Publikation

The Civil Peace Services engage participants from numerous cultures to work together in peace-building, whether to prevent conflict, transform it or stabilize the situation to bring lasting peace. This multiculturalism is perceived as an opportunity in the sense that it permits participants to learn with and from each other, contributing experiences and methods that have been effective elsewhere. The professional support persons from the Civil Peace Services bring their own contributions to transformand stabilize conflicts to build sustainable peace. This learning process is always reciprocal. Nevertheless, reality has shown that it is this same multiculturalism that is often ignored or viewed as an obstacle in the peace-building process. It can also be reduced to a mere clash between two cultures; that of the people sent from outside and that of the people from the host country. Without dwelling on it too much, we also believe that in Africa this can involve an implicit collision between the cultures of “Black” and “White”. Without saying it out loud because such things are taboo, we reduce the “other” in our perception to an identity that is almost a caricature. Our prejudices can subconsciously shape our behaviour and that of others. 

In this booklet, we put forward factors that affect and examples that illustrate our work in order to: 

• Recognize and value the identities of everyone
• Reveal and confront stereotypes and prejudices that influence us
• Develop on the basis of our diverse cultures and identities the elements of a common culture to promote peace and a better future

This complexity and the diverse reactions that result from it are at the heart of the relations between people working in a local organization that receives professional support personnel from outside. The quality of the collaboration that ensues affects the performance of the organization in its peace-building work.

Content:

1. Introduction

2. Identities and governance: the challenges of peace-building work

3. Identity relations among Africans

4. Identities and cultures

5. Integrating professional support personnel into the partner structures

6. Intercultural collaboration in Africa: for a collection of stories

7. Local structures in crisis zones

8. Participants in the Civil Peace Services (CPS)

9. The challenges of collaboration

10. Collaborative learning

11. Emergence of a peace-promoting culture for a better future

ANNEX

Africa as the world views it: Binyavanga Wainaina: How to write about Africa

See as well: French Version