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ACCORD
PEACEBUILDING
HANDBOOK
1st Edition
April 2013
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ACCORD, April 2013: First Edition
All rights reserved.
This Handbook is a product of the African Peacebuilding Coordination Programme (APCP), under
ACCORDs Peacebuilding Unit. APCP is funded by the Government of Finland.
This Handbook was co-edited by Dr Cedric de Coning and Mr Gustavo de Carvalho.
Published by: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD),
Private Bag X012, Umhlanga Rocks, 4320, South Africa. The Handbook can be found online at:
.
This Handbook draws on the cumulative experiences of several years of ACCORD engagement in
the conflict management and peacebuilding fields. Whilst external sources are referenced and
listed in a bibliography available at the back of this Handbook, content that builds on previously
published materials by ACCORD and ACCORD staff is not referenced, except when specifically
quoted. The Handbook builds particularly on the following ACCORD publications:
CIMIC in UN & African Peace Operations(2006), ACCORD, edited by Cedric de Coning
Conflict Management for Peacekeepers and Peacebuilders (2008), ACCORD, written by
Ian Henderson and Cedric de Coning
United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations / Department of Field Support
Civil Affairs Handbook(2012), a joint development by UN DPKO/DFS and ACCORD, edited by
Joanna Harvey, Cedric de Coning and Lillah Fearnley.
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0- 620-56512-7
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Note on 1s t Edition
T
his is the first edition of ACCORDs Peacebuilding Handbook. It is intended
to be an evolving platform on which to build and refine future reference
for peacebuilding work and trainings. After publishing, in early 2013, theHandbook will go through an extensive review process; it will be reviewed by local
and international peacebuilding practitioners and scholars, tested in training courses
and then refined into a second edition. All comments and suggestions about content
are welcome and will be considered for the second edition of the Handbook, to be
published in late 2013. These can be forwarded to [email protected].
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Acknowledgements
A
CCORDs Peacebuilding Handbook has been developed by the African Centre
for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), through its African
Peacebuilding Coordination Programme (APCP), with financial supportfrom the Government of Finland. The Handbook has been developed as part of an
ongoing internal lessons learned and organisational development process since the
programmes inception. The process started in September 2008, when ACCORD invited
a wide range of stakeholders to a Curriculum Development Workshop in Durban, South
Africa, to discuss the proposed Handbook, its content, and its development process.
Many people have since actively contributed to the development of the Handbook
over the years. The Handbook has been co-edited by Dr Cedric de Coning, Advisor for
ACCORDs Peacebuilding Unit, and Mr Gustavo de Carvalho, Coordinator of ACCORDs
Peacebuilding Unit. In earlier stages of this process, Ms Warigia Razia and Dr Walter
Lotze, previous Coordinators of ACCORDs Peacebuilding Unit, led the development of
the Handbook. In particular, several chapters of the Handbook are based specifically
on the PhD dissertation and related work of Dr de Coning. Many others at ACCORD
contributed to the Handbook, by writing sections and chapters, providing comments
or contributing to various supporting processes.
We wish to acknowledge the hard work that has been put into this Handbook over the
years by the whole team. Their work showed the commitment to produce a Handbook
that reflects the cumulative experience and knowledge of those that participatedin APCP initiatives, and that is sensitive to the everyday experiences of the local
communities that live through peacebuilding interventions. In particular we would like
to acknowledge the contributions of Lesley Connolly, Sacha Knox, Dr Martha Mutisi,
Abu Sherif, Joyce Muraya, Nontobeko Hadebe, Dorcas Ettang, Beatrice Nzovu, Martha
Bakwasegha-Osula, Karishma Rajoo, Kemi Ogunsanya, and Dr Pascal da Rocha for their
active contribution and support to this process.
A large number of ACCORD friends contributed with practical reflections, case studies,
and examples to the Handbook. We thank them for their contribution to this process
and we hope to continue counting on their support in the processes of strengthening
and reviewing this current edition.
Lastly, a special word of thanks to the Government of Finland, for its belief in, and
support of the development of this Handbook, the work of the Peacebuilding Unit and
ACCORD in general, and for many contributions to the ongoing process of improving
knowledge and practice of sustainable peacebuilding.
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Preface
T
here have been many important developments in the conflict resolution field
over the past twenty years. During this period several approaches towards
consolidating peace have been strengthened and increased attention has beengiven to the promotion of long-term sustainable solutions in countries coming out
of conflicts. It is in this context that peacebuilding has emerged as one of the most
significant new developments aimed at supporting the establishment of lasting peace
in post-conflict societies.
Peacebuilding initiatives target a countrys institutional and human capacities in
addressing post-conflict challenges. These involve strengthening social institutions,
processes and mechanisms as a means of preventing the resumption (or escalation)
of violent conflict and establishing the foundations for a durable and self-sustaining
peace. As can be expected from such an ambitious undertaking, a large variety of
peacebuilding tasks are conducted at different levels (grass-roots, sub-national,
national and international) and at different stages of a conflict-to-peace spectrum
(pre-conflict through to post-conflict environments). These tasks range from the
disarming of warring factions to the rebuilding or establishment of new political,
economic, security, judicial, social and civil institutions.
Over the past 20 years, ACCORD has been engaged in capacity building initiatives
that increase the individual and collective knowledge and skills of key peacebuilding
stakeholders. The aim of these initiatives has always been to help peacebuilders togain a better understanding of the environments and contexts in which they work
and the processes through which they can support local and national actors to
develop the institutions necessary to sustain their own peace processes. At all these
levels and stages a core issue is the roles and capacities of local and national actors to
lead a countrys or a communitys own peacebuilding processes. Closely linked are a
number of issues relating to the relationship between international and national-local
peacebuilders, including what their respective roles are or should be, and what kind
of support is appropriate in this context. The core theme of this Handbook is thus the
central role of local and national ownership in securing sustainable peace.
This Handbook is the cumulation of an organisational learning process that ACCORD
has been involved in since its inception. Our aim is to strengthen the capacities
for sustainable peacebuilding in Africa and beyond. The African Peacebuilding
Coordination Programme (APCP), funded by the Government of Finland, has since 2008
been an integral part of this process. It works to enhance coherence and coordination
in peacebuilding, to promote and enhance local ownership in peacebuilding processes,
and to support the design and implementation of peacebuilding policy frameworks.
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The programme has grounded its work around the peacebuilding processes of Burundi,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Sudan and South Sudan, and
the training materials including this Handbook and related knowledge that was
developed by the programme, has emerged through the programmes engagement
with local and national peacebuilders in these and other countries. We are thus deeply
indebted to the shared experiences and accumulated knowledge of all the people
that this programme, and ACCORD in general, had the privilege to engage with over
the years.
We hope that you will find this Handbook stimulating and meaningful and we look
forward to engaging with you in the use, and further improvement, of this Handbook
in different peacebuilding initiatives over the coming years.
We hope that you will find this Handbook stimulating and meaningful and we look
forward to engaging with you in the use, and further improvement, of this Handbook
in different peacebuilding initiatives over the coming years.
