-
Border Fellows Report 2023
Márgara de León Cevallos, Aida Renee Amador, Javier Neftali Jiménez Quintana, Carla Ulloa Vázquez, Meritxell Calderón-Vargas, Carlos Foo-Kong, Psyché Calderón, and Rebeca Cázarez Adame
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of each of the Border Fellows' projects and place those projects within the broader context of the Tijuana-San Diego border region.
-
Reporte Border Fellows 2023
Márgara de León Cevallos, Aida Renee Amador, Javier Neftali Jiménez Quintana, Carla Ulloa Vázquez, Meritxell Calderón-Vargas, Carlos Foo-Kong, Psyché Calderón, and Rebeca Cázarez Adame
El propósito de este informe es proporcionar una descripción general de cada uno de los proyectos de los becarios y ubicarlos dentro del contexto más amplio de la región fronteriza Tijuana-San Diego.
-
California Threats and Harassment Initiative (CATHI) One Pager
Violence, Inequality and Power Lab Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice
The presence and growth of threats and harassment impairs community cohesion, further undermining the ability to address our collective challenges. The University of San Diego is investigating the scale and scope of these issues and their impact on elected officials as well as on local democratic institutions. This data is from a 2023 survey of elected officials in Imperial, Riverside, and San Diego Counties about their experiences with threats and harassment.
The 2023 study was led by the University of San Diego's Violence, Inequality, and Power Lab (VIP Lab) to create a comprehensive understanding of the threat environment of locally elected officials in Imperial, Riverside, and San Diego Counties.
-
Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Briana Mawby, Carolyne Komen, and John Porten
Women's Peacebuilding Leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic is the first annual Women Waging Peace report, a new publication that provides a resource for policymakers and funders, created directly from the recommendations and priorities of women peacebuilders around the world. This report leverages the experiences and perspectives of women peace leaders to communicate clear priorities to funders and policymakers about what matters most for building sustainable and long-lasting peace.
This report provides:- Analysis of the challenges and opportunities that the global community of women peacebuilders experienced in 2023;
- Recommendations for funding and programming priorities for 2024; and
- In-depth findings related to the COVID-19 pandemic and changing use of technology – particularly information and communication technology – in the peacebuilding field.
-
Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Executive Summary)
Briana Mawby, Carolyne Komen, and John Porten
Women's Peacebuilding Leadership during the COVID-19 Pandemic is the first annual Women Waging Peace report, a new publication that provides a resource for policymakers and funders, created directly from the recommendations and priorities of women peacebuilders around the world. This report leverages the experiences and perspectives of women peace leaders to communicate clear priorities to funders and policymakers about what matters most for building sustainable and long-lasting peace.
This report provides:- Analysis of the challenges and opportunities that the global community of women peacebuilders experienced in 2023;
- Recommendations for funding and programming priorities for 2024; and
- In-depth findings related to the COVID-19 pandemic and changing use of technology – particularly information and communication technology – in the peacebuilding field.
-
FACE Peace Design Brief #3: Facilitating Training and Education Programs in the Peacebuilding Field
John Porten
Trust-building and social bonding are easier in person — and to some extent in synchronous rather than asynchronous distanced learning. Distance and time differences can make organization of synchronous learning difficult. Differences in access to the internet and other infrastructure issues can exacerbate this problem. Cultural differences and other forms of diversity can also make building trust among students, and between students and teachers, more difficult.
While advances in technology and technique have improved the outcomes of distanced educational programs in recent years, distanced educational models still result in underperformance for the participants when compared to face-to-face programs. Research shows that this is true in large part due to students’ tendency to feel disconnected from both the organization implementing the program and its instructors.
Yet distanced educational program designs offer substantial benefits to peacebuilders, in particular. They allow participation across more diverse groups, creating more insight and understanding. They afford opportunities to more vulnerable members of our communities, to those working at the grassroots level, and to those with less capacity to travel.
This FACE Peace design brief considers these issues as they relate to planning educational programs in peacebuilding. In particular, it considers activities and strategies to create the strongest possible relationships between facilitators and participants and an instructional design that provides participants with the information and structure they need to prepare for and contextualize the program content. Trusting relationships allow students to share experiences and exchange knowledge more honestly and fluidly, while structure affords them the resources they need to remain attentive and manage work/life balance.
-
FACE Peace Design Brief #4: Negotiation and Consensus Building in Hybrid Environments
John Porten
This FACE Peace Design Brief considers negotiation and consensus-building programs using a mix of in-person and distanced elements. Recent advances in technology and cultural shifts brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have allowed program and event designers to consider a wide variety of tools and practices that allow negotiations and bargaining to happen at a distance or asynchronously.
