Bridging the participation gap: developing macro level conflict analysis through local perspectives

This paper draws upon over ten years of experience with World Vision’s macro-level, participatory conflict
analysis methodology, ‘making Sense of turbulent Contexts’, complemented with lessons from other
available methodologies and existing literature. the paper argues that participatory approaches can:
• Improve the overall quality of conflict analysis by including a broad range of actors in the analysis and
shedding new light on ‘standard’ narratives about a conflict.
• Improve implementation and sustainability of recommendations by ensuring that findings are developed and
owned by local people, making recommendations more realistic, sustained and likely to be implemented.
• Improve inter-agency co-ordination and collective impact by bringing agencies together to develop
common understanding of conflict causes and shared action plans.
• Contribute towards peacebuilding objectives by bringing groups together to help build collaboration
across conflict fault-lines and promote inclusion. It can help participants to understand their own roles in
a context, empowering them to become active change agents.