Towards a Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding: Getting Their Act Together

The Joint Utstein Peacebuilding Study was developed by the evaluation departments of the foreign and development cooperation ministries of Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, with Norway taking the lead, to carry out a survey of peacebuilding experience. The International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) assisted in conceptualizing the study and was chosen as the lead consultant to manage the research. The research framework relied on each of the four departments to find research assistants to carry out the four surveys according to PRIO’s instructions. It was then agreed that the research teams should also independently write country papers reviewing key policy issues, drawing on the responses to the surveys and supplemented by interviews. This report draws on those country papers to identify key findings for analysis and comparison. Its findings centre on the challenges presented in defining policy terms and articulating goals, key concepts, and vocabulary in peacebuilding. A key finding is that a major strategic deficit exists between the articulation of policy and efforts to translate this policy into practice. The international comparison and the scale of the survey of activities combine to form a unique basis for this report.