Far from helping resolve conflict, flawed ceasefires and ceasefire monitoring may well contribute to significantly increased mistrust between the parties to that conflict. The consequences may be even more damaging; as ceasefires are often one of the first objectives a mediator attempts to achieve, in the eyes of the combatants, early failure may more broadly damage the viability, or the perception of viability, of external action to effectively resolve the conflict.

The Peacewriter Prize is a writing competition seeking bold and innovative responses to the world’s peacemaking challenges. Winning entries are published by HD and included in the briefing material for participants at the annual Oslo Forum.