Civil Peace Service
The Civil Peace Service (ZFD) is a program for violence prevention and peacebuilding in crisis and conflict regions. He advocates a world in which conflicts are settled without violence. Nine German peace and development organizations run the CPS together with local partner organizations. The ZFD is funded by the federal government. CPS specialists provide long-term support to local people in their commitment to dialogue, human rights and peace. At the beginning of 2018, more than 300 international CPS specialists were working in 43 countries.
history
In 1999 the first CPS specialists left for the former Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Romania, Zimbabwe and the Palestinian territories. Since then, the CPS has developed into a successful model for preventing violence and promoting peace around the world in the context of development policy.
When the wars in the crumbling Yugoslavia shook Europe in the 1990s, the idea for a civil peace service arose in Germany, initially in church and civil society circles. A “Civil Peace Service” discussion forum for interested people and groups began in 1993 to develop the concept of professional peace work analogous to the development services, and in 1995 began to promote it politically. In 1997, numerous personalities from politics and culture signed a "Berlin Declaration for a Civil Peace Service in Germany". Since 1996, regular qualification courses for women and men with professional and life experience have been offered, in which almost 550 specialists have taken part to date. In the same year, under the name of the “Consortium Civil Peace Service”, the constant exchange of experiences and ideas between the peace groups involved and the recognized development services began.
After the change of government in 1998, implementation could begin: What had been a mere idea up until then, has now taken on the real form of a joint effort by German peace and development organizations and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) . With public funding, the number of target regions, approved projects and seconded experts rose rapidly. The consortium transformed from an imaginary future workshop into an operational working platform for the (now) nine supporting organizations. In this context, the first specialist publications and common standards for qualification and project work were created. Together, the members of the consortium faced a major evaluation from 2009 to 2011. This resulted in suggestions for improvement, including a. to strengthen public relations, which were implemented in a joint reform process.
Since 1999, more than 1,200 CPS specialists in more than 60 countries have successfully worked on peaceful conflict management. More than 300 international ZFD specialists are currently working in 44 countries. In 2017, the ZFD was funded by the BMZ with around 45 million euros. (Status: 3rd quarter 2017)
The effectiveness of civil peace work can be seen in practical examples: for example, the coming to terms with the war-torn past in Guatemala led to high-ranking military officials being brought to justice for the first time in spring 2016 for violent crimes during the civil war. In former Yugoslavia, trauma work with war veterans gave rise to reconciliation initiatives; With the support of the ZFD, former soldiers work there as contemporary witnesses with young people so that the cruel past does not come back. In Colombia, CPS specialists work with local journalists to promote sensitive media reporting that de-escalates instead of exacerbating the conflict (text on the story: Timan Evers , social scientist and consultant in the field of development policy and conflict management).
Consortium ZFD
The supporting organizations of the ZFD have joined forces to form the Civil Peace Service consortium. They dedicate themselves to different tasks and bring diverse experiences, skills and methods to the work. The organizations have various approaches to social groups in the partner countries. The tasks of the consortium lie in the further development of the content of the ZFD, in the exchange of experiences, in the improvement of administrative framework conditions and the representation of common concerns towards the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the public.
The ZFD consortium includes:
- The Working Group Service for Peace (AGDF)
- The Working Group for Development Aid (AGEH) eV
- Bread for the World - Evangelical Development Service
- EIRENE - International Christian Peace Service
- The Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst eV (forumZFD)
- The German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH
- The KURVE Wustrow - educational and meeting place for nonviolent action eV
- peace brigades international (pbi)
- The Weltfriedensdienst eV
working area
The ZFD works in principle with local, mostly civil society organizations. The focus is on the sending of specially trained specialists who support the local partner organizations in their peace work. ZFD specialists are men and women with life and professional experience who have in-depth knowledge of civil conflict management . You have been working on site for several years under the Development Aid Act (EhfG).
On site, partners and specialists are working on, for example:
- to win the trust of the conflicting parties
- to promote dialogue between all parties involved
- To dismantle enemy images
- To convey methods and concepts of civil conflict management
- Bring conflicting parties to one table
- to strengthen local legal certainty
- advocate for human rights
- To provide psychosocial support to victims of violence
- To reintegrate former fighters into the community
- Empowering disadvantaged groups to voice their concerns
- To sensitize journalists so that media reports reduce tensions rather than build them up
A decisive advantage of the CPS specialists is that, as outsiders, they bring new perspectives that help initiate peace processes. This position makes it easier for them to contact all parties to the conflict. However, the skilled workers do not have the right to resolve conflicts. Rather, they support their local partners in finding their own nonviolent ways and contribute their expertise.
literature
- Around 700 publications from the Civil Peace Service can be found in the CPS publication database
- Andreas Heinemann-Grüder, Isabella Bauer (Ed.): Civil conflict management: From aspiration to reality. B. Budrich, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8474-0031-8 .
- Christine Freitag : Is Peace the New Name for Development? Challenges and limits of the evaluation of measures of the civil peace service. In: Sabine Klotz, Jan Gildemeister (Ed.): The evaluation of desired and undesired effects of civil conflict management. Heidelberg 2004, pp. 7-19.
- Christine Freitag: How do you become a peace worker? Personnel selection, preparation and qualification for the civil peace service. In: D + C Development and Cooperation , Issue 1/2003, pp. 12–15.
- Tilman Evers (Ed.): Civil Peace Service. Professionals for Peace. Idea, experience, goals. Leske & Budrich, Opladen 2000, ISBN 3-8100-2910-6 .
- Action Group Service for Peace (Ed.): Civil instead of military: Experience with civil, non-violent conflict management abroad. AGDF, Bonn 2006, ISBN 3-88815-000-0 , ( PDF file; 1 MB ( Memento from February 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )).