Research

Research, documentation & dissemination
One of COPA’s main strategic tasks is to generate and collect information on peace, justice and security. This information will be used for creating awareness on conflict issues and peace trends in Africa.
In a conflict situation, documentation is always important for purposes of future reference and for use as a learning tool to others who might be undergoing similar experiences. Coming out and sharing their stories is a step towards healing for all parties in a conflict. It will help others to understand the root causes of the conflict. And it will stimulate the parties to think through lasting solutions that can help solve the issues.
Raising the profile of peace builders by documenting and disseminating their positive experiences for learning and lobbying purposes is an important principle. Best practises will be disseminated to communities, to stakeholders and to partners for learning purpose. At the same time the information gathered will be used to lobby and advocate for peace issues at the various levels where COPA operates.
The researched material is also a useful resource to the participants of the many capacity building trainings COPA organizes. Real life case studies will help them applying the theory taught.

Resource centre
COPA has plenty of resource materials that can be of help in any study of or training on Conflict Transformation and Peace Building.

An overview of the materials available at the COPA resource centre:
- Videos/DVDs on conflict resolution
- Books on conflict transformation and related topics
- Study materials
- Training materials

Videos/DVDs on conflict resolution
Cost per video is US $15, with a discounted price of US $60 for the set of five.

Gulu: The Struggle for Peace This is the story of the Acholi community in Northern Uganda, district of Gulu and Kitgum, which has managed to find ways of surviving the on-going war by actively addressing the trauma of violence with peace building initiatives.
(38 minutes)

The Wajir Story: a film about Conflict Transformation in Kenya
This is the story of a peace building initiative which started with a group of women in Wajir, North Eastern Kenya. The initiative spread quickly to all sections of the community, and reached up into government.
(35 minutes)

Only Through Dialogue: The Somali Way to Peace
This film is about how Somalis in Somaliland overcame the legacy of civil war through dialogue and negotiation based upon a firmly established tradition of peace making.
(28 minutes)

Pulling Together: Community Policing in New South Africa
It is a film about community efforts to build a new relationship between former adversaries in post-apartheid South Africa. It explores the role of the Community Forum in Daveyton, a township community in Benoni, South Africa.
(27 minutes)

Windows of Opportunity: Four examples of peace building in Africa
This documentary contains four practical examples of peace building in Africa.
(24 minutes)

Books on conflict transformation

Transforming Conflict: Reflections of practitioners worldwide
The book documents the real life case studies and experiences of the members of the worldwide Action for Conflict Transformation network. It is intended to be a source book for people in many different countries and situations around the world, working on conflict transformation and peace building, and offers insights into what may be possible in the reader’s own context. The book has four sections, after a short introduction to the ACTION network and the background of the book:
Learning across cultures and contexts
Mobilising for change
Training for Conflict Transformation
Intervention
Price of this book is £10 / US $20.

Study materials
The COPA resource centre is well equipped with many reports, case studies and books on Conflict Transformation, Peace Building, Civic Education, Control of Arms, Economics & Politics, Security, Gender and Development.
In addition, many Africa-specific topics are covered in these resources, like region-specific conflicts and traditional ways of resolving them.
The resource centre also contains peace documentaries/case studies from different countries and organizations. For example, “Women talk peace”, “Peace jam”, “When you are the peace builder” among others.
On request the catalogue of the study materials present is available.
Anyone is welcome to come and study these materials in the COPA resource centre. The resource centre is based at the secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya. Please inform the secretariat in advance about your intended visit.

Training materials
COPA offers training manuals on many topics related to Conflict Transformation and Peace Building. These manuals can be used as guidelines and mentoring tools for facilitators.
Training materials are available on the following subjects:
Conflict transformation and peace building
Conflict transformation programme
Community-based reconciliation and trauma healing
Action against small arms
Youth, security and peace
School’s Peace Journal
Linking practice to policy
Advanced Conflict Transformation (ACT) tutors handbook
Trauma training manual for community facilitators
Please contact the secretariat for further information.

COPA publications
Download the COPA brochure: COPA brochure.pdf{link}
Download the COPA special newsletter (September 2009): {COPA newsletter September 2009.pdflink}