Huma Haider - Conflict Sensitivity in Education

www.gsdrc.
org
helpdesk@gsdrc.org
Helpdesk Research Report
Conflict sensitivity in education, the

private sector and infrastructure
development
Huma Haider
29.08.2014
Question
What are examples of conflict sensitive approaches and practice in relation to (i.) education,
(ii) the private sector, and (iii.) infrastructure development, identifying good practice where
available? What are challenges to applying such approaches and practice?
Contents
1.
Overview
2.
What is conflict sensitivity?
3.
What is conflict sensitive education?
4.
Key issues in conflict sensitive education
5.
Approaches and tools: how to incorporate conflict sensitivity in education
6. What are conflict sensitive private sector interventions and infrastructure

development?
7. Key issues in conflict sensitive private sector interventions and infrastructure
development
8. Approaches and tools: how to incorporate conflict sensitivity in the private sector and
infrastructure development
9.
Challenges to achieving conflict sensitivity
10. References
1. Overview
Since the 1990s, aid actors have increasingly recognised that aid interventions are not neutral but become
a part of the context. As such, donors need to be accountable for the inadvertent side effects of
programming on conflict and fragility. Conflict sensitivity is an important concept and tool to help aid actors
to understand these implications and to minimise harm and achieve positive outcomes.
Conflict sensitivity in education

There has been increasing awareness that education systems are not neutral. Education can exacerbate
conflict if it increases social tensions or divisions between groups. This may be the case if:
Education policies and practice are inequitable
Education systems reinforce identity grievances
Educational curricula promote militarism
It is essential to ensure that education interventions themselves do not represent a threat to peace.
Conflict sensitivity in education is the process of understanding the context; analysing the two-way
interaction between the context and education programmes; and acting to minimise adverse impacts and
maximise positive impacts of education interventions on conflict.
There has been a growing shift by those working in the education field from a focus on avoiding negative
effects of education interventions (a more narrow view of conflict sensitivity) toward more attention to
how education can also address drivers of conflict and make a positive contribution to peacebuilding (a
broader view of conflict sensitivity). There are various ways in which education can contribute to
peacebuilding:
An inclusive education system can help to eradicate perceptions of inequality and exclusion
Education can contribute to social cohesion
Educational investments can increase government legitimacy
Participation of stakeholders in educational systems can rectify grievances over lack of

participation and build cooperative relationships
There are various factors that must be taken into account when designing, planning and implementing
conflict sensitive educational policies, programmes, activities and approaches. Key issues include:
Governance: good governance of education systems can be essential to achieving equity, inclusion and
social cohesion, and protecting against grievances about access and quality of education as sources of
conflict. Careful judgement is required about the balance between central control and devolution of
authority.
Language of instruction: language policies have been used in ways that render access to education
inequitable and exacerbate conflict. It can be challenging to develop conflict sensitive language policies. In
some contexts, the use of a single national language in school instruction has helped to foster a sense of
shared identity, whereas elsewhere it has led to a sense of exclusion.
Curricula, history and methods of teaching: it is important to develop a curriculum that is not biased
toward any one group and educational materials that have civic and social and economic relevance to
GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report
Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development
students. A focus on national identity can promote cohesion, but risks imposing the culture of dominant
groups. Teaching of history is particularly controversial. Much of the emphasis is on providing multiple
points of view. These issues are closely tied with methods of teaching and whether a conflict sensitive
approach to education requires a shift from transmission of knowledge, which could be used as a tool to
promote particular ideologies, to learning outcomes and skills development.
Teachers and teacher education: recruitment of teachers should reflect diversity. Teachers may also
require additional training to address students about recent conflicts and to foster an open environment
to explore historical events.
There are various approaches and toolkits to guide thinking on conflict sensitivity and its
operationalisation. Guidance and tools have also been designed specifically for the education sector. At
this stage, there are no evaluations or much discussion in the literature of their advantages or
disadvantages. As such, the profile of these approaches and tools in this report is purely descriptive. The
report covers: the INEE conflict sensitive education pack and other guidance from international
organisations; CIDA and USAIDs diagnostic and assessment tools; and Save the Childrens education and
fragility barometer.
Conflict sensitivity in the private sector and infrastructure development

Similar to aid agencies, companies are not expected to be neutral. Businesses can exacerbate tensions and
conflict through:
Displacement of communities
Unequal distribution of benefits and disadvantages, such as job opportunities, resources,

compensation, and environmental impacts
Weakening government legitimacy, should they provide a greater degree of public goods and
services and/or bypass government procurement processes
Insufficient attention to the entire user chain, including ensuring that company-generated
revenues, company products, company assets and infrastructure all do not support conflict
Infrastructure development, which can be a key activity of the private sector, can exacerbate tensions and
conflict if:
Infrastructure development produces unmet expectations
Infrastructure projects involve competitive contracting processes
The process creates beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries benefiting particular groups over others
The process bypasses local systems and local participation
Incorporating conflict sensitivity into the private sector entails engaging in business in a way that prevents
foreign investors and domestic businesses from causing harm and instead strengthens their ability to
contribute to peacebuilding. There are various other ways in which businesses can contribute to
peacebuilding. These include:
Conflict mediation, for example, acting as facilitators between conflict parties
Ensuring local benefits through local content policies, micro-credit and skills training
Workshops and training on peaceful coexistence, community cohesion and good governance
Infrastructure development can further contribute to peacebuilding through:
Collaboration over infrastructure planning and implementation, with the view that all may benefit
from such projects
Employment generation
Internal connectivity and nation-building, facilitated by transport and communications

infrastructure
Improvements in security and justice, with infrastructure investment geared specifically toward
these sectors
Gender rights, with improved access to water freeing up time for women to engage in educational
and income opportunities
Benefits to the private sector of adopting a conflict sensitive approach include:
Better risk management
Lower operational costs
Enhanced reputation, credibility and social good will
Positive and constructive stakeholder engagement
conflict sensitive private sector policies, programmes, activities and approaches, including those
concerning infrastructure development. Key issues include:
Inclusiveness: a conflict sensitive approach to business practice and infrastructure development must also
consider non-beneficiaries, particularly when a project is specifically designed to improve a certain area or
creates particular opportunities, such as employment. A project that creates haves and have-nots can
result in tensions and violence between the different communities and between the company and groups
that do not benefit.
Community-company consultations: such consultations allow for companies to be aware of and
understand and to be able to address community needs, fears and expectations, and possible
flashpoints that could result in violence. Consultations should also promote transparency and
accountability, equitable interventions, and effective management of expectations.
Addressing the needs of the socially excluded and vulnerable groups: a key consideration is ensuring
access to employment opportunities to members of such groups, such as women, youth and ethnic
minorities.
Private sector partnerships: companies alone cannot avoid harm, reduce or prevent violence, and build
peace. Tripartite partnerships involve the company, government and civil society/communities. This
approach helps to reduce local dependency on companies and may improve government legitimacy. A key
political challenge, however, is clarifying the respective roles and responsibilities of public and private
actors in areas of conflict and dealing with situations where governments are unwilling or unable to
provide an enabling environment for companies to operate responsibly and successfully. Another form of
private sector partnership is between business and the international development and peace community.
The international development community and policy makers need to systematically engage with the
private sector to develop guidelines and international standards and to create tangible opportunities for
cross-sector collaboration.
Sustainability: conflict sensitive approaches to infrastructure development must take into consideration
the maintenance and sustainability of the systems and structures that are created (such as road systems
and water infrastructure). In addition, the impact of the construction of social infrastructure (schools and
health facilities), for example, is highly dependent on adequate services provided in the new facility. This
requires institutional strengthening and training of local staff to provide the services.
Guidance and tools have also been designed specifically for the private sector. As discussed, there are no
evaluations or discussion of their advantages or disadvantages. As such, the profile of these approaches
and tools in this report is purely descriptive. The report covers: International Alerts conflict sensitive
business practice approach and other guidance from the NGO sector, including USIPs conflict sensitive
approach to infrastructure development. It also looks at USAIDs value chain approach and includes a
brief discussion on public policy-private sector approaches and tools.
Challenges to achieving conflict sensitivity

Despite widespread agreement among aid actors about the importance of conflict sensitivity, there are still
various factors that have undermined the successful operationalisation of conflict sensitivity, including
in education, the private sector and infrastructure development. These include:
Incentives/disincentives: pressures faced by implementing organisations to spend large amounts

of donor money quickly can result in failure to adopt time-consuming conflict sensitivity
approaches. Companies may be concerned that the costs of conducting conflict analysis and
engaging in community consultations, important aspects of conflict sensitivity, could undermine
their competitiveness. In addition, organisations are rarely held to account for failure to
incorporate conflict sensitivity approaches or for the negative impacts that their programming may
have.
Analytical issues and integrating findings into programming: difficulties in gathering information,
such as educational data, can undermine the ability to conduct effective conflict analysis and
assessments.
Inconsistent application of conflict sensitivity at the policy and organisational level, throughout
the project life cycle, and at the inter-agency and inter-sectoral level. Lack of coordination among
actors operating in the same space, for example, can result in unintentionally undermining the
work of others. There needs to be greater collaboration between those working in the social
services sectors, such as education, and those in the peacebuilding community; as well as between
those working in conflict transformation and in the private sector.
Political dimensions: conflict analyses are political exercises. Assessments of the education sector
in relation to conflict and fragility can be controversial as they often include a critical analysis of
the political ideology driving the educational system. It is important to find ways in which to engage
government officials that meet their sensitivities.
2. What is conflict sensitivity?

