Attentive, assertive, supportive
September 13, 2022
EU support to nonviolent movements
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Organised collective action by engaged citizens can be a potent force for peaceful change. External support to nonviolent movements can help prevent violent escalation, mitigate repression, protect civic space, facilitate conflict transformation and foster sustainable peace.
Organised collective action by engaged citizens can be a potent force for peaceful change. External support to nonviolent movements can help prevent violent escalation, mitigate repression, protect civic space, facilitate conflict transformation and foster sustainable peace.
PAX and Berghof foundation recognize that the European Union (EU) has a duty and a mandate to provide such support as part of its foreign policy objectives, in line with European values.
This paper explores the role that different institutional actors can play in supporting nonviolent movements and puts forward some basic recommendations to develop a more coherent conceptual framework and factor peaceful protests into the EU’s external action.
We look forward to a rich and constructive exchange among policymakers, civil society activists and INGOs on the content and conclusions of this report, hoping it will encourage concrete steps towards more attentive, assertive and supportive EU engagement.