Global Development & Peacebuilding

The Challenge

From the UN Sustainable Development Goals to targeted initiatives for energy transformation, resilient food systems, and participatory urban planning, success in development now demands unprecedented forms of integration, collaboration, and partnership. National governments, multilateral organizations, NGOs, and businesses are testing each other’s capacity to work together in new ways. But even as they seek to leverage each other’s resources and define common goals, they often struggle to reconcile different views. These differences are particularly pronounced in fragile and post-conflict countries. Stakeholders in any peacebuilding initiative must not only come together on specific objectives, but also address each other’s perceptions and experiences of the underlying societal and political causes of conflict.

Our Approach

CBI is a leader in building development partnerships, resolving conflicts, and strengthening collaboration capability within and across development organizations. We bring broad and deep understanding of global development and peacebuilding issues, as well as extensive expertise in cross-cultural facilitation and training. Our approach includes:

• Careful assessment of context, issues, stakeholders, and their interests, values, and relationships
• Framing and testing shared goals and concerns, in order to build alignment with all stakeholders
• Designing processes that engage the appropriate set of interested stakeholders, while recognizing differences in decision authority and intensity of concern
• Facilitating and training with culturally appropriate teams, drawing on CBI’s Global Network where appropriate for skills and insights
• Ensuring that our training, coaching, and advising is well integrated with ongoing programs and initiatives so that those we support can immediately apply what they learn

Whether working with oil companies and communities affected by their operations, national social protection agencies and non-government stakeholders, or multilateral partnerships at the global level, our work supports effective collaboration to meet complex development challenges.

Areas of Expertise

• Development and peacebuilding plans, partnerships, and initiatives
• Development project disputes
• Grievance and accountability mechanisms for projects and organizations
• Capacity building for stakeholder engagement, negotiation, and dispute resolution