The Do No Harm Project (DNH), which began in the 1990s, was not designed for peacebuilding interventions, and yet over the course of the project it has successfully been applied to local peacebuilding initiatives in a variety of contexts. This paper explores those situations where DNH and peacebuilding have worked well together, as well as where they have not. It is based on the DNH Reflective Case Studies phase, where a series of case studies was undertaken around the world to explore how DNH was being applied in the field. This paper draws upon examples from face-to-face contact between the conflicting groups and involves issues that are resource-based or interpersonal.
Key Findings:
Practitioners using DNH for effective peacebuilding work do the following five things:
- Assume that the context is dynamic. Individuals who use DNH in peacebuilding work assume that the context in which they are working is dynamic. They are aware that the context is evolving and changing all the time. They assume that Dividers and Connectors will change in importance and relevance as their project develops or due to outside factors.
- Examine the context through a Dividers and Connectors lens. In order to do effective peacebuilding work using DNH, people have told us they need a thorough understanding of the Dividers and Connectors in the context. They need to know which Dividers are the strongest and most dangerous and also which Connectors are strong enough to bring people together and overcome the Dividers in the context.
- Analyse Dividers and Connectors daily. Because people assume that the context in which they work is dynamic and because they are attuned to the Dividers and Connectors in that context, they are always monitoring for changes in the Dividers and Connectors in the context. They know that things are always changing and in order to be able to adapt their project or programme to that change, they must be aware of it as it is happening.
- Look hard for opportunities to apply DNH. People who use DNH for peacebuilding are always looking for opportunities to apply the tool. For people working in contexts of conflict, the Dividers are often glaringly clear. People are often less clear and certain about the Connectors in these contexts. They can overlook the small, day-to-day ways that people come together and bridge their divisions. But it has been seen that the people who apply DNH to peacebuilding work well seek out the Connectors and hold a magnifying glass to them.
- Avoid creating Connectors; rather, build on existing Connectors in the context. Those who set out to create a Connector do not meet with success. New Connectors do arise in contexts of conflict, but they are accidental; an example of the dynamic nature of any context. But in trying to create a Connector between two groups where one did not exist before, we run the risk of increasing tensions, rather than decreasing them. Peace work is at its weakest when it ignores what is already working to bring people together and tries to substitute for that with a new or externally determined Connector.
