CMI’s 2021 Annual Report: Working as a trusted partner for peace

Published on Monday, 6th of June 2022

The demand for CMI’s services reached an all-time high in 2021. Due to the continued disruption of the global order and its institutions, our work for peace remains crucial.

Reflecting the diminished capacity of official diplomacy to provide solutions to conflicts, the demand for CMI’s services reached an all-time high in 2021. Our 2021 Annual Report illustrates that CMI made 31 contributions to peace that led to better peace processes, better peacemakers and better ways of building peace.

Year 2021 saw the continued disruption of the global order and its institutions that had started already in 2020 with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. The year ended with Russia’s demands for a new world order and European and transatlantic security architecture – actions that have taken a much more dramatic turn in 2022.

Geopolitical shifts were coupled by increased violence and use of force, for example in Ethiopia and Myanmar, as well as stalled transitions and military coups, for example in Sudan and Mali. The United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and Taliban taking the full control of the country, was recognised as a critical turning point of modern history.

The external developments also influenced CMI’s work and called for a recalibration and adjustment of some of our projects as well as concerning organisational procedures due to the pandemic-related travel restrictions and uncertainties. Nevertheless, the demand for CMI’s services has seen an appreciable increase. This reflects the rising number of armed conflicts but also the diminished capacity of official diplomacy to provide solutions to conflicts.

“War has returned to the international agenda. CMI will do its part in turning the path back from battlefields to the negotiating tables”, say Janne Taalas, the CEO of CMI appointed in May 2021.

CMI’s 2021 Annual Report sheds light on the peacemaking and conflict resolution CMI is doing across the world. In 2022, our work continues in countries and regions such as Ukraine, Yemen and Horn of Africa as well as through the thematic projects for Digital Peacemaking and Women in Peacemaking.

Read the entire report here.