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Peace

Civil Peace Service

Since 1999, experts of the Civil Peace Service have worked with people in conflict regions to prevent violence and to deal with conflicts without violence

Key points at a glance

  • The Civil Peace Service is a German programme that sends experts in violence prevention and civil conflict transformation to crisis and conflict regions.
  • It is run by nine peace and development organisations and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
  • At present around 380 international experts work in around 45 countries, together with around 580 local partner organisations.
  • If you want to become a peace worker, you need completed training, several years of work experience and knowledge of civil conflict transformation.
  • An assignment usually lasts at least two years and comes with social security cover under the Development Workers Act.

In numbers

9

member organisations

in the Civil Peace Service Consortium

380

experts

currently in around 45 countries

60 m

euros a year

from the BMZ, as of June 2025

Where the experts workInternational experts by region, rounded. Source: Civil Peace Service, facts and figures, retrieved October 2026
  • Africaabout 120
  • Latin Americaaround 70
  • Asiaaround 70
  • Middle Eastaround 60
  • Europeabout 60
Three routes into trainingOffers by members of the consortium. Source: Civil Peace Service, training

Academy for Conflict Transformation

Run by
Pro Peace
Format
two-month in-person course in English or a ten-month part-time course in German
For whom
peace workers and anyone who wants to work on conflicts

KURVE Wustrow

Run by
education and meeting centre for non-violent action
Format
16-month practice-based training, plus a three-week basic course
For whom
future experts in the Civil Peace Service

AGIAMONDO and Brot für die Welt

Run by
the two church members of the Civil Peace Service
Format
yearly programme of preparation seminars, trainings and workshops
For whom
experts, professionals from other organisations and returnees
Since
22 November 1999
Funding
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Legal basis
Entwicklungshelfergesetz (Development Workers Act)
Length of assignment
usually at least two years

What is the Civil Peace Service?

The Civil Peace Service (Ziviler Friedensdienst, ZFD for short) is a programme for violence prevention, civil conflict transformation and peacebuilding. It sends trained experts to countries marked by crises and conflicts, where they work with local partner organisations for several years.

The first experts left on 22 November 1999, for the former Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Romania, Zimbabwe and the Palestinian territories. According to the Civil Peace Service, around 2,100 international experts have since worked in more than 60 countries.

As the Ministry presents it, the service is a successful model of cooperation between state and non-state organisations.

How did the service come about?

The idea came from civil society. According to an article in the wars and conflicts dossier of the Federal Agency for Civic Education, the peace movement and peace and conflict research developed alternative concepts to state-led conflict resolution in the 1990s, especially after Western efforts failed in the Yugoslav wars.

This became a programme of German development policy that the Federal Agency describes as a joint undertaking of civil society and the state: the federal government provides the funding, the peace and development organisations carry out the projects.

From 1999 up to and including 2026, the Development Ministry has funded the service with around 755 million euros in total, according to the service. Its self-description has stayed the same: a programme for violence prevention, civil conflict transformation and peacebuilding.

Who is behind the service?

The Civil Peace Service is carried out by nine German peace and development organisations that have joined together in the Civil Peace Service Consortium. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, currently with around 60 million euros a year.

The member organisations include Aktionsgemeinschaft Dienst für den Frieden, AGIAMONDO, Brot für die Welt, EIRENE Internationaler Christlicher Friedensdienst, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), KURVE Wustrow, peace brigades international, Pro Peace, formerly forumZFD, and Weltfriedensdienst.

Each of these organisations runs its own projects and hires its own experts. Together, in the consortium, they agree on the principles of the programme.

In which countries do the experts work?

At present around 380 international experts work in around 45 countries. About 120 work in Africa, around 70 in Latin America, around 70 in Asia, around 60 in the Middle East and about 60 in Europe. They are joined by around 580 local partner organisations.

The projects are planned for several years. Experts do not work in place of the local people but with them: with initiatives, churches, human rights groups, media and educational institutions that work for peace in their own country.

As the service understands it, civil conflict transformation happens first and foremost at the grassroots of a society. There, people analyse conflicts, bring the parties together, develop non-violent solutions and prevent violence.

What does a peace worker actually do?

According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, the work covers promoting dialogue, peace education, trauma work and dealing with the past. The aim is to support local actors in conflict regions in their commitment to peace and human rights, in order to prevent or stop an escalation of violence.

