PEACE-BUILDING AND PROTECTION OF VULNERABLE GROUPS – Introduction

1. Background Peace-building and protection of vulnerable groups are closely related as many of the traits found in more peaceful societies are linked to the protection of civil and social human right for all citizens. As human rights are vulnerable to disasters – as the social fabric may break down and the capacity of governmental institutions may be exceeded or insufficient to respond adequately to the needs. Within the field of psychology the understanding of peace-building and prevention of man-made disasters is partly covered by peacepsychology. Here we will provide a brief overview of peace-psychology followed by an overview of how most current disaster response, recovery programmes, and risk reduction programmes include psychosocial components informed by a human rights perspective. The articles in this issue of the journal cover peace-building, human rights based interventions, and protection of vulnerable groups as part of building societies and communities that are more preventive of and resilient to man-made disasters (including climate change related disasters, industrial disasters, and organised violence)