The first principle for aid policymakers, identified in the OECD-DAC Guidelines on Helping Prevent Violent
Conflict (2001: 23), is to do no harm and to guard against unwittingly aggravating existing or potential
conflicts, in addition to maximising good and strengthening incentives for peace. Now well accepted in
the development community, this principle rose to prominence after the devastating genocide in Rwanda
in 1994. Genocidaires used humanitarian relief to refugee camps to consolidate their own power and to
launch attacks within the camps and against Rwanda (Brown et al. 2009). Uvin (1998) argues that
development agencies were also responsible for exacerbating structural violence in the lead up to the
genocide through various actions. This included recruiting predominantly Tutsi local staff, heightening
tensions between Tutsi and Hutu groups.
Aid interventions have since been understood to become a part of the context - and in conflict settings, to
become a part of the conflict. This acknowledgement that aid is not neutral also led to the recognition that
donors need to be accountable for the inadvertent side effects of programming on conflict. Conflict
sensitivity emerged as an important concept and tool to help aid actors to understand these implications
and to minimise harm and achieve positive outcomes. The Do No Harm (DNH) project was launched in late
1994 to answer the question: How may assistance be provided in conflict settings in ways that, rather than
feeding into and exacerbating the conflict, help local people disengage from the violence that surrounds
them and begin to develop alternative systems for addressing the problems that underlie the conflict?1 At
the core of do no harm is analysis of dividing and connecting issues and actors, which should be done with
local partners and regularly updated during project implementation. Primarily seen as a project level tool,
the DNH framework has seven steps (see CDA 2004):
1. Identify which conflicts are dangerous in terms of their destructiveness, and which therefore
require DNH.
2. Analyse 'dividers' identify what divides groups and sources of tension.
3. Analyse 'connectors' understand how people remain connected across sub-group lines despite
divisions created through the conflict, and local capacities for peace (LCPs).
4. Conduct a thorough review of all aspects of the assistance programme.
5. Analyse the interactions of each aspect of the assistance programme with the existing
dividers/tensions and connectors/LCPs. For example, who gains and who loses from assistance?
6. Examine steps one to four: if assistance exacerbates inter-group dividers, rethink how to provide
the programme in a way that eliminates its negative, conflict-worsening aspects.
7. Once a better programming option has been selected, re-evaluate the impacts of the new
approach on the dividers and connectors.
In 1998, Kenneth Bush developed the Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA) methodology,
comparable to environmental or gender impact assessment. While similar to DNH in its focus of how aid
impacts conflict, PCIA adds an additional layer of assessment looking also at how the context can affect
aid interventions. There are three key steps to conducting PCIA (see Bush 2009):
1. Mapping exercise: to better understand the complexity and dynamics of peace and conflict
environments and the interests, objectives and actions of stakeholders.
1 See Do No Harm Project: Trainers Manual Background and History of the DNH Project, updated 2004:
http://www.cdacollaborative.org/media/52479/DNH-Training-Manual-History-of-the-DNH-Project.pdf
2. Risk and opportunity assessment: to identify the negative and positive ways in which the peace
and conflict environment could impact on the initiative.
3. Peace and conflict impact assessment: to identify the ways in which the initiative could create or
worsen conflicts or contribute to peacebuilding. This assessment should be engaged in preinitiative, during the initiative, and post-initiative - contributing to planning, monitoring and
evaluation.
In order for conflict sensitivity to be effective and maximise impact, it should be mainstreamed within an
organisation, rather than treated as a separate project component. It should be applied consistently at the
different levels of intervention (project, programme, sector, policy and inter-agency). Conflict sensitivity
also needs to be applied holistically throughout the programme cycle (design and planning,
implementation, and monitoring and evaluation). Programmes need to be adaptable based on changing
situations and M&E findings. In addition, conflict sensitivity needs to be conducted by different actors,
ranging from donors to non-governmental actors to private sector actors all of whom have the potential
to produce inadvertent affects in the environments in which they operate.
3. What is conflict sensitive education?

Just as aid interventions are no longer viewed as neutral, there is increasing awareness that education
systems are not neutral, and are frequently designed by elite groups in society (UNICEF 2013). Education
can exacerbate conflict if it increases social tensions or divisions between groups. This may be the case if:
Education policies and practice are inequitable: children or youth from one group may have less
access to education opportunities (and associated employment opportunities) than other groups.
This can create grievances that act as a motivation to engage in conflict. Such exclusion may reflect
broader patterns of inequalities in society, such as gender and/or ethnic inequalities (Sigsgaard
2012; INEE 2010; Dupuy 2008; Save the Children 2008).
Education systems reinforce identity grievances: identity issues can play out through particular
language of instruction, curricula that favours a dominant culture, one-sided teaching of history
and portrayal of negative stereotyping of groups in textbooks, among other areas (Sigsgaard 2012;
INEE 2010; Bush and Satarelli 2000). Identity is often closely tied with dynamics of equity and
exclusion (INEE 2010).
Educational curricula promote militarism: the militarisation of textbooks and classroom teachings
can produce military mindsets among children and youth and the belief that solutions to problems
are achieved through force (Sigsgaard 2012; Davies 2011).
Educational interventions (policy decisions, programmes, projects etc.) can inadvertently contribute to
conflict through counter-productive development, planning and delivery, ranging from educational
structures established through peace agreements that further entrench social divisions, to programmes
that fail to link educational opportunities to employment. They can also contribute to conflict by reflecting
the status quo, e.g. by reproducing existing patterns of inequality and biased teachings (Davies 2011).
Conflict sensitivity requires recognising that interventions are not neutral, diagnosing potential problems,
and acting to remedy them (Sigsgaard 2012). It is essential to ensure that interventions themselves do not
represent a threat to peace. Conflict sensitivity in education is the process of (IIEP-UNESCO 2013, adapted
from Resource pack):
Understanding the context in which education takes place;
Analysing the two-way interaction between the context and education programmes and policies
(how the context affects the intervention and how the intervention affects the context); and
Acting to minimize negative impacts and maximize positive impacts of education policies and
programming on conflict.
Conflict sensitive education encompasses policies, activities, and approaches that promote equitable
access to educational opportunity and curricula based on skills and values that support peace and social
cohesion (USAID 2013: 2). Sigsgaard (2012) emphasises that conflict sensitivity is a cross-cutting issue: all
education policies and programmes should be designed to minimise tensions that may lead to conflict; and
special initiatives should be undertaken for education to contribute to peace. There is a spectrum of
ambition that applies to conflict sensitivity. A minimalist position involves being cognisant that all
decisions can affect social tensions and inter-group relations and that interventions must avoid causing
harm. For example, programmes must not favour one side of the conflict through language of instruction,
teacher recruitment or location of schools. A maximalist position also entails the active promotion of peace,
for example developing and implementing programmes where education aims to transform social tensions
by challenging perceptions of the other, and teaching respect for diversity and local, national and global
citizenship (USAID 2013; Sigsgaard 2012).
Smith (2010) finds a growing shift in the past decade by those working in the education field from a focus
on avoiding negative effects of educational interventions toward more attention to how education can also
address drivers of conflict and make a positive contribution to peacebuilding. There are various ways in
which education can contribute to peacebuilding:
An inclusive education system can help to eradicate perceptions of social inequality and
exclusion, which may have been a driver of conflict (Dupuy 2008; Save the Children 2008).
Education can contribute to social cohesion by teaching principles of unity, good citizenship and
social justice, establishing inclusive curricula and textbooks, disarming history, and bringing
different groups together and teaching them to work together peacefully (Sigsgaard 2012; Davies
2011; Barakat et al. 2008; Dupuy 2008; Bush and Santarelli 2000).
Educational investments can increase government legitimacy (Sigsgaard 2012; Davies 2011).
Participation of stakeholders in school management processes and educational systems can

rectify grievances over lack of participation, provide a medium to build relationships outside of
the school built on trust and cooperation, and promote civic action (INEE 2010; Dupuy 2008).
Despite the importance of conflict sensitivity in education, Bird (2011) states that conflict-assessment
approaches and tools used by donors, agencies or country governments rarely consider the relationship
of education to conflict or include education indicators. In order to understand the multiple influences of
education on context, it is essential to engage in qualitative and quantitative analysis. Such analysis should
incorporate examination of the drivers and dynamics of conflict and analysis of educations interactions
with these drivers and dynamics. Similarly, conflict analysis should be included in educational planning and
sector review processes (Davies 2011; INEE 2011). Collecting and analysing data can help to determine, for
example, who does and does not have access to education and why. Once this is determined, efforts should
be made to design and monitor programmes that make education more inclusive and equitable (USAID
2013).
Analysing education from a conflict perspective is relevant to all phases of a conflict before, during and
after conflicts. Within relatively peaceful contexts, for example, an analysis of the education system may
reveal factors that could become sources of grievance between groups and provide opportunities to adapt
policies and programmes in a preventative way. Where violence is underway, education could serve a
protective role, providing a safe space and stable environment for children, and if possible, imparting
messages of non-violent methods of conflict resolution. Where peace processes are underway, education
can contribute to social transformation, for example through educating people about institutional change
and the development of new societal structures (Smith 2011; Dupuy 2008). Dupuy (2008) emphasises,
however, that while education can play an important role in various aspects of peacebuilding, education
alone cannot build the conditions for peace. It must be combined with other peacebuilding interventions.
4. Key issues in conflict sensitive education

conflict sensitive educational policies, programmes, activities and approaches. Key issues include:
Governance
Smith (2011) considers good governance key to a conflict sensitive approach to education. Good
governance of education systems can be essential to achieving equity, inclusion and social cohesion, and
protecting against grievances about access and quality of education as sources of conflict. Conflict sensitive
governance of education systems, however, requires careful judgement about the balance between
central control and devolution of authority. Central control can play an important role in providing
cohesive direction and regulation, but may result in problematic concentration of power.
Decentralisation and devolution are often seen as a way to mitigate against politicisation at the central
level, and to promote greater accountability and participation. While this may be the case in some
instances, decentralisation and devolution could also leave education open to manipulation as part of local
politics and could result in ethnic or religious fragmentation (Davies 2011; UNICEF 2011a). In Bosnia and
Herzegovina, for example, a minimal federal state presence has resulted in three separate curricula for the
three ethnic groups that differ for subjects such as history, culture and language, sometimes in ways that
reinforce prejudice (UNICEF 2011a). It is thus essential to engage in analysis to identify the political and
economic influences operating on and within the education system in particular contexts (UNICEF 2011a).
In order to promote conflict sensitive education, the aim could be to maintain some form of central
regulation alongside adequate degrees of decentralisation (in areas of planning, teacher education,
examinations etc.), while strengthening capacity and monitoring efficiency at all levels (Davies 2011; Smith
2011).
Accountability and participation could be further promoted through the involvement of local communities
in planning curricula and other forms of decision-making (Dupuy 2008). In addition, parents and children
could be incorporated into governance structures, such as school management councils and parentteacher associations. This may also have the effect of building relationships and strengthening social
cohesion (Save the Children 2008). In Somalia, conflict sensitive education planning involved discussion
and awareness raising with hundreds of community education committees. These consultations resulted
in community buy-in, trust and support and provided concrete opportunities for dialogue and
collaboration. This was instrumental in encouraging parents to send their children, especially girls, to school
(UNICEF 2013).
Language of instruction
The choice of language in educational systems confers a power and prestige through its use in formal
instruction (UNICEF 2003, cited in UNICEF 2011a). Language policies have been used in ways that
exacerbate conflict. In India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, for example, they have been used as a way to
dominate access to education by particular groups (Smith 2011). It can be challenging to develop language
policies that contribute to peace rather than conflict. In some contexts, such as in Tanzania, the use of a
single national language in school instruction has helped to foster a sense of shared identity, whereas
elsewhere it has led to a sense of exclusion and fuelled violence. In the latter, multilingual policies may
provide protection against conflict. In Guatemala, for example, the use of Spanish as the primary medium
of instruction, alongside a monocultural school curriculum, was a long-standing grievance of indigenous
people. Under the 1996 peace accords, goals for education reform included the strengthening of
intercultural and bilingual education. This led to the promotion of the use of indigenous languages in school
(UNESCO 2011). In Uganda, the Education Sector Strategic Plan (2004-2015) has attempted to address the
conflict in the north of the country by supporting national integration. It aims to achieve this in part through
fee-free primary education and the provision of reading materials in local materials, to address political
problems surrounding languages of instruction (Bird 2011).
Curricula, history and methods of teaching

