Our purpose

The purpose of the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building is to uphold and share the values and principles of democracy in order to build peace, stability and reconciliation.

Our vision

Our vision is to remove fear from and offer hope to divided communities and to create a society with a shared sense of responsibility, opportunity, community and above all a shared sense of humanity, based upon respect for and tolerance of diversity.

Sharing the Northern Ireland Experience

In recent years there has been significant international interest in learning from the Northern Ireland experience of peace-building. Work has been undertaken in countries and regions as diverse as Burma, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Cyprus, Moldova, Colombia, the Middle East, Libya, Tunisia, Nagorno Karabakh, Kososvo and the Basque region. There have been hundreds of delegations from these and other conflicts that have visited with us in Northern Ireland to benefit from our expertise and experience in subjects like peace-building, conflict transformation, security normalisation, countering violent extremism etc.
It has become evident there is a growing demand for this UK/Ireland based expertise across the globe and a requirement to provide enhanced facilities to meet that need. In response, there has been much discussion about the creation of a Centre in Northern Ireland that would focus on sharing our experience of peace-building and conflict resolution.
We envisage such a Centre continuing to support the Northern Ireland peace process and at the same time share our experience with the international community.

Our objectives

  • Leadership

    Support leadership within civil society and political parties to address grievances and to build confidence in political institutions

  • Community

    Empower and enable communities to develop bespoke solutions that address and remove the causes of division and violent conflict

  • Capacity building

    Build the capacity and competency of civil society to engage with the emotional reactions that facilitate growth of violent extremism

  • Publishing

    Capture and document the lessons and experiences from Northern Ireland and other places which have experienced violent political conflicts

  • Knowledge exchange

    Provide a knowledge exchange platform in democracy and peace building

  • Research

    Facilitate research and discussion in partnership with government and civil society on the development and implementation of policies and programmes that build a shared and united community