Local responses to missing persons and post-conflict peacebuilding

This project aims to fundamentally reshape dominant thinking on the problem of missing persons in post-conflict peacebuilding. Through the first large-scale comparative ethnography of Timor-Leste and Sri Lanka, the research will bring local community approaches, needs and practices around the missing in from the margins to the centre of scholarly analysis and practice. Outcomes include new knowledge about local agency and community understandings of the missing that are relevant to peacebuilding, and enhanced collaborations with scholars and policymakers. Expected benefits include improved international, state and NGO responses to missing persons to meet the needs of families and communities and facilitate sustainable peace after conflict.