Schools should adopt a curriculum that is not biased toward any one group and educational materials that
have civic and social and economic relevance to children in their particular contexts. It is essential that
curricula do not reproduce contents that have contributed to conflict or that have failed to prevent it.
Educational reforms in Afghanistan, for example, have been critiqued for focusing on rebuilding schools
but failing to address attitudes of intolerance and militarism in school textbooks and instead reprinting
them using international development assistance (Smith 2011). There is a risk that socialisation towards
intolerance and violent solutions will exacerbate tensions. Removal of hate messages from textbooks can
still have a negative effect, however. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the international communitys focus on
removing divisive messages about the war from textbooks had the inadvertent effect of politicising
education and exacerbating political and identity divisions (INEE 2010).
Curricula and textbooks that focus on national identity can promote cohesion and serve as an effective
counter to divisive manipulation of parochial identities, but risk imposing the culture and values of
dominant groups and intolerance of diversity (Davies 2011). Davies (2011) asserts that the goal should
generally be to promote national unity while acknowledging and respecting differences and diversity. Civic
or citizenship education can be an important part of the school curriculum in conflict-affected societies. In
some cases, a focus on what unites students rather than what divides them can help to erode entrenched
divisions). Such programmes can also impart important messages about the rights of citizens and their
relationship to the state (Smith 2010). The adoption of one textbook can serve as a minimum entitlement
for students, demonstrating equal access. This may, however, raise concerns over who controls or benefits
from the production of textbooks and about their content (UNICEF 2011a).
The teaching of history is particularly controversial in conflict-affected contexts. In Cambodia, the
education system has recently begun addressing the history of genocide, whereas in Rwanda, the
government maintains a moratorium on history education (UNESCO 2011). There are debates about
whether a single narrative of history or the provision of multiple perspectives is the better approach. Much
literature on reforming education systems emphasises that teachers should foster an environment in which
historical events can be explored and questioned from multiple points of view. The aim is to help students
10
see events through their enemies eyes and to facilitate empathy; as well as to teach how narratives can
be used to promote fear, mistrust and hate.
These issues are closely tied with methods of teaching. A conflict sensitive approach to education may
entail a move away from transmission of knowledge and rote memorisation, which in some instances
could be used as a tool to promote particular ideologies, to an emphasis on learning outcomes. This
involves skills, attitudes and values along with factual knowledge, including development of life skills. Life
skills could incorporate critical thinking, communication skills, conflict resolution skills and psycho-social
support (UNICEF 2011a; Save the Children 2008). In addition, inter-sectoral planning and coordination is
needed to better connect skills and knowledge taught in the formal education system with the labour
market, in order to prevent grievances from lack of appropriate employment opportunities (Davies 2011;
Dupuy 2008).
Teachers and teacher education

Teachers are critical to determining the quality of learning and in socialisation of students (Davies 2011;
Smith 2010). It is thus essential that teacher recruitment and training is conflict sensitive. Recruitment of
teachers should reflect diversity, with a good balance of male and female teachers from different ethnic
groups and with different language skills (Smith 2010). Teachers may also require additional training to
address students about recent conflicts and to foster an open environment in which to explore historical
events from multiple points of view (Save the Children 2008). A more general shift in teaching methods
from rote learning to learning outcomes would also require retraining. In order for teachers to be a positive
force in conflict-affected contexts, it is also important to address the morale and motivation of teachers in
terms of status in society, rates of pay, and terms and conditions of employment (Smith 2010).
5. Approaches and tools: how to incorporate conflict sensitivity in

education
There are various approaches and toolkits to guide thinking on conflict sensitivity and its operationalisation.
Guidance and tools have also been designed specifically for the education sector. These are profiled below.
A common central component of conflict sensitivity approaches and tools is conflict or political economy,
which provides an understanding of the interaction between the intervention and the context and informs
conflict sensitive programming.
INEE/IIEP/EAA guidance and tools

The INEE (international network for education in emergencies) has developed various tools to integrate
conflict sensitivity into education policy, including a conflict sensitive education pack comprised of three
key components: Guiding principles, a reflection tool, and guidance note
INEE Guiding Principles on Integrating Conflict Sensitivity in Education Policy and

Programming in Conflict-Affected and Fragile Contexts
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/INEE_Guiding_principles_A3_English%5B1%5D.
pdf
The Guiding Principles are designed to help stakeholders ensure that conflict sensitivity is incorporated into
education proposals, policies, investments and programmes in conflict-affected and fragile contexts. The
six principles are:
11
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Assess
Do no harm
Prioritise prevention
Promote equity and the holistic development of the child as a citizen
Stabilise, rebuild or build the education system
Development partners should act fast, respond to change, and stay engaged beyond short-term
support
INEE Reflection Tool for Designing and Implementing Conflict Sensitive Education
Programmes in Conflict-Affected and Fragile Contexts
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/INEE_Reflection_Tool_English_interactive%5B1
%5D.pdf
The Reflection Tool is designed for education programme staff and other stakeholders to ensure that
conflict sensitivity is integrated in education at all stages of the programme cycle: assessment, design,
implementation/management, monitoring and evaluation. It is a checklist with a series of questions
based on each principle, which allows stakeholders to design or check the conflict sensitivity of a
programme. Principles of community participation, equity, access, quality, relevance and protection are
included across the checklist.
INEE Guidance Note on Conflict Sensitive Education (2013)

http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/INEE_GN_on_Conflict_Sensitive_Education%5
B1%5D.pdf
The Guidance Note offers strategies to practitioners, policy makers and researchers for developing
and implementing conflict sensitive education programmes and policies in conflict-affected and fragile
contexts.
Other INEE/IIEP materials:
Situational analysis of education and fragility Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Cambodia and Liberia (IIEP, 2011)
http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Info_Services_Publications/pdf/2011/INEE_Synthesi
s.pdf
This paper stresses the importance of mapping the connections between education and fragility as part
of education policy and programming. Such analysis should serve as a basis for determining needs and
risks, setting targets and evaluating progress. The following three questions are central to the analysis:
Can this policy/project/intervention have a negative impact on conditions of fragility?
What evidence exists that it will have a positive impact on fragility?
What factors and dynamics might influence the course and impacts of the intervention?
Answering the last question requires a political economy analysis and assessment of the politico-cultural
aspects surrounding the workings of organisations.
The paper identifies the following four areas as particularly important for the purposes of mitigating the
fragility of the education system and strengthening its functionality:
12
National planning, including joint planning across sectors and across donors and government
Legal and regulatory frameworks, including codes of conduct
Community involvement and local ownership, including in decision-making and implementation
Teacher capacity development
If conflict sensitivity is interpreted as also addressing the drivers and dynamics of fragility and contributing
to peacebuilding and statebuilding, the paper suggests that attention be paid to promoting:
Equal, generalized, and safe access to education: this can help to challenge exclusion; and to build
or restore legitimacy and public trust in the state
Programmes that contribute to citizenship and nation-building, focusing on human rights, shared
national identity and commonalities, while being respectful of differences
Effective preparation for livelihoods and entrepreneurship, matching skills and knowledge to the
labour market
Gender-sensitivity, including programmes that target gender equity and gender relations
Environmental education
Child-friendly schools and informal education initiatives, such as forums for youth voices
Integrating conflict and disaster risk reduction into education sector planning (UNESCO IIEP,
2011)
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/IIEP_Guidancesnotes_EiE_en.pdf#page=1
These IIEP Guidance Notes provide strategies to educational planners on how to mainstream conflict and
disaster risk reduction measures in the education sector planning process. The tool has already been used
in Burkina Faso and Chad to integrate disaster preparation and prevention strategies into their education
sector planning processes. It identifies ways in which each of the steps of the planning cycle can contribute
to reducing the risk of predictable, recurrent emergencies, and also better respond to the sudden onset of
disaster and conflict. Specifically, the tool provides guidance on the following aspects of the planning
process:
Risk analysis for the education sector, including analysing the impact of conflict and natural
disasters
Design of policies and programmes that will reduce the specific conflict and disaster risk identified
in the diagnosis process, including developing capacity for reducing risks
Monitoring and evaluating conflict and disaster risk reduction measures
Costing all initiatives related to conflict and disaster risk reduction and integrating conflict and
disaster risk reduction into education sector budgets
Conflict-sensitive educational planning for peacebuilding (Education Above All, 2013)

http://www.ineesite.org/uploads/files/resources/EAA_Education_for_Global_Citizenship.pdf
This paper reviews ways of including conflict-sensitivity in education sector diagnosis, plan development,
monitoring and evaluation, and costing and financing. Figure 1 and Annex 1 (p. 269, p. 275) identifies the
steps from analysis to monitoring and evaluating programmes that could provide a framework for
educational planning in conflict-prone situations.
13
An education sector diagnosis for conflict mitigation must look at the risk factors to the system, including
possibly an analysis of equitable resource distribution; the level of integration or segregation within the
education system; and bias in curricula and textbooks. The diagnosis process also involves identifying
tension points within the political system and within the education system specifically, looking also at root
causes of tension at a broader scale. Once these are identified, it is necessary to assess the role that
education has played, for example a disproportionate percentage of education personnel favouring a
particular ethnic group.
An education sector plan formulation should address what needs to change to help prevent further
violence and consider how education can play a role in reducing risks and tensions. Specific programmes
for conflict mitigation may fall under priority programme areas such as access, quality and relevance, equity
and management of education. Specific initiatives could include ensuring equitable access in conflictaffected areas through activities such as removing bias from curriculum and textbook. These activities
should be costed and budgeted for and ultimately integrated into national education sector plans, where
possible. Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should contain indicators related to preparedness, such
as the number of schools that have developed contingency plans, or the number of districts that have
conducted a vulnerability mapping.
Donor approaches and tools

