Elicitive Peace and Conflict Monitoring: A Pilot Study in Iraq

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Elicitive Peace and Conflict Monitoring: A Pilot Study in Iraq

December 16, 2020

Between October and December 2019, a pilot study led by the United Nations Development Programme Iraq, in partnership with Iraq’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Iraqi Al-Amal Association, and the University of Innsbruck, with funding from Germany’s Ministry of Economic Cooperation through KfW, was undertaken in Baghdad, Mosul, Ramadi, and Tikrit. 

The study aims to identify the underlying dynamics of conflicts in Iraq and the potential for local, regional and national initiatives to support peace efforts in Iraq. This was achieved by adapting a unique elicitive peace and conflict monitoring approach, developed at the University of Innsbruck’s UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies. This approach to research does not offer ready-made content solutions for resolving conflict episodes, but rather applies a methodology that gives the space for participants to place their experiences regarding peace and conflict dynamics at the centre of the study.

This study explores new approaches to conflict transformation and peacebuilding in Iraq through community member consultation, focusing on expertise from Iraqi scholars at the forefront. Field research was carried out by 28 Iraqi researchers, including 11 university academics and 17 young activists, in the cities of Baghdad, Mosul, Ramadi, and Tikrit, with a research process consisting of eight steps including interviews, online questionnaires, transcription and coding.

The findings generated a series of recommendations organized in four key areas: Spaces for Peace and Conflict Transformation, Truth Telling, Alternative Forms of Justice-Seeking, and Relational Security.

The study was developed under the Peace Education Project, which aims to enable Iraqi universities to have better influence on peace and conflict transformation.