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Peace II Extension
The European Programme's role within the Community Relations Council is to grant aid and support innovative projects and strategies which will promote reconciliation and strive to sustain peace. Funding administered via this Programme is Peace II funding – approximately £8.1m for project activity and related costs, £1m for research work and dissemination and £1m technical assistance to manage, deliver and develop the Programme.
The European Programme is responsible for the delivery of Measure 2:1 of the European Union Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (commonly known as Peace II). The headline aims and objectives of the Measure are to:
- Promote opportunities for civil society to promote reconciliation and peace-building efforts;
- Encourage communities in areas which had previously experienced violence, or the consequences of violence and polarisation, to develop strategies and activities which promote reconciliation as a means of sustaining peace.
Projects seeking assistance need to clearly demonstrate how effectively they target one or both of the following:
- Areas showing the effects of the conflict and/or community polarisation as a result of the conflict;
- Sectors and activities adversely affected by conflict and division or experiencing structural adjustment as a result of Peace (these are known as the 'Peace II Distinctiveness Criteria').
ACTIVITIES
CRC, via its grant aid from the European Union, funded 62 projects across NI. Some of the projects are locality-specific, others have a region-wide remit. The Programme supports interface projects, church-based work, employer initiatives, outreach projects, resource development, training programmes, youth-based projects and activities specifically geared to address issues facing victims and ethnic minority groups.
Peace II Extension - summary of Funded Projects
RESEARCH
The Programme also funds research work to explore changing attitudes to community relations issues and the effectiveness of different approaches to peace-building and reconciliation, drawing on the experiences of projects at home and abroad. Research projects to date have been wide-ranging (Please see 'List of Measure 2:1 Funded Research Projects').
List of Research Funded Projects
Summary of Peace II funded research projects
Summary of Peace II Extension funded research projects
Group Updates/News
INCORE
INCORE (International Conflict Research Institute based within the University of Ulster) received funding through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation within Measure 2:1, Reconciliation for Sustainable Peace, via the European Directorate of the Community Relations Council to deliver its Diversity in Action (DiA) project from December 2006 to September 2008. The aim of the DiA project was to help build the capacity of Northern Ireland’s minority ethnic sector, with a particular focus on the North West area. The project has assisted minority ethnic groups and those working with and representing minority ethnic communities in developing the skills required to deal with bias and harassment by delivering an Ending Hate in our Communities Training Programme, in partnership with the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence (CPHV). This training has had a major impact throughout Northern Ireland with 66 trainers available to conduct a 3-hour Ending Hate Training Workshop in their communities. DiA also organised a series of seminars to explore a range of issues relevant to minority ethnic groups and worked closely with local minority ethnic groups to develop the Foyle Multicultural Forum. An independent evaluation of the DiA project was carried out and was extremely positive. Thisfurther re-inforces the need to support future work with minority ethnic communities in the North West and across Northern Ireland in order to develop and support this growing - and increasingly important - sector.
To download the Evaluation Reportclick here.
Measure 2.1 - 'Reconciliation for Sustainable Peace' Outward and Forward Looking Region funded project (From Europe to Northern Ireland - A SHARED FUTURE OF RACE RELATIONS) Final Project Report from NICEM, click on link to download pdf 'European Integration, Policy and Practice'
The European Programme Committee Membership:
Council Members: David Stevens (Chair), Eileen Gallagher
Co-opted Members: Maggie Bryson, Colin Craig, Cathy Gormley-Heenan, Paul Smith
