Peacebuilding and Development Training: What’s Not Working and What We Should Be Doing Instead

Peacebuilding and development are two sides of the same coin yet integrating the two processes remains an ongoing challenge. One tool for achieving such integration is capacity building, which often translates as “training.” However, if we intend to use training to contribute to the goal of integration, it would behoove development and peacebuilding practitioners alike to embrace a more holistic approach to training design. Building on lessons learned by the authors during the design and implementation of diverse development and peacebuilding programming in Central Africa and the Sahel, we analyse three specific “mispractices” encountered in the field. We ask, “Why, as trainers, do we continue to engage approaches that don’t work?” “What practices should we end?” and “What should we be doing instead?” The article concludes with recommendations on how trainers can improve the integration of peacebuilding and development training.