Beyond One Story: Enriching Narratives for Peace

This brief presents a summary of the ideas and practices IFIT has developed for addressing the role of narratives in driving polarisation and conflict. Challenging the tendency of peacebuilders to promote a new, unifying narrative from the outside, IFIT advocates for raising awareness of narrative dynamics, changing conflict narratives from within, and amplifying less prominent stories to encourage peaceful engagement. 

The brief outlines why and how narratives are important for advancing peace. Based on consultations with IFIT’s country brain trusts, IFIT’s Inclusive Narratives Practice Group and a large community of specialised experts, our narrative approach offers guidance gleaned from practical experience to support practitioners, policy makers, donors and others working for peace.

The DOI registration ID for this publication is: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10809058