Thania Paffenholz | Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Geneva (original) (raw)

Papers by Thania Paffenholz

In this short article, I discuss an innovative methodological approach to the evaluation of peace... more In this short article, I discuss an innovative methodological approach to the evaluation of peacebuilding effectiveness. This approach entails drawing upon evidence-based comparative research on what worked and what did not work in similar peacebuilding interventions in order to analyse outcome plausibility. It has been tested in a global evaluation of civil society peacebuilding projects in eight countries, and proved extremely useful, especially in cases where there are no clear baselines or where theories of change are confused.

This contribution critically assesses the achievements and failures of 20 years of conflict sensi... more This contribution critically assesses the achievements and failures of 20 years of conflict sensitivity in policy and practice. It concludes that despite tremendous conceptual, policy, and institutional achievements, the practice of conflict sensitivity on the ground in fragile conflict countries has still not changed much. This short contribution offers four explanations for the failure of conflict sensitivity to make the transition from policy to successful “on the ground” application in practice. These challenges need to be considered in future planning for conflict sensitivity interventions.

This paper seeks to provide mediators and mediation teams with a better understanding of, and opt... more This paper seeks to provide mediators and mediation teams with a better understanding of, and options for, broadening participation in peace negotiations without sacrificing the effectiveness of the mediation process. It offers mediators and their support teams an accessible survey of the ‘state of the art’ of current debates on and practice of broadening participation in peace processes.

This report provides an overview of National Dialogues, as well as other types of non-formal dial... more This report provides an overview of National Dialogues, as well as other types of non-formal dialogues, including high-level problem solving workshops (track 1.5), consultations and civil society dialogues (track 2), and people-to-people dialogues and local community relations meetings (track 3). It looks at the purposes of these dialogues, the actors involved, as well as the constraining and enabling factors that make different types of dialogues effective in reaching and sustaining agreements.

The objective of this article is to analyze the Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference for a ... more The objective of this article is to analyze the Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference for a New Yemen held between 2013 and 2014. The article begins with a summary of the theory and practice of inclusive negotiations. We then describe briefly the context and process of the
Yemeni National Dialogue Conference (NDC), including the challenges and successes of the process. Finally, we analyze these challenges and success factors with reference to the findings of the “Broadening Participation” project at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

This research analyses the Broadening Participation Project dataset to explore the relationship b... more This research analyses the Broadening Participation Project dataset to explore the relationship between broader inclusion in peace and political negotiations and the legitimacy of those negotiations in a variety of population groups.

This Briefing Note is the summary of a longer report, commissioned by the United Nations Departme... more This Briefing Note is the summary of a longer report, commissioned by the United Nations Department of Political Affairs. It is based on IPTI’s National Dialogues research project (2015 to 2017), which involved a comparative analysis of 17 cases of National Dialogues held between 1990 and 2014. The project aims to contribute to a better understanding of common features of National Dialogues, as well as the political and procedural factors and conditions that have enabled or constrained the negotiated outcomes of National Dialogues. It builds on previous case study research conducted in the framework of the Graduate Institute’s multi-year project, “Broadening Participation in Political Negotiations and Implementation”, which began in 2011.

Inclusive peace processes are slowly replacing the traditional exclusive peace deals negotiated s... more Inclusive peace processes are slowly replacing the traditional exclusive peace deals negotiated solely between two or more armed groups. From Colombia to Libya or Myanmar, current peace processes seek to broaden participation even at the highest level of official (track 1) peace negotiations. Civil society groups, but also political parties and women’s groups often take part in these negotiations and their implementation in formal roles and structures. However, policy makers and international donors struggle to respond adequately to calls for greater inclusion. This is because there is a lack of knowledge as to how inclusion can practically work in order to have a positive impact on the quality and sustainability of peace deals without reducing the likelihood that agreements are being reached. With a team of more than 30 researchers, the project “Broadening Participation in Political Negotiations and Implementation” produced seven key findings for successful inclusive peace processes.

Armed conflict has become the overarching challenge for foreign policy and puts development and h... more Armed conflict has become the overarching challenge for foreign policy and puts development and humanitarian assistance at considerable risk. How to deal with this situation? What to do? A milestone in its field, Aid for Peace provides conceptual thought and practical support. It leads both practitioner and academic reader through a planning and evaluation process that helps the user to better design development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding interventions in conflict prone areas of the world.

