peace accords matrix

Working at the nexus between research and practice, the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) program is comprised of researchers and practitioners seeking to promote and facilitate a higher order of integration between these domains. The PAM program is home to the largest existing collection of implementation data on intrastate peace agreements, and PAM team members regularly provide research support to ongoing peace processes on issues of peace agreement design and implementation.

The PAM project is a unique source of qualitative and quantitative longitudinal data on the implementation of 34 comprehensive peace agreements negotiated from 1989 to 2012. Drawing on this world class, peer-reviewed database, PAM researchers have developed a quantitative methodology to track the progress of peace accord implementation. The PAM database serves as a valuable tool for analysis, which the Kroc Institute uses to support the negotiation and implementation of peace accords. The PAM project develops evidence-based scholarly research and furthers policy-relevant analysis to end armed conflict and build sustainable peace.

While the PAM project has global reach, it has significant presence in Colombia through the PAM Barometer Initiative, for which John Paul was essential in helping to initiate and provides continuing support. The historic Colombia peace agreement signed on November 24, 2016 – celebrated as a major turning point in ending the country’s 52-year armed conflict – gives the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute primary responsibility for technical verification and monitoring of implementation of the accord through the PAM Barometer Initiative. This is the first time a university-based research center has played such a direct role in supporting the implementation of a peace agreement, and the first time researchers have measured the implementation of a peace accord in real time. This initiative is developing significant innovations in peace accord monitoring and comparative analysis that are applicable to other peace processes around the world.