Cover graphic: Tim Harcourt-Powell Acknowledgements This research wouldn’t have been possible without the significant inputs and engagement of all the individuals and organisations who have taken the time to share their expertise and opinions over the duration of the research, without which the analysis and implications of the findings would not have been possible. [...] What are the opportunities, challenges and risks for national and international humanitarian, protection and peacebuilding actors to adapt their approach based on a strengthened understanding of community engagement with armed actors? The starting point of this research is how communities directly or indirectly engage in dialogue with armed actors in order to reduce violence and strengthen protect. [...] While the decision of who engages is not necessarily one made by the community as a whole, the position of authority these individuals hold can provide a tacit acceptance to act on the behalf of the community and that they are acting in the best interests of their respective communities (Barbelet et al., 2023; Davies and Mayhew, 2024). [...] For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), communities will monitor the increase in the numbers of armed actors and their movements to detect anything out of the ordinary, including observing the actions of neighbours who have relatives or friends connected to armed actors (Suarez, 2017). [...] In Jonglei, the Lou Nuer community would use the threat of the Nuer White Armies to ensure the restraint of violence of other armed actors operating in the area (Davies and Mayhew, 2024).
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Table of Contents
- Reducing violence and strengthening the protection of civilians through community dialogue with armed actors -1
- List of boxes and figures 5
- Introduction 13
- Background and rationale 13
- Methodology and limitations 14
- Community dialogue with armed actors 18
- Process of dialogue 18
- Factors that shape engagement 24
- Approaches to supporting communities in reducing violence and strengthening protection 27
- Starting with what communities are already doing 27
- The connecting role of external actors 34
- Providing resources to support dialogue 36
- Changing calculations, livelihoods and assistance 37
- Complementarity across humanitarian, protection and peacebuilding action 39
- Roles and added value of humanitarian, protection and peacebuilding actors 40
- Implications, opportunities, risks and challenges for policy and practice 48
- Conflict analysis and conflict-sensitivity analysis 48
- Managing risks and risk appetite 51
- Structural and systemic barriers 53
- Defining and measuring success 55
- Conclusion 59
- References 65