Gustavo de Carvalho
Coordinator: Peacebuilding Unit
ACCORD
Cedric de Coning
Advisor: Peacebuilding Unit
ACCORD
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How to use this Handbook 8
Part One: Understanding Peacebuilding 10
Chapter 1: Understanding Peacebuilding Concepts and Definitions 11
Chapter 2: Peacebuilding Phases and Actors 28
Chapter 3: Peacebuilding Dimensions 43
Chapter 4: Local Ownership 80
Part Two: Implementing Peacebuilding 92
Chapter 5: Understanding, Analysing and Addressing Conflict 93
Chapter 6: Coherence and Coordination 103
Chapter 7: Peacebuilding Planning 116
Conclusion to the Handbook 126
Concepts 128
Acronyms 135
Bibliography and Reading List 139
About ACCORD and the Peacebuilding Unit 149
Contents
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How to use this Handbook
T
his Handbook is intended to serve as both a training tool and a self-study field
guide for peacebuilding practitioners, and is designed to prove useful to a wide
range of peacebuilding actors, including representatives of non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs), government agencies, development partners, and
intergovernmental organisations, including the African Union, the United Nations
and sub-regional mechanisms. The Handbook is intended so that a wide-audience of
internal and external actors can read and gain knowledge from it on their own, but it
will also be used as a training aid by ACCORD in support of its peacebuilding training
courses and processes.
The Handbook is expected to give a broad- base d introduction to aspect s of
peacebuilding. Its methodology builds on ACCORDs experience of two decades
of conflict management training and policy and research experience in Africa. It is
specifically designed to meet the needs of peacebuilders elsewhere by providing a
better understanding of several different approaches to peacebuilding, including its
concepts, definitions and historical context but also practical skills that might be useful
for peacebuilding practitioners acting in different fields and arenas.
This Handbook is intended to support an ongoing learning and study. There is much in
the Handbook that will only be touched on briefly, and users will need to read further
to understand the concepts in more detail. Repeated reference will be found in the
Handbook, and it will assist a continuing development as a peacebuilding practitioner.It is suggested that the Handbook is used as a workbook writing notes and reflecting
on personal and professional experiences will increase its usefulness. There is a lot of
detailed information packed into these pages users should feel free to skip some
sections and refer back to them as appropriate.
Th is Ha ndb oo k us es an in te gr at ed ap pr oa ch to le ar ni ng .
Each chapter has been designed so it can be used independently
and provides links to other sections of the book which may be
relevant to the user. The structure has been designed such that
each section has its own objectives independently
of the Handbook, yet also adds to the general
aim of the Handbook: developing knowledge on
peacebuilding.
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ACCORD Peacebuilding Handbook as Part of an Evolving Process
This Handbook is based on the premise that in order to be relevant, peacebuilding
needs to be strongly anchored in the principles of local ownership and context
adaptability. As such, whilst this Handbooks edition was written by ACCORD staff, it
will go through an extensive piloting and reviewing process, ensuring it is reflectiveof views, expectations and needs of peacebuilding practitioners and related actors.
Comments, suggestions and criticism are very much welcomed and will be taken
into consideration in the production of further editions. These can be forwarded to
The Structure of the Handbook and its Learning Process
The Handbook is divided into two main parts, which will respectively cover different
aspects that are relevant for peacebuilders.
Firstly, it will focus on generating a general understanding of peacebuilding for the
reader, and on contextualising peacebuilding. By presenting principles, concepts,
ideas and dimensions around peacebuilding, the Handbook expects to provide users
an overview of what are some of the key issues related to promoting sustainable peace
in post-conflict countries, how have these evolved throughout the years, and who are
the key actors and issues involved. This section intends to show the broad aspect of
peacebuilding, and how interconnected different dimensions are from each other.
Secondly, building on the above chapters, this section addresses the practical elements
of peacebuilding, focusing on tools that can be used by practitioners. This section willfocus on more practical based chapters, looking at how to implement all the theory and
topics that part one introduces. The skills and approaches contained in this section are
generic and are based on the core principle that, in the vast majority of peacebuilding
situations, core similar challenges can be encountered.
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In this section we will explore some views relevant to the concept of
peacebuilding. First, we will begin by unpacking this concept; tracing
the historic context in which it developed and discussing some of
its emerging characteristics. Second, we will present an overview of
some of the phases, actors, dimensions and tools that are relevant to
peacebuilding. As there are many different dimensions important for
peacebuilding, this section will be presented in the most detail. Finally,
we will look at a central theme for peacebuilding through elaboration of
the concept and practice of local ownership.
Part one: Understanding Peacebuilding
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1.1 Introduction
The notion of peacebui lding is a comple x and continuously changing term.
Peacebuilding itself has several key characteristics, including the long-term nature of
the process, the interdependence of the actors, the multidimensional nature of the
process and its concern with the consolidation of peace. In the post-cold war era, the
idea of what peacebuilding is became an important process in the fight for sustainable
peace across the world. In this chapter, the historic context in which the peacebuilding
concept has developed is traced, and some of its emerging characteristics are
discussed.
Whilst the peacebuilding concept is now more widely used than ever, there is still a
lot of confusion as to what exactly it means in practice, and what is included in the
concept. Broadly speaking, peacebuilding seeks to help people recover from, prevent,
reduce, and transform violence. As such, the broad nature of peacebuilding often
leads to its use as a catch-all concept for many of the so called conflict management
activities. Peacebuilding involves concepts of conflict prevention, management andtransformation, all of which must be undertaken to address comprehensively conflicts
that arise in post-conflict settings, but should also aim to transform the conflict system
as a whole, preventing violent conflict from arising in the future.
At the same time, peacebuilding empowers people to foster relationships at all levels
that sustain them and their environment. It is a systematic process that facilitates the
establishment of durable peace and tries to prevent the reoccurrence of violence by
addressing the root causes and effects of conflict. Peacebuilding is the responsibility
Chapter 1:
Understanding Peacebuilding Concepts and Definitions
What will this chapter do?
This chapter will outline the different aspects of peacebuilding
and show how they are inter-linked yet have different functions.
Why is it important?
This chapter will assist readers to understand how peacebuilding
can be used in different situations.
What should you learn?
By the end of this chapter, the reader should have developed a
deeper understanding of peacebuilding and its applications.
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of many different actors, including governments, religious organisations, civil society,
traditional leaders and mechanisms, media and the private sector.
This chapter is designed to equip those working to build peace with a functional
understanding of key concepts and terms, and key approaches to peacebuilding.
As such, this chapter will focus on the definition of peacebuilding, showing that whilstit has a broad nature, it is also possible to narrow it down to an idea that is practically
viable. It will present a brief historical overview, followed by a discussion on two ways in
which peacebuilding can be determined, namely in the context of specific programmes
as well as an overall systemic approach. Finally, the chapter will present emerging
trends in the peacebuilding field.
1.2 Peacebuilding as Peace Consolidation
Although the term peacebuilding was coined by Johan Galtung in the 1970s, the
concept only became widely used as part of contemporary conflict management
vocabulary when then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali used it as one of
the key concepts of his 1992 report titled An agenda for peace: preventative diplomacy,
pea cema king and pea ce-keeping . In this report, peacebuilding was
described as:
action to identify and support structures which tend to
strengthen and solidify peace to avoid a relapse into
conflict.
Peacebuilding was explained as the counterpart of preventive
diplomacy, where preventive diplomacy was seen as action aimed
at avoiding a crisis whilst peacebuilding was aimed at preventing its
recurrence. In this report, conflict prevention and peacebuilding were thus
juxtaposed at the opposite ends of the conflict management spectrum, with preventive
diplomacy representing the first or opening stage of an intervention and peacebuilding
the last or closing stage.
It can thus be said that peacebuilding aims to consolidate and institutionalise peace
by undertaking a range of actions that go beyond merely preventing a lapse intoviolent conflict, what Galtung (1985) termed negative peace. It aims to address the
underlying root causes of conflict and to create the conditions for a just social order,
what Galtung (1985) termed positive peace. This core focus on avoiding a lapse into
violent conflict is also referred to as peace consolidation, and that is why it can be said
that the core aim of peacebuilding is peace consolidation.
