BLOCK 3

PEACE BUILDING
Peace Building

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 Meaning and Significance
UNIT 8 MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE*

Structure
Introduction
Aims and Objectives
Concept of Peace
Meaning of Peace
Cultural Traditions
Negative and Positive Peace
Typologies of Peace
Sub-International Peace Plans
International Peace Systems
Based on Distribution of Power
Based on Organisation of Conflicts
Based on Individual Loyalty Conflicts
Based on Degree of Homology
Based on International Stratification
Based on Degree of Interdependence
Based on Functional Cooperation Interaction or Interdependence
World Peace Systems
Let Us Sum Up
Some Useful References
Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

8.0 INTRODUCTION
Peace is considered essential for an individual‘s well being. However, when we
talk about peace in international relations, our reference is not to individual‘s
mental peace or morality or social behavior. Instead the concerns are about the
morals and behaviour of nations and groups in the international arena that often
throw a challenge to peace. In a nuclear age, this problem has assumed critical
dimensions, putting at risk the very existence of the human race and its civilization
that has been built with painful efforts and travail of centuries. It is, therefore,
important that we take establishment of enduring peace for the entire world
seriously.

Let us for a moment examine the morality that guides groups and countries in
their relations with each other. Here we find that the norms and values of the
international system are diametrically opposite to those practiced in society, the
observance of which among individuals is what has made our civilization possible.
What is considered as good in individual and social conduct becomes undesirable
in political conduct, especially in international relations. In social relations we
admire people who are peaceful, truthful, modest, and helpful towards others.
We may admire a person who goes through great personal inconvenience to help
a neighbor. However, in relations among nations, we expect countries and their
* Prof. C.S.R. Murthy, Chairman & Head, Centre for International Politics, Organisation
Disarmament, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi
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Peace Building agents to be selfish, proud, overbearing and aggressive. A country which sacrifices
its real or fancied interests for its neighboring country is considered foolish and
even depraved. In social life we denounce aggression and violence, but applaud
the successful use of these in relations with other countries. In social life,
murderers are convicted for their crime, but in international realm, people
responsible for arson, loot, rape, mass murders are celebrated as great patriots
and heroes. In social life, individuals are generally encouraged to trust each other
and keep their word. However, no nation ever keeps its word with another nation
if its national interest is involved. Nations betraying each other are not an
exception but the rule. There is thus a constant struggle for power and security
among the countries of the world. As a result, all counties live in condition of
anarchy, meaning not chaos but without a world government to impose peace.
However, many developments of our times demand better co-operation among
countries. With globalisation, revolution in Information, Communication and
Technology, the world is more interconnected today than ever before. As a result,
many challenges are no longer local but global in nature. Hence they need to be
tacked globally through greater international cooperation. For example climate
change which is one of humankind‘s greatest challenges cannot be solved by
one country alone. It requires close and peaceful cooperation between all
countries. Similarly, the threat of international terrorism; emergence of new
infectious diseases such as Ebola, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
pose a threat to all, particularly as people‘s mobility across borders has increased
manifold. These developments require countries to work together, and for richer
and more capable countries to support poorer nations. International commerce
and trade also needs greater cooperation. Hence an environment of mutual
collaboration and support internationally, where peace can flourish is an historical
necessity.
Peace is also important for people to live a fulfilling and dignified life. It is not
possible for human beings to live under conditions of cruelty, injustice and tyranny
for long, without struggling to change their situation. Allowing repressive
conditions to continue, simply because they cannot be solved without violence
or war, will lead to despair. Quiet despair should not be misunderstood as peace,
for even if there is temporary acquiescence, it can never be a permanent solution.
Throughout the centuries the best spirit of the age have worked for holistic and
lasting peace both at the level of people and countries. In this unit we will elaborate
these aspects.

Key Points
In the international system, every nation is guided by the pursuit of its own
self interest, struggle for power and security which often throws a challenge
for peace.
Repressive and unjust human condition also creates a stumbling block in
achieving peace.
Peace is of critical value in a nuclear age that threatens the existence of
humanity and human civilization.
Peace is also critical for everyone‘s development in a globalised
interconnected world, where global challenges such as climate change,
international terrorism, spread of infectious diseases etc require harmonious
relations among countries.
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Aims and Objectives Meaning and Significance

After studying this unit you should be able to:

know the meaning of peace;
distinguish between negative and positive peace;
understand the typologies of peace; and
know various international peace systems.

