Strengthening social cohesion in fragile and conflict-affected states

All around the world, increasing polarization, inequalities and autocratization, among other trends, put a strain on social cohesion. In fragile and conflict-affected states, this may contribute to or trigger an escalation of violent conflict. At the same time, strengthening social cohesion can potentially help to overcome fragility, address the root cause of violence and constitutes an important conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategy. Over the past decade, donors have increasingly financed social cohesion related projects. Yet, many questions remain regarding best strategies and approaches, the effectiveness of interventions as well as how to deal with challenges. This workshop brings together practitioners, policy makers and researchers working on peacebuilding and social cohesion in fragile and conflict-affected contexts to jointly reflect and exchange on the following questions:

• What is the value added of taking a social cohesion perspective to foster peace?
• How can international development cooperation (effectively) promote social cohesion and help overcome fragility and violence?
• What role do political institutions and autocratization trends play in these contexts?
• What challenges should be expected when taking a social cohesion approach and how can they be addressed?

To this end, the workshop will combine inputs from academics and comments by practitioners to set the stage for reflections and debate with interactive sessions and group discussions. You can find a more detailed preliminary agenda of the individual sessions of the workshop below.

The workshop was organized by Fletcher Cox, Charlotte Fiedler and Karina Mross in the context of IDOS’s research project “Policies for Social cohesion in Africa", which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

--UPON INVITATION ONLY--

AGENDA