This publication “Peace and conflict analysis, a guidance note for ILO’s programming in conflict and fragile contexts” was developed through a collaboration between the CSPR and Interpeace. It illustrates how to integrate Peace and Conflict Analysis (PCA) into ILO’s country programming, including DWCP and projects so we can work across all three dimensions of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus, as Recommendation 205 requires – and as our UN and development partners increasingly demand.

The guidance note encourages all ILO’s programming in fragile and conflict-affected contexts to systematically conduct peace and conflict analysis to ensure a thorough understanding of how decent work priorities interact with peace and conflict dynamics on the ground. The guidance note is a result of a as part of a collaboration between ILO and Interpeace to strengthen conflict sensitivity and peace responsiveness. 

The PCA is an integral part of the programme or project design process. Therefore staff or consultants who conduct the PCA should also normally be included in subsequent stages of the design or project adaptation process, and others involved in those processes should also ideally be involved in the PCA.

This guidance note is structured as follows:

• Section 2 outlines the conceptual and practical links between decent work and peace and conflict.
• Section 3 provides advice on the organization and management of a PCA.
• Section 4 explains the methodology.
• Section 5 explains how PCA outputs are used in programme and project design, or project adaptation.
• Annex 1 explains the five areas used to deepen the analysis of the drivers of peace and conflict: security; politics, governance and justice; livelihoods; well-being and social cohesion. Each contains a brief explanation, followed by guiding questions in two groups: those designed for general peacebuilding analysis, and those designed to identify links between the ILO’s strategic objectives and peace.
• Annex 2 gives an example illustrating how the four guiding questions for developing the PCA synthesis and programming recommendations introduce in Section 5 can be used in a project level PCA.

This guidance complements the ILO’s 2019 Handbook: How to Design, Monitor and Evaluate Peacebuilding Results in Jobs for Peace and Resilience Programmes, by providing additional details of how to integrate peace and conflict analysis into programme design. It is intended to be flexible and user friendly, aiming to promote consistency across the ILO, while at the same time supporting teams to do what works best in their situation and country-context. The circumstances in which ILO initiatives are designed vary considerably. The basic process to be followed is to conduct a PCA as part of the situational or context analysis, and integrate this into the programme or project design or adaptation process set out in the ILO’s DWCP template and Development Cooperation Manual. This is consistent with other guidance such as the Standard Operating Procedures for Crisis Situations.