Bridging the participation gap: developing macro level conflict analysis through local perspectives

Author(s)
Midgley, T., Garred, M.
Publication language
English
Pages
36pp
Date published
01 Sep 2013
Type
Plans, policy and strategy
Keywords
Conflict, violence & peace, Peacebuilding, Post-conflict, Coordination, Protection, human rights & security
Countries
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Somalia, Uganda

This paper draws upon over ten years of experience with World Vision’s macro-level, participatory conflict
analysis methodology, ‘making Sense of turbulent Contexts’, complemented with lessons from other
available methodologies and existing literature. the paper argues that participatory approaches can:
• Improve the overall quality of conflict analysis by including a broad range of actors in the analysis and
shedding new light on ‘standard’ narratives about a conflict.
• Improve implementation and sustainability of recommendations by ensuring that findings are developed and
owned by local people, making recommendations more realistic, sustained and likely to be implemented.
• Improve inter-agency co-ordination and collective impact by bringing agencies together to develop
common understanding of conflict causes and shared action plans.
• Contribute towards peacebuilding objectives by bringing groups together to help build collaboration
across conflict fault-lines and promote inclusion. It can help participants to understand their own roles in
a context, empowering them to become active change agents.