CONCEPT OF PEACE
Throughout the ages, the idea of peace has been imbibed into various traditions,
social systems and religious scriptures. It is not new to any civilization. Invariably,
all civilizations have developed only when the larger environment has been
peaceful. Indeed, if we look at the history of the evolution of all ancient or modern
civilizations, it becomes clear that peace is the necessary precondition for progress.

Every branch of discipline, be it art, music, sculpture or literature has flourished

only when the larger environment has been peaceful. In countries, where war,
turmoil, conflict has been dominant, progress of people and the nation has
stagnated. Cultures evolve only when a society is peaceful. Thus it can be said
that peace is as old as human civilization itself. However, the word ‗peace‘ is of
recent origin. In a basic sense peace means harmony, concord or tranquility but
the concept of peace has multifarious dimensions and has a rich content in various
religious and philosophical traditions.

MEANING OF PEACE
Peace has many dimensions, and is applicable to different spheres of human and
social existence. If we ask a religious person to explain the meaning of peace,
they are likely to see it from a spiritual angle, and depict political conflict as a
symptom of deeper spiritual malaise: of human beings not being at peace with
themselves, with others, or with God. For a pacifist, peace means the moral
organisation of society on the principal of non-violence. To a Marxist, peace is
nothing more than the false promises of capitalism in the deeper reality of
international class struggle. For observers of international affairs, the meaning
of peace is primarily the absence of war or conflict.

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1957) provides a more positive or

optimist view of peace. He considers it the genuine goal of politics because
peace is something that is desired by all. Hence for Kant, peace and democracy
are closely linked. He states that peace is first an ―end of hostilities‖ and indicates
that the problem is largely one of ―good organisation‖. He equates peace with a
―condition‖ which is ―the final end of jurisprudence‖, and concludes by
designating it ―the highest political good‖. Expanding the concept, Johan Galtung
(1996) introduced the notion of positive peace and negative peace. Negative
peace according to Galtung is the absence of war while positive peace is the
absence of structural violence. By structural violence Galtung implies the
inegalitarian and discriminatory social structures which also indirectly inflict
violence upon individuals or groups in a systematic and organised way because
of the institutions and practices they condone. In the past, slavery was an example
of structural violence.
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Peace Building In our contemporary age, discrimination on the basis of race, caste, ethnicity, or
gender is examples of structural violence. According to peace researchers such
as Galtung, a society in which such social structure exists is not at peace even
though it may not be at war.
Brock-Utne (1985) further expands Galtung‘s definition. She acknowledges the
existence of negative peace (the absence of war) and positive peace (the absence
of structural violence). However, she introduces a distinction between one kind
of structural violence that shortens a person‘s life span, and another kind of
structural violence that reduces a person‘s quality of life. Brock- Utne further
points out that there is a distinction between organised violence that is manifested
in a systematic form on intergroup level, and a more unorganised physical and
structural violence manifested on an interpersonal level within the home in the
for example, such as wife beating, abuse of children, rape. In other words, even
if there are no wars (organised physical violence), peace cannot be said to exist
when children or women are abused within the home (unorganised physical
violence). There is no peace if life span is lessened because of the effect of
inequitable economic structures or damage of nature by pollution, radiation, etc.
(organised structural violence) or if a girl child‘s need for food, health, clothing
are not provided to her because of her gender (unorganised structural violence).
Finally, there is no positive peace if quality of life is reduced when free speech or
the right to organise is denied (organised structural violence) or when educational
opportunities in a home are determined according to gender (unorganised
structural violence).
Another meaning of peace is given by Quincy Wright who defines peace as ‗the
by-product of a satisfactory organisation of the world‘. Wright further clarifies
that peace is ―the condition of a community in which order and justice prevail,
internally among its members, and externally in its relations with other
communities.‖ For Wright, justice is integral to peace. He stated that ―The positive
aspect of peace—justice—cannot be separated from the negative aspects—
elimination of violence‖.

