Inclusive Peace: Resisting the Backlash, Strengthening Participation

Berlin Summer Dialogue 2025
16 September 2025, 16:30 hrs, Berlin Global Village 

Inclusive participation is a key factor for sustainable peace – yet it continues to face structural barriers and growing political resistance. The Berlin Summer Dialogue 2025 will focus on the practical and political challenges of inclusive peace processes and explore strategies to address the global backlash against equality and participation.

The event will provide space for open dialogue, critical reflection, and the development of concrete approaches to support inclusive peacebuilding in today’s complex contexts.

Join the discussion and register now!

Between Power and Principle: Europe's Responsibility in the New Global (Dis)order

Bonn Symposium 2025
Online Sessions on 01 Oct, 08 Oct, and 29 Oct 2025
Evening event in Bonn on 20 Nov 2025 (in German)

At this year's Bonn Symposium, we will join forces with our partners, the Academy of International Affairs NRW and the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies, to analyse the current military and political situation in Ukraine, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo in three online sessions, with a view to identifying possible future roles for Germany and Europe in armed conflicts. At the concluding evening event in Bonn, we will discuss Germany's commitment to peace in conflicts around the world with our high-level experts.

Register here for individual events or the entire series!

Trading Places – The EU’s Global Free Trade Agreements in a Disrupted World

06 November 2025, 12.00 – 13.45 hrs, Brussels

At our Policy Lunch we will examine the EU's free trade agreements – how can they improve international cooperation in an increasingly fragmented world, what contribution do they make to Europe's economic resilience, and how must free trade agreements be designed so that all parties involved can benefit from them?

Register here – we look forward to seeing you there!

Essential Concepts for Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals

Newly published A-Z Guide

The time remaining to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 must be used wisely, especially given that progress to date leaves much room for improvement. The handbook „Essential Concepts for Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals“ aims to contribute to this effort. It features more than 90 renowned authors from around the world who examine over 100 key concepts and terms that are relevant to the political and social processes underlying the governance of sustainable transformation. INEF's Executive Director, Dr. Cornelia Ulbert, is responsible for the entries “Philanthropic Foundations” and “World Health Organization (WHO)”.

Alternative Nuclear Verification Mechanisms in South America

New Article in Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional

In a new article INEF staff member Leonardo Bandarra studies the history of Brazilian-Argentine bilateral nuclear verification cooperation, focusing on the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC).The article examines how this cooperation evolved, focusing on two key periods: from 1967 to 1982, when early ideas for nuclear inspections were discussed, and from 1982 to 1992, when both countries transitioned to democracy. The article shows how different proposals have evolved over time, from ad hoc inspections to regional and bilateral approaches, highlighting elements such as trust-building and the relations with the broader international non-proliferation regime.

Gender Impacts of Promoting the Cashew Value Chain in Ghana

AVE Good Practice 34b

In a new AVE Good Practice study, INEF staff member Karin Gaesing examines the gender impacts of the GIZ project MOVE to promote the cashew value chain in Ghana. The project disseminates gender-transformative content, primarily through training courses for multipliers, which the trainees are then expected to put into practice. Half of the trainees are women who already own or are setting up processing businesses or plantations, thereby creating employment opportunities primarily for women.

The publication is part of the INEF project “Ways out of Poverty, Vulnerability and Food Insecurity“ (AVE), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

INEF / ANCIP Webinar on “ECOWAS at 50”

As part of the research network African Non-Military Conflict Intervention Practices (ANCIP) a webinar on „ECOWAS at 50: Reflections on Legitimacy, Intervention and Regional Order“ took place on 18 July, with numerous participants from Africa, Europe, and Germany. In a panel discussion moderated by INEF Director Christof Hartmann, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, discussed the current challenges facing the regional organization in peacebuilding in West Africa with Dr. Emma Birikorang, Research Director at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC), and INEF staff member Dr. Mona Saleh.

A summary of the panel discussion can be found here.

Prof. em. Dr. Franz Nuscheler

Obituary

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of INEF founding director Prof. em. Dr. Franz Nuscheler on July 31, 2025. For decades, Franz Nuscheler played a key role in shaping German development research and policy. With his passing, we have lost a committed and forthright researcher consistently speaking out on all central debates in the field of research he established in Germany. Our thoughts are with his family.

We published an obituary on the INEF website.

The Development and Peace Foundation (sef:) was founded in 1986 on the initiative of Willy Brandt. It is a cross-party and non-profitmaking organisation. sef: provides an international high-level forum for shared thinking on the complex challenges of globalisation. It is linked to the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) by a cooperation agreement. The aim of INEF’s application-oriented research is to build bridges between theory and practice.