-
Mapping the Threat Environment of Southern California’s Elected Officials
John Porten and Rachel Locke
Are threats towards and harassment of public officials a problem? Some characterize the issue as one of free speech; strenuous criticism of local officials is required for democracy to function. Others argue that local elected officials and the media are simply seeking attention or blowing a small problem out of proportion. In other spaces, the case is made that democracy in America is broken, that governance at the local level can no longer function, and that security risks are rampant. Those studying the issue have gathered data that point to more insidious effects, including the disenfranchisement of voters, shifting representation based on intimidation rather than policy preference, silencing officials or causing them to self-censor, and more. Our own research intends to shine a light on this question, both interrogating the level of threats and harassment in San Diego, Riverside and Imperial Counties in Southern California, and trying to understand the impact on our democracy and local government systems.
-
Building Holistic Security (Case Study: Iraq)
Nesreen Barwari
Highlighting patriarchal norms and lack of protection for women peacebuilders in Iraq.
Women peacebuilders inevitably face risks and insecurity in their daily work. International partners have an important role to play in supporting their safety and protection. Understanding women peacebuilders’ roles and the types of risks they face is the first step in ensuring an adequate response. This case study forms part of the Building Holistic Security: Addressing Security Risks of Women Peacebuilders Through Partnerships report, focused on how international partners can better partner with women peacebuilders to address the risks and insecurity they face in the different facets of their work.
-
Intergenerational Peacebuilding Among Women (Case Study: Morocco)
Youssra Biare
This case study is part of the Intergenerational Peacebuilding Among Women: Leveraging the Power of Collaboration report created by the Women PeaceMakers program. In this case study, Woman PeaceMaker Fellow Youssra Biare explores the intergenerational peacebuilding of Mourchidate women, a group of religious leaders confronting violent extremism in Morocco. This research explores the ways in which Mourchidates work with people of different generations and backgrounds, as well as the challenges and strengths of the state-led program.
-
Addressing the Recidivism Challenge in San Diego County: Learning from Lived Experience Approaches
Andrew Blum and Alfredo Malaret Baldo
The problem is as old as the justice system itself—how to reduce the chance that an individual reoffends after they commit an offense and become involved with the justice system. This challenge of reducing recidivism remains critical. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, there are over 120,000 individuals in state prisons in California. Another 380,000 cycle through jails in California every year. In 2021, roughly 25,000 individuals were released from prison in California each year. This is the scope of the challenge.
In San Diego County, a wide variety of agencies and organizations are working to address the recidivism challenge. In addition, although there is no way to measure this accurately, there is a willingness across the spectrum to experiment with new approaches and solutions. This report focuses on one area of relatively new and promising approaches—those that elevate the talent and expertise of individuals with “lived experience” with the justice system.
Support for lived experience approaches is growing both nationally and in San Diego. Beyond the rising number of lived experience initiatives, this type of work in San Diego has become largely normalized. There is broad agreement that lived experience work should be part of the portfolio used to reduce recidivism, with clear demand from stakeholders involved in reentry, including law enforcement officials, service providers, community members, and, crucially, justice-involved individuals. Given the growing prevalence of and support for lived experience approaches in San Diego, it is important to create a deeper understanding of how to increase the impact of these approaches. Toward that end, this report identifies strengths of lived experience approaches to amplify, challenges of lived experience approaches to mitigate, and lessons from lived experience approaches that can be applied more broadly.
-
Building Holistic Security (Case Study: Syria)
Slava Shikh Hasan
Highlighting how unequal partnerships exacerbate risks for women peacebuilders in Syria.
Women peacebuilders inevitably face risks and insecurity in their daily work. International partners have an important role to play in supporting their safety and protection. Understanding women peacebuilders’ roles and the types of risks they face is the first step in ensuring an adequate response. This case study forms part of the Building Holistic Security: Addressing Security Risks of Women Peacebuilders Through Partnerships report, focused on how international partners can better partner with women peacebuilders to address the risks and insecurity they face in the different facets of their work.
-
How Scared Are You? A Literature Review Contextualizing the Environment of Threats and Harassment of Local Officials in the United States over the Last 10 Years
Rachel Hodel
Targeted threats, harassment, and the perpetration of physical violence against elected officials are becoming increasingly commonplace around the world. Sadly, the United States and our own backyard of San Diego is no exception. Local leaders - the most foundational representatives of the democratic processes that undergird our system of government - are facing unprecedented levels of uncivil and anti-democratic threats, harassment, and attacks. By nearly all measures, political violence is considered to be more acceptable in the U.S. than it was five years ago.