8.2.1 Cultural Traditions

Takeshi Ishida, a Japanese political scientist studied the different conceptions of
peace in various cultural traditions. Ishida listed the following conceptions of
peace as most prominent, identifying along with them the differing characteristic
peace value that often influenced the concept of peace in each of these cultures.
These were Shalom (Judaeo-Christian), which paid greater emphasis on positive
orientation toward justice; Eirene (Greek) and Pax (Roman) stressed on good
orders; Shanti (Indian), P’ing ho (Chinese), and Heiwa (Japanese) tranquility of
mind. Declaring that these ways of conceptualising peace with different peace
values are likely to conflict with one another, Ishida suggests that it would be
helpful if scholars would compute the uses of peace in state speeches, in order to
clarify the structural concepts currently in use in each nation. He thinks that
justice should not be neglected in favour of harmony and good order. Though
Ishida‘s conceptualization of peace across culture is interesting, it however suffers
from over simplification. It tends to subsume diverse moral goals and political
objectives under the single umbrella of peace, and goes on to ascribe some sort
of automatic compatibility between them. Moreover, each of Ishida‘s cultural
formulations seems to represent a narrow conceptualisation in which one value
is stressed to the determinant of others.
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However, as pointed out by Kaplan, one should avoid fixing meaning to terms Meaning and Significance
and concept prematurely. Instead, Kaplan argued that it is important to understand
the whole process of scientific inquiry as a matter of ‗successive definition‘.
Surely there are few concepts that have as many definitions as peace. Given its
multiple dimensions and complex mix of social-scientific, ethical, and political
elements, it makes excellent sense to regard peace as requiring continuous
redefinition as peace theory advances.

Key Points
Peace a pre condition for art, knowledge, music and human civilization
to flourish.
Peace multidimensional concept that continues to evolve.
Immanuel Kant defines peace as the ultimate goal of politics, universally
desired and closely linked to democracy
Johan Galtung defined two dimensions of peace. Negative peace implying
absence of war; positive peace as absence of structural violence.
Brock-Utne elaborated organised and unorganized, direct and indirect
violence in positive and negative peace. Defined peace as absence of
unorganized violence by individuals (crime, violence inside homes), and
organised violence (e.g. war).
Quincy Wright defined peace as condition where order and justice prevail,
internally and externally in communities and their relationship with others
Takeshi Ishida present different meaning of peace in different culture,
shaped by their peace values – Shalom in Judaeo-Christian emphasizing
justice; Eirene in (Greek) and Pax (Roman) stressing good order; Shanti
(Indian), P’ing ho (Chinese), and Heiwa (Japanese) emphasizing
tranquility of mind.

NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE PEACE

There is need to distinguish between two concepts of peace. First, negative peace
defined as the absence of direct, organised violence. For example, when there is
cease fire between two warring countries or groups, negative peace ensues. It is
negative because something that was undesirable, like violence, stopped
happening. This does not mean that relationship between the warring parties has
been restored. The second conception is positive peace. Positive peace is said to
prevail when there is restoration of
cooperation and integration of human POSITIVE PEACE
society. Positive peace serves the need
of people at large. It is important to Presence of attitudes, structures and
institutions that create and sustain
understand here that absence of
peaceful societies. For e.g. -
violence should not be confused with
absence of conflict: Violence may Acceptance of rights of others
occur without conflict, and conflict Equal distribution of resources
may be solved by means of nonviolent Well Functioning Government
mechanisms. The distinction between
these two types of peace gives rise to a Prevalence of Non violence
fourfold classification of relations Good relation with neighbours
between two countries: 121
Peace Building 1) War, which is organised group violence;
2) Negative peace, where there is no
violence but no other form of NEGATIVE PEACE : SRI
interaction or cooperation takes LANKA
place, and where the best situation In May 2009, the 26 year civil war
is of ‗peaceful-coexistence‘; ended with defeat of the LTTE by
3) positive peace, where there is some the Government. With the end of
cooperation interspersed with war, direct violence ceased and
occasional outbreaks of violence; negative peace prevails.
and However, inequality and
4) unqualified peace, where absence of grievance of Sri Lankan Tamils
violence is combined with full remains. Hence positive peace has
cooperation. not yet ensued.

