Key Findings:

  • The lack of long-term engagement and strategic planning by international donor organisations remains a significant impediment for the development of sustainable conflict management interventions.
  • Greater financial transparency, clearer communication of objectives and regulatory oversight of the peacebuilding sector in Nineveh are needed to increase communal confidence and buy-in.
  • The jargon of peacebuilding often imposed on local NGOs by Western donor organisations does not adequately reflect Iraqi attitudes towards post-conflict recovery.
  • Past injustices will need to be addressed in a culturally sensitive manner so that peacebuilding endeavours stand a chance in the future.
  • While tribal leaders should be engaged as important stakeholders in local peacebuilding and reconciliation interventions, international NGOs and donors should seek ways to mitigate the risk of directly or indirectly empowering non-state armed actors as ‘executive’ partners.

This work was originally published on the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation’s website.