Alert 2012! Report on conflicts, human rights and peacebuilding is a yearbook which analyzes the state of the world in connection with conflicts and peacebuilding based on five areas of analysis: armed conflicts, socio-political crises, peace processes, humanitarian crises and the gender dimension on peacebuilding. Focusing on these areas,
Alert 2012! offers an overview of the world’s state of affairs and reveals possible trends and dynamics related to the characteristics and evolution of active armed conflicts, socio-political crises, peace processes and humanitarian crises in the world and the gender dimension within all of these circumstances. The comparison of the data with figures from previous years means the report can act as an early warning tool regarding general trends or situations in specific countries. This can be useful, among other things, to devise foreign policy, development cooperation and arms transfer policies, as well as policies to prevent armed conflicts, consolidate peace processes, and post-war recovery.
Hugh Miall, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Conflict Analysis Research Centre, University of Kent In this new edition the authors of the Escola de Cultura de Pau again demonstrate their comprehensive contribution to all those with an interest in following current trends in the fields of conflict prevention, peacebuilding and human rights.
Alert 2012! is distinctive for its focus not only on armed conflicts, but also on de-escalation, opportunities for peace, and the status of peace negotiations. The report can be used to look for early warnings of conflicts that could ignite or escalate, but more positively as early promise of possible outbreaks of peace. With its focus on negotiations and the gender dimension, this is a valuable complement to other yearbooks on armed conflicts.
Elisabeth Decrey Warner, President of Geneva Call Many questions and uncertainties are on the forefront of conflicts in the beginning of the year 2012 and at the time of the publication of
Alert 2012. The nature of conflicts is changing; the enemy is not always easily identifiable or linked to a specific category; the weapons and their users are often new and unexpected; and the fight against terrorism can open the door to the worst abuses. The landscape of conflicts has become blurred and difficult to predict. But one thing is certain: civilians caught in the middle of armed violence, women and children in particular, suffer unnecessarily. Everything must be done to help and protect them. In order to do this, reliable information is of the utmost importance and necessity. The report
Alert 2012! is an invaluable source that provides a snapshot of the situations of conflicts, their evolution, the actors involved and what is happening on the ground. In this sense, the work done by Escola de Cultura de Pau is essential for all those involved in the protection of civilians in the midst of armed conflict as well as for those working on a political resolution to restore peace. For all its efforts Escola de Cultura de Pau should be congratulated and thanked.
Norbert Ropers, Programme Director, Berghof Foundation, Berlin / Bangkok Alert 2012! provides again an impressive overview of current trends in conflict, human rights and peacebuilding. Its particular strength is the combination of identifying and documenting quantitative trends with qualitative analysis. For practitioners and academics alike it offers inspiring insights into lessons for ending violence, promoting peace and human rights.
Cynthia Cockburn, Centre for the Study of Women and Gender, University of Warwick Congratulations to the Escola de Cultura de Pau on its eleventh annual Alert!. This thorough briefing on global trends and specific cases of conflict, crisis and peace-making should lie in waiting on the desk of every incoming Minister for Foreign Affairs or Defence. Again there is a strong section on gender which will be as relevant to the new agency UN Women as to the many local, national and regional NGOs actively promoting the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in the face of much inertia. Women will welcome the careful attention the report gives to sexual violence, the scandalous thread running through times of peace and times of war.
