Actors Individuals, groups and institutions who:
- Contribute to conflict;
- Are affected by conflict (positively or negatively); or
- Are engaged in dealing with conflict.
Conflict The result of actors disagreeing and acting on the basis of perceived incompatible goals and power differences. Conflict can occur whenever there is a difference in the motives and interests between people or groups, and the power they have to advance those motives and interests. It can occur at different socio-geographic levels - interpersonal, group/community, national and regional - and in terms of how these levels interact with each other. Conflicts can be constructive or destructive and waged violently, as in a war, or nonviolently, as in an election or legal process.
Conflict (violent) The use or threat of psychological or physical force by people or groups to resolve a disagreement.
Conflict (latent) The stage of conflict in which factors such as differential power, resources and interests between people or groups have the potential to spark conflict if a triggering event occurs. Latent conflict is often rooted in long-standing socio-economic and political inequality and marginalization.
Conflict Analysis A structured process of analysis to understand a specific conflict, focusing on the history, issues, causes, and dynamics. Conflicts are often analysed at different levels – interpersonal, group/community and national – and in terms of how the levels interact with each other. Conflict analyses must be gender-sensitive to understand the gendered nature of the causes of conflict, how conflict and different types of violence impact men, women and sexual and gender minority groups differently and identity opportunities to address the root causes and structural violence to promote both conflict transformation and gender equality.
Conflict Dynamics The interactions between the conflict profile, the actors, and causes.
Conflict Sensitivity A deliberate and systematic practice that aims to mitigate and avoid negative impacts on conflict contexts and to identify and maximize opportunities to promote peace. Conflict sensitivity requires the ability to:
- understand the context
- understand the two-way interaction between the intervention and the context; and
- act upon this understanding to minimize negative impacts (Do No Harm) and
- maximize positive impacts.
Do No Harm A humanitarian, development and peacebuilding principle that aims to avoid exposing people to additional risks and negatively impacting the broader context. As a practice, it is analyzing the conflict context and the interaction with the conflict to take action to avoid inadvertently increasing division and tensions and exacerbating conflict dynamics.
Gender The socially constructed roles, relationships, rights, behaviors, relative power and privileges that society ascribes to women and men. The social definitions of what it means to be female or male vary among cultures, change over time and intersect with other identities such as ability, age, class, ethnicity, race, religion, and sexual identity.
Gender Integration Identifying and addressing gender inequalities during strategic planning and the entire program cycle - program design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
Gender Mainstreaming The process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned intervention or action in political, economic, and societal spheres and at all levels. It is a strategy to ensure that women’s and men’s experiences and interests are considered and represented in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs to avoid perpetuating gender inequality and to work towards gender equality.
Gender Sensitivity An understanding of gender differences and their role in producing social norms and power relations, and adapting approaches to these dynamics.
Identity The distinctive characteristics belonging to any given individual. A person’s identity is made up of their self-identity (i.e. the way we see ourselves) and social identity (i.e. a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership). Everyone has multiple identities, some become more prevalent in response to changing circumstances and instability. Identities can be static or malleable and given (i.e. birthplace, age, race, physical characteristics, etc.) or chosen (i.e. occupation, hobbies, political affiliation, etc.).
Intersectionality The concept of overlapping or intersecting identities and how interactions with interconnected power structures shape the degree to which an individual is marginalized, discriminated and excluded based on their identities.
Marginalization The act of relegating a person or group to a position of lesser importance, influence or power. It can be understood as the persistent inequality and adversity resulting from discrimination, social stigma and stereotypes.
Peace The ability to address and resolve conflict non-violently. Negative peace is an absence of violent conflict while positive peace is the presence of justice, equality and social cohesion.
Peacebuilding A range of measures the aim to create and strengthen the socio-economic, political and cultural institutions and norms to address conflict nonviolently, reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into violent conflict and lay the foundations for a more just, equitable and cohesive society to support sustained peace.
Violence The direct use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against another person, group or community.
Cultural Violence Symbolic violence in which aspects of culture and social life expressed in religion, ideology, language, art, science, media, education, etc. serve to legitimize direct and structural violence and to inhibit or suppress the response of the victim.
Electoral Violence Violence perpetrated by political actors to purposefully influence the process and outcome of elections. It involves coercive and violent acts against humans, property and infrastructure and can occur in all parts of the electoral cycle, including the announcement of elections, party primaries, voter registration and election day.
Political Violence The use of force by a group with a political objective or motivation. It can include violence used by a state against other states or non-state actors.
Structural Violence Violence derived from social systems and institutions that may cause harm to or disadvantage some individuals, groups or communities over others. This involves the use of political or economic power to commit violent acts or constrain/restrict an individual or specific group of people.