Despite the role that education can play in fuelling conflict or in preventing and recovering from it, it rarely
features in conflict analyses and assessment tools (UNICEF 2012; Bird 2011). USAID and CIDA are unique in
their specific targeting of education in their conflict assessment tools (Save the Children 2007). Both the
USAID and CIDA tools draw on Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment (PCIA) methods, looking at both the
impact of conflict and fragility on education; and of education on conflict and fragility (UNICEF 2011a).
Education, Conflict and Peacebuilding: A diagnostic tool (CIDA, nd)

http://www.protectingeducation.org/sites/default/files/documents/e11.pdf
This tool is based on the PCIA approach. It outlines a number of conflict indicators, risks and monitoring
measures for the political, economic, social/cultural, and institutional aspects of education and the
impact of these on conflict. The type of analysis suggested in the tool is considered more useful for early
warning stages and in the aftermath of war with the ultimate aim that the results of the analysis can be
used to predict and contribute to mechanisms for peacebuilding.
Education and Fragility: an Assessment Tool (USAID, 2006)

http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADH913.pdf
This tool is based on the PCIA approach to conflict sensitivity and helps to answer the following three
questions:
1. How does fragility affect education?
2. How does education contribute to fragility?
3. How can education mitigate the sources of fragility and support resiliency?
Each question is posed in relation to a general or specific theme/root cause of fragility (governance,
security, social domain, public disengagement, corruption, lack of capacity, organised violence, transitional
dynamics, and exclusion, elitism and factionalism). Each thematic table looks at the links between patterns
of fragility and access, quality, relevance, equity and management.
14
See also:
Miller-Grandvaux, Y. (2009). Global Trends for Education to Support Stability and Resilience: Research,
Programming and Finance
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/EducationFragilityANewFramework.pdf#page=
Checklist for Conflict Sensitivity in Education Programs (USAID, 2013)

http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/USAID_Checklist_Conflict_Sensitivity_14FEB2
7_cm.pdf
The Checklist offers a practical framework for analysing the operational and technical aspects of education
programmes during all stages: planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. It serves as a
guiding framework, providing key steps to avoid harmful actions and to promote inclusion and equitable
access to education in conflict and crisis environments. The checklist is divided into the following seven
categories with corresponding questions and measures to address to ensure that conflict sensitivity is
incorporated in each category:
1. Commitment and accountability (e.g. whether the organisation has up-to date knowledge about
conflict dynamics)
2. Strategy (e.g. whether the education strategy demonstrations understanding of the conflict
context and its interaction with education)
3. Equitable access (e.g. whether and how the education programme is designed and carried out
based on equity and inclusion)
4. Curricula, teaching and learning (e.g. whether learning materials are unifying rather than divisive)
5. Capacity building (e.g. whether management decisions about education personnel include conflict
sensitive recruitment policies)
6. Community engagement (e.g. whether the approach to community engagement aims to promote
social cohesion)
7. Monitoring and evaluation (e.g. whether data is collected that measure who is and who is not
accessing education and decisions made to address inequalities and exclusion)
NGO approaches and tools

Education and Fragility Barometer (Save the Children, 2007)
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/The_fragility_barometer.pdf#page=1
This early warning tool is designed to aid conflict prevention. It builds on and seeks to complement the
CIDA and USAID assessment tools with the aim of providing a set of more operational indicators for
analysing the role of education in relation to conflict and fragility. How an education system is functioning
can provide indicators on how a country is performing in terms of fragility and/or conflict. The education
and fragility barometer allows fragility comparisons to be made in schools and in countries, at local,
national, regional and even global levels. The indicators focus on the education system at two levels: School
and National, and across three domains: Culture, Policy and Practice. It is preferable to involve children
and communities as well as national authorities in the assessment. The indicators provided are generic,
and need to be adapted according to context. The use of the indicators and subsequent development of
the barometer gives authorities an opportunity to:
1. Undertake a dialogue at different levels and with various stakeholders on the factors that
promote/mitigate conflict in their community/country and the role education plays
15
2. Adapt the indicators in the barometer template to ensure they are context specific
3. Determine whether they are in the danger zone and need to take steps to mitigate the potential
for conflict
4.
To assess where the critical issues are within the education system and identify appropriate
mitigation strategies
6. What are conflict sensitive private sector interventions and

infrastructure development?
Although originally developed for the aid sector, the Do No Harm framework has been adapted by Mary
B. Anderson and her colleagues to the private sector. Similar to aid agencies, companies are not expected
to be neutral. While private sector activities are inevitably affected by local context, company actions will
also have an impact on the underlying conflict in a negative or positive way. An analysis of companies,
primarily working in the extractive industries, demonstrates that the majority of conflict dynamics that
companies experience at the local level are directly related to the ways in which the implementation of
their policies interact with the conflict context (Zandvliet 2011). This is in contrast to the assumption by
most companies that the outcomes of their venture are attributable solely to external factors such as a
weak host government (Zandvliet 2011). Businesses can exacerbate tensions and conflict through:
16
Displacement: corporate activities may force communities to resettle to new locations that may
not have sufficient access to basic resources. There could also be tensions between migrant
populations and the communities into which they are settling (Forrer et al. 2012).
Unequal distribution of benefits and disadvantages: real or perceived unequal distribution of job
opportunities, compensation and resources can be particularly sensitive (Forrer et al. 2012; Bray
2009). Reliance on an expatriate staff by multinational corporations, for example, could create
tensions with the lack of benefits to local employment (Forrer et al. 2012). The main beneficiaries
of corporate activities, in particular those of extractive industry companies, may be national
governments and companies rather than the local communities that suffer most from
environmental impacts (Bray 2009). Poorer communities, which often already have poor air quality
or minimal access to potable water, tend to suffer most from the release of toxins or pollution
(Forrer et al. 2012).
Weakening government legitimacy: firms that invest excessively in public goods and services
could reinforce existing dissatisfaction with the governments capacity to provide for local
communities (Forrer et al. 2012). Bypassing government systems and procurement processes
could also undermine a sense of local ownership and the sustainability and maintenance of
company outputs (Jones and Howarth 2012).
Insufficient attention to the entire user chain: companies need to take responsibility for all stages
of the user chain, including ensuring that company-generated revenues do not fuel or finance
conflict; company products (e.g. computers, telephones, aeroplane fuel) are not used to wage war
in ways that violate international law; company assets (e.g. vehicles, helicopters) or infrastructure
(e.g. buildings, airstrips) are not used by conflict actors; and corporate presence does not serve to
legitimise conflict actors or governments accused of violations of international law (Zandvliet
2011).
Infrastructure development
Private investment in infrastructure in conflict and fragile contexts is often closely linked to investment in
extractive industries, particularly investment in transport (road, rail, pipelines) and power supply to enable
the exploitation of resources. Jones and Howarth (2012) find that although there is little evidence on the
specific role of infrastructure development in extractive industries contributing to conflict and fragility,
there are incidences that demonstrate such a link. Infrastructure projects, such as major roads, bridges,
dams and other energy generating projects, water and sanitation projects whether connected to
extractive industries or not - can inadvertently cause conflict and/or exacerbate pre-existing divisions and
tensions among competing groups (Mitra et al. 2014; Ballentine and Haufler 2009; International Alert
2006). This may be the case if:
Infrastructure development produces unmet expectations: poorly designed or implemented

programmes may raise expectations that are subsequently disappointed (Mitra et al. 2014; Jones
and Howarth 2012). In Afghanistan, for example, farmers had unrealistic expectations that
infrastructure projects would improve water supply in the short term, rather than being limited to
protection (Jones and Howarth 2012). Expectations need be managed well and should be adjusted
to reflect the reality on the ground (USIP 2008).
Infrastructure projects involve competitive contracting processes: competition over contracts

and new resources for reconstruction can become intense and violent (Jones and Howarth 2012).
In Nepal, for example, local government tendering processes resulted in violence between
opposing groups, with some groups colluding to prevent competitors from submitting bidding
documents.
The process creates beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries: there is a risk of elite capture of
infrastructure projects that results, for example, in the selection of road alignments or water
supply points that benefit certain groups (Jones and Howarth 2012). Major infrastructure projects
can reinforce an inequitable allocation of resources, such as granting vital road access to markets
to the dominant community. The contracting process itself is often mismanaged in ways that
benefit the few at the expense of the many (Ballentine and Haufler 2009).
The process bypasses local systems and local participation: in conflict-affected and fragile
environments, it is often tempting to opt for more rapid progress by focusing on external input
and bypassing local participation to avoid local controversy; or relying on financial management
by external partners and bypassing local systems to reduce corruption. Such short-term solutions
can undermine broader statebuilding and peacebuilding processes, in addition to weakening local
ownership and sustainability of infrastructure (Jones and Howarth 2012).
Incorporating conflict sensitivity into the private sector entails: a way of doing business that will prevent
foreign investors and domestic businesses alike from causing harm and will instead strengthen their ability
to build and consolidate peace (Hoffman 2014). Understanding the tensions that existed prior to the arrival
of the company at local and national levels, and anticipating how the project might impact on them is
fundamental to conflict sensitive business practice (International Alert and Engineers Against Poverty
2006). Conflict sensitive business practice can also refer to positive efforts to contribute actively to
peacebuilding and sustainable development.
Many peacebuilding and development actors view the private sector as a positive force in conflict-affected
and fragile contexts. Private sector investments can facilitate employment growth, skills development, and
a more inclusive economy, all of which have the potential to reduce socio-political tensions and contribute
17
to stability and peace. The New Deal identifies the generation of employment and the improvement of
livelihoods as one of five peacebuilding and statebuilding goals, which underscores the important role of
private sector actors in a formal peacebuilding and development framework (Wennmann 2012). There are
various other ways in which businesses can contribute to peacebuilding. These include:
Conflict mediation: businesses could act as facilitators between conflict parties if they are
perceived to be neutral, provide good offices and information, and act as a pro-peace constituency
(Wennmann 2012).
Ensuring local benefits: companies can aim to ensure that they benefit the local economy and
local actors. For example, they could develop local content policies that specify which types of
contracts and jobs could be awarded to local people, finance micro-credit programmes that
support economic diversification activities, or contribute to training communities in basic business
development skills (Zandvliet 2011).
Workshops and training on peaceful coexistence, community cohesion and good governance: in
order to counteract the potential for corporate activities and new revenues to exacerbate
divisions, companies have provided leadership training and conflict transformation workshops
(Zandvliet 2011). Companies in Kenya conducted employee seminars in order to foster harmony
among employees, amidst fears that there could be tensions among their ethnically diverse staff
(Owuwor and Wiser 2014).
Economic and social infrastructure is integral to inclusive growth, employment and access to services. It
can play a direct role in addressing the drivers of conflict and fragility. In particular, infrastructure
development can contribute to peacebuilding through (see Jones and Howarth 2012):
Collaboration and collective action: collaboration over infrastructure planning and

implementation, with the view that all may benefit from such projects, can help to restore
confidence in collective action, cooperation and non-violent means of conflict resolution. Jones
and Howarth (2012) advocate for community-based models for local infrastructure development
that build on local traditions for collective decision making.
Employment generation: employment can be created through the construction of infrastructure

assets, their maintenance, and from the improved environment for economic activity that such
infrastructure creates.
Internal connectivity and nation-building: transport and communications infrastructure that

improves internal connectivity can integrate marginalised regions into broader social and
economic frameworks and improve perceptions of the nation.
Improvements in security and justice: infrastructure investment geared specifically toward

certain sectors such as security and justice (e.g. courts, police stations) may be part of a broader
peacebuilding strategy.
Gender rights: improved access to water can result in significant time savings for women and
children, freeing up time for educational and income opportunities.
USIP (2008) emphasises, however, that infrastructure alone cannot bring about stability. It is essential
that actors involved in infrastructure development planning processes view infrastructure as solely a
18
means of achieving larger goals, such as rule of law, security, sustainable economy and governance all of
which require much more comprehensive policies, strategies and programming. More generally, Hoffmann
(2014) cautions that enthusiasm over the potential of the private sector to contribute to peacebuilding is
not based on a strong evidence base. Governments must continue to have primary responsibility for peace.
Whats in it for businesses?

