Finance for Development There are many risks and challenges associated with multinational corporations operating in fragile and conflict-affected areas, including human rights abuses; the lack of corporate accountability in such situations; and the risk of sparking or intensifying conflict. Firstly, the risk that corporations become involved in gross human rights abuses is especially prevalent in conflict-affected areas, as the most serious forms of business-related human rights abuses tend to take place in such areas. Secondly, ensuring access to remedy for victims is most challenging when human rights abuses are taking place in such areas due to the 'accountability gap', both in home states as well as host states of multinational companies. Thirdly, in fragile and conflict-affected areas these same companies may also spark, drive or intensify conflict. Their business activities may benefit and support specific parties to the conflict, for example when sourcing from rebel held territory or supplying them with resources. Also, their presence on the ground may spark conflict when community grievances are not adequately addressed. SOMO and its partners are researching the impacts of MNCs on human rights in conflict-affected areas and analyses how MNCs and conflicts influence each other. SOMO's program on multinationals in conflict-affected areas is partly funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under its strategic partnership with Oxfam Novib and SOMO, and falls under the Theory of Change Conflict and Fragility. The ultimate aim of our program is to prevent MNCs from contributing to conflict and human rights abuses in conflict-affected areas by increasing corporate accountability, improving government policies, and empowering civil society to do research and hold companies accountable. In the past four years (2012-2015), with funding from Ministry of Foreign Affairs Reconstruction Fund, SOMO worked on company cases in five conflict-affected areas: Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Colombia. While these cases are all focused on extractives and the agro-industry, the various contexts were very different in terms of conflict, businesses, governance, and the organization of civil society. In addition, SOMO worked on a number of general research papers on the role of MNCs in conflict-affected areas. In the next five years (2016-2020), the SOMO program on multinationals in conflict-affected areas will have less of a country focus but take on a more flexible approach, doing research in different countries to better respond to current developments. This will increase our understanding of why and how MNCs operate in conflict-affected areas, what role they play in the conflict, and how this affects communities, workers, and the environment. In the first half of 2016, we will strengthen our knowledge by analyzing and structuring the lessons learned of the SOMO program in the first four years and using these lessons in the current phase of the SOMO program. We will also start a new major research project that will cover various relevant MCAA themes. In addition, we will continue the work with partners in various conflict-affected areas, including South Sudan (as well as Colombia, which is not part of the Oxfam-SOMO partnership as it has separate funding through the Dutch Embassy). The Strategic Partnership will be the umbrella under which most of SOMO's work on private sector and conflict will take place, and the results of our research will be shared with Oxfam Novib and its partners in the countries that we will work in or on. The synergy between SOMO and Oxfam Novib will be realized by making use of Oxfam’s lobby and advocacy capacities, in order to call for change in the policies and practices of multinationals in conflict-affected areas, as well as home and host state governments. By 2020, the long term outcome is that policies and practices of both MNCs operating in conflict-affected areas and the states from which they operate (home states) have been influenced through research, dialogue, lobby and other follow up strategies. The aim is to diminish the amount of human rights violations by MNCs in conflict-affected areas, and to make sure that MNCs fulfill the binding and non-binding frameworks for corporate responsibility in conflict-affected contexts. While SOMO and Oxfam Novib would not be able realize this outcome on their own, it is expected that in the frame of the Strategic Partnership, and with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Embassies in the countries that we work in, there is much more clout to realize the outcome foreseen.