Peacebuilding is a term used within the international development community to describe the processes and activities involved in resolving violent conflict and establishing a sustainable peace.
It is an overarching concept that includes conflict transformation, restorative justice, trauma healing, reconciliation, development, and leadership, underlain by spirituality and religion. It is similar in meaning to conflict resolution but highlights the difficult reality that the end of a conflict does not automatically lead to peaceful, stable social or economic development. The word has gained substantial meaning through the actions of organizations such as United States Institute of Peace and The Alliance for Peacebuilding. A number of national and international organizations describe their activities in conflict zones as peacebuilding.
Peacebuilding includes:
The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission maintains Peacebuilding Fund projects in Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Nepal. In 2010, it conducted a review of its work with the first four countries on its agenda. An independent journalism review also highlighted some of the PBC's early successes and challenges. Today, the PBC works with six countries, while the PBF works in more.
In 2010, at the request of the Security Council (UN SCr 1889, Operational Paragraph 19) the Secretary-General issued a report on women's participation in peacebuilding (A/65/354-S/2010/466). The report outlines the challenges women continue to face in participating in recovery and peacebuilding process, and the negative impact this has on them and societies more broadly. To respond to these challenges it contains a comprehensive 7-point action plan, covering the following commitment areas: mediation; post-conflict planning; financing; civilian capacity; post-conflict governance; rule of law; and economic recovery. The action plan is pragmatic and holds significant promise to facilitate progress on the women, peace and security agenda. The report can be found here - http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/53603.51.html. The monitoring of the implementation of this action plan is now being led jointly by the Peacebuilding Support Office and UN Women.
One definition of peacebuilding as used by the Alliance for Peacebuilding is:
Peacebuilding is the set of initiatives by diverse actors in government and civil society to address the root causes of violence and protect civilians before, during, and after violent conflict. Peacebuilders use communication, negotiation, and mediation instead of belligerence and violence to resolve conflicts. Effective peacebuilding is multi-faceted and adapted to each conflict environment. There is no one path to peace, but pathways are available in every conflict environment. Peacebuilders help belligerents find a path that will enable them to resolve their differences without bloodshed. The ultimate objective of peacebuilding is to reduce and eliminate the frequency and severity of violent conflict.
— Chic Dambach, President & CEO, Alliance for Peacebuilding