Nonviolent Peaceforce

The Challenge    

As part of a legacy of over 70 years of civil war, armed conflict in northern Myanmar claims lives and displaces thousands of civilians who are caught in the cross-fire, suffer intimidation and violence from armed groups, or are targeted by digital surveillance and misinformation campaigns led by the military government.

Since 2015, Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) has supported local affected populations through the training and management of Community Peace Support (CPS) networks, comprised of civilian monitors trained to identify, report and respond to local conflict-related threats and humanitarian challenges.

Working in difficult conditions and with limited tools and resources, NP needed ways to better safeguard CPS members, streamline CPS operations, and enhance the network’s ability to provide NGOs and local government partners with critical, timely information about conflict-related incidents and civilian displacement.

What We Did  

Capitalising on a rare opportunity to meet with the CPS network operating in Kachin state, we conducted interviews and workshops with regional CPS monitor groups to learn about their processes, map their communication flows, and surface the challenges and threats they experience in carrying out their duties. Additional interviews were conducted with NP staff and regional partners to learn about their contexts, needs and working relationships with CPS groups.

Result

Research analysis pinpointed the challenges and risks impacting the operational effectiveness, personal safety and data security of CPS monitors and their NGO partners – critical areas of concern given an operational context characterised by armed conflict, intimidation and aggressive digital surveillance.

Challenges and risks were prioritised and distilled into a comprehensive design brief to guide development and prototyping of new tools, processes and protocols to improve the security and operations of CPS networks.

consulted together with: Do No Digital Harm