The EU and Peace Facilitation Organizations: Peace Multipliers or Cats to Be Herded?

An important pillar in the European Union’s strategy to promote peace globally is to fund the activities of what we call Peace Facilitation Organizations (PFOs) – non-governmental organizations dedicated to mediation and dialogues across the tracks. The EU partners with these organizations for policy development, capacity building, support to EU-mediation efforts and support to the PFOs’ own mediation and conflict mitigation work. Yet, the EU’s cooperation with diverse PFOs also presents coordination challenges, such as overcrowding of peace facilitators and duplication of effort. This policy brief identifies measures the EU may take to address these challenges and to foster synergies among different PFOs.