Peacebuilding Among Transnational Youth in Migrant-Receiving Border Regions of Ecuador

Abstract

This article explores the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of peacebuilding initiatives in border regions where refugees and citizens coexist and sometimes come into conflict. It does so by comparing two programmes seeking to build conflict resolution capacity among youth in Ecuador near the Colombian border. The initiatives were funded by the same donor and took place in the same region. Their programme design differed, however, and one was more successful than the other in institutionalising positive and sustainable subsystem-level changes. Using John Paul Lederach’s framework for building peace as a theoretical point of departure, the article argues for the importance of embedding peacebuilding processes within a network of existing local institutions, sequencing multiple projects that align with a long-range strategic plan targeting subsystem change, and creating inclusive spaces for participation by migrants and citizens.

Keywords:

• peacebuilding
• borders
• youth
• education
• migrants
• refugees
• Ecuador
• Colombia
• capacity-building

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for financial support from the Fulbright Ecuador Commission and the Providence College CAFR grant, for helpful comments on the draft from Diane Gooch and the journal’s editors and anonymous reviewers, and for the research assistance of Monica Freire, Lizeth Gonzalez, Indira Martinez, Adriana Rincón, and Omar Rodriguez.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeffrey D. Pugh

JEFFREY D. PUGH, PhD is Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution at the University of Massachusetts–Boston, as well as Executive Director of the Centre for Mediation, Peace, and Resolution of Conflict (CEMPROC). He is affiliated as a visiting researcher at FLACSO Ecuador, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.