This Briefing Note is the summary of IPTI’s report “Preventing Violence Through Inclusion: From B... more This Briefing Note is the summary of IPTI’s report “Preventing Violence Through Inclusion: From Building Political Momentum to Sustaining Peace,” commissioned by the World Bank as a thematic research input into the United Nations-World Bank Study “Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict.” IPTI’s report analyzes when, how, and under what conditions the inclusion of a broad range of actors in peace and political transition processes contributes to the prevention of violence and armed conflict, through a comparative analysis of 47 prevention attempts reconstructed from IPTI’s datasets. This work builds on previous case study research conducted in the framework of the Graduate Institute’s multi-year project, “Broadening Participation.”

In this report we examine the challenges and opportunities presented by women’s participation in ... more In this report we examine the challenges and opportunities presented by women’s participation in peace and transition processes, and offer
recommendations for reimagining the traditional approach to peacemaking with a view to building a more durable peace.

A policy brief that reviewed, analysed and framed the key findings from the Broadening Participat... more A policy brief that reviewed, analysed and framed the key findings from the Broadening Participation Project (led by Dr. Paffenholz at the Graduate Institute in Geneva) related to women’s participation and gendered approaches. The brief was a contribution to the UNSCR 1325 High-level Review and its associated Global Study and to the peace and security community more broadly.

This Briefing Note is based on results from the “Broadening Participation in Political Negotiatio... more This Briefing Note is based on results from the “Broadening Participation in Political Negotiations and Implementation” research project conducted between 2011 and 2016 at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. This project analyzes how and under what conditions various actors in addition to the main negotiating parties have participated in and influenced peace processes and political transitions, by comparing 40 in-depth qualitative case studies of peace and constitution-making multi-stakeholder negotiations, and the implementation of negotiated agreements, ranging from 1989 to 2014.

This Briefing Note is based on results from the “Civil Society and Peacebuilding” research projec... more This Briefing Note is based on results from the “Civil Society and Peacebuilding” research project, led by Dr. Thania Paffenholz at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, between 2006 and 2011, with a team of 19 researchers from 16 institutions. The project investigated whether, how, when and under what circumstances civil society can fulfil a peace supporting role. It analysed in thirteen in-depth qualitative country case studies, the performance of civil society with regards to seven peacebuilding functions in four phases of conflict and peace processes.

As an effort to systematically examine the role of civil society in peacebuilding processes, the ... more As an effort to systematically examine the role of civil society in peacebuilding processes, the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) conducted a three-year comparative research project under the direction of Thania Paffenholz entitled “Civil Society and Peacebuilding.” This report provides an overview of the findings thus far (in 2009), and focuses explicitly on their policy implications.

The project found that civil society can play an important supportive role, though the impetus for peacebuilding comes in most cases from political actors and the conflict parties themselves. The findings of the research project demonstrate that the relevance of the seven civil society functions varied tremendously during different phases of conflict. However, activities of high relevance, such as protection during wars, were not necessarily equally implemented by civil society organizations. The effectiveness of activities also varied substantially. Overall, protection, monitoring, advocacy and facilitation related activities were of higher effectiveness, whereas socialization and social cohesion related activities were of low effectiveness across all cases. This finding stands in stark contrast to the actual implementation and funding level of these activities.

The objective of this report is to contribute to a better understanding of the common features an... more The objective of this report is to contribute to a better understanding of
the common features and characteristics of National Dialogues. It further
explores the various political and procedural factors as well as conditions
that have enabled or constrained such initiatives to reach agreements and
sustain their implementation in the long term.

The objective of this report is to present an analysis of women’s inclusion distilled from the la... more The objective of this report is to present an analysis of women’s inclusion
distilled from the larger “Broadening Participation” research project to
date, in order to provide UN Women (and other organizations studying
women’s inclusion) with direct comparative evidence on women’s influence
in previous cases of peace processes since the 1990s.

Books by Thania Paffenholz

The importance of civil society to peacebuilding efforts has been increasingly acknowledged since... more The importance of civil society to peacebuilding efforts has been increasingly acknowledged since the mid-1990s, attending a massive rise in civil society peacebuilding initiatives overall. The proliferation of such initiatives, however, has not been matched by research on the nexus between civil society and peacebuilding. Thus, we know little about what civil society means to peacebuilding - and how effective it can be for ending armed conflicts.

In response, a 3-year research project was initiated under the auspices of the Geneva-based Center on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding (CCDP) at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. The results of that project are presented in this book.

The overarching objective here is to contribute to a better understanding of the role of civil society in support of peacebuilding, both during and after armed conflict. The key research questions that we address are: What are the constructive functions of civil society in support of peacebuilding? What are the main factors that support those functions? And what are the main obstacles that hinder their fulfilment?