ICT4Peace aims to facilitate improved, effective and sustained communication between peoples, communities and stakeholders involved in conflict prevention, mediation and peace building through better understanding of and enhanced application of Information Communications Technology (ICT) including Media.

It also looks at the role of ICTs in crisis management, which is defined, for the purposes of this process, as civilian and/or military intervention in a crisis that may be violent or non-violent, with the intention of preventing a further escalation of the crisis and facilitating its resolution. This definition again covers conflict prevention, peace mediation, peace-keeping and peace-building activities as well as natural disaster management and response and humanitarian operations of the international community. In bridging the fragmentation between peoples and various organisations and activities during different crisis phases, ICT4Peace aims to facilitate a holistic, cohesive and collaborative mechanisms directly in line with Paragraph 36 of the WSIS Tunis Declaration.

“36. We value the potential of ICTs to promote peace and to prevent conflict which, inter alia, negatively affects achieving development goals. ICTs can be used for identifying conflict situations through early-warning systems preventing conflicts, promoting their peaceful resolution, supporting humanitarian action, including protection of civilians in armed conflicts, facilitating peacekeeping missions, and assisting post conflict peace-building and reconstruction.”

Paragraph 36 was introduced to the diplomatic negotiations in 2004 by Daniel Stauffacher, Chairman of the ICT4Peace Foundation, and former Swiss Ambassador to the World Summit on the Information Society (2003 in Geneva and 2005 in Tunis), on behalf of the Swiss and Tunisian Governments for its adoption as part of the WSIS Tunis Commitment in 2005.

The ICT4Peace Foundation was subsequently established in spring 2006 to raise awareness about the Tunis Commitment and promote its practical realization in all stages of crisis management. The ICT4Peace Foundation focuses on Original research and Policy development; Advocacy on key issues; Advisory Services and Training; Targeted networking. It also looks at, inter alia:

• Raising awareness about the contribution and potential of ICT in crisis management
• Fostering the exchange of best practices in the field of ICT for crisis management
• Contributing to the establishment of broad principles derived from operational best practices, help integrate them into UN and multi-stake-holder processes and make ICT part of UN and global multi-stake-holder evaluation exercises.
• Develop and implement ICT4Peace Training Modules for Integrated and multi-stakeholder Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Missions.

Interested in more? See the ICT4Peace Foundation history and FAQ