Policy Coherence for Peace in Practice: German Government Action in Mali and Niger

In 2017, the Ger­man Fe­deral Govern­ment adop­ted the policy guide­lines Pre­venting Crises, Mana­ging Con­flicts, Pro­moting Peace, whose prin­ciples are in­tended to serve as stra­tegic com­pass for Ger­many’s en­gage­ment in (post-)conflict and crises settings. But what rele­vance do these prin­ciples have in prac­tice? And how co­herent with them is Ger­man govern­ment action on the ground? The aim of the study “Policy co­herence for peace in prac­tice” is to eva­luate to what ex­tent and why Ger­man govern­ment action aligns (or not) with the prin­ciples set out in the policy guide­lines. Focusing on two case study countries – Mali and Niger – the study exa­mines in how far German co­opera­tion in both countries follows these guide­lines and which factors con­tribute to or in­hibit po­licy co­herence for peace. The study also ex­plores the per­ception of (in)co­herence on the part of lo­cal civil society in Mali and Niger. The study is con­ducted in colla­boration with Dr. Abdoul Karim Saidou from the Centre pour la Gouver­nance Démo­cratique (CGD) in Burkina Faso and Baba Dakono from the Obser­vatoire ci­toyen sur la Gou­ver­nance et la Sé­curité (OCGS) in Mali. Em­pirical in­sights will draw on a kick-off work­shop as well as inter­views with re­presen­tatives from diffe­rent German mi­nistries and civil society orga­nizations in Germany as well as field re­search in Mali and Niger. The study is con­ducted on behalf of the Ad­visory Board to the Fe­deral Govern­ment for Civilian Crisis Pre­vention and Peace­building.