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Crisis prevention – at the heart of Germany’s peace engagement

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From Iraq to Addis Ababa to Colombia, Germany is working all over the world to resolve or prevent crises.

Acting earlier, more decisively and more tangibly – Germany’s new crisis engagement

How can Germany help to strengthen the security forces in conflict situations? How can German endeavours, UN missions and EU missions be joined up on the ground? And how do the various stabilisation instruments interact in order to foster lasting security and peaceful coexistence?

The German Government adopted the guidelines “Preventing Crises, Resolving Conflicts, Building Peace” on 14 June 2017. The aim is for Germany to take action earlier, more decisively and more tangibly in order to resolve crises – or better still, to prevent them from occurring. The spectrum of these efforts is wide, ranging from munitions clearance in Iraq and education projects in Afghanistan to a truth commission to address human rights violations in Mali.

Brussels, New York, Addis Ababa – bringing the PeaceLab to the world

What form can these peace efforts take? Some 1800 people shared their ideas at 28 PeaceLab events, where experts and volunteers from Germany and all over the world met to discuss peace and security.

The PeaceLab format has proven to be an effective instrument for discussing sensitive topics in a spirit of trust and helping to develop strategies. It also furthered the debate on crisis engagement in Brussels, New York and Addis Ababa, the multilateral centres for peace and security policy, and at the Munich Security Conference.

Thinking ahead on crisis prevention

As every crisis is different and every conflict requires a different answer, crisis prevention must constantly evolve. To this end, the German Government will take various steps, such as refining the instruments for detecting crises at an early stage and maintaining close contact with international partners on peace policy.