Staging Peace: International Observatory of Peace Media (GCRF Development Award)

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This Development Award responds to GCRF's call "Preventing Conflict" through the consolidation of an expert team of researchers, and a diverse array of policy and civil society partners across four ODA-listed countries (Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad). The rationale behind this choice of countries is clear. These countries are affected by protracted and aggravated conflict associated with Islamic extremism (Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West Africa Province). The Lake Chad Crisis is a complex and multidimensional conflict, which our research seeks to address. The focus of this observatory are not these four affected countries as a whole, but the regions within these ODA-listed countries most affected by extremist violence-- all currently classed Red Zones. These regions are Diffa in Niger, Borno in Nigeria, Region du Lac in Chad, and the so-called Extreme North region of Cameroon. This award will enhance existing capability for action research in and across these remote regions, laying foundations for a four-year programme that will address an urgent need for multi-regional and multinational peace cooperation. "Staging Peace" can pave the way for sustainable and inclusive peace-building, as prompted by this GCRF call, through the creation of an observatory that will evaluate and monitor reintegration programmes across the four affected regions. In the present context, reintegration is understood within the UN framework of de-radicalisation, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR). This award will also facilitate partner equitability, South-South knowledge sharing, and trust-building among the academic and non-academic stakeholders involved, in order to set in motion a trajectory of research that will better understand, and in a more nuanced way, how reintegration works in practice for the benefit of local communities. Evaluation of good practice will enable us to inform decision-makers and policy stakeholders, including multinational and national armies, DDR programmes set up by national and local governments, and humanitarian actors. The importance of media arts as chosen tool for reintegration is justified given the central role played by media technology in Boko Haram's radicalisation agenda and propaganda apparatus. This award will enable us to continue building network relations with key media and arts groups involved in the reintegration agenda, particularly radio and television stations, theatre groups, and local community groups (i.e. religious or traditional leaders and opinion makers). Support from AHRC-GCRF will likewise enable the "Staging Peace" team to strengthen the administrative and management capabilities needed for the realisation of a Network Plus programme, not least at the level of post-award capability within the University of Leeds. A number of Network Plus specifics will be addressed throughout this 12-month award, including the shaping of a commissioning strand and devolved budgets, the planning for synthesis of different DDR programmes within a coherent theory of action (Peace Media Theory); the mapping of intersectionality of conflict across gender, social, cultural and ethnic issues; and the thematic interactions emerging across Network Pluses. This development award will also prioritise the articulation of impact and legacy strategies for policy and practice improvement among a range of stakeholders that will be involved in this award's proposed activities. The main policy-related groups we will engage with over the course of this twelve month development award are military, civil society and government actors. The individuals named in this submission are part of the "Staging Peace" team given their strong policy and action research credentials, as well as their track-record of publishing reports and resolutions in the area of Boko Haram reintegration. All members of this research team have experience of living in, or working across, the four affected Red Zones.