Interpeace is an international organization for peacebuilding that supports locally led initiatives around the world. Interpeace tailors its approach to each society and ensures that the work is locally owned and driven. Together with local partners and local teams, Interpeace jointly develops peacebuilding programmes and helps establish processes of change that connect local communities, civil society, government and the international community. The organization works in more than 20 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Latin America. In 2017, Interpeace was granted an international organization status by the Federal Council of Ministers of Switzerland. As a strategic partner of the United Nations, Interpeace is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and has offices in Abidjan, Brussels, Guatemala City, Nairobi, New York City and Stockholm.
History
The origins of Interpeace date back to 1994, when the United Nations conducted a peacebuilding pilot project, called the 'War-torn Societies' project. The project then transitioned to become an independent non-profit organization in 2000 now named Interpeace. Interpeace still has a strategic partnership with the United Nations.
Interpeace's Track 6 Approach
Interpeace seeks to facilitate positive interactions between three levels, or “tracks”, of society, by strengthening lines of communication and providing spaces for dialogue where previously these may have been weak or completely absent. The three “tracks” are broadly differentiated by levels of influence and formal organisation, and can be summarised as follows: Track 1: Political elites and decision-makers Track 2: Civil society and local government, influencers, think tanks and researchers Track 3: Communities and individuals within the broader population Connecting these tracks can help societies move towards a situation in which high-level policies are informed by the knowledge and experience of local communities, and which therefore reflect local realities. This is the essence of the “Track 6” approach: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. Interpeace’s mandate is based on two core pillars. The first is strengthening the capacities of societies to manage conflict in non-violent, non-coercive ways by assisting national actors in their efforts to develop social and political cohesion. The second involves assisting policy-makers at the national and international levels to play a more effective role in supporting peacebuilding efforts around the world. The Track 6 approach helps Interpeace bring those pillars together, ensuring that lessons learned in the field are understood and applied, to continue the evolution and improvement of peacebuilding practice.
Singapore: Ambassador Foo Kok Jwee, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations Office and other international organisations at Geneva since September 2014.
