Colombia can be regarded as the longest running civil war in the world. However, the country can also be seen as an example of successful peace initiatives and failed peace attempts; a series of lessons have been learned in regards to peace building and reconciliation. The current peace process with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC-EP, and the prospects for a final peace ag...

Northern Ireland is still riven by segregation, caught between peace and reconciliation. Extensive survey research shows that intergroup contact has a key role to play in achieving reconciliation, whether through generic contact, cross-group friends (most effective) or indirect. Segregation is most profound in education. The new Shared Education Programme (SEP), which provides children with the...

This paper explores the possibilities and challenges for ethno-religious reconciliation through secondary school education in post-war Sri Lanka, with a specific focus on the Muslim and Tamil communities in the Northern city of Jaffna. In doing so, we position our paper within the growing field of 'education, conflict and emergencies' of which there has been a growing body of literature discuss...

Neighbor-on-neighbor killing causes lasting harm to individuals, communities and societies. Even though the territory has been divided, a geographical proximity that has particular consequences remains along ethnic lines. In such context, when antagonist parties must live as proximate neighbors, post-conflict trauma must be addressed for reconciliation to occur. In ex-Yugoslavia, years of vario...

Reconciliation is a key objective in building sustainable peace and preventing a relapse into conflict. It is about (re) building relationships among people and groups in society and between the state and its citizens. The process is highly context sensitive, and each society has to tailor its approach to the nature of the conflict and the character of the transition. The reconciliation worksho...

The self-declared Republic of Somaliland frequently features as a prominent example for ‘autonomous’ processes of peace-building and state-making. Although its population endured civil wars both before and after its unilateral declaration of independence in 1991, this internationally unrecognized de facto state enjoys not only relative peace but also a comparatively high level of overall securi...