Peace and Conflict Impact

ACT Spring 2006 Training Classes

Peace and Conflict: From Analysis to Action

Date: March 4-5, 2006

Location: Arlington Campus of George Mason University

Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Fee: $275 for Students, $395 for Professionals
Trainer: Mary Hope Schwoebel (see bio below)
Registration: OPEN (Deadline February 24, 2006. Early Bird Registrants who register and pay by February 17, 2006 will receive a 10% discount)

1. Send a check for the class fee to ACT Workshops, P.O. Box 9117, Alexandria, VA 22304;
or
2. Call ACT at 703-461-3650 to pay by credit card.

Description:

International organizations increasingly find themselves attempting to carry out traditional development and humanitarian assistance programs and projects in conflict contexts. They are also increasingly carrying out peacebuilding and conflict resolution interventions themselves - activities that were formerly the domain of diplomats. Donors are increasingly requiring that grantees and contractors prove their awareness of the context in which proposed interventions will take place, and show that they have considered and addressed how their interventions will impact the conflict context and how the conflict context will impact their interventions - in order they must demonstrate that their interventions are peace and conflict sensitive or that they have mainstreamed peace and conflict throughout their interventions.

This training will enable participants to carry out peace and conflict assessments (PCAs) as part of the planning process for interventions (development, humanitarian assistance, or peacebuilding policies, programs, or projects) in conflict contexts. It will also enable participants to carry out peace and conflict impact assessments (PCIAs) of planned, ongoing, or completed interventions in order to mainstream peace and conflict sensitivity into their design, implementation, and evaluation.

Participants

Current or aspiring staff and consultants of international organizations - multilaterals, bilateral, NGOs, research institutions and advanced undergraduate/graduate students in peace and conflict resolution and related disciplines.

Knowledge and Skills to be Transferred

- Learn how to utilize and adapt PCA tools, frameworks, and methods to the assessment context and for the assessment purpose, in order to identify the sources of existing and potentially violent conflicts and existing and potential peace capacities.

- Learn how to mainstream conflict into development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding programs, by reviewing an actual or simulated intervention, to determine its actual or potential impact on peace and conflict, and to develop recommendations for modifying it.

- Learn how to design, implement, and evaluate policies, programs, and projects that contribute to building peace and to reducing conflict.

Bio

Mary Hope Schwoebel has over 25 years experience in the fields of development, humanitarian assistance, and peacebuilding. She has worked for UN organizations, donors, NGOs, and research institutions in Africa, South America, South and Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. For the past decade she has worked as a consultant conducting peace and conflict assessments (PCAs) and peace and conflict impact assessments (PCIAs) around the world. She is the principal author of From Analysis to Action: A Handbook for Peace and Conflict Programming in Africa for USAID/Africa. She has taught peace and conflict studies courses at Georgetown and George Mason University and has conducted training for trainers courses at American University, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), and Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT). She has a Masters in international development from the University of California, Davis, and is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR).

By the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have increased their ability to carry out peace and conflict impact assessments. Each participant will receive a resource packet with recommended resources in the field (both online and in print). The workshop fee also includes a light lunch.

For more information, please email Dr. Craig Zelizer, or call 703-461-3650.