An estimated one billion people live in fragile regions facing political and socio-economic tensions that can escalate into violent conflicts. Organizations operating in these areas must be able to plan their activities to suit the local context and be prepared to swiftly adapt them to rapidly changing societal situations.
The goal of preparedness and adaptation is both to protect one’s own operations through risk management and to control their impacts in the area—this is known as conflict sensitivity. An organization’s activities affect the region directly or indirectly—whether intended or not. At best, projects and business operations stabilize society and foster sustainable development. At worst, the negative impacts of projects and business activities can prolong existing conflicts or contribute to their spread.
For this reason, we developed the Conflict Compass tool. The aim of stabilizing, conflict-sensitive operations is to minimize the negative impacts of an organization’s activities and maximize the positive effects on the community. The project was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Communications and Global Education funds.