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Reflecting on 2025: Peace in practice

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Dear friends and supporters,

As we close another year marked by hardship and resilience, I want to thank you for standing with the Berghof Foundation in support of peace and conflict transformation around the world.

In 2025, global tensions and crises continued to deepen, from ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to climate-exacerbated instability in the Horn of Africa and beyond. These crises remind us that peace is not simply the absence of war, but the active work of building trust, justice and stability in every community. Today’s conflicts are interwoven with climate change, governance breakdowns and social fragmentation, which means that our work is more urgent and more necessary than ever.

Your support enables us to work with local partners, mediators, women peacebuilders and policymakers to transform conflict not just at the negotiation table, but in local communities and civil societies struggling to remain hopeful.

This holiday season, I invite you to support this work. Your gift helps communities prevent violence and shape peaceful futures. Thank you for believing in peace, not as an ideal, but as a practice.

Warm regards,

Chris Coulter
Executive Director

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25 years of Women, Peace and Security (WPS)

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the UN’s Women, Peace and Security agenda, a powerful reminder that sustainable peace requires women’s full participation at all levels. We reflected on ongoing challenges and celebrated the leadership of women peacebuilders across regions, from local mediation to global advocacy, especially as gendered barriers persist in conflict contexts.

Learn more about our work.

Celebrating ten years of peacebuilding in Somalia

For a decade, Berghof has partnered with Somali communities and leaders to strengthen dialogue and reconciliation amid protracted conflict and climate pressures. Together with local peacebuilders, we’ve supported inclusive community processes, amplified voices previously excluded and helped develop Climate Security Action Plans that address both environmental stress and social tensions.

Explore our long-term commitment to Somali-led peace efforts.

No peace at COP30? Connecting peace and climate action

At COP30, we argued that climate goals cannot be met unless peacebuilding and conflict-sensitive adaptation are fully integrated into climate negotiations. Without addressing conflict, climate plans break down, aid cannot reach people in need, and infrastructure and governance collapse amid violence and displacement. If global climate commitments are to succeed, peace and climate action must be treated as interdependent, not parallel agendas.

Read our piece in the New Security Beat.

The role of psychology and peacemaking

Peace negotiations are shaped not just by politics but by people and their emotions, trust, trauma and mental frameworks. This year, we launched a practical guide on the role of psychology in peacemaking based on over 40 in-depth interviews with negotiators, mediators and psychologists. Drawing on psychological and neuroscientific insights, it offers tools to help peace practitioners navigate the emotional and relational dynamics that can unlock deadlocks and foster breakthroughs in peace processes.

Dive into the guide to understand how the human dimension can strengthen negotiations, and watch our launch event recording.

SUPPORT US

Invest in peace and help us ensure our impact is sustainable. We are looking for partners to support our work. When you donate to Berghof, you enable us to sustain and expand our work where it is most needed.

Whether through a single donation or recurring contribution, your support gives peace a fighting chance.

Learn more.

Berghof Foundation Operations gGmbH, Lindenstrasse 34, 10969 Berlin, Germany

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