Peace Direct calls for sustainable peace to be a priority ahead of UK election

Ahead of the UK general election on 12th December, Peace Direct urges all political parties to make sustainable peace a cross cutting priority in their development, security and foreign policies.

This would include changes in policy and practice to address root causes of conflict, support for independent and vibrant civil society around the world, and a long-term approach to supporting conflict transformation.

Central to this is the role for local peacebuilders. There is growing recognition that atrocity prevention, conflict mitigation and long-term conflict transformation is most likely to succeed when it is locally–led. This election is an opportunity for the next UK government to boldly reorient policy and practice in support of locally-led efforts.

As the party manifestos are published in the coming days, Peace Direct will be scrutinising each party’s commitments. We’ll be looking for two things:

1. promoting peacebuilding principles in response to conflict and global crises, delivering more impact for conflict affected communities, through the power of local action;
2. providing resources to support local people to prevent and respond to violent conflict, tackle root causes, and rebuild their communities.

Underpinning these is the need to maintain an independent and fully-resourced Department for International Development (DfID).

This piece was originally published on Peace Direct’s website and is available by clicking here. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of TransConflict.

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