such initiatives can be helpful in conflict-affected societies, but there are limited evaluations in the literature, and these generally do not make a direct causal link between interventions to promote social (community) cohesion and P/CVE. The retreat of ...» more
Lessons from environmental peacebuilding programming
This rapid literature review collates lessons from conflict resolution/peacebuilding programmes that include land, resource management, and/or environmental issues. This is a burgeoning area of research which draws on a number of interrelated concepts such as environmental peacebuilding, resilience building, and bottom-up peacebuilding. Ide and Scheffran (in Ide, 2017, p.545) ...» more
Conflict, instability and resilience in Nigeria
This paper analyses the structural challenges, root causes and dynamics of conflict, instability and resilience in Nigeria. The first half of the paper explores the overall socio-economic, socio-cultural, political and environmental factors that shape conflict, instability and resilience in Nigeria. The second half of the paper explores the specific regionalised conflicts in ...» more
Religious leaders and the prevention of electoral violence
There is limited literature specifically on the role of religious leaders in countering electoral and political violence, even less on ways in which to engage leaders in taking on such a role. While highlighting particular initiatives involving religious leaders during electoral cycles, this report also draws on literature that discusses the engagement of religious actors more ...» more
Horizontal inequalities
(This 15-minute presentation accompanying the reading pack was recorded at the GSDRC Seminar on Conflict and Development, London, 23 March 2015.) Civil wars are one of the main sources of state fragility, low incomes and poor human development. Hence, policies to prevent conflict must be a high priority for those concerned with promoting development in…» more
Crisis management models in Africa
The rapid review uncovered very little literature detailing general crisis management models in Africa. It found almost no literature on the experience of using such crisis management models in relation to crises such as public disorder, political unrest, and epidemics. However, some independent evaluations of crisis management models used to respond to food security crises ...» more
Conflict early warning and early response
Lessons emerging from the literature include: Linking warning and response: The biggest challenge for conflict early warning systems is that they have not yet been effectively transformed into a preventive response. Specific response plans must be developed as part of the early warning system. Preventative interventions to reduce the potential for violence should: i) ...» more
Social media and conflict management in post-conflict and fragile contexts
Some of the roles social media has played in conflict management include: In some cases social media and other new media tools have been used to help hold governments accountable, bring citizens together to protest violence, coordinate relief efforts, empower citizens, provide information to reduce tensions, and build bridges of understanding across boundaries. In other cases ...» more
The multilateral system’s contribution to peace and security
The literature broadly suggests that: As a result of the increasingly complex conflict environments, individual actors are unable to achieve goals on peace and security by themselves. More joint operations are occurring in order to overcome the challenges posed by complex conflict environments, with joint multilateral action seen to promote more effective and efficient ...» more
Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development
Conflict sensitivity in education: There has been increasing awareness that education systems are not neutral. Education can exacerbate conflict if it increases social tensions or divisions between groups. This may be the case if: education policies and practice are inequitable; education systems reinforce identity grievances; or educational curricula promote militarism.It is ...» more
Faith-based organisations, conflict resolution and anti-corruption
This rapid report reviews the literature on faith-based development organisations (FBOs) and their role in conflict resolution and anti-corruption. In both areas the literature suggests that religious actors could play a decisive role, but that this has not been realised. The evidence on FBOs and conflict resolution is moderately robust. Nearly all literature provides case ...» more
Strategic communications and foreign fighters
Key Findings: There is limited coverage of strategic communications programmes specifically aiming to prevent the recruitment of citizens who travel to conflict zones to become foreign fighters. There is relatively more coverage of strategic communications with respect to broader counter-radicalisation or countering violent extremism (CVE) approaches, but there are few case ...» more
Counter- and de-radicalisation with returning foreign fighters
Key Findings: The documentation on counter- and de-radicalisation programmes for returning foreign fighters in conflict-affected and nearby states is limited. There is evidence of programmes that aim to de-radicalise, disengage and rehabilitate detained extremists in prisons, which in some cases target foreign fighters. A number of these programmes in the Middle East and ...» more
Dealing with election-related violence in fragile and conflict-affected states
There are a number of causes of election-related violence, which can occur at different stages of the electoral cycle. Dealing with this violence very much depends on understanding these causes and tailoring measures to address them. This report draws on guidance material, evaluation literature and empirical studies to provide a brief overview of measures to prevent and address ...» more
Conflict
Conflict is inherent in all societies and arises when two or more groups believe their interests are incompatible. ‘Conflict’ is not, however, interchangeable with ‘violence’. Non-violent resolution is possible when individuals and groups have trust in their governing structures, society and institutions to manage incompatible interests. Conflict becomes a problem when this ...» more
Methods for monitoring and mapping online hate speech
Approaches to mapping hate speech online can be classified into three principal groups based on their purpose: Real-time monitoring and mapping: These projects, the best known of which is the Umati project in Kenya, aim to provide continuous monitoring of online media. Such projects are rare, but they have the potential to serve as early warning systems or enable a reaction ...» more
Costs of peace processes
The rapid review indicated that there is limited literature available on this topic. The information uncovered by this rapid review focuses mainly on the latter stages of a peace process and the core components of supporting the success of the peace process. These include, for example, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) processes, dialogue forums, transitional ...» more
Sending messages to reduce violent conflict
Key findings Research for this helpdesk report did not find a specific body of literature focused on sending messages to change attitudes, norms and behaviour about violent conflict. Rather, there is a wide range of literature that covers interventions to address conflict, which include the sending of messages in one form or another, and often as part of a wider strategy. This ...» more
