Concordis International

About us

Making peace makes sense.  Much of the poverty and pain in the world can be laid at the door of violent conflict:  Without stability, development aid may go to waste.  Yet few know what to do to prevent conflict, recognising that crisis responses - such as delivering aid to war-torn communities or separating warring factions by military force - come too late and often just scratch the surface of the complex problems.

Concordis International is an influential peace-building charity with headquarters in Cambridge, working steadily to prevent and resolve violent conflict in a number of areas of warfare or potential violence around the world.

Our non-partisan work is underpinned by values - such as justice and equity - that are shared by those of many faiths and traditions.  In articulating these values, we acknowledge the Christian commitment to peacemaking of our founders, who had worked under the name ‘Newick Park Initiative’ to assist South Africa in its peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy and helped post-genocide Rwanda to develop its agricultural infrastructure and local justice systems.

Without peace, justice cannot prevail over lawlessness. Without justice, peace cannot be sustained in the longer term.  We recognise the tension between making peace and confronting injustice as we seek to build trust and mutual understanding, without being co-opted as the political instrument of any one group.  In doing this, we aim to play a pivotal role in a comprehensive peace process.

Most of our work is in Northern and Southern Sudan, where we have been involved since 1999.  We have offices in Khartoum and Juba.  In addition, we have made significant contributions in Kenya, Afghanistan and the Israeli-Palestinian   conflict.  We are developing projects for other areas, that are dependent on the funding needed to support sustained engagement.

 

What we do

While many do research on conflict, campaign for peace or teach conflict resolution skills to individuals, few share our distinctive, strategic approach to the development of trust and long-term transformation of relationships:

• Informal, low-profile policy consultations and inclusive workshops, connecting together all levels of a society in conflict
• Thorough, independent research into issues underlying the conflict, finding constructive ways forward and practical solutions to divisive issues
• Conscious impartiality
• In for the long haul - not distracted by headline-making crises 

Often working quietly behind the scenes, we do not aim to dictate, take sides or undertake public advocacy. We recognise that conflict does not arrive out of thin air and there are usually genuine and extremely complex historic issues on all sides that underlie people’s grievances, issues often rooted in inequity and justice. It is when these issues are not properly addressed that they increase tension between protagonists until violence seems the only solution.  So we bring together influential representatives from all factions to speak together freely in an unthreatening and confidential atmosphere and together develop acceptable, sustainable, practical and non-violent ways forward out of their cycle of conflict.

In Sudan, for example, we supported work towards a political settlement in the East of the country, helping the Eastern Sudanese armed opposition to become more unified and prepared to negotiate. This work led to official negotiations and the eventual signing of the Eastern Sudan Peace Accord in October 2006. 

Currently, much of our work is concentrated on cross border issues between North and South Sudan, particularly now that the people of South Sudan have voted to become a separate state in July 2011. So we are contributing to peaceful transition from one state to two, through work that includes:

• Engaging with communities along the North-South border in order to research, monitor and develop policy recommendations that address local causes of conflict (funded by the EU, US Institute of Peace and Norwegian Government)
• Based on this border community dialogue, informing strategic negotiations between North and South Sudan and assisting the development of constructive policies for border management and security (funded by the EU)
• Developing mutual understanding between disparate communities through film as part of our EU-funded Cultural Healing project, based on a concept developed by British-Sudanese film-maker Taghreed Elsanhouri
• Developing consensus on issues causing and arising out of conflict in Darfur by providing inclusive opportunities for informal dialogue, funded by our supporters
• Facilitating consultations on Post-Conflict Justice and Reconciliation, (funded by our supporters)
• Providing support and training to Sudanese religious leaders on their role in encouraging reconciliation (funded by our supporters).

Thus, by bringing hostile factions together for peaceful dialogue on divisive issues, we help to prevent future violence.  Our approach to peace-building is highly regarded and trusted, not least by those we work with, largely as a result of our sustained and unbiased commitment to the societies with whom we are involved.

Lord Anderson of Swansea (Chairman of the UK Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee 1997-2005) has said “The Concordis strategy of building relationships, in the context of a dialogue underpinned by high-quality research, has proved most effective and successful.” while Melanie Greenberg, former Chair of the Alliance for Peacebuilding said that we are “In the top one or two of the many public peace processes I have ever encountered”

 

What we're raising funds for

We constantly receive requests for our help and expertise but with limited resources we frequently have to disappoint.  Yet building peace is a strategic investment in the future of the poorest people in the world, potentially saving millions - in the cost of military intervention and in wasted development expenditure, not to mention the lives lost or put at risk. 

Some of our work - for example in the border areas between North and South Sudan - has been well funded.  Elsewhere, though, we could do immeasurably more than we are currently able to achieve. Often it is extremely difficult to build up a project to the point where our presence and track record are recognised by institutional donors.

Our aim over the next three years is to raise sufficient funds to allow us to develop those projects that are highly strategic in terms of impact, but which do not match the political priorities of the ‘international community’.  Projects that we may be able to develop further include:

• Working with Kenyan partners to prevent a recurrence of the recent horrific post-election violence;
• In Afghanistan, continuing our work with an Afghan/international consortium on the components of a comprehensive peace process;
• Helping Christian churches to play a more constructive role as peacemakers in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict;
• Helping partners in Kyrgyzstan to build constructive institutions in support of reconciliation;
• Other sensitive work in the pipeline that we are not yet at liberty to discuss.

 

Our target

Our annual target through the Allia bonds, to allow us to develop the projects mentioned above, is £250,000.

Concordis International Trust is a non-profit UK company limited by guarantee (No. 4930461) and a registered charity (No. 1105697).

 

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Please note this page does not form part of the bond offer documentation and prospective investors should not rely on it when deciding whether to invest in Allia bonds. The information on this page has been provided by the cause as a summary of its activities. Allia accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this information and prospective investors should contact the cause directly if they require further information or verifications.

The cause is required to use any funds raised through Allia’s charitable bonds in line with the activities described on this page. However, the cause reserves the right to use funds where it considers them to be most needed in order to achieve the same or similar social outcomes.