As discussed, the absence of every direct form of violence is considered to be

negative Peace. Johan Galtung (1996) explained it lucidly, as absence of violence,
particularly direct forms of personal violence, absence of war, war preparation,
civil war, terrorism, management of conflicts both national and international.
The emphasis here is on violence. As such the approach examines direct violence
or physical assault which is used to divide human beings in terms of religion,
race, and class, caste, gender etc.
The Gandhian notion of peace makes a departure from such an approach and is
of great significance For Gandhi ‗peace is not merely a negative state of
harmlessness‘ or absence of violence, but a ‗positive state of love‘ , of doing
good to even the evil doers. Peace-less state of affair is a situation in which
human beings are obstructed from achieving full development - either because
of internal relations (that exist within the group members), or external relations
that exists with other groups or person.
Violence is generally concerned with the threat or use of physical force or power
against nations, groups, communities or individuals which results in physical
harm, injury, death, psychological disturbance and unhappiness. Violence destroys
peace, as well as human relationships. Violence may arise due to various reasons.
Often it starts when an individual‘s potential development (mental or physical)
is harmed by social relationships that result in emotional and social deprivation
(low level of education, health, unemployment.) or a sense of injustice and
grievance. If these problems are not resolved through non violent means, it creates
conditions for violent conflict. Hence social injustice and social discord are often
at the root of violent conflict. In another words violence often emanates from
certain problems at the level of individuals and social structures.
According to Johan Galtung (1996), violence is present when human beings are
being influenced so that their actual somatic and mental realisations are below
their potential capacities. He goes on to divide violence into direct, and indirect
or structural violence by which he means uneven distribution of power over
resources. The absence of direct violence as know, he calls ‗negative peace‘ and
absence of structural violence as ‗positive peace‘ or social justice. Together, they
constitute peace in the full sense of the term. When both the types of violence are
removed, the resulting state of affairs is peace.
To simply conceive peace as a condition of ‗non war‘ is neither theoretically nor
122 practically helpful. For example, consider the relationship between Norway and
Nepal- at a huge geographical distance and little interaction. As such it will hardly Meaning and Significance
be identified by many as an ideal relation worth striving for. For peace, like
health, has a both cognitive and evaluative component: it designates states of a
system of nations, but this state is so highly valued that institutions are built
around it to protect and promote it. It is the concept of positive peace that is
worth exploring, especially since negative peace is a condition sine qua non.
The two concepts of peace may be empirically related even though they are
logically independent.
Peace

Negative Peace
Positive Peace

Removal of
Direct Violence Removal Indirect
Violence

Violence
From Violence to Peace

Check Your Progress Exercises 1

Note: i) Use of the space given below for your answer.
ii) See the end of the Unit for tips for your answer.
1) Explain the concept, meaning and distinguish between Negative and
Positive Peace.
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TYPOLOGIES OF PEACE
There are no coherent theories of peace as we have seen earlier. What we have
instead is different kinds of thinking about peace. For just as there has been a lot
of thinking about war, there have also been different kinds of plans for peace.
One can develop extensive typologies of various peace plans. However, a major
axis for classification of different peace plan is level the level of organisation it
is targeting to propose a reform. Peace plans can be located at any of the five
levels: at the level of the isolated individual; the level of human groups; the level
of human societies or nations; the level of the international system of nations;
and the emerging level of a world state. To simplify things, the first three can be
collapsed together. We are thereby left with only three levels of peace plans: the
sub-international, the international, and the level of the world state which we
discuss below. 123
Peace Building
8.5 SUB-INTERNATIONAL PEACE PLANS
There are several well-known approaches at the sub-international level. Although
they play a minor role in contemporary thinking about peace, they need to be
mentioned because of their prevalence. The basic idea of intra-human approaches
to peace is that conflicts we see between and within group are projections of
inner conflicts within human beings. Hence, if human beings could be freed
from their inner conflicts, they were more likely to behave in a less aggressive
manner at the international level. In the earlier generations, some of the techniques
for freeing individuals from their internal conflicts were religious in nature. In
contemporary societies psychotherapy is more frequently called for- if not for
the whole population, at least for its leaders, and if not for its present leaders, at
least as a screening device for future leaders.

Inter-human approaches to peace emphasize the idea of projection of inter-human

rivalry onto higher levels of human organization. If one were to put this more
positively, it meant that the training in non violent conflict resolution and peace
building at lower levels could be transferred to higher levels, including the
international level. Life in the family, at school, at work, or in associations could
provide the training grounds, particularly for those who are to become world
leaders.

Likewise, intra-societal approaches to peace emphasise the idea that societies

that have less conflict within, are less like to projection external aggression with
others. Conversely, societies that are conflict-ridden are more likely to use external
aggression as a means to force internal cohesion. Such an approach upholds the
idea that some political systems are more peaceful than others, particularly if
there is fair distribution of the nation‘s wealth to its inhabitants.

