05/03/2018 MARINA ESTARQUE FROM FOLHA DE S.PAULO, AMAZONAS   Bodó, the Amazon sailfin catfish, is known by local residents as a very resistant fish. Its body is covered with rough skin and it can breathe out of water and “live in the mud.” As it…

There is a widespread perception that violence in Rio de Janeiro is spinning out of control. During last month’s Carnival celebrations, disturbing clips of tourists getting assaulted and gunfire erupting between rival drug gangs were broadcast repeatedly on television. Then President Michel Temer signed an extraordinary…

Innovations and Challenges from Colombia   Adriana Erthal Abdenur, in Bogotá   UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the resulting agenda on Women, Peace and Security has called for more inclusive peace processes, stressing that women’s specific needs and experiences should be taken into account…

Lessons from Colombia Adriana Erthal Abdenur, in Bogotá   A signed agreement between warring parties does not guarantee peace. Indeed, empirical evidence shows that peace processes often fail during the implementation stage if clauses in the agreement remain unfulfilled.  Institutional inertia, political resistance, lack of…

We are fixated to the forward march of democracies and the underlying principles on which they are based, yet we must learn to compromise and accommodate multiple value systems.

The 2030 Agenda as Strategic Entry Point Adriana Erthal Abdenur, in Bogotá   In 2017, UN Secretary General António Guterres stepped up efforts to promote sustaining peace, a vision for a more preventive and effective approach to international peace and security.   The concept calls for…

Adriana Erthal Abdenur In the 19th century Max Weber, a keen student of purpose-driven bureaucracies, hinted that institutions sometimes change their missions even when their original objectives are deeply embedded within founding charters and mission statements.  In international affairs, few organizations can attest to this tendency…

Esta semana se celebró en El Salvador el foro internacional “Diálogos sobre seguridad urbana: datos, diseño e innovación para la seguridad urbana”, organizado por Instituto Igarapé y otras organizaciones.

La proporción entre el número de asesinatos y el tamaño de la población en los respectivos estados fue más alta que el de dos de los países más violentos del mundo.

Para Katherine ​Aguirre- Tobón, investigadora del instituto Igarapé, un día sin homicidios es una anomalía en el sistema y no un logro.

Lessons from Colombia, Somaliland & Southern Somalia   Adriana Erthal Abdenur and Laurie Druelle   As part of the peace effort between the Colombian government and the FARC, a pilot program was launched in 2015 allowing ex-combatants from the guerrilla to collaborate with Army soldiers…

Brazil-Ethiopia Exchanges in Peacekeeping Training   Adriana Erthal Abdenur and Giovanna Kuele, in Addis Ababa   How can states that contribute troops, police, and civilians to peacekeeping operations learn from one another about training for such deployments?  Although TCCs/PCCs have historically operated in a relatively…

How did El Salvador become so violent? These four articles shed some light on the country’s complex crime problem. Spoiler: It’s not just about the gangs.

[In Spanish] Las masacres de 2017 dejaron más de 100 presos muertos por una guerra que libran al interior de los presidios de todo el país. El 2018 también empezó teñido de sangre.

The murders in a popular Brazilian favela reflect rising violence in a country in crisis.