Current data indicates that the majority of threatening and harassing behavior directed against local officials is non-physical and occurs through online spaces. However, permissive rhetoric can both harm our democracy as well as escalate into physical violence targeting democratically elected leaders. A high-profile example of this is the brutal attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in October 2022. David DePape broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home with the intention of kidnapping the former speaker of the US House. Instead, DePape encountered Paul Pelosi, an 82-year-old man, who he attacked with a hammer. DePape left Pelosi unconscious, with a fractured skull and injuries on his hand and harm. Officials who investigated the attack found that DePape had an extensive history of online engagement with right-wing conspiracy theories and angry rants against women. In his blog, DePape described how Gamergate, an online forum filled with far-right conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric against women, was the catalyst for much of his worldview. Joan Donovan, who recently co-authored a book examining Gamergate’s role in the rise of alt-right political movements, stated that Depape’s move from an online space to an attempted real-world attack on a female public figure is unsurprising. Incidents like this highlight the danger of violent rhetoric leading to physical violence, as well as demonstrate the need for further analysis of the connection between violent political rhetoric and violent outcomes.
While high-profile incidents such as the Pelosi attack provide crucial context for the broad scope of threats, harassment, and violence directed at public officials, this literature review will focus on the less prominent, but nonetheless critical, issue of threats and harassment directed at local elected officials. In particular, this literature review centers around school board officials, members of city councils, and mayors located within San Diego County as well as across the United States. The literature review will consider the current research on the scope of the threats and harassment faced by local officials, the drivers of threatening and harassing behavior, and its impacts on local officials and the democratic process. In addition, this literature review will provide an overview of current recommendations for reducing the level of threat to local officials and improving the civil discourse. Finally, the literature review will conclude with recommendations for further research around threats and harassment directed at local officials.
-
Intergenerational Peacebuilding Among Women (Case Study: Botswana)
Ramatoulie Isatou Jallow
This case study is part of the Intergenerational Peacebuilding Among Women: Leveraging the Power of Collaboration report created by the Women PeaceMakers program. In this case study, Woman PeaceMaker Fellow Ramatoulie Isatou Jallow explores the state of intergenerational peacebuilding and coalition-building for women-led civil society organizations in Botswana. This research demonstrates that there is a need for dialogues around positive peace in Botswana, as well as for more synergy and trust between different generations of women. Furthermore, with more extensive education on the concept of intergenerational coalition-building, women and women-led CSOs can form these coalitions across generations more deliberately.
-
“HOW SCARED ARE YOU?” Mapping the Threat Environment of San Diego’s Elected Officials
Rachel Locke and Carl Luna
Democracy cannot function without individuals stepping up to serve as representatives of their community. The presence and growth of threats and harassment directed towards elected representatives poses a direct risk to our democracy, weakening community cohesion and our ability to address collective challenges. While our research found threats and harassment to be present across political parties, it identified women as far more likely to be on the receiving end both in terms of quantity and severity. If under-represented groups are pushed out of the processes of debate and decision-making, solutions will not be oriented around the diversity of our society.
Without clear data on the scale of the problem, the rise in threats and ad hominem attacks are too easily discounted by public officials, the media and the public at large. Possible consequences range from an increased potential for physical violence and the resignation from public life of elected officials. The research outlined in this report helps to expose the scale of threats and harassment, while in turn providing recommendations from those directly impacted, concerned community members and scholars on how to reinforce safe and non-threatening local governance.
While several studies have shown that cities, counties and states across the country are experiencing an increased level of hostility towards elected officials, very few geographically designated areas are measuring incidents in any structured way. The research outlined in this report aims to set a clear baseline on the extent of aggressive behavior towards nearly all categories of elected office in San Diego County. Our research looked at all County School Boards, Community College Boards, City Councils, Mayors, and the County Board of Supervisors.
Using a mixed methods approach that included surveys, interviews, a traditional media review and social media review, our team was able to get a clear picture of the problem both objectively and subjectively. Our findings confirm that the rise in threats and harassments targeting elected officials identified in national studies is also occurring at the local level in San Diego County. This rise in hostile threatening behavior towards elected officials is having a measurable impact on a) the ability of elected office holders to effectively participate in the public policy process; b) the likelihood of elected officials seeking to encourage others to enter public life or remain in public life themselves; and c) the psychological and physical health of office holders and their families. The vitriol we are seeing risks significantly and negatively impact the vitality of local democracy, civic engagement and effective policy making on across the policy spectrum.