INTERNATIONAL PEACE SYSTEMS

There have various suggestions for international peace plans, which in both,
theoretical and practical sense are more promising than peace plans on the sub-
international level.

Based on Distribution of Power

Most peace thinking has centered on the problem of how power shall best be
distributed among the nations of the world. A major limitation of theories relating
to this is their sole focus on coercive power and neglect of other kinds of power.
For instance, influence is an important but often neglected aspect of power.
However, if we simply focus on the tradition of studying the distribution of military
power, there are four major models of peace.

The first model is that of minimum equality, which is based on the theory that
the international system is best served by making power the monopoly of one
nation or system, just as it is monopolized by some states in the international
system.

The second model focuses on maximum equality, or what is usually referred to

as a ―balance of power‖ in the sense that no nation or alliance is strong enough to
defeat another nations or alliance. A modern variation of this is the ―balance of
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terror,‖ wherein a nation may defeat other nations, but only at the risk of being Meaning and Significance
completely destroyed itself.

The third model attempts to keep or stabalise military powers at a low level. All
kinds of arms control efforts fall within this category. Finally, there is the model
that seeks to do away with or stabilize military power to a zero level. This refers
to the general (all nations) and complete (all weapons) disarmament advocated
by pacifists.

Based on Organisation of Conflicts

The second general type of international peace plan focuses on the organisation
of conflicts. The is basically a crisscross model, based on the idea that more the
number of conflicts a system harbours, the more it is strengthened (not weakened),
provided all these conflicts do not divide the units in the same way. For example,
two nations may be allies in one conflict (for instance, some Western and Eastern
countries were allies during the Cold War). However, they may simultaneously
be foes in another conflict (for instance, when it came to antagonism between
rich and poor nations). This subject them to cross cutting pressures. Such a
situation can also create for withdrawal and neutrality, or nonalignment. In another
words, because multiple loyalties develop, it prevents complete identification
and involvement in any one conflict. There is also a greater tendency for groups
that are not part of the cross pressures, to serve as a channel of communication.

Based on Individual Loyalty Conflicts

According to this peace model, the potential for violence among nations is reduced
when many loyalties are induced in individual citizens. This can take two forms.
First, a peace plan may seek to prevent conflicts by preventing conflictual
polarisation by inculcating multiple loyalties. This is done by institutionalising,
preferably across potential conflict borders, secondary and primary relations
between individuals from different nations. In practice, the suggestions include
people to people exchanges (children, youths, students, professionals, politicians),
mixed marriages, increased knowledge and empathy.

A second plan seeks to build cross cutting organisational loyalties. The division
of the world into nations and territories provides, roughly, an exhaustive and
mutually exclusive division of humankind. But there are also nearly two thousand
international organisations, which provide many individuals with other
possibilities of identification, although this division is far from exhaustive (and
not exclusive either). Indeed, increased communication, geographical distance
decreases in importance; thus organisational identification may gradually gain
in importance relative to national identification. Eventually they may enable
multiple loyalties to emerge, making it difficult to push individuals to go to war
against their peers.

Based on Degree of Homology

Homology between nations, meaning the extent to which they are similar in
social and political structure is also considered an important factor in peace plans.
There are two models of peace based on this concept. In the models of minimum
homology nations which are very different in their value systems, structures are
unlikely to compete for the same scarce values. They can instead be interdependent
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Peace Building and establish a symbiotic relationship based on complementarities. On the other
hand, in the maximum homology model, nations are as similar as possible in
social structure and value structure. This facilitates interaction and creates value
consensus. It is argued that greater the similarity between nations in terms of
their culture (including language), the lower is the probability of
misunderstanding. The theoretical basis is the thesis of ―value homophily‖ i.e.
that similarity tends to produce liking and interaction.

Based on International Stratification

We may assume that international stratification – that is ranking of nations as
high or low based on size, population, power, natural resources, income per capita,
cultural level, social level and urbanization - is multidimensional, and that there
is a tendency toward rank equilibrium, in the sense that nations are divided into
those that are high and those that are low on most or many of these dimensions.
The problem, however, is about how the interaction between the high ranking
and low ranking nations is regulated. There seem to be two models that focus on
regulating the ―class conflict‖ that may arise at the international level.

