The Creating Safer Space project ‘Understanding Community-level Spontaneous Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP): A Comparative Study of Initiatives in South Sudan, Myanmar and Colombia’ has published a policy brief, Spontaneous Unarmed Civilian Protection in Rumbek and Juba, South Sudan.

The policy brief is written by Luke Abbs, Flora Francis Bringi and Moses John. It explores the role of peace committiees, protection teams and religious leaders in grassroots UCP initiatives in South Sudan, and provides recommendations aimed at supporting ‘spontaneous’ UCP initiatives while keeping initiatives locally owned.

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The Creating Safer Space network has brought together people from 70 organisations in 13 countries to better understand unarmed civilian protection and self-protection amidst violent conflict. As the network draws to a close, join us to find out more about our work, to celebrate our achievements and to look ahead!

1.00 – 2.30 pm UTC on Friday 21 February

Register for the Zoom event HERE

Programme:

• Research Findings and Achievements: Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Nerve Macaspac, Beatriz Arias and Rachel Julian
• Keynote Speech: Rosemary Kabaki, Head of Mission South Sudan, Nonviolent Peaceforce
• Highlights from a selection of Creating Safer Space projects around the world
• Reflections from the audience

Bring a local drink to celebrate!

Further information about the images on the e-flyer:

• Top left: Men in South Sudan illustrating the use of grasses tied together to convey a specific symbolic meaning. When the heads of the grasses are tied together, it symbolises a clash (that there will be fighting). When the heads of the grasses are apart, as the man in the middle demonstrates with his hands, it symbolises that violence will be avoided. Photograph by Haji Elias Hillary as part of the Creating Safer Space project Visualising early warning and preparedness in civilian protection: Investigating local vernaculars of community adaptations to insecurity
• Top centre: Illustration by Wanwisa Intarakanchit, produced as part of the Creating Safer Space project Introducing Unarmed Civilian Protection in Thai Society: Opportunities and Challenges
• Top right: Still from La Fiesta theatre production, Medellin, Colombia, produced as part of the Creating Safer Space project Art that Protects: Contributions of artistic-cultural initiatives to the self-protection strategies of young people and women in the context of the urban conflict in Medellín Photograph by Laura Diosa Vera and Sofia Garcia ‘Ponchis’.
• Centre right: Illustration by Sebastián Bucheli in Civilians Protecting Civilians, produced by the Creating Safer Space project Understanding Community-level Spontaneous Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP): A Comparative Study of Initiatives in South Sudan, Myanmar and Colombia
• Bottom left: Part of a poster produced as part of the Creating Safer Space project The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia, an experience of unarmed civil protection with indigenous and peasant communities of Bajo Cauca
• Bottom centre: Drawing by a research participant, Jayapura, West Papua, as part of the Creating Safer Space project Civilian (Self-) Protection from Violent Conflict in Papua
• Bottom right: Part of a poster produced as part of the Creating Safer Space project The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia, an experience of unarmed civil protection with indigenous and peasant communities of Bajo Cauca

The role of local communities in addressing violent conflicts and humanitarian emergencies.

Tuesday 4 February 5-6 pm
Quaker House, Square Ambiorix 50, 1000 Brussels

The European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP), the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) and the Creating Safer Space network (CSS) cordially invite you to a policy discussion under the Chatham House rule on the role of civilians and nonviolence in crisis preparedness and management in the context of violent conflicts and humanitarian emergencies.

Many communities across the world are facing complex crises ranging from armed conflicts to the increasing frequency of natural disasters. Yet, while local communities are often the first (and sometimes the only) responders in such emergencies, their agency and potential has not been fully recognised in current approaches to crisis preparedness and management. This policy event will explore the roles local communities already play in early warning, early response and crisis management in different contexts and discuss how these insights can inform the European Commission’s envisioned integrated approach to fragility, which aims to ensure better coordination between humanitarian, development, peace and other policies to enhance the EU’s approach to urgent relief and longer-term solutions.

