Despite a legacy of multiple overlapping conflicts that date back several decades, communities in West Asia-North Africa (WANA) have demonstrated a tremendous capacity to endure and overcome conflict and hardship. Yet, large parts of the region continue to face instability due to violence, terrorism, religious extremism and refugee flows, and a better understanding of what supports peace and contributes to the resilience of these communities is critical.
This volume seeks to enhance this knowledge by offering some pertinent and practical insights directly from the WANA region on what is needed to sustain peace. In six different papers, authors from the United Nations system, local and international non-governmental organisations and research institutions reflect on valuable lessons from their work, as well as the relevance of the UN’s sustaining peace agenda in the region.
Collectively, the texts tell the common story of the need for unending work towards peace. From Iraq to Yemen and from Jordan to Syria, we see that sustaining peace is an ongoing process, something that can and should be addressed before, during and after conflict.
