Sustainable peace must be built at every level—from international institutions and conflict-affected nations to local communities, families, schools, and neighborhoods.
International peace and conflict transformation
CEPOST studies and responds to the political, social, economic, and security factors that contribute to violent conflict. Our particular focus is the African Great Lakes region, where communities have endured decades of armed conflict, displacement, competition over natural resources, weak governance, foreign interference, and regional instability.
We promote approaches that address both the immediate consequences and the underlying causes of conflict. These include preventive diplomacy, inclusive dialogue, mediation, institutional reform, community reconciliation, responsible governance, protection of human rights, and accountability for serious abuses.
Peace in the Great Lakes region cannot be achieved solely through military action or agreements negotiated by political leaders. Lasting peace requires the meaningful participation of affected communities, women, young people, faith leaders, civil society organizations, traditional authorities, and displaced populations. It also demands responsible regional cooperation and sustained engagement from international partners.
Our goal is to help transform relationships, restore public trust, strengthen democratic institutions, and enable communities to build a shared and peaceful future.
Mediation and community conflict resolution in the United States
In the United States, we provide and support Core, Civil, and Domestic Mediation services for individuals, families, organizations, and culturally diverse communities.
Core mediation establishes the essential framework for resolving disagreements through impartial facilitation, active listening, structured communication, and collaborative problem-solving. Civil mediation assists with disputes involving neighbors, housing, workplaces, organizations, services, agreements, and other community concerns. Domestic mediation helps families navigate sensitive conflicts involving parenting, communication, relationships, and other family matters.
Our mediators do not impose decisions. They create respectful and confidential processes in which participants can identify their concerns, understand different perspectives, explore possible solutions, and develop practical agreements. By working across cultural, linguistic, religious, and social differences, mediation helps people address conflict constructively before it escalates.
The Five Rs of restorative justice
Restorative justice looks beyond the rule that was broken and the punishment that might follow. It asks who was harmed, what those affected need, who is responsible for repairing the harm, and what can prevent its recurrence. Our work is guided by five interconnected principles:
- Relationship: recognizing that wrongdoing affects people, relationships, and the wider community.
- Respect: treating every participant with dignity and giving each person a meaningful opportunity to speak and be heard.
- Responsibility: helping individuals acknowledge their choices and accept responsibility for the harm caused.
- Repair: identifying concrete actions that address the harm, meet affected needs, and rebuild trust.
- Reintegration: supporting a responsible return to the community after accountability and repair, without permanent exclusion or stigmatization.
Transforming school discipline through peer councils
CEPOST helps schools create peer councils, restorative circles, student-led conferences, and other mechanisms that move school communities from purely punitive responses toward restorative discipline.
Traditional punishment may remove a student from the classroom without addressing the cause of the behavior, the harm experienced by others, or the skills the student needs to make better choices. Restorative discipline combines accountability with education. It helps students understand the consequences of their conduct, develop empathy, repair damaged relationships, and learn constructive ways to respond to conflict.
Peer councils empower trained students to participate in appropriate conflict-resolution and accountability processes under adult supervision. Students learn to listen, ask constructive questions, consider different perspectives, respect confidentiality, and recommend fair restorative actions. These councils are not student courts created simply to impose punishment; they are educational and restorative spaces that promote responsibility, leadership, belonging, and community healing.
Through these practices, schools can reduce unnecessary suspensions, address the root causes of behavioral problems, strengthen student voice, improve relationships, and build safer and more inclusive learning environments. The objective is not to excuse harmful behavior, but to help young people understand it, take responsibility, repair its consequences, and return to the school community prepared to succeed.
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