Violent conflict can impose a wide range of costs on businesses. These could include security costs
(payments to private security firms), material costs (destruction of property and infrastructure) and
opportunity costs (disruption of production). A conflict sensitive approach to business, according to
International Alert (2007) is thus a strategic choice for company managers as it helps to avoid such costs
by developing informed conflict-management strategies. More specifically, the benefits to the private
sector of adopting a conflict sensitive approach include (see Mitra et al. 2014):
Better risk management: conflict sensitivity enables companies to anticipate threats and identify
strategies for avoiding or addressing them. By understanding the full range of project risks and
impacts, companies are better equipped to mitigate risks arising from local grievances.
Lower operational costs: conflict sensitivity helps companies to avoid operational costs arising
from delays and disruptions from protests, and minimize staff time required to address local
conflicts.
Reputation, credibility and social good will: conflict sensitivity enhances company reputation
through the provision of social and environment benefits in addition to economic benefits. It also
prevents poor public relations events or situations.
Positive and constructive stakeholder engagement: conflict sensitivity can help better manage
company relationships with local communities. Consistent, meaningful stakeholder engagement
helps to identify real and perceived community concerns and resolve disputes before they
escalate.
7. Key issues in conflict sensitive private sector interventions and

infrastructure development
conflict sensitive private sector policies, programmes, activities and approaches, including those
concerning infrastructure development. Key issues include:
Inclusiveness: beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries

A conflict sensitive approach to business practice and infrastructure development must also consider nonbeneficiaries (e.g. those who do not benefit directly from a particular new water system; or do not get
compensation for the inconvenience of a business activity), particularly when a project is specifically
designed to improve a certain area or creates particular opportunities, such as employment. Businesses
need to ensure that there is a shared interest and common agenda between communities. In many cases,
companies implement policies and practices that favour host or neighbouring communities over groups
that live further away from corporate plants and offices. Such an approach can inadvertently create haves
19
and have-nots, which can result in tensions and violence between the different communities and between
the company and groups that do not benefit.
In Nepal, a water and sanitation project aimed to improve water provision in twenty small towns initially
consulted only town-based beneficiaries and not rural communities, from where water was to be diverted
for the project. This resulted in grievances among the rural communities and protests that delayed the
project (Mitra et al. 2014). In the case of one of Shell Nigerias pipeline projects, an agreement was
negotiated that benefited not only the most apparent and nearby communities that would be affected but
communities situated geographically further. The communities that would have received the majority of
the compensation acknowledged the risk of conflict if other communities were left out (Zandvliet 2011).
Community-company consultations
Consultation between companies and local communities is considered integral to a conflict sensitive
approach to business practice. In the absence of consultations between companies and local communities,
it is difficult for companies to be aware of and understand and to be able to address community needs,
fears and expectations, and possible flashpoints that could result in violence. The creation of safe spaces
for dialogue and dispute resolution is important to both companies and communities (Mitra et al. 2014;
Wennmann 2012). Jones and Howarth (2012) stress that community engagement is of central importance
for successful infrastructure programmes, and should comprise an important part of programme design
and implementation.
Conflict-sensitive initiatives should draw on such consultations and stakeholder engagement to build
relationships, identify community perceptions and local concerns, and find way to respond to the needs of
the most vulnerable (Jones and Howarth 2012; International Alert 2006). Key aspects of such consultations
would also be to ensure appropriate levels of transparency and accountability, clear communication and
effective management of expectations (Mitra et al. 2014). CDA (2011) reinforce the importance of
transparency and accountability. In their guidance on facilitating conflict sensitive local community
partnerships with the private sector, they highlight the following as four key principles for corporate
engagement:
20
Accountability beyond legal and contractual obligations: for local communities, accountability
goes beyond companies bearing responsibility for offsetting the negative outcomes of their
presence and activities to ensuring that the community is better off. This could be through
employment opportunities and training programmes that provide economic benefits to the
community.
Respect for local communities: this involves engaging communities in genuine, open and ongoing
dialogue and as decision-makers in the process of designing and planning projects to meet local
needs and perspectives. In Indonesia, for example, a bridge that was built by an extractives
company without community input was disliked and seen as the companys bridge, rather than
a community bridge.
Fairness, based on local definitions: companies should ensure that local views on equitable
distribution of economic benefits from company activities are adopted. For example, hiring based
on merit may not be perceived as equitable if this has historically favoured a particular group.
Transparency: communicating full information about plans for and impacts of private sector
activities allows for communities to make informed choices. In addition, it prevents suspicions of
corruption and unfairness.
Addressing the needs of the socially excluded and vulnerable groups

Jones and Howarth (2012) find little evidence of whether the needs of women and other vulnerable groups
have been effectively considered and met in infrastructure programmes. The key consideration here is
employment opportunities. The Rural Access Programme in Nepal, which aims to provide road access to
unserved areas in parts of Nepal, was redesigned to place greater emphasis on the participation of the
poor and socially excluded, particularly through access to employment opportunities. An assessment from
2012 found that the engagement of community youth in the programme discouraged the normally
unemployed youth from joining rebel groups. In addition, the provision of equal pay to women for equal
work improved their economic and social position (Jones and Howarth 2012).
Private sector partnerships

Literature on promising private sector practices and anecdotal evidence suggests that companies alone
cannot avoid harm, reduce or prevent violence, and build peace in conflict-affected and fragile contexts
(Hoffman 2014; Wennmann 2012). Rather tripartite partnerships are required with government and civil
society/communities. Some companies may use their leverage to encourage governments to take part in
such partnerships. The aim is to use government revenues for social services or infrastructure projects that
otherwise could be used to fuel conflict. Each party contributes to the partnership in order to implement a
programme. To build a road, for example, communities could provide labour, the government could
provide materials and the company could provide equipment. This approach helps to reduce local
dependency on companies and may improve government legitimacy in the eyes of local communities,
which could have been a factor in the conflict (Zandvliet 2011).
Ballentine & Haufler (2009) find that a key political challenge is clarifying the respective roles and
responsibilities of public and private actors in areas of conflict. There is currently little guidance that
provides a clear demarcation of responsibility. Bray & Crockett (2012) assert that governments are
responsible for providing an enabling environment for companies to operate responsibly and successfully.
In some cases, however, governments may lack the necessary resources or skills or be unwilling to take on
such responsibility. In the absence of stable governance, it can be challenging for businesses to adopt
conflict sensitive practices. Further, it cannot be left to businesses to tackle challenging issues such as
corruption or non-transparency in government practices.
The international public sector has an important role to play in this regard, establishing international norms
against corruption, international guidelines for conflict sensitivity in the private sector, and global
standards for business operations. They also play an important role in providing assistance to governments
that lack capacity to govern effectively (Ballentine & Haufler 2009). Hoffman (2014) points out, however,
that it has been difficult getting governments from conflict-affected and fragile states involved in the
process of setting up such guidelines and standards and their participation remains limited. On the other
hand, the involvement of companies in these processes has increased. This comprises another form of
private sector partnerships between business and the international development and peace
community. The international development community and policy makers need to systematically engage
with the private sector in order to jointly build a sound business case for conflict sensitivity, to gather data
and engage in assessments, and to supplement existing guidelines with practical support and tangible
opportunities for cross-sector collaboration (Hoffmann 2014; Wennmann 2012).
21
Two important factors to public-private partnerships are:
Transparency: public-private partnerships must be organised in a transparent and accountable

manner to ensure that they do not risk undermining the legitimacy of government or the
programmes developed through the partnership. Programmes must also be designed in a way that
clearly acknowledges the different goals, roles and responsibilities of public and private actors
(Ballentine & Haufler 2009).
Inclusiveness: in order to effectively achieve conflict sensitivity in the private sector, all relevant
actors need to be involved. Bray (2009) notes that small and medium sized enterprises are often
under-represented in political dialogues on governance and economic reforms. This may be due
to their limited political clout and poor organisation of associations that represent them.
Sustainability
Conflict-sensitive approaches to infrastructure development must take into consideration the maintenance
and sustainability of the systems and structures that are created. While road and other transport
infrastructure construction and maintenance can generate short-term employment and economic
opportunities, sustainability requires institutional strengthening and effective community engagement.
This is also true for water infrastructure for agricultural development (Jones and Howarth 2012). In
addition, the impact of the construction of social infrastructure (schools and health facilities) and securitysector infrastructure, for example, is highly dependent on adequate services provided in the new facility.
This also requires institutional strengthening and training of local staff to provide the services. It can take
several decades to develop the institutional capacity required to ensure appropriate operations and
maintenance and to ensure an equitable distribution of services (USIP 2008).
USIP (2008) emphasises the importance of conducting assessments that take into consideration existing
local systems that were put in place to provide essential services that the national government was either
unable or unwilling to provide. In some cases, it may be beneficial to rehabilitate and strengthen the preexisting system rather than building new infrastructure from scratch. In Iraq, for example, there was a
network of community and neighbourhood electricity generators that could have been rehabilitated rather
than rebuilding the electrical grid (USIP 2008). Planners need to consider carefully the various options
available and to be careful not to create future dependencies that could make conflict-affected and fragile
states vulnerable, such as high energy prices (Jones and Howarth 2012).
8. Approaches and tools: how to incorporate conflict sensitivity in

the private sector and infrastructure development
In conflict-affected and fragile countries, it is not sufficient for companies to engage in standard impact
assessments (political risk, environmental and social impact assessments). Such standard assessments fail
to identify the many and complex ways in which a project can impact on the local context and vice versa
(Mitra et al. 2014). Companies must also conduct conflict analysis and implement conflict sensitivity
approaches and tools.
As noted, the Do No Harm framework has been applied beyond the aid sector to the private sector. PCIA
would also be a relevant framework. Other guidance and tools have been designed specifically for the
private sector. These are profiled below.
22
Conflict sensitive business practice (CSBP) International Alert

