Recommendations
International Crisis Group (ICG)
"Why had it been so difficult for the international system to effectively respond to Bosnia and other conflicts?" – The question posed by the institute's founders on a plane out of war-torn Sarajevo in 1993, which sparked the idea that eventually lead to the creation of one of the world's most respected conflict- assessment, warning and resolution institutions.
Bosnia was the Group's first project; George Soros's Open Society was their first donor; the humanitarian tragedies of Somalia and Rwanda gave the Group the final push it needed. In 1995 the ICG was created.
The ICG's mission is tripartite: assessment; advice; advocacy. The Group provides expert field research taken from where there is concern for a possible outbreak of conflict, an escalation or recurrence and it offers an analysis of possible underlying factors and immediate causes. The ICG offers practical, imaginative policy prescriptions: what needs to be done by all types of actors to avoid, mediate and/ or resolve conflict. The Group engages in high-level advocacy to supply the well-founded arguments demanded to incite the political will to act.
The ICG has central offices in Brussels, New York, London, Washington, Beijing and Moscow. It has regional offices and advocacy or liaison locations worldwide and it monitors over 60 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Asia. Beyond its conflict focus it centres on the core themes of: Responsibility to Protect, gender issues and Islamism.
The positive service provided by the ICG is undeniable. It has been praised by diplomats, academics and field-workers globally, as being one of the most premier non-governmental organizations working in early warning, conflict prevention and resolution.
(C.C.)