DO NO HARM:
CAPACITIES FOR WAR AND CAPACITIES FOR PEACE
Begun in 1994, the Local Capacities for Peace Project of the Collaborative for Development Action, Inc. is a
collaborative project of a number of international agencies, including bilateral donors, non-governmental
agencies and agencies of the United Nations. The Project seeks to identify ways to provide international
humanitarian and/or development assistance so that, rather than worsening the conflict, it helps local people
stop fighting and develop systems for settling the problems that prompt conflict in their societies. (For more
information see: http://www.cdainc.com/lcp/lcp-index.htm.) An outcome of the project is the “Do No Harm”
framework, presented here in an adapted version. For more information, refer to Anderson, M (1999). Do no
harm – How aid can support peace – or war. Lynne Rienner publishers, London.
How to use this framework
This framework helps to examine the international assistance programme, the organisations supporting it
and the programme strategies with a view to assessing their impact on the dividers/tensions/war capacities
and connectors/capacities for peace.
The logic driving this framework is that international assistance – through resource transfers or implicit
ethical messages — can:
Make conflict worse
 By feeding intergroup tension
 By weakening intergroup connections
Help war to end
 By lessening intergroup tension
 By strengthening intergroup connections
What it can tell us
 Help identify local capacities for peace or for war

Context changes, however. Today’s dividers may be tomorrow’s connectors (as, for example, the
common experience of war). New connectors may appear, new tensions may also appear.
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ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
The following tables outline some considerations that help identify local capacities for peace or for war.
Dividers, Tensions, Capacities for War
Assessment questions
Categories
Notes
Not only must aid workers identify
dividers, tensions, and capacities for
war, but also assess their importance.
 Root or proximate
cause
 Broad-based or
narrow involvement
of people
 Internal to society
or externally
induced
 Attitudes/actions
 Values/interests
 In assessing dividers and tensions (e.g. prejudice,
exclusion, struggle for control of disputed
resources, political differences), one should
differentiate between those arising from injustice
or historical inequalities and those that have been
manipulated (e.g. by leaders) or that result from
the conflict itself.
 Not all sources of tension or division in societies
have the same potential for damage. Some are
local or matter to a limited number of people,
while others reach across society and involve
virtually everyone.
 Some tensions may actually connect people (e.g.
common experience of lawlessness may motivate
people to reconnect against the threat).
 Some dividers and tensions exist within societies,
other may be prompted and promoted from
outside.
 The location of the source of conflict must be
considered when assessing the potential of aid
(e.g. in regional conflicts).
 Who is divided?
 Between or among which groups do
the tensions or divisions exist?
 How deeply are people committed to
their conflict? How widely is a
commitment shared?
 Who gains from the continuation of
conflict, and how widely shared are
the gains?
Connectors, Capacities for Peace
Assessment questions
Categories
Notes
To identify genuine connectors and
local capacities for peace in any
specific location requires attentiveness
to the actual system, actions and
interactions in that setting.
 Longstanding,
historical or new
 As a result of
conflict
 Broad-based,
inclusive or narrow,
opening wedge
 Internal or external
 Actual, existing or
potential
 Attitudes/actions
 Values/interests
 Dividers and tensions may be overt and obvious;
few connectors or capacities for peace are as
readily apparent to aid workers.
 It is insufficient to identify typical groupings that
might be connectors (e.g. elders, women’s groups
or schools). Although in some settings they may
bring people together, in many societies they
promote hatred and reinforce divisions.
 Experience shows that people with longstanding
knowledge of an area may not be in the best
position to identify connectors and capacities for
peace. People who “know too much” often
become mired in the complexities and lack
sufficient distance to see opportunities at the
local/grassroots level.
 In what areas are connectors and
capacities for peace important?
 Where do people maintain overt
contact and connections across
fighting lines?
 Where do people stay connected in
less obvious ways?
 How widespread or limited are both
the overt and the less obvious
interactions?
Adapted from
Anderson, M (1999). Do no harm – How aid can support peace – or war. Lynne Rienner publishers, London.
LINK TO EXPANDED VCA
The expanded VCA framework (see core content sheet “Expanded Vulnerability/Capacity Analysis”) presents
a matrix for analysing a population’s capacity for survival, protection, development. In complex emergencies,
where conflict exists, any analysis of capacities in relation to humanitarian objectives must be placed in
context of capacities for peace and war; so, too, when analysing stakeholders and their interests. Analysis
using the “do no harm” framework, should serve as a background and reference.
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