Conflict Resolution Network/Africa - Hosted by ACRIS

Visit the Africa Peace and Conflict Network’s (APCN) new website at http://africapeace.org/.

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Center for Security Studies (CSS)

The Center for Security Studies (CSS) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is happy to present their new publication Unpacking the Mystery of Mediation in African Peace Processes. It is available online at:

Short Version: http://www.css.ethz.ch/Mediation_in_Africa_summary.pdf

Long version: http://www.css.ethz.ch/Mediation_in_Africa_full.pdf 

In the forward to the report, General Sumbeiywo, mediator of the Sudan North South Peace Process, says that the study “…is a useful collection of 11 cases of mediation work with diverse conflicts, parties and mediators. It provides the future mediators in African conflicts with various approaches that would help them succeed.”

The report was used as a background document for the recent annual conferenceof the Political Division IV of the Swiss FDFA ‘Mediation in Conflicts in Africa’. A comparative article draws lessons learned from the case studies. The study shows that almost most processes in Africa are mediated by heads of state or distinguished individuals from Africa. However, actors from outside of Africa, including Switzerland, can support mediation by providing expertise, mediation support and finances. Most mediators in Africa are not neutral intermediaries – some of them even have manifest interests in the country of conflict. What is important, however, are the mediators’ even-handedness and non-judgmental attitude during the process. The mystery of mediation, in a nutshell, is to understand, rather than to condemn.

Further information and publications on our Mediation Support Project can be found at: www.swisspeace.ch/mediation