Publications

31 May 2023 | 6pm | Saal, kHaus, Basel

Women and girls are disproportionately subjected to threats, hate speech, and other forms of violence in online spaces. Join us for the film screening “Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age”, a film on online gender-based violence, to learn more and discuss actions for more gender equality.

Register here

Natural resources are essential for human survival, serve as a primary source of livelihood for many, and are vital to the functioning of economies and societies worldwide. What conflicts can arise from competition for these resources, and how can peacebuilding organizations address them? KOFF members discuss this topic in the latest edition of the à propos magazine.

en | de | fr | take a look at all à propos

This Essential summarizes our key findings of an internal assessment of Joint Learning Processes (JLP), a peacebuilding methodology and practice developed by us. This Essential aims to identify and capitalize on the lessons learnt from previous JLPs to improve the accessibility, relevance, and impact of joint learning in the platform, as well as to share our experiences with this methodology with a wider audience.

Read the Essential (en)

KOFF gender experts Yasmine Janah & Dr Anna Antonakis wrote an article on the open debate meeting on Resolution 1325 under Mozambique's Presidency of the UNSC for the SGA-ASPE. The article highlights the importance of the UN Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda as a domestic and foreign policy agenda and concludes that civil society is a necessary condition to support gender-sensitive peace policies, not least in the context of Switzerland’s current seat on the UN Security Council and the forthcoming draft of the Swiss 5th NAP.

Read the article online (de)

A year has passed since Russia invaded Ukraine and the outcome of this war remains uncertain. It is the first conflict of its kind and magnitude in Europe since the Second World War and highlights the divergence of views on peace, even within the peacebuilding practice. When a country is attacked, is military retaliation the way to peace? KOFF members share their views and commitment to peacebuilding in Ukraine in this first 2023 issue of à propos.

en | de | fr | take a look at all à propos

What are the different identities and positionalities represented within the KOFF platform? What impact do they have on existing conflicts and peacebuilding? This à propos issue engages with the demands for decolonization, racial and gender justice and how they have affected the work, power dynamics and values of KOFF organizations.

en | de | fr | take a look at all à propos

How can our organizations cope with the shrinking spaces for civil society? This à propos issue provides an overview of the current space left to civil society and the approaches and methods used by KOFF organizations and their partners to create new spaces or defend existing ones.

en | de | fr | take a look at all à propos

This Policy Brief summarizes the reflections and recommendations of Swiss civil society and its partners on the question of how socio-economic barriers, and the conditions under which care work in particular is performed, hinder women’s participation in political and peace processes in Switzerland and abroad. It sheds light on three care-related obstacles to women’s participation: the underfunded care economy, the overburdening of women through care work and gender roles that promote stereotypes that “naturalize” and devalue the provision of care and hence minimize women’s predisposition to feel confident enough to participate in political processes.

Read the Policy Brief (en)

Humanitarian, development, peace, and human rights organizations provide crucial support to local civil society organizations and the general population in Central America. However, KOFF organizations report in this issue of à propos that the growing levels of authoritarianism and corruption in the region, particularly in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, are compromising their work.

en | de | fr | take a look at all à propos

Over the past years, KOFF members have experienced and examined what it means when the space for civil society shrinks. At the same time, many organizations and individuals around the world have adapted old and developed new strategies and approaches to continue their work for peace, against all odds. The upcoming roundtable will highlight the creative, persistent, and innovative ways in which civil society «makes space» for peacebuilding.

December 1, 9:30am

read the synthesis