A peaceworker is an individual or member of an organization that undertakes to resolve violent conflict, prevent the rise of new violent conflicts, and rebuild societies damaged by war.
The term peaceworker is usually reserved for civilian, unarmed members of
non-governmental organizations
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
. Peacework is also carried out by many armed organizations such as the
UN, but armed personnel are seldom called peaceworkers.
Peacework
Peaceworker duties include the following:
* Bringing conflicting parties together, opening channels of communication and helping to broker a ceasefire or peace agreement
* Monitoring voting booths, providing technical expertise and other forms of support in order to help ensure a free and fair electioneering environment
* Providing protective accompaniment of people at risk, monitoring borders and other actions for stabilizing preserve ceasefire agreements and preserving human life
* Reintegrating ex-combatants into society
* Promoting a respect for human rights within the local and national legal system, strengthening local institutions and civil society organizations that defend human rights
Peaceworker training
Peaceworker training and guidance are provided by organizations such as
International Alert
International Alert is a global peacebuilding charity offering dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities focusing on solving the root causes of conflict with people from across divides.
For over 30 yea ...
. University-provided
Peace and conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending conflicts (including social conflicts), with a view towards understanding those pro ...
courses also provide valuable and relevant knowledge. As peace work can utilize a very wide variety of skills, it allows those with established, unrelated careers to take up peace work without having to abandon what they have already learned.
See also
*
Peacebuilding
Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and pol ...
*
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare.
Within the United N ...
*
Peacemaking
Peacemaking is practical conflict transformation focused upon establishing equitable power relationships robust enough to forestall future conflict, often including the establishment of means of agreeing on ethical decisions within a community, ...
*
Human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
*
Peace activist
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...
Peaceworker organizations
Any organization dedicated to human rights, humanitarian aid and conflict management could be said to employ peace workers. The following is just a small sample of the dozens of organizations worldwide that provide these services.
*
Nonviolent Peaceforce
Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is a nonpartisan unarmed peacekeeping organization with the goal of protecting civilians and reducing violence in areas affected by armed conflict. NP holds Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Coun ...
* International Alert
*
Peace Brigades International
Peace Brigades International (PBI) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1981 which "protects human rights and promotes non-violent transformation of conflicts". It primarily does this by sending international volunteers to areas of confli ...
*
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Community Peacemaker Teams or CPT (previously called Christian Peacemaker Teams) is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. The organization uses these teams to achieve its aims ...
External links
International Alert training webpagepeacework.orgUniversity of Bradford: Department of Peace StudiesThe ARCA Project A European peaceworker training network
Peace
Occupations
{{job-stub