People affected by violence, conflict, including peacemakers often have to deal with omnipresent emotions. What kind of emotions are they dealing with? What impact do they have on their lives? Their work? And on a larger scale, on peace processes?
While so-called “transformative” approaches to peacebuilding at the community level often take into account the emotional dimension of conflict and peace, their role in high-level political peace work is more contested.
In the wake of last month’s Basel Peace Forum 2022, which gave us an excellent opportunity to explore the power of emotions in peacebuilding, KOFF members and their partners are revisiting this fascinating topic by sharing their experiences in the à propos. They outline the place of emotions in their mediation and human rights work and share the psychosocial approaches they use to support people traumatized by violence, forced displacement, or stigmatization. Finally, they reveal the gaps and challenges that remain in this field.
Wishing you a pleasant read.
Sanjally Jobarteh, Editor of KOFF magazine
By publishing the à propos magazine, the Swiss platform for peacebuilding KOFF creates a medium for its members and partners to communicate about their experiences and perspectives. The articles of this magazine reflect the views of the authors only and not those of KOFF or swisspeace.
