Insider Peacebuilders are Needed to Sustain Peace

By: Nicholas R. Sherwood, Hannah Adamson, & Merisa Mattix

How do the experiences of insider mediators differ from those working on the outside? How might their needs differ from outsider peacebuilders? And what can be done to support insider mediators during their work? These and other crucial questions guided MHCR’s recent participation in the Peer Exchange on Improving Support for Insider Mediators.

On February 28th, 2023, a peer exchange with Insider Mediators was co-organized by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), European Union’s European External Action Service (EEAS), and Think Peace Learning and Support Hub. The peer exchange continued a panel that the organizers co-hosted at the EU Peace Mediation Community of Practice on October 27th, 2022. The four principal organizations all advance their strategies on supporting Insider Mediators and Think Peace Hub and Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation attended as resources together with Berghof Foundation, Interpeace, and Search for Common Ground, which attended on invitation from the European Union.

The conversation began with remarks by Dr. Carl Stauffer (United States Institute of Peace) and MHCR Director and Convener of Think Peace Hub Antti Pentikäinen. The opening remarks set call participants to task: Insider mediators often walk between two or more ‘worlds’ within the same conflict contexts, acting as seers, catalysts, and cultural guides between two or more conflicting parties. In recent years, more peacebuilding organizations, from the grassroots to the transnational levels, have taken a greater interest in the needs and experiences of insiders. What is currently needed, however, is a commitment from these organizations to provide resources, attention, and support to sharpen the efficacy and care for the health of these insiders.

Next, Natia Chanvetadze, Insider Mediator from Georgia and Ph.D. candidate at George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, spoke on insider mediation and dialogue facilitation within Georgia and with the break-away regions. Gaps between formal and informal peacebuilding sectors can provide an ideal space for insider mediators to fill, who often circulate information between and make recommendations to each sector – replete with the experience and insights only insiders can bring. Insiders also require more resources in their line of work, including flexible funding commitments from donors, outsiders conceptually engaging with peace processes to identify where funds should be allocated, more significant and more diverse professional networks to build solidarity within and between movements, diversified messaging and communications platforms, and a commitment from external organizations to the context at hand – not pulling out when the processes become difficult. 

Mesfin Getachew, of Destiny Ethiopia, then spoke on their contribution, as insider mediators entering the peacebuilding and mediation field when external actors had little space in Ethiopia. Destiny Ethiopia first facilitated scenario building workshop with the help of Reos Partners. These included four scenarios that helped various political sides to discuss critical issues and recognize the need for collaboration. In 2021, Destiny Ethiopia facilitated a six-month mediation process with the Ethiopian government and representatives of nearly 50 political parties and actors from around the country to create conditions for peaceful elections. Over multiple rounds of dialogue, participants identified and resolved issues affecting security, participation in elections, and other challenges that created conditions for unexpectedly peaceful elections. These efforts ended in a pre-election banquet broadcast live around the country, featuring opposing political actors interacting and wishing each other well for the election, illustrating that peaceful elections can be held even during challenging conditions.  

Then, MHCR Associate Director Nick Sherwood and Programs Officer Hannah Adamson presented one of MHCR’s working policy briefs, Insider Reconcilers are Needed to Sustain Peace: Policy Brief on Supporting Insiders Reconcilers’ Effectiveness and Wellbeing. This brief, informed by an evidence-based research study conducted by the MHCR Transformation and Reconciliation Laboratory, was drafted to propose specific, actionable recommendations for peacebuilding and conflict institutions to better support the work of insiders. Recommendations are organized into two clusters:

1.     Resilience-Building and Trauma Healing within Insiders Peacebuilders

1.1.   Center the resilience-building, wellbeing promotion & trauma healing of insiders before, during, and after their involvement in reconciliation processes.

1.2.   Train insiders in intrapersonal healing to upscale the impact of reconciliation.

1.3.   Train insiders in interpersonal and communal healing to upscale the impact of reconciliation.

1.4.   Train peacebuilding institutions (e.g., the UN, governments, NGOs) on resilience-building, wellbeing promotion & trauma healing in conflict contexts.

2.     Institutional Awareness of and Support for Insider Peacebuilders

2.1.   Map and build networks of insiders within and between conflicts.

2.2.   Integrate truth-telling within the reconciliation process design and implementation.

2.3.   Ensure reconciliation processes are iterative, participatory, are co-created by InRec, local populations, and peacebuilding institutions.

2.4.   Offer flexible financial commitments to insiders.

The MHCR team expects to publish this policy brief on its website in the coming weeks.

Finally, Sanna Harty (EEAS) reported on the EEAS’s policies and actions on conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and mediation. Harty explained how EEAS has collaborated with UNDP on mediation guidance notes in the past and believes peer exchanges, such as the event at hand, are crucial for deciding on future directions and executive strategy-building for supporting insiders throughout conflict lifespans.  These exchanges are crucial for several reasons, including connecting different tracks in mediation processes, reducing the formal-informal gap, recognizing mediation is becoming a more insider-led enterprise, engaging in strategic partnerships within and between mediation processes, and reducing perceptions of competition between insider and outsider mediation processes within conflicts.

The peer exchange benefitted from experiences from Insider Mediators such as Stella Sabiti and Betty Bigombe, among others. The following discussion with participants demonstrated a need to fortify the ‘local turn in peacebuilding’ through direct interventions designed to support insider peacebuilders, including mediators. Insiders must be supported to protect their health and wellbeing during work and equipped with knowledge, skills, and abilities to upscale their efforts through increased effectiveness in the field. Many opportunities await this work, at the individual, organizational, and institutional levels. Events like these showcase new frontiers in the care for insider peacebuilders and their transformative potential to disrupt intractable conflicts and move the globe toward peace, justice, and universal human rights.

In the closing remarks, Barbara Einhauser and Laura Wenz suggested that following peer exchange would focus on Insider Mediators' wellbeing, particularly the work of local partners on the field.