Contributions

In addition to its conflict transformation activities on the ground, in the past several years the Cordoba Foundation of Geneva (CFG) has made training one of its strengths. We sincerely believe that promoting peace also means educating young people and training actors in the field. This is all the more effective because the audience is diverse, including actors belonging to the various stakeholders of a given conflict. Under these circumstances, the training venue becomes a real mediation space where the participants, in addition to acquiring technical knowledge, get to know each other, to exchange and to make joint analyses.

The Lebanese initiative of the Forum of Humanitarian Associations (FHA) is a collaboration between six organizations with different profiles as a process for conflict transformation. This project aims to promote coexistence in the Lebanese national space, based on respect for pluralism and citizenship.

According to studies conducted by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), conflicts involving religious incompatibilities have seen a sharp increase, rising from only 2 percent in 1975 up to more than 50 percent in 2013. There are no exhaustive explanations for this change, yet the phenomenon can be approached by looking at the prevention work undertaken throughout the last 30 years.

by Lakhdar Ghettas

Thirty years this November Zine el Abidine Ben Ali assumed power in Tunisia ending thereby the rule of ailing Habib Bourguiba who ruled the country since its independence in 1956. Ben Ali promised political reforms that lured large segments of the Tunisian polity, including the Islamists. Those hopes were soon shattered by the brutal crackdown following the 1989 general elections in which Ennahdha ran on independent lists, and came second after Ben Ali’s RCD party. Leftists were not spared either and by 2010 Ben Ali managed to unite most Tunisians against his authoritarian rule. Tunisians embarked on a political transition that has been underway seven years now.

by Kheira Tarif

In the context of the Cordoba Foundation of Geneva’s Middle East Program, a discussion with Iraqi partners fostered the idea of working with tribal and religious leaders as influential actors of change and reconciliation in the country. Strengthening locally-accessible and legitimate dispute resolution mechanisms can help stem the escalation of local tensions in Iraq, and detract from the rationale of violent alternatives...

by Abdoulaye Bâ

On August 5, 2017, the Mauritanians went to the polls to vote on constitutional amendments proposed by the government. This consultation had been strongly rejected by the Mauritanian Senate, which put the government in a minority by refusing to endorse the proposal of the executive, opening a significant crisis within the ruling majority.