A peaceworker is an individual or member of an organization that undertakes to resolve violent conflict, prevent the rise of new violent conflicts, and rebuild societies damaged by war.

The term peaceworker is usually reserved for civilian, unarmed members of non-governmental organizations. Peacework is also carried out by many armed organizations such as the UN, but armed personnel are seldom called peaceworkers.

Peacework

Peaceworker duties include the following:

• Bringing conflicting parties together, opening channels of communication and helping to broker a ceasefire or peace agreement
• Monitoring voting booths, providing technical expertise and other forms of support in order to help ensure a free and fair electioneering environment
• Providing protective accompaniment of people at risk, monitoring borders and other actions for stabilizing preserve ceasefire agreements and preserving human life
• Reintegrating ex-combatants into society
• Promoting a respect for human rights within the local and national legal system, strengthening local institutions and civil society organizations that defend human rights

Peaceworker Training

Peaceworker training and guidance is provided by organizations such as International Alert

International Alert

International Alert is a London-based charity and international non-governmental organisation working to prevent and end violent conflict across the globe that marked its 20th anniversary in 2006...

. University-provided Peace and conflict studies

Peace and conflict studies

Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyses violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending social conflicts with a view towards understanding those processes which lead to a more desirable human condition...

 courses also provide valuable and relevant knowledge. As peace work can utilize a very wide variety of skills, it allows those with established, unrelated careers to take up peace work without having to abandon what they have already learned.

See also

• Peacebuilding
  Peacebuilding
  Peacebuilding is a term used within the international development community to describe the processes and activities involved in resolving violent conflict and establishing a sustainable peace....
  
  
• Peacekeeping
  Peacekeeping
  Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
  
  
• Peacemaking
  Peacemaking
  Peacemaking is a form of conflict resolution which focuses on establishing equal power relationships that will be robust enough to forestall future conflict, and establishing some means of agreeing on ethical decisions within a community that has previously had conflict. In order to do so there...
  
  
• Human rights
  Human rights
  Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
  
  
• Peace activist
  Peace activist
  This list of peace activists includes people who proactively advocate diplomatic, non-military resolution of political disputes, usually through nonviolent means.A peace activist is an activist of the peace movement.*Jane Addams*Martti Ahtisaari...
  
  
• Peacetraining

Peaceworker organizations

Any organization dedicated to human rights, humanitarian aid and conflict management could be said to employ peace workers. The following is just a small sample of the dozens of organizations worldwide that provide these services.

• Nonviolent Peaceforce
  Nonviolent Peaceforce
  Nonviolent Peaceforce is a nonpartisan unarmed peacekeeping organisation that works to protect civilians and reduce violence in areas affected by armed conflict...
  
  
• International Alert
• Peace Brigades International
  Peace Brigades International
  Peace Brigades International is an NGO, founded in 1981, which "protects human rights and promotes nonviolent transformation of conflicts". It primarily does this by sending volunteers to accompany human rights defenders whose lives are at risk in areas of conflict and to provide training in...
  
  
• Christian Peacemaker Teams
  Christian Peacemaker Teams
  Christian Peacemaker Teams is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. These teams believe that they can lower the levels of violence through nonviolent direct action, human rights documentation, and nonviolence training. CPT sums...
  
  

External links

• : International Alert training webpage
• peaceworkers.org: About Peacework
• University of Bradford: Department of Peace Studies
• The ARCA Project: A European peaceworker training network