The experts are placed with partner organisations or work as advisers in state structures. The Association of Development Services describes the task like this: bringing hostile groups into contact, balancing interests and so making reconciliation and peaceful coexistence possible again.

What this means day to day depends on the project and the partner organisation. What all assignments have in common is that they run over several years and build on the commitment of the people on the ground.

Who can become a peace worker?

The Civil Peace Service looks for people with life and work experience, knowledge of civil conflict transformation and a qualification in a field of work that the projects need. Knowledge of civil conflict transformation is required before you leave. On its jobs page the service also lists completed training, several years of work experience in a relevant field, and organisational skills, negotiating skills, social skills, patience and resilience.

If you do not have this knowledge yet, you can gain it, for example, at the Academy for Conflict Transformation run by Pro Peace. It offers a two-month in-person course in English and a ten-month part-time training course in German.

Legally, the experts are sent under the Entwicklungshelfergesetz (Development Workers Act). It provides for social security cover, maintenance payments and support in returning to work after coming back. The Civil Peace Service names an assignment of at least two years as the rule.

How do you apply?

Vacancies in Civil Peace Service projects are advertised in the usual way and collected on the website of the service. You apply directly to the organisation that advertises the position.

If you are selected, you go through an individual preparation programme there that prepares you for the assignment abroad over several years.

As a specialist service, the Civil Peace Service does not itself offer internships or voluntary service. Some member organisations do have such offers, however; enquiries go directly to them.

Civil Peace Service, self-description, translated

The Civil Peace Service is a programme for violence prevention, civil conflict transformation and peacebuilding.

Sources

What is peace?

Experts by region

  1. Africaabout 120 experts
  2. Latin Americaaround 70 experts
  3. Asiaaround 70 experts
  4. Middle Eastaround 60 experts
  5. Europeabout 60 experts

Frequently asked questions about the Civil Peace Service

How much does a peace worker in the Civil Peace Service earn?

The Civil Peace Service does not state a fixed salary on its overview pages. The experts work under the Development Workers Act, which assumes a service without the aim of earning a living.

The Act does, however, set out what the contract must at least contain: a maintenance allowance and benefits in kind to cover living costs, an appropriate reintegration allowance after the end of the service, reimbursement of necessary travel costs, and leave and maternity protection. The exact amounts are given in the job advertisements of the individual organisations.

Can you do an internship with the Civil Peace Service?

The Civil Peace Service itself is a specialist service for experienced experts and does not offer internships. According to the service, some members of the consortium do offer internships or voluntary service places, however.

Enquiries therefore go directly to the organisation that offers such places. An overview of the nine member organisations is on the consortium website. If you want to go abroad as an expert later on, you first need work experience in a relevant field anyway.

What is Pro Peace, formerly forumZFD?

Pro Peace is one of the nine member organisations of the Civil Peace Service. Its full name is Pro Peace, Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e. V., it is based in Cologne and, by its own account, has been working for peace since 1996.

By its own account, Pro Peace is active in 13 countries and has 174 employees worldwide. It runs the Academy for Conflict Transformation, which offers further training through which people can qualify for work as a peace worker, as well as introductory seminars for anyone who wants to start in peace work without prior knowledge.

How is the Civil Peace Service funded?

The money comes from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Ministry states funding of around 60 million euros a year.

The Civil Peace Service itself gives a budget of around 65 million euros for each of 2025 and 2026, plus around 21 million euros each year from the special initiative on refugees and host countries. From 1999 up to and including 2026, the Ministry funding adds up to around 755 million euros according to these figures.

How long does an assignment as a peace worker last?

According to the Civil Peace Service, an assignment of at least two years is the rule. The Development Workers Act itself requires an expert to commit by contract for an uninterrupted period of at least one year.

Before leaving, selected experts go through an individual preparation programme that prepares them for an assignment abroad over several years.

Which training courses prepare you for the work?

Several member organisations run courses themselves. The Academy for Conflict Transformation of Pro Peace offers a two-month in-person course in English or a ten-month part-time course in German, as well as online seminars and orientation seminars for people with no prior knowledge.

KURVE Wustrow offers a 16-month practice-based training and a three-week basic course in non-violent conflict transformation. Every year AGIAMONDO and Brot für die Welt put together a programme of preparation seminars, trainings and workshops that is also open to professionals from other organisations.

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