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Galtungs ideas of Negative and Positive Peace
Negative peace is a situation where there is an absence of
violence and war.
Positive peace is a situation where open conflict as well asthe threat of conflict is absent; the causes of conflict have
been removed from the situation.
Source: Gautung, Johan (1985) Twenty-Five years of peace research:
ten challenges and some responses,Journal of Peace Research 22 (2).
Peacebuilding thus aims to generate a range of measures that will create
positive peace conditions, with a view to avoid a lapse, or re-lapse into
violent conflict.
Pr a c t c a lRe f l e c o n s
Impact and challenges in dealing with the
notions of positive and negative peace
Frauke de Weijer, Policy Officer Conflict, Security and Resilience
European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)
Positive peace is much more difficult to define and measure than negative peace. This
may lead to an overly strong focus on this negative definition of peace with strategies
therefore centering on managing, or at best mitigating conflict. This can therefore
lead to a concentration of resources and energy to short-term measures rather than
long-term ones. Doing a better job at measuring positive peace may rebalance this
somewhat. Theories of peacebuilding are often highly ideological and intuitive.
A more systematic challenge of the underlying assumptions can help reveal some
of these assumptions, and test them for the degree to which they are justified and
very importantly fitting that particular context.
Peacebuilding strategies are and need to be highly context specific. As important
as knowledge and experience sharing are, in particular in relation to innovativeideas, it can lead to an overreliance on best practice. The notion of best practice
goes quite strongly against the notion of context-specificity, especially if it is used
as if often is as a strategy that can thus work anywhere. This is clearly not the
case, as the wealth of critical analysis on transplanting international best practice
shows. Knowledge sharing, experience sharing, and learning must therefore lead
to localised best practice, which can at best serve as a source of inspiration for
other situations. However, in a political economy of aid where best practice is still
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widely used for benchmarking and resource allocation decisions, this is a real risk.
A more evidenced-based analysis of the success or failures of different
peacebuilding theories would facilitate learning and knowledge sharing.
1.3 Peacebuilding in Historic Context
In the post-cold war era, the focus of international conflict management has
increasingly shifted from peacekeeping, which was about maintaining the status
quo, to peacebuilding, which has to do with managing change. The nexus between
development, peace and security has become key in the development of international
conflict management strategies. From the way peacebuilding has been used in major
UN policy documents such as In Larger Freedom: Towards Security, Development
and Human Rights for All (2005) and Delivering as One (2006) we can argue thatpeacebuilding is increasingly seen as the collective framework under which the peace,
security, humanitarian, rule of law, (RoL) human rights and development dimensions
can be brought together under one common strategy at country level.
In the early 1990s the approach to international conflict management, as developed
in the context of then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghalis 1992 An agenda
for peace, was first to try to prevent violent conflict (conflict prevention). If that failed
the next step was to make peace by facilitating dialogue among the belligerent
parties (peacemaking). If a cease-fire or peace agreement was reached that included
a neutral third-party monitoring role, the UN (or a regional organisation authorised
by the Security Council) would typically deploy a peace operation to monitor the
cease-fire and to support the implementation of the peace agreement (peacekeeping).
Once the conflict had been stabilised, emergency humanitarian needs addressed and
a peace process agreed upon, the international community would shift its focus to
post-conflict reconstruction. This phase was focused on rebuilding and reconciliation
(peacebuilding) with the aim of addressing the root causes of the violent conflict to
prevent it from reoccurring.
As a result of a series of peacekeeping failures and challenges in the 1990s, especiallythe experiences in Somalia, Rwanda and Srebrenica, the understanding of international
conflict management has become more nuanced. It is now recognised that the
different elements of the international response introduced in An agenda for peace
do not necessarily follow on from one another neatly in a linear or chronological
progression as An agenda for peace suggested.
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In practice conflict prevention, peacemaking,
peacekeeping and peacebuilding seem to overlap; they
are interlinked, mutually support each other and often
take place simultaneously.
The emergence of peacebuilding should thus be understood
in the context of an increasingly complex and interdependent
international conflict management system. During the cold war
period, the UN, regional organisations and independent agencies
were called upon to undertake humanitarian relief, peacemaking
and peacekeeping actions at a scale usually manageable within the scope of the
independent capabilities of these organisations, or at a level that could be managed
with limited cooperative arrangements.
In the post-cold war era, the scale and complexity of the conflict managementprogrammes designed to deal with crises faced by the international community were
of a different magnitude. As a result, it was often the case that no single actor being
that a government, international organisation or agency, could manage them on
their own. These organisations were ill prepared to deal with the complexity of the
challenges posed by the emerging post-conflict reconstruction challenges of the post-
cold war era. Furthermore, as a result of the international communitys experiences in
El Salvador, Cambodia, Namibia, Nicaragua, and Mozambique in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, a major shift in focus and approach became necessary.
The question was no longer how a situat ion can be stabilised to maint ain the
precarious cold war balance. Instead the focus shifted to a new agenda: how could
the collective international, regional, national and local community better facilitate
and support the implementation of comprehensive peace agreements in countries
emerging from violent conflict and civil war? In the context of these developments,
peacebuilding was increasingly seen as the collective framework under which the
political, security, rule of law, governance, human rights and development dimensions
of these international interventions could be brought together under one common
strategic framework at a country level.
As a result of thes e developments peacebuilding
emerged as a new form of peace intervention; one aimed
at assisting societies emerging out of conflict to manage
their peace processes. However, beyond this broad notion,
the concept was highly contested.
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1.4 Approaches to Peacebuilding
We can identify several approaches in which the understanding of peacebuilding can
be operationalised. The next sub-sections will present two different perspectives and
approaches which are often guides for different peacebuilding approaches, namely
both programmatic peacebuilding and systemic peacebuilding.
Programmatic peacebuilding
Programmatic peacebuilding refers to specific activities aimed at addressing urgent
or imminent risks to a peace process. The following bullets summarise some of the key
aspects of programmatic peacebuilding:
As perspectives shifted, peacebuilding became more comprehensive to incorporate broader dimensions of
society thus increasing its ability to aid more people in the aected societies
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Risks refers to an assessment that a certain situation or condition may contribute
to the increased likelihood of lapse or relapses into violent conflict;
It focuses on conflict factors that may potentially impact negatively on the
peace process, and that can be addressed through specific targeted programme
responses;
This can also be thought of as preventative peacebuilding or instrumental
peacebuilding in that it refers to specific programming that is meant to prevent a
lapse or relapse into conflict; and
The time-frame for programmatic peacebuilding is necessarily short- to medium-
term, because it is focussed on countering immediate or imminent threats to the
peace process.
Some donors now have funds specifically earmarked for peacebuilding, and those
funds would most likely be used to fund specific programmes in this category. For
instance, the activities supported by the UN Peacebuilding Fund typically also fall in
this category and are aimed at addressing specific peace consolidation needs that have
either remained unfunded, or under-funded, or which have newly emerged.
Programmatic peacebuilding initiatives
Examples of such peacebuilding programmes include conflict resolution
training and capacity building, the development of institutional
capabilities needed for conflict prevention (such as
the Peace Commission in Southern Sudan or the
Ituri Pacification Commission in the DRC), support
for civil society or womens groups to participate
in peacemaking initiatives, and support for
national reconciliation initiatives, including aspects of
transitional justice.
