New report by Vivienne O’Connor, a rule of law researcher, trainer, and practitioner and former Senior Rule of Law Advisor at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), discussing the book Speaking Their Peace: Personal Stories from the Frontlines of War and Peace on the critical importance of listening to the voices of those who are affected by violent conflict and the wisdom that they share with us.
"We, as peacebuilding policymakers, practitioners, and academics, know a lot about the dynamics of contemporary conflicts. But what do we really know about the ordinary people in those conflict-affected states? How often are they truly given a voice? Drawing on Speaking Their Peace: Personal Stories from the Frontlines of War and Peace, this report synthesizes the re ections of the diverse range of people interviewed for the book. They come from different countries, religions, cultures, walks of life, and sides of a con ict, but they share strong feelings and opinions about their exclusion from the peace making process, about the difficulties of coping with personal trauma and societal change, and about the role of the international community in post conflict peace building..."