Community mediation has become popular with donors and development actors in establishing credible justice delivery systems in post-conflict environments. Part of a wider focus on statebuilding, these projects often try to support the development of locally based justice delivery based on American-style mediation models. The role of power relations in these new institutions remains however understudied. By focussing on a small number of Village Development Committees in three districts of the Terai in Nepal, this research project tries to understand the influence of political party activism, one of the prime sources of power in Nepal's post-conflict environment, on community mediation.

• Funded by: Justice and Security Research Program (Dfid) & The Asia Foundation (2013-2014)
• Contact: Bert Suykens