Photo: Chris Spies

The enormous human and economic costs of the staggering atrocities committed in former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda led the Swedish Government, inspired by the late Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, the EU and the UN to review its policies on conflict prevention. An action program was developed with the purpose to put people affected by violent conflicts in the centre of interest and action.  

The Conflict Prevention in Practice Program was established in October 2004 with the purpose to integrate perspectives of prevention of violent conflicts in the activities of the Academy and to develop new course concepts.

The activities of the program are based upon the values of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the program, key components to transform conflicts into peaceful processes are local ownership and inclusion of all groups in societies, including women, youth and minorities. 

The Program has developed two courses and is currently developing a third, with the purpose to provide course participants with both structural and operational knowledge on conflict prevention and with practical skills to engage in international efforts to prevent occurence, escalation and recurrence of violence.

The Program works in close cooperation with a number of Swedish and international actors in the area of peacebuilding and conflict prevention, such as the UN, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the African Union as well as NGOs. The cooperation contributes to the high quality and efficiency of the activities of the program.