Some donors also include support for specific programme activities that form part
of, or support, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), rule of law andSecurity Sector Reform (SSR) in this peacebuilding category. However, in Sierra Leone,
Burundi and Liberia, it has been noted that some of the activities earmarked in this
category may appear to be very similar to traditional development categories, such
as youth employment, infrastructure development and basic social services. This is
because the frustrations with the lack of progress in these areas have become so critical
in some of these communities that they become grievances which can be a source of a
potential relapse into violent conflict, and urgent action is required to show that some
of these needs are being met. This potential relapse links to the notion of structural
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violence and it is vital to address the structural root causes of violence and grievances
to truly prevent future outbreaks of conflict.
Some donors do not allocate funds specifically for peacebuilding, but prefer to
encourage a conflict sensitive approach to development when working in conflict-
affected countries. Conflict-sensitive development programmes have a developmentalobjective i.e. poverty reduction but are sensitive to the conflict environment within
which they operate, in that specific steps are taken in the design and management of
the programme to avoid aggravating the situation. In some cases, the design of the
programme can also be intended to support conflict prevention efforts proactively,
and, in the latter case, such activities are almost indistinguishable
from targeted peacebuilding.
An important pre-requisite for a programmatic
peacebuilding programme to be effective, is an
understanding of the risks to the peace process, and the
conflict factors that characterise the conflict system.
Forms of risk analysis are recommended to be undertaken as part
of the process leading up to the design of appropriate targeted
peacebuilding programmes. That analysis is meant to assist the
peacebuilding agent, and key stakeholders to work towards a common understanding
of what the conflict factors in a particular context are from the earliest planning
stages and continuously throughout the life-cycle of the peacebuilding system.
Funding for, and capacity- building towards, effective participation in an appropriateanalysis approach could also be regarded as a programmatic peacebuilding activity,
because it makes the peacebuilding activities context-specific and therefore more
likely to succeed.
Systemic peacebuilding
In contrast to programmatic peacebuilding, systemic
peacebuilding emerges out of the total combined effort of
the activities undertaken under the various peacebuilding
dimensions, and thus exists in the form of a system-wide orholistic process.
This overall effort may sometimes be anchored in a strategy or vision,
for example, an integrated strategic framework such as the Lift Liberia
Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) or the Afghan Compact in Afghanistan.
There may be specif ic processes and struc tures that facilitate the development,
management and monitoring of such peacebuilding frameworks and these may be
purposely funded.
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In general, however, support for systemic peacebuilding occurs in a highly fragmented
manner in that the various agents that participate in, and contributes to, the overall
process, each independently design, manage, monitor and evaluate and secure funding
for their own programmes. These activities are not necessarily identified, or funded, as
peacebuilding activities at the programme level, although some of the programmes
discussed in the previous section on programmatic peacebuilding can be included here.
Instead, they are considered and funded as peacekeeping, development, human rights,
job creation, or rule of law activities. It is when these activities are considered together
over time, in the context of their combined and cumulative peace consolidation effect,
which their systemic peacebuilding identity emerges.
A strategic or integrated framework, that is aimed at an overall strategic vision for the
systemic peacebuilding process, such as a conflict-sensitive poverty reduction strategy
(PRS), maps out the overall priorities and objectives of the systemic peacebuilding
strategy for a particular country. Examples include the Results Based TransitionalFramework (RFTF), interim Integrated Regional Support Programme (IRSP) and Regional
Strategy Paper (RSP) in Liberia, the Peace Consolidation Strategy and the Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in Sierra Leone, and the Integrated Peacebuilding
Frameworks in Burundi and the Central African Republic. Individual programmes
become part of the systemic peacebuilding process when they contribute to, and are
considered as part of the overall effort directed towards achieving the objectives set
out in the strategic vision.
In some cases, the individual agencies may be conscious of their role in the overall
framework, but in many cases this link is drawn only at the systemic level, for instance in
strategic evaluations or in annual PRS reports. This does not imply that the connections
are artificial, but rather that those at the programme level are not always aware
of the degree to which their individual activities contribute to an overall systemic
peacebuilding framework.
There is disagreement over the extent to which a development activity such as a
programme aimed at poverty reduction or infrastructure development (for example,
the construction of a road) can be regarded as having a peace consolidation effect, and
thus be considered part of a peacebuilding system. The confusion lies in perspectiveand context. An individual donor or implementing agent may not think of, or categorise
the funding of an activity (for example, the construction of a road), as peacebuilding,
from a programme level or budget-line perspective. However, from a systemic
perspective for instance, in the context of an integrated peacebuilding framework
and sticking with the example, the construction of roads may be regarded as an
important element of a larger systemic peacebuilding framework. It may perhaps create
work for ex-combatants, it may stimulate local economies and improve livelihoods by
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providing access to markets, it may stimulate local contractor capacity, it may open
up outlying areas previously marginalised because of their inaccessibility, and assist in
the extension of the authority of the state into those territories, and it may contribute
to overall economic growth, all of which are important aspects of an environment
conducive to a successful peace process and preventing a relapse into conflict.
Any particular system is framed by the observer, and it thus requires an overall systems
perspective to recognise that a specific programme activity, such as the road building
project in this example, has a positive feedback effect for peace consolidation, and is
thus regarded as being part of the peacebuilding system. It is not necessary for the
agent to be aware that it is part of a particular system, for it to contribute to the overall
system effect.
CHARACTERISTICS PROGRAMMATIC
PEACEBUILDING
SYSTEMATIC
PEACEBUILDING
Time frame Short or medium term Long term
Funding Funding is generallyproject specific, and so
each programme will be
individually funded.
Often fragmented from
various funders.
Approach Problem specific Holistic approach
Focus Immediate threats Conflict as a whole: targeted
through a broad strategy.
When various activities, undertaken by various stakeholders, are considered together, in the context of their
peace consolidation eect, a systemic peacebuilding identity emerges.
UNPhoto/OlivierChassot
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1.5 Emerging Characteristics
Whilst there is no one common definition, approach or model for peacebuilding that
is yet widely accepted, some common characteristics that have emerged over the last
decade and a half of peacebuilding practice can start to be identified.
Characteristics of Peacebuilding
Multi-Dimensional
Inter-dependanceof actors
Long-Termprocess withshort-termrealities
Peaceconsolidation
Emerging
Characteristics
PeaceAgreement
MultiplePeacebuildingInstruments
Peacebuilding is primarily concerned with peace consolidation
The first characteristic is that peacebuilding is primarily concerned with securing or
consolidating peace. It is concerned with preventing a lapse, or relapse, into violent
conflict. Peacebuilding is aimed at consolidating peace by addressing those conflict
factors that may, in the short to medium term, threaten a lapse or relapse into
conflict as well as addressing root causes of conflicts, that may threaten the peace in
the long term.
Sierra leone peacebuilding initiatives
After the civil war ended in Sierra Leone, the
government made commitments to peacebuilding
commitments which involved addressing the
following aspects: consolidation of democracy and
good governance; justice and security sector reform;
youth employment and empowerment; capacity-building; energy
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sector development and sub-regional peacekeeping (involving presidential and
ministerial summits for the Manu River Regions leaders).
This is distinct from the governments development commitments, which involve
development of infrastructure, productive sectors and human development. Whilst
this agenda of development will have positive effects on Sierra Leones stability and
peace, it is distinct from the peacebuilding agenda in that the latter is primarily
concerned with peace consolidation and long-term development in the country.