-
One Pager - “How Scared Are You?” Mapping the Threat Environment of San Diego’s Elected Officials
Rachel Locke and Carl Luna
This one pager includes data summary points from survey sent to San Diego County elected officials.
Targeted threats and the perpetration of physical violence against elected officials have been increasing steadily around the world. Democracy cannot function without individuals serving in elected governance. The presence and growth of threats and harassment undermines community cohesion, further undermining our ability to address our collective challenges.
-
Building Holistic Security (Case Study: Yemen)
Muna Luqman
Highlighting the need for increased and flexible funding for women peacebuilders in Yemen.
Women peacebuilders inevitably face risks and insecurity in their daily work. International partners have an important role to play in supporting their safety and protection. Understanding women peacebuilders’ roles and the types of risks they face is the first step in ensuring an adequate response. This case study forms part of the Building Holistic Security: Addressing Security Risks of Women Peacebuilders Through Partnerships report, focused on how international partners can better partner with women peacebuilders to address the risks and insecurity they face in the different facets of their work.
-
Executive Summary: The Uganda NextGen Framework
Briana Mawby, Noah Mirembe Gabigogo, and Cassandra Barrett
The Uganda NextGen Framework: Guidelines for Intergenerational Peacebuilding report provides a practical framework for creating intergenerational peacebuilding partnerships drawn from the lived experiences of women peacebuilders across Uganda and outlines key considerations when addressing generational divides and gaps in peacebuilding efforts. The report provides analysis drawn from the debates and discussions held between 2020 and 2023 as the cohort of peacebuilders engaged in the Uganda NextGen initiative worked across generations to create social change throughout the country. The framework provides a guide for others trying to create mutually beneficial and equitable peacebuilding partnerships among people of different generations.
-
The Uganda NextGen Framework: Guidelines for Intergenerational Peacebuilding
Briana Mawby, Noah Mirembe Gabigogo, and Cassandra Barrett
This report provides a practical framework for creating intergenerational peacebuilding partnerships drawn from the lived experiences of women peacebuilders across Uganda and outlines key considerations when addressing generational divides and gaps in peacebuilding efforts.
The report provides analysis drawn from the debates and discussions held between 2020 and 2023 as the cohort of peacebuilders engaged in the Uganda NextGen initiative worked across generations to create social change throughout the country. The framework provides a guide for others trying to create mutually beneficial and equitable peacebuilding partnerships among people of different generations. -
Intergenerational Peacebuilding Among Women (Case Study: Egypt)
Nermine Mounir and Hassnaa Tamam
This case study is part of the Intergenerational Peacebuilding Among Women: Leveraging the Power of Collaboration report created by the Women PeaceMakers program. In this case study, Woman PeaceMaker Fellow Nermine Mounir explores the state of intergenerational peacebuilding for women in Egypt. Day by day, women peacebuilders are discovering new spaces within which to make themselves heard. The power of these women and their impact can be further magnified by joining efforts and drawing on their diversity. This research demonstrates the deep desire women peacebuilders in Egypt have for intergenerational collaboration but also how rare this sort of intergenerational collaboration currently is in their work.
-
Building Holistic Security (Case Study: Tanzania)
Ambassador Liberata Mulamula and Tatu Mkiwa Nyange
Highlighting how recognition and common vision can help mitigate security risks to women peacebuilders.
Women peacebuilders inevitably face risks and insecurity in their daily work. International partners have an important role to play in supporting their safety and protection. Understanding women peacebuilders’ roles and the types of risks they face is the first step in ensuring an adequate response. This case study forms part of the Building Holistic Security: Addressing Security Risks of Women Peacebuilders Through Partnerships report, focused on how international partners can better partner with women peacebuilders to address the risks and insecurity they face in the different facets of their work
-
Building Holistic Security: Addressing Security Risks of Women Peacebuilders Through Partnerships
Neslihan Ozgunes, Eva Dalak, Sandra Melone, Natalija Gojković, Nesreen Barwari, Slava Shikh Hasan, Muna Luqman, Tatu M. Nyange, and Ambassador Liberata Mulamula
Women peacebuilders inevitably face risks and insecurity in their daily work. International partners have an important role to play in supporting their safety and protection. Understanding women peacebuilders’ roles and the types of risks they face is the first step in ensuring an adequate response. The diversity of roles that women peacebuilders play, as well as the multiple factors that impact the types of risks they might face, need to be taken into account by international partners from the very beginning of a partnership.
