PILLAR 2

Conflict Transformation and Social Cohesion

The “Conflict Transformation and Social Cohesion” pillar is a strategic framework designed to move societies beyond the mere absence of violence (“negative peace”) toward a state of constructive coexistence and shared purpose (“positive peace”). This approach recognizes that conflict is a natural part of human interaction, but its transformation into a destructive force is not inevitable. The pillar focuses on addressing the root causes of conflict and building the social fabric—the “glue” that holds communities together—to prevent future violence and enable people to work together for common goals.

Core Goal

To foster “positive peace” by addressing the root causes of conflict, rebuilding trust between communities, and strengthening the social fabric to prevent future violence.

Sub-Key Activities:

Activities under this pillar are multi-faceted and often implemented at various levels, from the community to national policy. They are designed to be “conflict-sensitive,” meaning they are continuously adapted to the local context to ensure they “do no harm” and, wherever possible, actively contribute to peace.

Dialogue and Mediation:

Community-Led Dialogues: Facilitating safe and inclusive spaces for people from different identity groups (e.g., ethnic, religious, political) to engage in respectful dialogue, share grievances, and find common ground with a specific focus on facilitating communityled dialogues and mediation efforts specifically designed to address climate-induced resource conflicts. These dialogues should bring together diverse identity groups (pastoralists, farmers, host/displaced communities) to negotiate equitable access to water, grazing land, and other shared natural resources, involving traditional leaders and local authorities.

Mediation and Dispute Resolution: Strengthening the capacity of local leaders, traditional authorities, and civil society to mediate disputes at the community level before they escalate into violence.

Insider Mediation: Empowering trusted local individuals to act as mediators, leveraging their deep understanding of the community dynamics.

Building Inclusive Systems:

Participatory Governance: Creating mechanisms for citizens, especially marginalized groups, to participate in local decision-making processes, such as resource allocation and local planning, with an emphasis on integrating climate risk assessments and adaptation planning into participatory governance mechanisms at the local level. This ensures that community-level decision-making processes, particularly concerning resource allocation and local development plans, explicitly consider and respond to current and projected climate impacts.

Reconciliation and Transitional Justice: Supporting processes that address past harms, such as truthseeking commissions, reparations programs, and legal reforms, to foster a sense of justice and healing.

Inclusive Service Delivery: Ensuring that the provision of essential services (e.g., healthcare, education, water) is fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory to build trust between communities and the state, including supporting the development and strengthening of local early warning systems for climate hazards (e.g., droughts, floods). These systems should be directly linked to established community-based dispute resolution mechanisms to enable rapid, pre-emptive responses that prevent the escalation of climate induced tensions into violence.

Peace Education and Cultural Exchange: Integrating peace education into school curricula and supporting cultural and sports activities that bring diverse young people together to build friendships and challenge stereotypes.

Objectives

The overarching objectives of this pillar are to shift the dynamics of conflict and build a more resilient society.

To Transform Conflict Drivers:

To address the underlying grievances, inequalities, and injustices that fuel conflict and violence, moving from symptoms to root causes, including those exacerbated by climate change.

To Rebuild Trust and Empathy:

To restore trust and promote empathy among individuals and groups who have been divided by conflict. This includes trust in fellow citizens and trust in state institutions.

To Strengthen Social Cohesion (Horizontal and Vertical):

To foster positive relationships among individuals and groups (horizontal cohesion) and to build a sense of shared purpose and trust between the public and the government (vertical cohesion).

To Increase Resilience to Shocks:

To build the capacity of communities to withstand future tensions, economic shocks, and political instability without resorting to violence, particularly in the face of climate-induced disruptions.

To Foster a Culture of Peace:

To promote a social environment where non-violent communication, negotiation, and collective action are the norm for resolving differences.

Milestones:

Milestones for this pillar are often qualitative and quantitative, reflecting both changes in behavior and tangible program outputs.

Dialogue and Mediation Milestones:

Formation and active participation of a specific number of inter-community dialogue platforms in conflictaffected areas.
A quantifiable increase in the number of local disputes that are peacefully resolved through community-based mediation, as documented by a tracking system.
Development of standard operating procedures for local conflict resolution that are endorsed by traditional, religious, and government leaders.
15 climate-related resource disputes peacefully resolved through TTI-supported community-based mediation, with documented agreements on resource sharing and conflict prevention mechanisms by 2027.

System and Policy Milestones:

Adoption of a national or local policy that explicitly integrates social cohesion and conflict sensitivity into development planning.
Establishment of a participatory budgeting process in a specific number of districts, where community members from diverse backgrounds jointly decide on how to spend public funds.
Implementation of a monitoring system (e.g., the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Index, SCORE) to track changes in trust, inter-group relations, and perceptions of justice over time.
5 district councils or local committees demonstrating the successful integration of climate risk assessments and adaptation measures into their annual budgets and local development plans by 2028, as verified by external review.
Establishment of functional community-level early warning systems in at least 3 conflict-prone, climatevulnerable areas by 2026, demonstrably reducing the incidence of climate-induced conflicts by 20% over 12 months.

Community-Level Milestones:

A measurable increase in inter-group social interactions (e.g., joint sports leagues, cultural events) as demonstrated by community surveys or focus groups.
A specific number of community-led development projects are jointly implemented by members of previously conflicting groups.
A decrease in the number of reported incidents of hate speech or discriminatory behavior in public spaces and on social media, as tracked by a monitoring mechanism.
7 Joint climate adaptation projects successfully implemented by diverse community groups by 2027, leading to documented improvements in inter-group relations and trust, as evidenced by participatory evaluations or social cohesion indices.
A measurable increase (e.g., 25%) in community understanding of the climate-conflict nexus and active engagement in climate-resilient peacebuilding initiatives by 2028, as demonstrated by pre- and post-program surveys and participation rates.