Exploring Local Infrastructures and Initiatives
Violent conflict has been ongoing in Papua, Indonesia, since the 1960s. Our research studied the vulnerability of the Papuan people to physical harm, local actors’ initiatives to protect civilians, and their mechanisms to share those initiatives with other civilian actors. The aim of the project was to support and strengthen the capacity of local organisations to promote and build civilian protection mechanisms, in order to promote community-based conflict and peace management.
RESEARCH TEAM
- Delsy Ronnie, Nonviolent Peaceforce Philippines (principal investigator)
- Arfiansyah, International Centre for Aceh and Indian Ocean Studies (ICAIOS)
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Article
Arfiansyah, A., Violence and Civilian Strategy for Protection in West Papua, Indonesia. Journal of Peacebuilding & Development 0(0), 2025.
Policy Brief
The project has published a policy brief, “Building Peace Amidst the Papua Conflict: Supporting Grassroots Protection and Peacebuilding Agents”.
Series of 12 Podcasts
The project has produced 12 podcasts related to civilian protection in Papua and related topics, which are available here.
Interview
Arfiansyah, the co-investigator of the project, was interviewed on Sagoe TV Podcast. Arfiansyah discussed his research activities with Nonviolent Peaceforce of the Philippines in Papua, in Maesot on the Thai border with Myanmar, and in Kachin and Northern Shan states of Myanmar, with an emphasis on the research in Papua.
Opinion Piece
The project published an opinion piece in Jakarta Post, entitled ‘A new approach to violent conflict in Papua’, on 5 March 2024. The article is written by Arfiansyah and Delsy Ronnie, and it argues that recognizing and allowing a nonpartisan third party to focus solely on protecting civilians from violent conflict could be a stepping stone to conflict management in Papua. The article is available here:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2024/03/05/a-new-approach-to-violent-conflict-in-papua.html
Training of Military Officers
The project has disseminated its research to Indonesian military officers. This was part of a training programme on International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights facilitated by the National Human Rights Commission. More information is available here.