Source: United Nations Peacebuilding Commission. (2008) Progress report on the implementation of
the Sierra Leone Peacebuilding Cooperation Framework. PBC/3/SLE/3
Peacebuilding is multi-dimensional
The second characteristic is that peacebuilding is a multi-dimensional or system-wide
undertaking that spans several dimensions. There are different models or approaches,
but most range from differentiating between three core dimensions to the more
elaborate approaches listing six to eight different dimensions. The UN Secretary-
General Report S/2001/394 No Exit without Strategy(2001), argues that peacebuilding
should be understood as fostering the capacity to resolve future conflicts by:
Consolidating security,
Strengthening political institutions and
Promoting economic and social reconstruction.
Other UN policy documents, for instance the Secretary-Generals Note on the
Integrated Approach (2006), prefer a more elaborate list that includes: political,
development, humanitarian, human rights, rule of law, social reconciliation and security
dimensions. The AUs Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development Framework
(2006) comprises six similar constitutive elements, but adds gender as a self-standing
dimension.
Humanitarian assistance should be highlighted as one dimension that is treated
differently in the various models. A number of peacebuilding models such as the UNs
Integrated Approach and NEPADs Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy Framework forAfrica (2004 include humanitarian dimensions. However, some in the humanitarian
community argue that humanitarian assistance should not be seen as being part
of peacebuilding, because it needs to be recognised as independent, neutral and
impartial. In other words, whilst peacebuilding is inherently political, humanitarian
assistance is at pains to remain above the politics of the day. Some models, including
the UNs integrated approach, nevertheless include humanitarian assistance within
their peacebuilding framework, because they argue that the humanitarian dimension
needs to be factored into the overall peacebuilding planning and coordination
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mechanisms. However, they explicitly recognise that the humanitarian dimension
has a special status and that it needs to be treated as an independent, but parallel,
peacebuilding dimension.
Five dimensions of peacebuilding system
Security and
Rule of Law
Providing a Safe and Secure Environment
Protection of Civilians
Mine Action
Security Sector Reform
Disarmament and Demobilisation
Police, Corrections and Judicial Reform (Rule of Law)
Political and
Governance
Support the Peace Process and Oversee the Political Transition
Political Participation, National Dialogue and Reconciliation
Electoral Capacity Building and Oversight (Observation)
State and Government Institutions, Public Administration and
Civil Service Capacity Building (Governance)
Extend State Authority Throughout the Territory
Conflict Management Capacity
Socio-economic
Recovery
Physical Infrastructure: Roads, Ports, Airports; Electricity;
Telecommunications
Social Services: Health, Education, Social Welfare, Population
Registration
Stimulate and Facilitate Economic Growth and Employment
Strengthen Civil Society
Human Rights Human Rights Education, Advocacy and Monitoring
Humanitarian
Assistance
Emergency and Early Recovery Services in the areas of Food,
Water & Sanitation, Shelter, Health, Protection and Returns of
Refugees/ internally displaced peoples (IDPs)
The interdependence of peacebuilding actors
The emergence of peacebuilding should be understood in the context of an increasingly
complex and interdependent conflict management system. One of its defining
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characteristics is the large number of diverse international and local actors that
are engaged in any particular peacebuilding systems, including states, multilateral
institutions, NGOs, local communities and corporations.
The work of these actors spans all dimensions of life: political, security, development,
governance, economics and socio-cultural. In each specific case the full spectrum ofnational actors including government, political parties, militias, traditional leaders, civil
society, and others are engaged in the peacebuilding process. The relationships and
links between these varied internal actors, between the many different external actors,
and between the internal and external actors, generate the structure, hierarchy and self-
organisation that characterise the complexity of peacebuilding systems.
There is a continual tension between the independence and interdependence of these
peacebuilding actors. The various peacebuilding actors exist as independent agents
with their own mandates, programmes and resources, yet they are interdependent on
each other to achieve their respective objectives, and that of the overall peacebuilding
undertaking. Most peacebuilding related programmes only make sense as part of a
larger system of related programmes.
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes
Disarmament and demobilisation programmes rely on the assumption that
others will provide a series of reintegration programmes, and they all rely on
the assumption that there are other programmes or initiatives in place that
will create security, improve opportunities for education and healthcare,
and create employment for ex-combatants or alternative opportunities
for sustainable livelihoods. Such a network of programmes exist
both as independent programmes with their own sources of
funding and separate implementing arrangements, and as
a system of interdependent programmes whose combined
output produce an outcome that their individual efforts could
not have achieved independently.
Peacebuilding is a long-term process, but it is driven by short-term
realities
The fourth aspect relates to the perspective of time. There seems to be broad
agreement around two time-related issues. The first is recognition, at least at
the policy level, that post-conflict peacebuilding is a long-term process, and that
a longer and more sustained international commitment is necessary than was
understood a decade ago. The acceptance that a longer-term time frame was
necessary for post-conflict peacebuilding was agreed on at the World Summit in
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2005 and resulted in the establishment of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC).
The core aim of the PBC was to ensure that the international community in general
and the UN in particular, remains engaged in countries in the post-conflict peace-
building stage.
This was regarded as necessary because the UN Security Council s attention tends tobe focused on those crises where the UN has a direct stake, usually in the form of a
UN peacekeeping operation. When such operations come to an end, the post-conflict
countries in question tend to move off the Security Council agenda. Failures to sustain
international engagement in countries like Haiti, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s
was seen as an important factor in the serial-relapse into violent conflict experienced
in these countries a decade later.
The international community now seems to recognise a causal link between sustained
international attention and longer-lasting peace processes. However, there is still a
large gap between the time-period that the UN, World Bank and international donors
seem willing to plan and commit to, which rarely exceeds one to three years, and the
time it takes for these transformative processes to take hold, which seems to take at
least two to three decades.
Liberia and Sierra Leones post-conflict peacebuilding time-frames
States such as Sierra Leone and Liberia have been fluctuating between war
and peace, further decreasing the chances of ceasefire and affecting the
local population. The short-lived periods of relative peace have usually been
established after foreign aid and international experts have been allocated to
the regions. The concerted efforts of the local governments, NGOs, and various
international actors achieve relatively easy the [sic] short-term goals of political
and economic stability in the country. However, once the foreign financial
aid and international assistance is gradually reduced, the states fail to sustain
the peace due to the lack of local human resources that are able to continue
the already initiated policies. The poor social
development in these areas affects the long-termgoals of peacebuilding, thus exposing the country to
a risk of conflict reoccurrence.
Source: Filipov, F (2006) Post-conflict Peacebuilding: Strategies
and Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina, El Salvador and
Sierra Leone. Available: .
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The second time related characteristic is the recognition that although post-conflict
peacebuilding requires a long-term commitment, there is also a need for immediate
and short-term gains to solidify the peace, build confidence in the peace process and
stimulate a vision of a better future. This has resulted in practices such as the now
standard inclusion of funds for quick impact projects in UN peacekeeping budgets,
and an acceptance that some aspects of DDR, RoL and SSR should be funded out of
the assessed contributions to the UN peacekeeping operations budget. This is an area
that still leaves room for significant debate, and the peacekeeping-peacebuilding
nexus discussion in the UN system raises the question as to where the limits should
be drawn when it comes to the use of the assessed contribution budget, and how UN
peacekeeping can, in post-conflict situations, best be used as early-peacebuilders.
