Networks

Links

CPCS provides Network support mechanisms for practitioners across Asia and the world as well as targeted networks such as Transcend to connect advanced and specialized approaches.

Action Asia

Action Asia works predominantly in Asia towards democracy and a stable peace in conjunction with local practitioners belonging to the network. Action Asia organises opportunities for peacebuilders around the continent to come together, share their experiences, reflections and theories about the approaches to peacebuilding which are effective within the Asian context, and work together for peace.

Asia Peacebuilder's Forum (APF)

Action Asia has created the biennial Asia Peacebuilders Forum as a venue for identifying uniquely Asian approaches in the field of conflict transformation and peace building. Importantly the APF can deepen relationships between members for further exchange, collaboration and exposure. It is a means to celebrate the vibrancy of the movement and highlight the success of various interventions and provides an opportunity to document and publish lessons learned in peace building and conflict transformation by practitioners at both community and national levels.

The first forum was held in Mindarao in 2006, the second in Nepal in 2008 and the third in Cambodia in 2010. Workshops presented by members during these forums were documented; see Publications

: AA Peacebuilder's Forum 2008, Kathmandu, Nepal

Biennial Action Asia Leadership Meeting

Action Asia's core leadership meeting aims to assess the network's programmes implementation in pursuit of its mission - looking at its impact and effectiveness in bringing about positive change, as well as to plan for the network's long- and short-terms strategic programmes. It provides an avenue for the leaders to:

Analyse the peace and conflict dynamics in the region and build better understanding of regional institutions and systems;
Identify strategic interventions and areas for advocacy; and,
Examine and re-create effective mechanisms for the network's ongoing sharing of learning, skills and experiences.

The core leaders are representatives from different countries within the region where Action Asia has members and most importantly where the network has ongoing or emerging programmes that respond to crisis situations or pursuing sustainable peace.

The first Leadership Meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur in 2009, then in Sri Lanka in 2011.

Centre for Peace and Applied Research, Africa

: Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, left, and Halima Shuria, Director of the Centre for Peace and Applied Research

Over the last two decades local initiatives for peace in Keny, such as the Wajir Peace and Development Committee in Kenya, have contributed to laying the foundation for what has now become the Centre for Peace and Applied Research (CEPAR), a home to a range of interconnected programs which promote the advancement of peace processes, research and learning, in Kenya and beyond. CEPAR will work to compliment and support the effort of the Government of Kenya in line with Kenya's vision for 2030 of peace building and conflict resolution framework, particularly on the section on "security of all persons and property throughout the Republic." However CEPAR is also looking beyond Kenya and the Horn of Africa Region.

CEPAR's mission is to generate, preserve and disseminate knowledge by integrating peace education and conflict transformation into other quality programs covering a wide variety of disciplines while engaging in innovative participatory research, training and consultancy. Their goal is to create a local and international centre for excellence and strategic studies which will improve the lives and livelihood of people of Kenya and Horn of Africa through innovative peacebuilding techniques as well as disseminate these resources through conversation, formal training, publications and putting them in the hands of policy makers and practitioners who will benefit from this extensive knowledge base. CEPAR was conceived as a way to develop and reflect on best practices, reflect on the lessons learnt and contribute towards informing policy change.

In October 2009, CPCS' Board of Directors voted to partner the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies with the Centre for Peace and Applied Research. As both organisations share a common vision, goals, and means of achieving those goals, this new partnership across continents will further network peacebuilders and provide greater opportunities for collaboration and the sharing of knowledge between Asian and African peacebuilding practitioners.

TRANSCEND South East Asia Network

CPCS hosts the Transcend Southeast Asia Network. TRANSCEND Southeast Asia Network members are experienced regional actors who together work to advance thinking and action in conflicts with nonviolence, empathy and creativity, for acceptable and sustainable outcomes.

During the last week of March 2010, CPCS hosted members of Transcend- Japan who did a week of exposure visits in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.