The Private Sector as Peace-builder? Two experiences from the Colombian context

This research is about the implementation of peacebuilding projects initiated by private actors in Colombia. Through elaborating a framework based on a combined NGO-academic toolkit, the study tries to elucidate the motivations and means of two private actors in engaging in peacebuilding activities in the Montes de Maria and Middle Magdalena regions of Colombia. The study also looks at how these private sector organisations’ motivations and means shaped how the projects developed in practice. By taking two contrasting examples of private sector institutions, Semana Foundation and Indupalma Ltd., the study assesses a number of key variables to better understand the varying engagement of private sector actors in peacebuilding. Broader Corporate Social Responsibility strategies are drawn out to make some comparative conclusions possible. The main finding is that although both Semana Foundation and Indupalma Ltd. share a broad ‘liberal peace’ approach to development and peacebuilding, in practice the two initiatives involve distinct types of CSR strategies. Whilst Semana Foundation views CSR in terms of Corporate Social Investment for ‘broader’ peace, for Indupalma CSR is strategized in terms of a Business Integration model based on inclusive principles. As a consequence, private actors vary in the extent to which they engage in economic, social and political activities in the peacebuilding initiatives, given that each private sector actor has a different understanding of their role in peacebuilding and development. Overall the study concludes that the potential contributions of private sector actors, though variable, can also be substantial in the longer-term, situation that should be seized by other relevant development actors.