A Working Definition of Reconciliation

Year Published:

Democratic Dialogue
Brandon Hamber and Grainne Kelly

In January 2003, Democratic Dialogue embarked on a research project entitled ‘Community Reconciliation: Realising opportunities, meeting challenges and ensuring new innovation into the future’.  This research was funded by the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation under Measure 2.1 (Reconciliation for Sustainable Peace) administered by the Community Relations Council (CRC).  This paper outlines some of the preliminary conceptual issues discussed over the course of the research, particularly the definition of reconciliation and peacebuilding.