Agenda:

• Prof Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (CSS research network)
• Ms Rosemary Kabaki (Head of Mission, Nonviolent Peaceforce South Sudan)
• Ms Gaëlle Nizery (Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, European Commission)
• Ms Nora Loozen (Belgium Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
• Discussion moderated by Prof Rachel Julian (CSS research network)

Please RSVP by filling in this form.

The event is held in conjunction with the Creating Safer Space Exhibition Reception.

Learning from South Sudan

Date: Thursday 6 February 2025
Time: 12:30 – 14:00
Location: Quaker House, Square Ambiorix 50, Brussels (Map)

South Sudanese Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) operate in a highly challenging context. While the main warring parties signed a peace agreement in 2018, subnational violence has persisted in many parts of the country and remains a significant concern. In addition, ‘the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, and association all remain severely restricted’ according to the OHCHR. HRDs and journalists are subjected to intimidation, harassment as well as arbitrary arrests and detention, forcing many to flee their country. Yet they play an essential role in democratisation and peacebuilding processes in the world’s youngest nation, which recently saw its first and long-awaited elections postponed to 2026.

The South Sudan Human Rights Defender Network (SSHRDN) is a coalition of civil society organisations and individuals working to protect and promote human rights in South Sudan. With the support of Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) the European Union and the Netherlands, SSHRDN is working to increase the safety, security, and operational space of South Sudanese HRDs so they can remain in the country as they carry out their invaluable work.

In this Brown Bag Lunch, representatives from SSHRDN and NP will share lessons about effective protection approaches for HRDs, including women HRDs, and reflect on the challenges of integrating protection concerns in human rights work. They will also share recommendations on how INGOs and donors such as the European Union can better support HRDs in South Sudan.

Their presentation will be followed by an informal discussion to gain insights from other participants’ work in South Sudan and/or to protect human rights defenders, as well as related advocacy efforts at EU level.

The South Sudan Human Rights Defenders Network (SSHRDN) is a non-profit, non-political coalition of civil society organizations and individuals working to promote human rights in South Sudan. SSHRDN seeks to provide protection, build the capacity of and create operational space for human rights defenders in South Sudan as a means of promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is an international NGO founded in 2002. Our mission is to protect civilians in violent conflicts through unarmed strategies, build peace side-by-side with local communities, and advocate for the wider adoption of these approaches to safeguard human lives and dignity. Our nonviolent methods of Unarmed Civilian Protection (i.e. the direct physical protection of civilians in conflict by trained, unarmed civilians) straddle the peacebuilding, human rights and humanitarian sectors. NP has been supporting civilians in South Sudan since 2010, and is also active in Indonesia, Iraq, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sudan, Ukraine and the United States.

If you would like to participate, please register by Tuesday 4 February.

Brown-bag lunch participants are also invited to take the opportunity to visit the Creating Safer Space Exhibition, on show at Quaker House from 3-7 February 2025.

Wednesday 5 February 2025, 12:30-1:30pm
Quaker House, Square Ambiorix 50, 1000 Brussels

Peace Brigades International (PBI), the Creating Safer Space research network (CSS), and the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) cordially invite you to a brown-bag lunch about experiences and research insights on protective accompaniment and community-led unarmed civilian protection amidst the violent political and social conflicts in Colombia.

Colombia has an immense richness of experiences with proactive nonviolent strategies civilians use to keep themselves and others safe. We will get insights from a protective accompanier who has volunteered with Peace Brigades International Colombia and the research network Creating Safer Space that focusses on better understanding community-led unarmed civilian protection, exploring what works, how it works, and what main challenges for self-protecting communities are.

Speakers:

• Emily Humphreys (Peace Brigades International – PBI): Emily, ex-volunteer ‘Brigadista’ from PBI Colombia project, will lead a discussion and exchange on PBI’s accompaniment model in Colombia, both preventative and reactive. Space will be made to discuss President Petro’s ‘Total Peace’ strategy, looking at the challenges ahead in his final year of presidency and what scenarios lay ahead for the Organisations and Defenders leading peace efforts in Colombia.
• Prof Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (Aberystwyth University, UK): Berit will report on select insights from 10 Creating Safer Space research projects in collaboration with self-protecting communities in Colombia.
• Discussion

Tea/coffee will be provided.

