The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) is a South African non-profit organisation that engages in research, community interventions, policy formation, service delivery, education and training. For three decades, CSVR has worked to understand violence, heal its effects, reconcile communities and build sustainable peace in South Africa, the continent and elsewhere in the world. CSVR provides technical support and works with individuals and communities, to focus on the wide range and forms of violence and conflict, including collective and interpersonal, political and criminal, and state and social violence. In this presentation, Naledi Joyi, Gender Officer at CSVR, will discuss the organisation's approach to community interventions, which is based on participatory research approaches, believed to yield more efficient and effective context-specific solutions. This approach is premised on community building, social cohesion, and sustainable capacity building; CSVR’s mission of promoting sustainable peace ensures that interventions are community-led and solutions are localised for communities to fit the community’s context. CSVR’s integrated model of working with communities highlights the importance of knowledge co-creation with community members because they are experts in their lived realities. This community model is guided by principles of theories of community work, community psychology and the experiences of working in the community. There are various meanings of community, which are underpinned by different characteristics like geographical location, shared values, interests, belief systems, language, religion, and age. Naledi Joyi will discuss the methodology used in a recent research report that explored the context-specific factors which enabled the continuous rise of Rape in a rural town in the Eastern Cape, called Lusikisiki.

We welcome speakers from Irish Aid, Dóchas, NGOs, Science Foundation Ireland, Irish Research Council, Irish Universities Association Marie Sklodowska-Curie Office and Campus Engage to this pre-conference panel discussion and networking event. For those working and researching in international development, partnerships and collaborative approaches in local and international contexts is often at the heart of what they do, yet sectoral silos in the development and sharing of knowledge between Irish NGOs and Researchers remain. This session aims to explore the diverse ways that research, policy and practice partnerships can be and are being successfully delivered, asks what more can be done and invites NGOs and researchers to network to build knowledge partnerships and collaborations. Jointly supported by DSAI Adaptive Programming Study Group and Postgraduate Network.

A talk by Dr Sam Brazys on the topic 'The Plausibility of Micro-level Aid Effectiveness: Evidence from the Cacao Cadena in Colombia.'