Peace agreements and its impact on peacebuilding and statebuilding
A central issue relates on how to further explore the fact that a large number of peace
agreement end up falling apart, allowing countries to return to conflict. One issue
refers particularly to the fact that many, directly or indirectly, see peace agreements as
an opportunity for disengagement, as it can be seen by partners and the international
community as a potential milestone for departure. Several examples and cases can be
highlighted, including cases of South Sudan, Rwanda, Liberia, the DRC, Burundi and
others.
In order for peacebuilding to be successful, there is a strong need to understand local
contexts and to develop strategies that address root causes of conflict. It is important
to highlight that peace agreements are the starting point for the development of
longer-term solutions for a country. In this context, where conflicts end through
reaching a negotiated settlement, there is a potential for longer-term impact that
particular compromises that were made by the parties in relation to the sustainability
of peace processes.
Existence of multiple peacebuilding and statebuilding instruments
Post-conflict countries are frequently engaged in the development of several
frameworks and initiatives to aim to deal with peacebuilding and statebuilding
challenges. Some of these initiatives are nationally led, others are internationally led.
Internationally, many examples and references can be made, including for instance
those happening at the at the AU level and its Post conflict reconstruction and
development framework; the UN larger peacebuilding framework, including through
the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the UN Development Programme
(UNDP) and many others; the work and practice of the World Bank; the development
of the New Deal and the g7+; amongst others. Some of those instruments will be
further explained further in this Handbook. Nationally, in each peacebuilding context
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and country several different initiatives can be referenced as instruments utilised to
address peacebuilding related issues. Those include Peacebuilding Strategies, Poverty
Reduction mechanisms, peacebuilding and development compact, amongst many
others national frameworks.
With the developments of many instruments that aim to structure and supportpeacebuilding processes, there is certainly a stronger space for better convergence
between many of these platforms and frameworks. The frequent lack of convergence
between processes creates, to a large extent, sentiments of confusion between local
actors and international actors, and challenges on identifying priorities of engagement
and action. This confusing process leads to dangerous risks. For instance, in this
approach many actors end up engaging in processes due to the funding potential,
rather than the belief of the relevance of the process.
A better coherence between policies and frameworks is required both at the national
and international levels. Nationally, the design of frameworks that are complementary
to each other would benefit national, local and international actors opportunities
to constructively engage in peacebuilding processes. Internationally, actors could
certainly provide better coordination of how policies can better channel responses
towards peacebuilding.
1.6 Conclusion
This chapter has explained that there are two distinct ways in which peacebuilding
tends to be approached. Some see peacebuilding in the context of specific programmes
that aim to contribute to peace consolidation, whilst others see peacebuilding as an
overall or system-wide effort, i.e. from a holistic perspective. The first approach is
focussed on what can be done, whilst the second is focussed on understanding how
and why peacebuilding works the way it does. These two approaches are related: for
programmatic peacebuilding to be meaningful and sustainable, it needs to be part of
a peacebuilding system that is actively pursuing a strategic direction. This chapter has
also looked at a number of emerging characteristics that taken together may assist
with understanding the peacebuilding concept better. Characteristics such as peace
consolidation; the multi-dimensional nature of peacebuilding; the interdependence of
peacebuilding actors; the longer-term vs. shorter-term approaches to peacebuilding;
the existence of multiple frameworks for peacebuilding, the linkage with the
development of peace agreements; all have been discussed.
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Chapter 2:
Peacebuilding Phases and Actors
What will this chapter do?
This chapter outlines the three phases of peacebuilding and therole of both internal and external actors.
Why is it important?
The value of this chapter is to provide a deeper understanding of
the phases of peacebuilding as well as of the actors involved.
What should you learn?
By the end of this chapter, the reader should have a deeper
understanding of peacebuilding and the actors involved in
the process.
2.1 Introduction
The first chapter of this Handbook mentions several emerging charac teristics of
peacebuilding. In this chapter we will elaborate further on two of them. The first relates
to time, in other words the phases that peacebuilding processes go through in the
transition from violent conflict to sustainable peace. The second relates to the large
and diverse number of actors that together constitute peacebuilding systems. These
actors and the very different actions they take together build momentum towards
peace, provided that their support is coherent with the needs of the process.
2.2 Peacebuilding Phases
Peacebuilding is situated in the time-period between the cessation of violent conflict
and the return to a normal development process. It is possible to identify three phases
that may be generally applicable to most peacebuilding processes: the stabilisation
phase, the transitional phase and the consolidation phase. This process may take
decades, and it is helpful to break it down into phases so that the different phases of
peacebuilding can be better understood, planned and managed, based on the distinct
priorities and dynamics of each phase.
However, these phases should not be understood as clear chronological stages that
follow on each other with identifiable boundaries where the one step starts and the
other step stops. They are more like oceans that flow into each other, there are parts
that are clearly identifiable as belonging in one of these phases, but there are also
parts that are greatly influenced by the transition between phases. They thus overlap
and flow into each other, and it is very difficult to identify clearly where one phase ends
and another begins.
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The political milestones presented in this chapter to describe the three phases are more
clearly identifiable in situations where peacebuilding follows on severe disruptions of
the state. This does not mean that it is not applicable to situations where a government
has remained in control of part of the country affected by conflict, for instance in
Sudan, but the nuance needs to be appreciated when considering how these phases
should be presented in such conditions.
Stabilisation phase
The stabilisation phase is the period that either precedes, or follows immediately after,
the formal ending of hostilities, and typically focuses on:
establishing a safe and secure environment;
responding to the consequences of the conflict through emergency relief
operations;
introducing political stability in the form of a credible peace process.
Pr a c t c a lRe f l e c t o s
Peacebuilding as a long-term process
Cedric de Coning, Peacebuilding Advisor, ACCORD
I think most international peacebuilders underestimate
the amount of time (duration) that is necessary for socialtransformation to take hold, i.e. to become sustainable.
Change can be something that disturbs a social system, and then it recovers to
more or less the way it functioned before, or change can be transformative. For
change to be transformative it requires that societies process, adapt and establish
new patterns of behaviour. It takes time for any social system to develop a new
collective understanding of its own situation, and for such common knowledge
to be processed into new, agreed-upon norms and values. For peacebuilding to
be sustainable, it would need to invest in processes that are slow-maturing. It
thus requires long-term engagement, and processes that allow societies the timeand space they need for their internal, home-grown self-organising processes to
emerge and to mature.
Unfortunately, most international peacebuilding institutions do not have the
patience to engage is such long-term and slow-maturing processes. They are driven
by results and are under pressure to constantly demonstrate the effects they have
been able to generate. This results in unrealistic planning, and programming that
is driven by supply side pressure rather than local needs and tempo, as the wealth
of critical analysis on transplanting international best practice shows. Knowledge
sharing, experience sharing, and learning must therefore lead to localised
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In some cases, for instance the AU-UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) or the AU
Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), a peacekeeping mission may have been deployed prior
to a cease-fire or peace agreement in order to protect civilians and secure humanitarian
assistance, whilst a political process seeks an end to the conflict. In others, for instance
the UN missions in Liberia (UNMIL) and Burundi (ONUB), peace operations have been
deployed to assist with the implementation of a peace agreement, but, even in these
cases, the initial phase of the mission is focused on stabilising the situation.
As this is the f irst phase, it is also the start-up phase of the peacebuilding intervention,
and it is often accompanied by the deployment of a peacekeeping operation. In this
initial period the immediate focus is on security, humanitarian relief and political
transition, and this first stage of the stabilisation phase can be referred to as the
emergency stage. A focus of this start-up phase is devoted to getting the resources in
place that are necessary for the next phase of the intervention. In most cases the initial
planning would have been limited to the emergency response, and more planning isnow being done for the next phase of the international response. Most agencies and
NGOs are engaged in undertaking assessments, designing programmes and mobilising
resources. Those NGOs and agencies that are already on the ground and engaged in
the humanitarian response start to plan for shifting their focus from the emergency
phase to the recovery and rehabilitation phases. The peacekeeping mission is focussed
on getting people and resources in place for the next phase of its work.