International Alert has been a pioneer in developing conflict sensitivity guidance specifically tailored to the
private sector. Conflict sensitive business practice enables companies to anticipate, monitor and assess
the interaction of business operations with local tensions and drivers of conflict; and to carry out their
business activities in a way that does not exacerbate conflict and promotes peace (International Alert
2005). It extends beyond compliance with host country laws and regulation to proactive and responsive
efforts to ensure that company investments and operations do not contribute to violence, corruption,
criminality or human rights violations. A conflict-sensitive approach should be an extension of a companys
existing risk analysis processes, rather than an additional process. The key elements of such an approach
can be summarized as follows (see Mitra et al. 2014 and International Alert and Engineers Against Poverty
2006):
Compliance: projects should at a minimum comply with national and international laws and
regulations. Not complying with applicable laws and regulations can not only undermine stability
in a country, but also lead to immediate legal risk for companies. Compliance programmes, risk
management and training of employees involve proactive risk identification and can help reduce
compliance violation and legal costs.
Do No Harm: even with full compliance, business practices can unintentionally do harm.
Awareness and assessment of risks and impacts of business operations on local communities,
through conflict risk and impact assessment tools, can help ensure activities do not fuel tensions
or violence.
Peacebuilding: companies can also proactively contribute towards ensuring a more stable
operating environment by improving service delivery and promoting equity, community voice and
stakeholder participation in decisions that will affect them. A peacebuilding approach is guided by
the following key principles:
-
Communication: open channels of communication to help tackle contentious issues

constructively
Local relationships: beneficiaries of infrastructure projects have a legitimate interest in

investments
Cost and benefit sharing for sustainability: contractors and beneficiaries have a stake in
the process and outcome of the project
Conflict-sensitive business practice: guidance for extractive industries (International Alert

2005)
http://www.conflictsensitivity.org/publications/conflict-sensitive-business-practice-guidance-extractiveindustries
Conflict sensitive business practice (CSBP) enables companies to anticipate, monitor and assess the
interaction of business operations with local tensions and drivers of conflict; and to carry out their business
activities in a way that does not exacerbate conflict and promotes peace. CSBP is designed to accompany
the entire life-cycle of a project. Companies should adopt a conflict-sensitive approach from the preinvestment phase, allowing for early analysis of conflict risk factors. It is also possible to adopt a catch-up
approach for projects that are already underway. CSBP should be constantly updated to reflect changes in
the context and in local dynamics as the project develops. New contractors should immediately be brought
23
in existing CSBP-related processes. Meaningful and transparent stakeholder engagement is at the core of
CSBP.
Although International Alert initially established their guidance for extractive industries, it is developed as
a generic set of guidance that companies can adapt to fit their specific context. The guidance comprises
of:
Operational Guidance Charts: provide a brief overview of possible company/conflict issues that
can arise at the different stages of oil, gas and mining projects at both macro and project levels.
Screening Tool: allows for rapid assessment to identify key conflict issues early in the preinvestment phase. It provides an initial analysis of the country and its conflict dynamics, flags key
issues of concern and identifies the level of risk, as well as potential showstoppers (difficulties of
operating within business principles on human rights, corruption and environment issues, or
within international law). If a high conflict risk is identified, the tool helps to determine if there is
a way in which to operate that is unlikely to exacerbate conflict.
Macro-level Conflict Risk and Impact Assessment tool (M-CRIA): involves an expert-led national
and regional level context analysis. This provides a deeper understanding of conflict risk issues. It
further explores issues of concern raised in the screening and identifies potential interactions of
the project with these issues. M-CRIA involves engaging with key stakeholders at the national level
to deepen understanding, start building relationships and identify potential partners for future
conflict risk mitigation initiatives.
Project-level Conflict Risk and Impact Assessment tool (P-CRIA): analysis of the potential
interactions between the project and its context to a deeper level. This tool helps companies to
build trusting relationships and design shared actions that prevent conflict and build peace
through processes for participatory analysis and decision-making with stakeholders.
Other NGO approaches and tools

Preventing conflict in exploration: a toolkit for explorers and developers (Prospectors and
Developers Association of Canada, World Vision Canada, & CDA)
http://www.pdac.ca/docs/default-source/e3-plus---common/2012-news-toolkit-english.pdf?sfvrsn=6
This tool consists of five steps, each with a set of interrelated guidance questions:
24
Step 1 Analyse and understand the operating context: this involves mapping key stakeholders in
the context and understanding causes and drivers of conflict. Information should be gained
through analysis and dialogue.
Step 2 Understand aspects of the exploration project that effect local communities: this involves
defining company objectives, resources, and exploration project time frame and phase; and
identifying key activities that impact the community both positively and negatively.
Step 3 Understand how the interaction between the context and company activities creates
sources of risk and opportunity.
Step 4 Assess and prioritise risk and opportunities for company operations and the local
community.
Step 5 Develop options and approaches for mitigating risks and optimising constructive
stakeholder engagement opportunities. This includes engaging company staff and key local
stakeholders to jointly track effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies.
Analysis should be conducted on a regular basis, starting early in exploration and frequently as the
relationships between exploration companies and communities are dynamic. Once a company changes its
practices, it changes the context itself requiring additional context analysis.
The tool outlines the following principles as key to successful stakeholder engagement:
Respect
Honesty
Inclusion
Transparency
Communication
It also emphasises that communities are diverse and change with time. Consultation should be with a broad
range of national, regional and local actors, using a wide range of venues.
Do No Harm: Designing and implementing conflict sensitive land programmes (CDA

Collaborative learning projects 2013)
http://www.cdacollaborative.org/media/92483/dnh-in-land-tenure-and-property-rights-final.pdf
This tool outlines the process for a DNH analysis as it relates to interventions in the land sector in order to
help actors understand the impacts of their programmes and adjust them to suit the context. It can help
NGOs, agencies, governments and land tenure and property rights professionals assess the unique and
changing legal, economic, cultural and political conditions in a region and country and to design
appropriate interventions based on the assessment.
Infrastructure projects are generally approached from an engineering perspective. While engineering
concerns such as efficiency are important, they should be secondary considerations in a conflict sensitive
approach (USIP 2008).
Conflict-sensitive approach to infrastructure development (U.S. Institute of Peace 2008)

http://www.usip.org/publications/conflict-sensitive-approachinfrastructure-development
A conflict-sensitive approach to infrastructure development begins with viewing the five key phases of
program development through the lens of conflict analysis. This allows for infrastructure programmes to
be designed to reduce drivers of conflict and support the peace process. The model is based on the five
life-cycle phases of an infrastructure project:
1. Assessment: Analysis should address key issues such as identification of who controls
infrastructure and what motivates these stakeholders. Assessments need to be ongoing through
the life of the project and address the following issues in the host nation:
The role infrastructure plays in perpetuating or mitigating host nation conflict
Cultural traditions and practices that might impact infrastructure design and use
25
Identification of who controls infrastructure and what motivates these stakeholders
Identification of possible incentives for powerful stakeholders, such as cooperation, cooptation, or confrontation
Illicit power structures and their impact on infrastructure
Capacity of the host nation to sustain infrastructure
Host-nation-appropriate technology and local systems
Regional infrastructure arrangements with neighbouring countries
2. Strategy, planning, and coordination: this phase requires identifying the agencies, private
companies and organisations that have the capacity to engage in specific tasks relevant to
reconstruction needs. Bringing everyone together in planning allows for effective joint efforts.
3. Building host nation legitimacy: this requires a fully integrated and resourced capacity
development plan within the host nation at the following levels - policy, laws and regulations,
inter-organizational, host nation government, and infrastructure. It is important to recognize that
building legitimacy is a long-term endeavour requiring capacity development at all levels of the
host nation government.
4. Project execution: simplified contracting and small, community-driven infrastructure projects
implemented by local firms are considered preferable to large-scale projects. It is also important
to link short-term initiatives to long-term development strategy.
5. Transition of completed projects to host nation control: transitioning an infrastructure program
from one lead donor agency to another or to the host nation is a challenging process. The security
environment, progress on indigenous institutional capacity, and the publics perception of
essential services all impact the transition process. It is important to develop processes to deal
with spoilers and an effective communications strategy to manage publics expectations.
Donor approaches and tools

Conflict sensitive approaches to value chain development (USAID 2008)
http://www.internationalalert.org/sites/default/files/publications/C_s_approaches_to_value_chain_devel.pdf
This paper uses a value chain framework as a starting point and explores how a conflict sensitive approach
can be applied to the analysis both of different levels and the various components of the chain. It covers
three aspects of conflict sensitivity as they relate to value chain analysis:
Conflict analysis
Identifying value chain/conflict interactions
Options for project design and implementation based on the analysis above
For each value chain component (e.g. local end markets, business enabling environments), the study
outlines questions to help practitioners analyse the links between conflict dynamics and a given value chain
to ensure that interventions minimize negative impacts and maximize those that are positive.
26
Public policy-private sector approaches and tools

Codes of conduct have become a common feature of the corporate social responsibility agenda,
incorporating aspects such as positive community relations and environmental protection. While many of
these codes remain mostly aspirational benchmarks, some companies have committed resources and
personnel to match them with meaningful implementation (IISD 2006). Other forms of voluntary company
self-regulation are multi-stakeholder initiatives, which require active public policy engagement. Such
initiatives include: the Kimberley Process for International Trade in Rough Diamonds, the Voluntary
Principles on Security and Human Rights, the UN Global Compacts Dialogue on Private Sector Actors in
Conflict Zones, and the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative. The UNs Global Compact initiative, for
example, has played an important role in providing guidance on the principles of conflict risk assessment
and in promoting public-private policy engagement on how to promote responsible business in conflictaffected areas (Bray 2009). These initiatives have sensitised companies to the need to engage in conflict
and political economy analyses and the awareness that their activities can influence conflict dynamics
Voluntary initiatives suffer from various weaknesses, however. These include: their partial, self-selective
nature; lack of uniformity in terms of company codes; and lack of transparent reporting or monitoring
mechanisms. All of this undermines the widespread adoption of conflict sensitive approaches and practices
and the ability of such initiatives to have a cumulative and sustainable impact (Ballentine & Haufler 2009;
IISD 2006). Ballentine & Haufler (2009) advocate for more concerted public policy and regulatory support,
including public incentives for the adoption of conflict sensitive business practices and common
international standards. The IISD (2006) also recommends the use of other tools, particularly mandatory
regulation (involving common authoritative and legally enforceable rules, with rigorous sanctions for
failure to comply) and market inducement (rewarding good business practice with economic benefits).
See Table 2 and the Appendix in Ballentine & Haufler (2009) for an overview of relevant voluntary initiatives
and regulatory instruments.
9. Challenges to achieving conflict sensitivity

