OUR WORK
Safeguarding the space for peacemaking
In 2022, CMI found creative ways to address conflicts in a global situation that was drastically changed by the war in Ukraine. The demand for CMI’s services reached an all-time high.
The past year has witnessed significant global events that have had a profound impact on international relations and peacemaking. The most notable has been Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has led to large-scale human suffering, a compromised role of multilateral institutions and a widened gap between Western countries and Russia and tensions with the Global South.
24 February 2022 will be remembered as a pivotal moment that accentuated geopolitical divides that are here to stay. The newly emerged global security risks stem from tensions between states, and the conflict paradigm has increasingly shifted to include inter-state in addition to intra-state conflicts. At the same time, the invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated how independent peacemakers such as CMI can complement official peacemaking efforts and underlines the need for conflict resolution mechanisms that are able to tackle also other types of conflicts than civil wars. Amid the accelerated multipolarisation, the capability to engage in dialogue with all actors needs to be maintained. Reflecting the diminished capacity of official diplomacy to provide solutions to conflicts, the demand for CMI’s services continued to grow, reaching an all-time high in 2022, with 132 requests for support in all.
During 2022, CMI sought to safeguard the space for peacemaking and to find new and creative ways to address conflict in the drastically changed setting. In Ukraine, CMI was able to successfully adapt its work to remain relevant, helping to strengthen the resilience and social cohesion of Ukrainian society in the face of the war. The diverse activities implemented in support of crisis response reached a considerable number of civil society members and local communities, including individuals in particularly vulnerable positions, such internally displaced persons (IDPs). At the same time, CMI maintained its capability to support relevant actors in the wider region affected by the invasion of Ukraine, including in Moldova, the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia and among the parties to the Transnistrian Settlement Process.
Despite the tragedy of the war in Ukraine, positive steps towards peace have been seen in other parts of the world. For example, the peace process in Yemen has made remarkable progress, with the parties creating arrangements for ending the fullscale fighting that have held since April 2022. In recent years, CMI has focused on supporting the inclusivity of the peace process, especially concentrating on working with parties who are not directly involved in the internationally mandated peace process, such as political parties, tribes and Southern Yemeni actors as well as women’s groups and civil society.
Another positive development has been the peace agreement signed between the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in November 2022, which has brought an end to the fighting that was raging in the region for two years. The peace agreement testifies to the power of dialogue and negotiation in searching for solutions even for the most intractable conflicts and navigating between complex regional and global interests. CMI’s efforts in the Horn of Africa region have supported the mediation infrastructure, communications and coordination between key stakeholders in the region and has ensured the availability of technical and advisory support to key actors, including the African Union.
In addition to having supported the quality and effectiveness of diverse peace processes, as well as the agency of key national, regional and international actors to engage in those processes, CMI has actively continued its work to improve peacemaking practices.
The developments in Yemen and Ethiopia underscore the potential for improving situations even in the most challenging circumstances. As an organisation dedicated to peacemaking, CMI remains resolute in its efforts to prevent and resolve political conflict. This work is enabled by indispensable support of CMI’s key partners and donors, including Finland, Sweden and Ireland as programmatic donors, as well as other governments and the EU that have partnered with CMI in specific contexts.