First, is the feudal type of system. Here there is high level of interaction among
nations at the top, and a low level of interaction among countries at the bottom of
the system. Thus at the top, the international system is tied together by trade,
diplomacy, and other kinds of exchange. Although there is very little interaction
at the bottom, there may be some interactions flowing from countries at the top,
to countries ranking at the bottom. This system is easily controlled by the wealthy
nations. If there is a consensus among them, the system may achieve stability
similar to that of the caste system or of slave societies.

By contrast, in what may be called the modern system, there is equal level of
interaction among both - the top ranking wealthier countries, and the poorer
countries at the bottom. In such as system, the poorer countries or the ―underdogs‖
unite which makes it possible for them to countervail the influence of the ―top‖
nations. One may understand this as a kind of trade unionism among smaller or
weaker countries that are then able to strike against the big nations. For example,
they can organise embargoes to obtain better prices for raw materials from richer
countries, thereby forcing a more equitable distribution of world output. Over
time the importance of such ‗class‘ division may then decrease in the international
system.

Based on Degree of Interdependence

Some models of peace are based on interdependence between nations.
Interdependence, or interaction where some kind of positive value is exchanged
between the interacting parties can vary in frequency (how often), volume (how
much is transferred), and scope (variety of value exchanged). Trade between
two nations is a good example of how all three – the frequency of trade, the
volume of trade, and the variety of items being traded - can vary independently.
There are two principal models based on this concept. First is the model of
minimum interdependence. Such a model envisages a world where each nation
is autonomous and self-sufficient and no nation intervenes or interferes in the
affairs of any other nation. This is a clear case of negative peace, where positive
peace is explicitly ruled out (Burton 1965). The second model is that of maximum
interdependence. Here, all pairs of nations have maximum interaction in terms
126
of frequency, volume, and scope. The idea is that all pairs of nations would be Meaning and Significance
protected from rupture and violent conflict by the web of interdependence spun
between them. Positive interaction with other nations would be built with each
nation in such a way that wars would be too costly.

8.6.7 Based on Functional Cooperation Interaction or

Interdependence
Interaction or interdependence among countries on certain specific kinds of
exchange should not be confused with functional cooperation. Functional
cooperation implies that the parties involved work together to produce something
they may then also share together. For example, one form of functional cooperation
can be co-production where several countries combine resources in order to
produce something really big, such as a supersonic commercial airplane or a
gigantic development project. There is good reason to believe that, at the level of
individuals, functional cooperation on equal terms is one of the factors most
efficient in producing integration.

WORLD PEACE SYSTEMS

Most peace thinking has revolved around the problem of how power can be best
distributed among countries of the world. The first model is that of minimum
equality of power. This is based on the theory that the international system works
best when there is monopoly of power by one nation or system. Examples are
the Pax Romana, Pax Ecclesiae, and Pax Britannica. These are instances of Roman
Empire, the Catholic Church and Britain maintaining law and order over large
areas in the globe. The second model is based on maximum equality, or what is
usually referred to as a ‗balance of power‘. This model works on the principle
that no nation or alliance is strong enough to defeat another nation or alliance. A
modern version of this is the balance of terror, in which a nation may defeat
other nations, but only at the risk of itself being completely destroyed. The third
model is based on keeping military power at a low level. Examples of this are all
kinds of arms control efforts, especially those that have taken place since The
Hague Peace Conference of 1899 to the present day. Finally, there is the model
that seeks to stabalise military power to zero level. The general and complete
disarmament advocated by pacifists falls in this category. Pacifism advocates
that such a state of zero military power and complete disarmament can be done
unilaterally. Once one side leads by setting an example, weapons become
meaningless when they do not encounter similar weapons, when soldiers and
governments refuse to use arms.

Check Your Progress Exercises 2

Note: i) Use of the space given below for your answer.
ii) See the end of the Unit for tips for your answer.
1) Discuss the various typologies of Peace.
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Peace Building
8.8 LET US SUM UP
In this Unit, you have learnt various definitions of peace, distinction between
Negative and Positive Peace and typologies of peace as identified by various
approaches. Negative peace generally is absence of direct form of violence. At a
wider level, it also means absence of war. But, as Gandhi observed peace is not
merely a negative state of harmlessness or absence but a positive state of love, of
doing good to evil doers too. Positive peace at international level, as such will
mean absence of violence combined with a pattern of cooperation.

There are several approaches at the sub-international level on types of peace.