The duration of this phase may be as short a one year, for example in Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Burundi, or it may drag on in certain parts of a country for several years. For
instance, the eastern part of the DRC in general, and north and south Kivu in particular,
have remained partly in the stabilisation phase for more than a decade after the peace
process started. In Sudan a similar situation seems to have developed in the disputed
border region between the north and the south.
The primary focus of the stabilisation phase is thus
ensuring physical security, addressing immediate
humanitarian needs and putting in place the first steps
necessary to signal the start of the implementation
of the peace agreement and the process of politicaltransition.
Intensive diplomatic activity may be typically witnessed in
both the peace and security domain, and in the development
and reconstruction domain, most probably manifesting in the
form of a follow-on peacebuilding-orientated UN Security Council resolution, and an
international donor conference, that is aimed at mobilising the resources necessary for
the transition phase.
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The stabilisation phase is, by its nature, largely determined by the external players.
However, once the situation has been sufficiently stabilised the attention turns to the
process of handing the initiative back to local actors. Naturally, the political process
needs to be agreed to, and is determined by the local context, but very often external
actors play an important role in mediating and facilitating such peace agreements. If a
peacekeeping mission is required to guarantee or impose security, it naturally will have
a significant impact on the local conflict dynamics.
Transitional phase
The transitional phase often starts with the selection of a transition government,
followed by some form of election or legitimate traditional process to elect a
transitional government or some other institutions responsible for developing
a constitution and other administrative and political functions. The transitional
stage ends with hosting of elections, and then is able to run according to the rules
established in the transitional phase, including the constitution and the established
elected government. The transition being referred to is thus that from an interim to an
elected, and thus legitimately sovereign, local political process.
The Interim Governing Council of Iraq or the Government of South Sudan prior to
independence in 2011 are good examples of such initial interim authorities, that were
replaced after a period of transition, with elected governments. Because of their limitedcredibility such interim governing bodies typically have restricted powers and they
are dependent on the physical security and political legitimacy of the international
intervention and the credibility and legitimacy of the internal political process that
has generated the interim authority. It is thus also a transition from partial to full
sovereignty.
The length of this phase is determined by the time it takes to make the necessary
arrangements for a more legitimate process to take place to elect the first
Stabilisation phase in East Timor and South Sudan
For instance, in East Timor and South Sudan where new states have been formed,
new constitutions had to be written and new institutions had to be established. In
other cases, where some form of institutions existed prior to the violent conflict,
for instance in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the DRC, the focus is on the reform
and further development of these institutions. In some cases,most typically in the case of security institutions, these
institutions may have been strongly associated with one
party to the conflict, and they thus have to be transformed
so that they serve society as a whole.
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post-conflict government, but it typically lasts between two and four years.
A lot depends on how intensive the process has to be.
Whilst the overall focus is on the political transition,
many other aspects of the overall peacebuilding campaign
will start to be implemented in this phase, with anemphasis on DDR process, the return of refugees and IDPs,
the rehabilitation of infrastructure, and the development
of the institutions of government and civil society.
During the transitional stage the initial appointed interim
government is typically followed by some form of more legitimate
temporary government, with a mandate to govern for a limited period of time whilst
a new constitution is being developed, and prior to the first post-conflict national
elections. This may typically include some form of interim elections, for instance for
a constituent assembly, or some formal traditional system of represented selection,
that results in the formation of a constituent assembly and/or parliaments where a new
constitution may be drafted, and where other transitional legislation, such as electoral
laws may be passed.
The transitional stage typically ends with an election, run according to the new
constitution, after which full sovereignty and legitimacy is restored to the state. Then
a new government is elected which, for the first time since the conflict ended, and
in many cases for years before and during the conflict, can be said to represent the
legitimate voice of society as a whole.
Consolidation phase
The consolidation phase is aimed at supporting the newly elected
government and civil society with a broad range of
programmes aimed at fostering reconciliation, boosting
socio-economic recovery and supporting the ongoing
processes of change and development. Consolidation
refers to the consolidation of the peace process and
the newly implemented constitution and/or other agreed
aspects of the peace process.
The consolidation phase also represents a change in the posture of the
international engagement in two important ways. First, during the
stabilisation and transitional phases, the external actors had to be seen
to be politically impartial, but once all the parties have agreed to a new constitution
or a comprehensive political process, the role of the international actors changes in
that they now become responsible for consolidating the implementation of this new
agreed process. This does not mean that they are no longer impartial when it comes
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to local politics, but they are now firmly in support of the newly agreed political order.
In some cases, for instance in the DRC, Somalia and Afghanistan, this means that the
international political and security actors may have to support the new government
to fight against insurgencies that aim to undermine the new peace process. This may
be misunderstood as international support for the government of the day, as opposed
to international support for the newly instituted constitutional order or new peace
process.
The second way in which the consolidation phase represents a change in the posture
of the international engagement is that there is now an elected government in place
which legitimately speaks on behalf of the society. Whilst local needs and local context
needed to be the driving forces behind the peacebuilding process from the beginning,
the consolidation phase now represents the official point at which a legitimate national
government can take full local control and ownership of the peace process and the
future of the society and people it represents. The consolidation phase thus alsorepresents a formal shift in responsibility to the national government, and the point at
which it should formally take over the lead role in the coordination of the international
peacebuilding effort.
This shift in local ownership and sovereign legitimac y is most relevant for those
societies that have experienced a complete breakdown of state order, such as those
in Liberia or Sierra Leone, or those where a new state has been formed, such as in East
Timor and South Sudan. In other cases where the sovereign governance of the state
was never interrupted, such as in Sudan and Burundi, this shift is more nuanced, in that
the government would have officially retained its lead role throughout the process.
However, the international community, whilst recognising its sovereignty, would
have dealt with these governments as a party to the conflict, but in the consolidation
phase, they will now be dealt with as a partner in the peace process. In Burundi and
Sierra Leone there have been peaceful hand-overs of power between the ruling
and opposition parties. In these cases, the distinction between the state and the
government of the day has thus been more clearly demonstrated than in the other
cases cited.
The peacebuilding work in this phase covers all aspects of a societ y in transition,
and thus all the dimensions, including SSR, rule of law, governance, socio-economic
recovery and development, human rights and reconciliation, and others.
The transition from the peacebuilding process to a normal development process
is gradual and it will typically be very difficult to pinpoint the exact period when
such a transition occurred. The consolidation phase, and with it the peacebuilding
process, can be said to have come to an end when a society is no longer in danger
of lapsing into violent conflict, and its development is thus no longer determined
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by a peace consolidation imperative. This is why this post-peacebuilding phase is
referred to as normal development, in other words a phase where the development
of the country is not determined by preventing a return to violent conflict, but rather
traditional development concerns such as the fight against poverty,
developmental capacity, etc.
The duration of this phase can last anything from a
decade to several decades, depending on how peace
consolidation is measured.