There is widespread agreement among aid actors about the importance of conflict sensitivity. However,
there are still various factors that have undermined the successful operationalisation of conflict sensitivity,
including conflict sensitive education. These include:
Incentives/disincentives
Funding and timing: pressures faced by implementing organisations to spend large amounts of donor
money quickly can result in failure to adopt time-consuming conflict sensitivity approaches (CDA 2009). In
his research on PCIA in Pakistan, Ahmed (2011) finds that in most cases, agencies opted for a hurried
approach (based on decisions at headquarters). Development projects were implemented without a prior
conflict analysis and the PCIA exercise was then partially performed after the fact to determine the
projects impacts on local peace and conflict dynamics. He argues, however, that once a project is
implemented without a conflict analysis, the benefits of the PCIA approach are significantly undermined.
There are many competing priorities when working in the education sector in conflict-affected and fragile
contexts and many countries find it difficult to prioritise peacebuilding among competing demands (UNICEF
2013). Often civic education and life skills programmes, for example, are considered to be of lower status
27
than other curriculum areas. Even where there is consensus to address the drivers of conflict, it is
challenging to decide which issues to priorities e.g. addressing geographical educational inequalities or
youth unemployment and skills (UNICEF 2011b).
Conflict sensitivity processes impose additional costs on companies in the short run and can be seen as a
luxury add-on to a project that reduces the competitiveness of a bid or the initial profitability of a venture.
A conflict sensitive approach can, however, reduce costs in the mid- to long-term related for example to
project delays, security costs and compensation to communities (Mitra et al. 2014). It may be beneficial for
the public sector to provide incentives for more widespread adoption of conflict sensitive practices by
companies and adherence to international standards and frameworks. Incentives could help to counter the
problem of economic competition that undermines the willingness to adopt conflict sensitive approaches
Lack of accountability: if organisations are not held to account for failure to incorporate conflict sensitivity
approaches or for the negative impacts their programming may have, they may have little or no motivation
to engage in conflict sensitivity. CDA (2009) finds that donors rarely monitor for the use of do no harm by
implementing agencies beyond the funding phase and thus have little knowledge of whether it is actually
adopted. Further, donor policies rarely provide any consequences for failing to engage in conflict sensitive
programming or penalize activities that actually caused harm (Woodrow and Chigas 2009). At the
community level, there are also no mechanisms for recipients of international assistance to hold
organisations accountable for the negative impacts of projects on local people (CDA 2009).
Analytical issues and integrating findings into programming

Difficulties in gathering information, due to complex conflict environments and intensive demands on time
and resources, can undermine the ability to conduct effective conflict analysis and assessments (Bornstein
2010). In the education sector, the practical feasibility of gathering the necessary educational data is an
important consideration. A complete overhaul of national data collection processes and of the education
management and information system can be a very costly and slow process (Sigsgaard 2012).
Further, a key challenge for agencies, generally and in relation to conflict sensitivity, is how to ensure that
all information gathered and analyses conducted are made useable, presented in a 'user-friendly' way, and
disseminated rapidly to those who can act on it to inform, design and monitor programming. Lange (2006)
recommends experimenting more with web-based information management systems. Progress in
integrating findings into programme design, implementation and monitoring also depends on commitment
from decision-makers and formal mechanisms that link analysis and assessments to an overarching
planning cycle (Bush 2009).
Inconsistent application of conflict sensitivity