Peace Brigades International (PBI): Founded in 1981, Peace Brigades International provides protection, support and recognition to local human rights defenders who work in areas of repression and conflict and have requested our support. This is achieved through protective accompaniment, international observation, advocacy, awareness raising and capacity development.

The PBI team in Colombia has been active since 1994, accompanying 15 Colombian organisations and human rights defenders across the entire country, from its offices in Bogota and Barrancabermeja.

Creating Safer Space: Creating Safer Space is a 5-year, £2.25 million international research network led by Aberystwyth University in collaboration with partners in Colombia, Kenya, Thailand, the UK and the US. We support research on unarmed civilian protection and self-protection amidst violent conflict in eleven countries in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia and aim to strengthen civilian capacities for nonviolent protection and conflict transformation.

Brown-bag lunch participants are also invited to take this opportunity to visit the Creating Safer Space Exhibition, on show at Quaker House from 4-7 February 2025,

The Creating Safer Space Exhibition will be on show at Quaker House Brussels from 4-7 February 2025.

The Creating Safer Space exhibition explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living amidst humanitarian crises and violent conflicts. The stories told by objects, images, and voices originate from a selection of 26 research projects funded by the Creating Safer Space network, conducted in collaboration between academics, self-protecting communities and nonviolent civilian accompaniers. The exhibition draws on voices and experiences from Colombia, Cameroon, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Thailand, where civilians are harnessing the power of nonviolence to create safer spaces and build lasting peace.

A reception will be held on Tuesday 4 February from 6pm. It will include drinks, nibbles, an introduction to the exhibition, and an opportunity to learn more about the Creating Safer Space research. Please RSVP by filling in this form.

The exhibition is open to visitors from Tuesday to Thursday 9am-6pm, and Friday 9am-12pm. To book a tour or to discuss any projects in detail at a specific time please email: creating-safer-space@aber.ac.uk.

Three events will be held in conjunction with the exhibition:

• POLICY EVENT: Civilians and Nonviolence in Crisis Preparedness and Management: The role of local communities in addressing violent conflicts and humanitarian emergencies
• BROWN BAG LUNCH: Protective Accompaniment and Community-led Unarmed Civilian Protection in Colombia
• BROWN BAG LUNCH: Protecting Human Rights Defenders: Learning from South Sudan

The Creating Safer Space project ‘Exploring unarmed civilian self-protection in Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict’ has published a Practitioners’ Guide for Unarmed Civilian Protection in Cameroon. The guide is written by Kiven James Kewir, Nancy Annan, Gordon Crawford and Sakah Bernard Nsaidzedze.

The guide provides practical tips for local unarmed civilian protection (UCP) practitioners as well as UCP organisations. Drawing on research in Cameroon, the guide provides best practices and guidance that can also be built upon or replicated in other contexts.

Prof. Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Creating Safer Space Principal Investigator, is sharing insights from our research in an open lecture hosted by the Central and Eastern European Security Hub at Tallinn University. The title is ‘Creating Safer Space: Exploring unarmed, civilian-to-civilian protection amidst violent conflict’. The discussants are Louise Ridden (Tampere University) and John Buchanan (Tallinn University), and the event is moderated by Birgit Poopuu (Tallinn University).

The open lecture will be held at 18.00 on Wednesday 12 February, and more information is available here.

The Creating Safer Space project ‘Safety and dignity: Enhancing unarmed civilian protection amongst Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills (Masafer Yatta)’ has published an article in Rethinking Security, entitled Frontier Genocide: The West Bank a year after the ICJ ruling on Gaza. The article is openly accessible to all on the above link.

The article is written by Andrew Rigby, and calls for urgent protection of Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta area, which is experiencing a ‘frontier genocide’ by Israeli settlers.

The Creating Safer Space project ‘UCP in Southern Thailand: Developing civilian protection guidelines for violence-prone communities‘ has published a report, The Research on UCP in Southern Thailand: Developing Civilian Protection Guidelines for Violence-prone Communities.

The report explores the conflict in Southern Thailand, and community perceptions in regard to peace, violence and safety. It provides recommendations on civilian protection in the region. The report is only available in Thai.