Typically, it can be said that a peace process has been consolidated
when there have been two or three post-conflict elections without a
relapse into violent conflict. However, as an example, both the DRC
and Liberia held their second post-conflict elections in 2011, and both were contested
and resulted in some violent clashes and loss of life, although,
in both cases, thepeace process avoided relapsing into violent conflict and remained overall stable, but
showed continuous signs of fragility. As discussed in Chapter 1, what is clear is that it
takes several generations, and thus several decades for a society to truly transform its
identity, and whilst it is not necessary for this entire period to be seen as peacebuilding,
it is important for all the stakeholders to recognise that this is a long-term process.
Peace processes that are truly transformational, and which address the root causes of
conflict will usher in decades of change and uncertainty, and this will be characterised
by political strife between those who want faster and more radical change and those
who want slower and more stable change.
South Africas consolidation phase
Perhaps South Africa is a good example, as it is soon reaching the end of its second
decade since the end of apartheid in 1994, and it has gone through four elections.
The peace process in South Africa has been consolidated in the sense that there
is almost no risk of a lapse into violent conflict, but it is also a society that is still
experiencing a high level of political and socio-economic transformation, and
thus uncertainty. In South Africa political racial inequality was transformed
in a relatively short period of time, but the underlying socio-
economic inequalities between races and classes have been
much more resistant to change and will require many more
decades and generations to change significantly enough tosay that the legacy of apartheid has been eroded.
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Peacebuilding, is thus about peace consolidation in the
sense that it is focused on avoiding a lapse into violent
conflict, but this should not be confused with political
stability and socio-economic certainty.
On the contrary, all stakeholders engaged in peacebuilding should
know that they are unleashing change dynamics that will play
out over several generations and many decades, and that the role
of peacebuilding is to facilitate these processes of change whilst
avoiding a lapse into violent conflict.
2.3 Peacebuilding Actors
When considering the range of actors engaged in peacebuilding, a distinction
between internal and external actors can be made. Internal refers to those actors
that are indigenous to the conflict system. For example, in South Sudan, the internal
actors are all of the South Sudanese actors, the political parties and other political
actors, government institutions, civil society, the private sector, traditional leaders,
etc. External refers to those actors that are engaged in a given conflict system, butwhich are outside or international actors, in other words, they are neighbouring states,
they are international organisations like the UN, or regional organisations like the AU,
international NGOs, donor countries or countries that have commercial interests, the
international private sector, etc.
The first or macro-level distinction is thus between actors that are local and those
that are international. International actors come and go, and many are professional
peacebuilders, in other words, they do peacebuilding for a living wherever it is needed.
Need for prioritisation and sequencing
Peacebuilding is a field that covers a wide variety
of tasks and dimensions, and as such, a core issue in
peacebuilding relates to how to prioritise and order
responses to post-conflict challenges. Countries
emerging from conflict are frequently faced with a wide
variety of possible priorities and thus, it is important to identify
what aspect should be addressed first in terms of its ability to also allow for
other priorities to be addressed. A first step in post-conflict countries relates to
the need for a clear definition of priorities in relation to peacebuilding processes,
the impacts these will have on overall sustainability, and the legitimacy of these
processes for local actors.
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Internal actors, on the other hand, have lived through the conflict and their future will
be shaped by its legacy and the transformative power of the peace process. They have
become peacebuilders by necessity. The internal actors own the space and should own
the process, because they will suffer, or benefit from, its consequences. Local actors
also have the greatest cultural, regional and national understanding, placing them
in the best strategic position to develop a relevant and appropriate peacebuilding
process. Only they can make peace, and only they can take responsibility for its
outcome. External actors have an important role to play in supporting facilitation.
They are interested parties because they stand to gain or lose from a lapse into violent
conflict, sustained instability and fragility, or a successful and sustainable peace. They
have the agency to influence the process, but they cannot make peace on behalf of the
internal actors. Their role is thus influential but limited.
An important principle that is emphasised throughout this Handbook is that external
actors need to be self-aware of their limited agency.
They have the responsibility not to cause harm, and not to
substitute the capacities that should rightfully be performed by
internal actors. When they do they delay local ownership, and
occupy the space that need to be filled by internal actors in
order for the system to self-organise and, in so doing, they
contribute to the fragility of the system.
External actors thus have to limit their role to providing a broad secure
space within which local actors can find a safe grip to regain their footing.Their role should be limited to capacity and to providing suppor t, with the
aim of assisting the internal actors to manage themselves.
Unfortunately, many external actors have failed to uphold these principles. Many
external actors try to direct and control the conflict systems in which they are engaged.
Some do so by intent, others through ignorance. Some believe that it is only by
adopting certain characteristics, such as Western-style democracy and rule of law, that
a society will avoid lapsing into conflict. This is the so-called neo-liberal state model
and it has been the prevailing approach to peacebuilding since the end of the cold
war. Others are simply eager to provide assistance, and their own lack of self-discipline
ends-up substituting, or eroding local capacity for example, by hiring local expertise
to serve external actors, rather than internal actors needs. This undermines the very
local institutions and capacities they intended to support, and perversely contributes
to the very fragility they intended to counter. A major theme in the second generation
approach to peacebuilding is thus to f ind the optimal balance between the role of the
external and internal actors.
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External actors
There are a number of external actors that need to be considered in the peacebuilding
context typically, a core group that is dedicated to the peacebuilding effort. These
usually include international or regional peacekeeping operations, a number of UN
agencies, organised as the UN Country Team, a large range of international NGOs
organised around a number of clusters such as food security, health, etc. and a number
of interested governments, including neighbours, countries with commercial interests
and donor agencies.
In many post-conflict situations the UN, the AU or sub-regional organisations, such
as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern African
Development Community (SADC), or the Intergovernmental Authority on Development
(IGAD) in the Horn of Africa deploy a peace operation to stabilise the situation and
to monitor and support the peace process. The bulk of a peace operations effort and
resources are focused on ensuring a safe and secure environment so that the rest of the
peacebuilding can be carried out without fear of disruption.
These peace operations usually deploy at the start of the
stabilisation phase, play a major role during the transitional
phase, and withdraw during the consolidation phase when the
risk of lapsing into violent conflict is no longer deemed to
be a serious short- to medium-term likelihood.
The different members of the UN system in a given country are commonly
referred to as the UN Country Team (UNCT). The UNCT is headed by a ResidentRepresentative. The Resident Representative (RR) is also the Resident Coordinator
(RC) of the UN System in the country and usually also the Humanitarian Coordinator
(HC). Members of the UNCT may include the UNDP, the World Bank, the UN High
Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN
Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Development
Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) and others.
All of these agencies, funds and offices have their own mandates, budgets and
programmes and the RC/HCs function is to ensure that the UNCT develops a
coherent overall effort in support of the needs of the country where they are based.
The members of the UNCT meet on a regular basis and use various coordination
mechanisms to harmonise their policies and programmes.
The members of the UNCT and the government of the country in which they are
operating usually agree on a common strategic framework, called the UN Development
Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which specifies how the UN system will support the
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government over a given time-frame (typically three to five years). The UNDAF is
typically aligned with an even broader strategic framework, which encompasses the
government and all the external actors, including the UN the International Financial
Institutions (IFIs), like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the
donor countries. This overall strategic framework is usually called the PRSP. In some cases
there will also be a specific peacebuilding strategy, or strategic framework, sometimes
facilitated by the engagement of the UN PBC.
International NGOs include a broad range of independent not-for-profit organisations
that work in the humanitarian assistance and development spheres. Most NGOs have
developed a specific field of specialisation. Some like Mdecins sans Frontires (Doctors
without Borders/ MSF) focus on the health sector. Oxfam is known for its work in the
water, sanitation and preventive health sectors. Others, such as Care International
and World Vision, have a more cross-cutting app