at the policy and organisational level
The majority of learning about conflict sensitive practice has been at the programme level, with little
attention given to the policy level (Woodrow and Chigas 2009). In order for conflict sensitivity to be applied
consistently, it should be embedded in an agencys policies and operational agenda.
In companies, a key challenge is ensuring that conflict sensitivity is understand and fully applied by
operations managers and not just by corporate social responsibility specialists. It is also important that
conflict sensitivity is applied not only by larger Western companies but also by small and medium sized
28
companies from all parts of the world and by local entrepreneurs (Bray 2009). It also needs to be applied
to all firms along the value chain, extending to suppliers (Forrer et al. 2012).
throughout the project life cycle
Conflict sensitive approaches are most effective when applied consistently and holistically throughout the
project life cycle from analysis and design to evaluation. The widespread focus on developing conflict
analysis frameworks has resulted in a relative neglect of practical guidance on how to operationalise the
findings (Woodrow and Chigas 2009). The do no harm project finds that where agencies conduct analysis,
this is often relied on solely for initial programme design, with no monitoring of impacts and unintended
consequences of the programme once implemented and follow-on programme adjustments (Woodrow
and Chigas 2009). New education curriculums may be designed to be conflict sensitive. However, such
interventions will not be conflict sensitive in implementation if teachers continue to use outdated conflict
insensitive curriculum and resist changing their traditional teaching methods (UNICEF 2013; IIEP-UNESCO
2013). In terms of companies, Zandvliet (2011) finds that most companies focus on opportunities to
transform conflict only at one phase rather than throughout the project cycle. Outside groups could assist
companies in becoming more strategic and implementing conflict sensitivity throughout the whole cycle.
at the inter-agency and inter-sectoral level
Even if organisations adopt conflict sensitivity in their internal processes, policies, funds and structures, the
lack of an enabling external environment can adversely affect its operationalisation (Lange 2006). Lack of
coordination among actors operating in the same space, including national governments, donors, local
partners and NGOs, can result in unintentionally undermining the work of others. UNICEF (2013)
emphasises that in order for education services to be conflict sensitive, there needs to be sustained
commitment on behalf of country-level governments, donor partners and civil society. There also needs to
be collaboration between those working in the social services sectors, such as education, and those in the
peacebuilding community. However, the peacebuilding community is not always open to inputs from the
services sectors and education practitioners may not be prepared to consider the possibilities that come
with viewing education as an enable of peace. There needs to be multiple interactions over time to build
an understanding and commitment to linking education and peace and developing sustainable approaches
and interventions (UNICEF 2013).
Much literature on business and conflict emphasises insufficient communication, coordination and
cooperation among key actors. Zandvliet (2011) states that at best, stakeholders work in isolation; and at
worst, they create conflict among themselves. Companies that fail to adopt conflict sensitivity undermine
the work of those that do. In addition, host governments that are unconcerned or unable to address issues
of corruption, criminality and conflict fail to create an enabling environment for conflict-sensitive business
practices (Ballentine & Haufler 2009). Similar to the lack of collaboration between the education and
peacebuilding communities, there needs to be greater efforts to develop mutual interests among those
working in conflict transformation and those in the business community (Zandvliet 2011).
Political dimensions
Conflict analyses are political exercises that reflect often contentious determinations of the causes of
conflict and interpretation of history (Izzi and Kurz 2009). Ongoing assessments and evaluation in conflict
sensitivity processes are also political exercises. There may be pressure to minimise or exclude
controversial issues in order to make findings acceptable to a larger set of actors and thus useable. Izzi and
Kurz (2009) argue that if the quality of analysis is compromised to a large extent, it may not be better than
29
no analyses at all. Assessments of the education sector in relation to conflict and fragility can be
controversial as they often include a critical analysis of the political ideology driving the educational system
and other sensitivities. Analyses can be critical of government and other key stakeholders and there is in
some countries a reported hesitancy among government officials to talk about conflict sensitive issues.
This can delay efforts to promote conflict sensitive education, for example, in Ethiopia where such
hesitancy delayed the governments decision to join UNICEFs Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy
programme. It is important to find ways in which to engage governments that meet their sensitivities, for
example, using alternative language to conflict and peacebuilding such as an emphasis on resilience
(UNICEF 2013; UNICEF 2011a). Citizenship education can also seem threatening when it is aimed at dealing
with ethnic or religious tensions. Strategies and programmes are more likely to be sustainable if they are
based on broad dialogue and buy-in from diverse groups in society (Sigsgaard 2012).
10. References
Ahmed, Z. S. (2011). Peace and conflict impact assessment (PCIA): Lessons from Pakistan. Peace and
Conflict Review, 5(2), 12-27. Available at: http://www.review.upeace.org/images/pcr5.2.pdf
Ballentine, K. & Haufler, V. (2009). Public policy for conflict-sensitive business. UN Global Compact Office.
Available at:
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/Peace_and_Business/Enabling_Economies_2009.
pdf
Bird, L. and MacEwen, L. (2013). Conflict-sensitive educational planning for peacebuilding: the broader
context. In Education for Global Citizenship. Doha: Education Above All (EAA), pp.267-278. Available
at: http://www.ineesite.org/uploads/files/resources/EAA_Education_for_Global_Citizenship.pdf
Bird, L. (2011). Promoting resilience : Developing capacity within education systems affected by conflict.
Think piece commissioned for the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011. Available at:
http://www.basiced.org/wp-content/uploads/Publication_Library/UNESCO-Promoting_ResilienceDeveloping_Capacity_within_Education_Systems_Affected_by_Conflict-2009.pdf
Bornstein, L. (2010). Peace and conflict impact assessment (PCIA) in community development: A case
study from Mozambique. Evaluation, 16(2), 165-176. doi: 10.1177/1356389009360471. Available at:
http://evi.sagepub.com/content/16/2/165.short
Bray, J. and Crockett, A. (2012). Responsible risk-taking in conflict affected countries: the need for due
diligence and the importance of collective approaches. International Review of the Red Cross 94(887):
1069-1087. Available at: http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2012/irrc-887-braycrockett.pdf
Bray, J. (2009). The role of private sector actors in post-conflict recovery. Conflict, Security &
Development, 9(1), 1-26. doi: 10.1080/14678800802704895 . Available at:
http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3526
Brown, S., Goldwyn, R., Groenewald, H., & McGregor, J. (2009). Conflict sensitivity consortium
benchmarking paper. Conflict Sensitivity Consortium. Available at:
http://www.conflictsensitivity.org/sites/default/files/CSA%20Benchmarking%20paper-full.pdf
30
Bush, K. (2009). Aid for peace: A handbook for applying peace & conflict impact assessment (PCIA) to
Peace III projects. INCORE, University of Ulster, and United Nations University. Available at:
http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/pdfs/Handbook-Aid_for_Peace-2009_Dec.pdf
Bush, K. D. and Saltarelli, D. (eds.). (2009). The two faces of education in ethnic conflict: towards a
peacebuilding education for children. Florence: Innocenti Research Centre, UNICEF. Available at:
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/Two_Faces_of_Edu.pdf#page=1
CDA. (2011). Partnering with the private sector: local perspectives on optimising development
opportunities. Cambridge, MA: CDA. Available at:
http://www.cdacollaborative.org/media/60837/Partnering-with-the-Private-Sector-LocalPerspectives-on-Optimizing-Development-Opportunities.pdf
CDA. (2009). Barriers and supports for do no harm (Issues Paper). Cambridge, MA: CDA. Available at:
http://www.cdacollaborative.org/media/52560/Issue-Paper-Barriers-and-Supports-for-Do-NoHarm.pdf
CDA. (2004). The do no harm handbook (The framework for analyzing the impact of assistance on
conflict). Cambridge, MA: CDA Collaborative Learning Projects. Available at:
http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=2802
Davies, L. (2011). Understanding educations role in fragility: synthesis of four situational analyses of
education and fragility: Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cambodia, Liberia. Paris: UNESCO.
Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001915/191504e.pdf
Dupuy, K. (2008). Education for peace: building peace and transforming armed conflict through education
systems. Save the Children and PRIO. Available at:
http://www.prio.org/Publications/Publication/?x=187
Forrer, J. Fort, T. & Gilpin, R. (2012). How business can foster peace. Washington, DC: USIP. Available at:
http://www.usip.org/publications/how-business-can-foster-peace
Hoffmann, A. (2014). From business as usual to business for peace? Unpacking the conflict-sensitive
narrative. The Hague: Clingendael Institute. Available at:
http://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/CRU%20Policy%20Brief%2028.pdf
Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Working Group on Education and Fragility
(2010). The Multiple Faces of Education in Conflict-affected and Fragile Contexts. INEE. Available at:
http://www.ineesite.org/uploads/files/resources/INEE_Multiple_faces_of_ed_in_conflictaffected__fragile_contexts_FINAL.pdf
International Alert. (2005). Conflict-sensitive business practice: guidance for extractive industries. London:
International Alert. Available at: http://www.conflictsensitivity.org/publications/conflict-sensitivebusiness-practice-guidance-extractive-industries
International Alert and Engineers Against Poverty. (2006). Conflict-sensitive business practice: engineering
contractors and their clients. London: International Alert. Available at:
http://www.engineersagainstpoverty.org/documentdownload.axd?documentresourceid=24
31
International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO). (2013). INEE guidance note on conflict
sensitive education. Paris: IIEP-UNESCO. Available at:
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/INEE_GN_on_Conflict_Sensitive_Education
%5B1%5D.pdf
IISD. (2006). Aiding, trading or abetting: promoting conflict sensitive business. International Institute for
Sustainable Development and IUCN The World Conservation Union. Available at:
http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2005/tas_objective_5.pdf
Izzi, V. & Kurz, C. (2009). Potential and pitfalls of conflict-sensitive approaches to development in conflict
zones: reflections on the case of North Kivu. (Paper presented at ISA Annual Convention, New York,
15-18 February). Available at:
http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/3/1/2/8/1/p312813_index.html
?phpsessid=ok050981rkr0783dspo6h6hnn2
Jones, S. & Howarth, S. (2012). Supporting infrastructure development in fragile and conflict-affected
states: Learning from experience. Oxford: Oxford Policy Management. Available at:
http://www.opml.co.uk/sites/opml/files/FCAS%20infrastructure%20final%20report.pdf
Lange, M. (2006). Conflict-sensitive humanitarian assistance: building capacity for mainstreaming. In P.
Gibbons & B. Piquard (Eds.), Working in conflict - Working on conflict: Humanitarian dilemmas and
challenges (pp. 155-170). Bilbao: University of Deusto. Available at:
http://www.humanitariannet.deusto.es/publica/PUBLICACIONES_PDF/Working%20in%20conflict.pdf
Mitra, S., Vivekananda, J., and Schilling, J. (2014). Driving development, not conflict: Conflict sensitive
business practice in fragile contexts (unpublished). London: International Alert
Owuor, V. and Wisor, S. (2014). The role of Kenyas private sector in peacebuilding: the case of the 2013
election cycle. One Earth Future. Available at: http://oneearthfuture.org/research/publications/rolekenyas-private-sector-peacebuilding-case-2013-election-cycle
Save the Children. (2008). Where peace begins: educations role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
London: Save the Children. Available at: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/resources/onlinelibrary/where-peace-begins
Sigsgaard, M. (2012). Conflict-sensitive education policy: a preliminary review. Doha: EAA.. Available at:
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/1_Sigsgaard_M%282012%29ConflictSensitive.pdf
Smith, A. (2010). The influence of education on conflict and peace building. Think piece commissioned for
the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011. Available at:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001913/191341e.pdf
UNESCO. (2011). Education for all global monitoring report 2011: the hidden crisis: armed conflict and
education. Paris: UNESCO. Available at:
http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/INEEcms/uploads/1150/R9_UNESCO_2011.pdf#page=1
32
UNICEF. (2013). Peacebuilding, education and advocacy in conflict-affected contexts programme. UNICEF.
Available at: http://www.educationandtransition.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/PBEA-2012Consolidated-Report-Final-Submitted-to-PARMO-17-June-20132.pdf
UNICEF. (2012). Conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding in UNICEF (Technical Note). UNICEF
Available at:
http://www.unicefinemergencies.com/downloads/eresource/docs/conflict%20sensitivity/UNICEF%2
0Technical%20Note%20on%20Conflict%20Sensitivity%20and%20Peacebuilding%5B1%5D.pdf
UNICEF. (2011a). The role of education in peace-building: Literature review. UNICEF. Available at:
http://www.unicef.org/education/files/EEPCT_Peacebuilding_LiteratureReview.pdf
UNICEF. (2011b). The role of education in peacebuilding. Case study: Sierra Leone. UNICEF. Available at:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/files/EEPCT_Peacebuilding_CaseStudy_SierraLeone.pdf
USAID. (2013). Checklist for conflict sensitivity in education programs. Washington, DC: USAID. Available
at:
http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/USAID_Checklist_Conflict_Sensitivity_14F
EB27_cm.pdf
USIP. (2008). Conflict-sensitive approach to infrastructure development. Washington, DC: United States
Institute of Peace (USIP). Available at: http://www.usip.org/publications/conflict-sensitiveapproachinfrastructure-development
Uvin, P. (1998). Aiding violence: the development enterprise in Rwanda. West Hartford: Kumarian Press.
Wennmann, A. (2012). The role of business in armed violence reduction and prevention. International
Review of the Red Cross, 95(886). Available at:
http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2012/irrc-887-wennmann.pdf
Woodrow, P. & Chigas, D. (2009). A distinction with a difference: Conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding
(Reflecting on Peace Practice Project, CDA Collaborative Learning Projects). Cambridge, MA: CDA.
Available at: http://cdacollaborative.org/media/53164/A-Distinction-with-a-Difference-ConflictSensitivity-and-Peacebuilding.pdf
Zandvliet, L. (2011). Conflict transformation and the corporate agendaopportunities for synergy. In
Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, Section IV. Available at: http://www.berghofhandbook.net/documents/publications/zandvliet_handbookII.pdf
Expert contributors
Education
Lynn Davies, University of Birmingham
Kendra Dupuy, Chr. Michelsen Institute
Alan Smith, University of Ulster
Necla Tschirgi, University of San Diego
33
Private sector
Rina Alluri, Swisspeace
John Bray, Control Risks
John Forrer, George Washington University
Timothy Fort, Indiana University
Simon Howarth, Mott MacDonald
Stephen Jones, OPML
Shreya Mitra, International Alert
Conor Seyle, One Earth Future
Suggested citation
Haider, H. (2014). Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development
(GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report 1136). Birmingham, UK: GSDRC, University of Birmingham.
About this report

This report is based on nine days of desk-based research. It was prepared for the Australian Government,
Australian Government 2014. The views expressed in this report are those of the author, and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of GSDRC, its partner agencies or the Australian Government.
The GSDRC Research Helpdesk provides rapid syntheses of key literature and of expert thinking in response
to specific questions on governance, social development, humanitarian and conflict issues. Its concise
reports draw on a selection of the best recent literature available and on input from international experts.
Each GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report is peer-reviewed by a member of the GSDRC team. Search over 400
reports at www.gsdrc.org/go/research-helpdesk. Contact: helpdesk@gsdrc.org.
34

Huma Haider - Conflict Sensitivity in Education

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Huma Haider - Conflict Sensitivity in Education

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Huma Haider - Conflict Sensitivity in Education

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

www.gsdrc.

Helpdesk Research Report

Conflict sensitivity in education, the

What is conflict sensitivity?

What is conflict sensitive education?

Key issues in conflict sensitive education

Approaches and tools: how to incorporate conflict sensitivity in education

6. What are conflict sensitive private sector interventions and infrastructure

Challenges to achieving conflict sensitivity

Conflict sensitivity in education

Education policies and practice are inequitable

Education systems reinforce identity grievances

Educational curricula promote militarism

Education can contribute to social cohesion

Educational investments can increase government legitimacy

Participation of stakeholders in educational systems can rectify grievances over lack of

GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report

Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development

Conflict sensitivity in the private sector and infrastructure development

Unequal distribution of benefits and disadvantages, such as job opportunities, resources,

Infrastructure development produces unmet expectations

Infrastructure projects involve competitive contracting processes

The process bypasses local systems and local participation

Conflict mediation, for example, acting as facilitators between conflict parties

Infrastructure development can further contribute to peacebuilding through:

Internal connectivity and nation-building, facilitated by transport and communications

Benefits to the private sector of adopting a conflict sensitive approach include:

Better risk management

Lower operational costs

Enhanced reputation, credibility and social good will

Positive and constructive stakeholder engagement

GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report

Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development

Challenges to achieving conflict sensitivity

Incentives/disincentives: pressures faced by implementing organisations to spend large amounts

2. What is conflict sensitivity?

GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report

Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development

3. What is conflict sensitive education?

Understanding the context in which education takes place;

Participation of stakeholders in school management processes and educational systems can

GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report

Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development

4. Key issues in conflict sensitive education

Curricula, history and methods of teaching

GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report

Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development

Teachers and teacher education

5. Approaches and tools: how to incorporate conflict sensitivity in

INEE/IIEP/EAA guidance and tools

INEE Guiding Principles on Integrating Conflict Sensitivity in Education Policy and

INEE Guidance Note on Conflict Sensitive Education (2013)

Other INEE/IIEP materials:

Situational analysis of education and fragility Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Can this policy/project/intervention have a negative impact on conditions of fragility?

What evidence exists that it will have a positive impact on fragility?

GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report

Conflict sensitivity in education, the private sector and infrastructure development

Legal and regulatory frameworks, including codes of conduct

Community involvement and local ownership, including in decision-making and implementation