Building Holistic Security: Addressing Security Risks of Women Peacebuilders Through Partnerships addresses how international partners who wish to work with women peacebuilders and support them in addressing the risks and insecurity they face need to recognize the scope and nature of peacebuilding work, which is often cross-cutting, overlapping with humanitarian response and development work. Understanding the nuances and breadth of women peacebuilders’ work is crucial to identifying the risks they face and providing them with effective legal, political and financial protection — and is thereby essential to creating partnerships that mitigate and address these risks. Through case studies, the report identifies challenges and opportunities drawn directly from the lived realities of women peacebuilders and their partners, as well as from experts working in the Women, Peace and Security field. -
Executive Summary: Building Holistic Security
Neslihan Ozgunes, Eva Dalak, Sandra Melone, Natalija Gojković, Nesreen Barwari, Slava Shikh Hasan, Muna Luqman, Tatu M. Nyange, and Ambassador Liberata Mulamula
Women peacebuilders inevitably face risks and insecurity in their daily work. International partners have an important role to play in supporting their safety and protection. Understanding women peacebuilders’ roles and the types of risks they face is the first step in ensuring an adequate response. The diversity of roles that women peacebuilders play, as well as the multiple factors that impact the types of risks they might face, need to be taken into account by international partners from the very beginning of a partnership.
Building Holistic Security: Addressing Security Risks of Women Peacebuilders Through Partnerships addresses how international partners who wish to work with women peacebuilders and support them in addressing the risks and insecurity they face need to recognize the scope and nature of peacebuilding work, which is often cross-cutting, overlapping with humanitarian response and development work. Understanding the nuances and breadth of women peacebuilders’ work is crucial to identifying the risks they face and providing them with effective legal, political and financial protection — and is thereby essential to creating partnerships that mitigate and address these risks. Through case studies, the report identifies challenges and opportunities drawn directly from the lived realities of women peacebuilders and their partners, as well as from experts working in the Women, Peace and Security field. -
FACE Peace Design Brief #1: Communities of Practice On/Offline
John Porten
The FACE Peace Initiative at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice intends to help peacebuilders answer questions about in-person and online collaboration with intention and care. This design brief combines desk research on best practices from other fields with observation of peacebuilding organizations to identify key debates and concerns and provide insight into how to navigate trade-offs between in-person and distanced peacebuilding activities and events.
Peacebuilding organizations often attempt to gather members of the field into “communities of practice” (“CoPs”), which intend to increase skills and knowledge among members through long-term information-sharing and reciprocal mentorship. Facilitators of practice communities in peacebuilding and other fields frequently complain that the community falls moribund over time.
This FACE Peace design brief considers the question of practice community success from the perspective of hybrid work and the tensions peacebuilders have come to feel between digital and in-person interactions in a truly global field.
What does in-person interaction between practice community members accomplish? When are these benefits essential for success? When are they simply “nice to have”? What are the best ways to recreate the benefits of in-person meetings at a distance? Are there benefits only distanced work can provide?
Answers depend in part on the goals, constraints and characteristics of the practice community. This design brief offers insights on two related questions. First, how should the facilitators of practice communities decide what happens in person and what happens at a distance? Second, how can facilitators administer the in-person and online aspects of their practice communities to maximum effect?
-
FACE Peace Design Brief #2: Education and Training Programs in the Digital Age
John Porten
This FACE Peace Design Brief considers education and training programs among peacebuilders in the digital age. Recent advances in technology, and cultural shifts brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, have allowed program and event designers to consider a wide variety of tools and practices that allow education to happen at a distance or asynchronously.
Peacebuilding organizations often facilitate programs designed to train or educate. In some cases, these programs seek to impart specific technical skills to professional members of the peacebuilding community; in others, the seek to impart broader skills and knowledge to informal, grassroots peace practitioners. In some cases, facilitators implement these programs in face-to-face sessions. Increasingly, however, educational programing in the peacebuilding field takes place in whole or in part in distanced or even asynchronous settings.
This Design Brief considers the issue of education and training programs from the perspective of participant recruitment and preparation. It discusses how certain participant needs are amplified by distance from instructors and other students as well as how program design might meet these needs.
We focus on the problems associated with learning loss in distanced education. Which educational programs are best suited for distanced or asynchronous delivery? How can we choose which elements of hybrid learning programs can be distanced versus face-to-face?
Printing is not supported at the primary Gallery Thumbnail page. Please first navigate to a specific Image before printing.