These are divided into intra-human and inter-human approaches. More important
in terms of typology are international peace systems. These are based on
Distribution of Power, Organisation of Conflicts, Individual Loyalty Conflicts,
Degree of Homology, International Stratification, Degree of Interdependence
and Functional Cooperation Interaction.

All the models of world systems have in common a certain resemblance to a

nation state, usually held to be successful by the person who puts forward the
proposal. The idea is that since many nation-states have obtained reasonable
security and equity for their inhabitants, there must be something in their structure
that is worth copying at the world level.

8.9 SOME USEFUL REFERENCES

Allen Fox, Michael (2014), Understanding Peace: A Comprehensive Introduction
Routledge, New York.

Bright, Brock Utne, (1985) Educating for Peace, New York, Peragamon Press.

Burton, John W., (1965) International Relations: A General Theory, Cambridge,

Cambridge University Press,

Galtung Johan, (1996) Peace by Peaceful Means, Peace, Conflict, Development

and Civilizations, London, Sage.

Galtung Johan, (1984) Struggle for Peace, Ahmedabad, Peace Research Centre.

Gibson Stephan and Simon Mollan (2012), Representations of Peace and

Conflict Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kaplan, Morton, (1957) System and Process in International Politics, New York,
Wiley.

Kant, Immanuel, (1957) Perpetual Peace, New York, Wiley.

Mekenkamp, Monique; Tongeren,Veen (2002); Search for Peace in Central and

South Asia; Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers

Prasad, Devi, (1984) Peace Education or Education for Peace, New Delhi, Gandhi
Peace Foundation.

Richard K. Betts, (2002), Conflict after the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of
War and Peace, New York: Longman.
128
 Meaning and Significance
8.10 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercises 1
1) Your answer should include concept, meaning and positive & negative
aspects of Peace.
Check Your Progress Exercises 2
1) Your answer should have the following points:
a) Typologies and Sub- International Peace Plans.
b) International Peace Systems.

129
Peace Building
UNIT 9 APPROACHES*

Structure
Introduction
Aims and Objectives
Conceptions of Peace building
Integrated or WoG Approach
Political Democracy Approach
Peace versus Justice Approach
Reconstructive Versus Transformative Approaches
Top, Middle and Grass-root Approaches
Civil Society or Transformational Approach
Feminist Approach
Let Us Sum Up
Some Useful References
Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

9.0 INTRODUCTION
Peace building, today, is one of the well-established sub-fields of international
peace operations. It has become especially interesting, located as it is in the still
unchartered terrain of post-conflict activities i.e. it begins when guns have stopped
firing, and there is a tacit or explicit ceasefire agreement between parties to the
conflict. Traditionally, this is where conventional UN peacekeeping would
normally come to an end and the UN forces would depart - leaving the parties to
conflict to resolve their dispute using the political processes. It is this process of
strengthening peace at that watershed point – when violence has ended, and
ceasefire agreement signed that peace building has emerged as a specialised
field.

Originally coined in 1975 by Johan Galtung, the foundations of the contemporary

concept of ‗Peace building‘ were laid formally in 1992 in UN Secretary General,
Boutros Boutros-Ghali‘s report, An Agenda for Peace. This UN report defined
peace building as ―actions to identify and support structures which will tend to
strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict.‖ Even
though the UN peacekeeping forces had been engaged with similar responsibilities
since early 1960s, this new mandate has since made peace building both a
specialised field, and an integral part of international peace and conflict resolution
thinking and practices around the world.

Peace building does not yet have a precise agreed definition other than that it
locates itself in the unique ‗post-conflict‘ context where traditional peacekeeping
was expected to have come to an end. Nevertheless, peace building encompasses
an expansive mandate that involves a whole range of activities associated with
capacity building, reconciliation, and societal transformation - all aimed at

Prof. Kaushikee, Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (NMCPCR), Jamia
130 Millia Islamia, New Delhi
building and strengthening norms, behaviours, and institutions for sustaining Approaches
post-conflict peace. This makes peace building somewhat of a long-drawn process
that begins when violence in a given conflict, either ends, or at least begins to
slow down, allowing efforts to be made for establishing a lasting post-conflict
peace.

Aims and Objectives

This Unit aims to help you to:
appreciate that peace building is a long-time effort that requires diligent
designing and painstaking execution from different perspectives;
learn the main proponents of different approaches and their chief arguments;
recognise that various approaches highlight different dimensions of peace
building – political, social, economic, administrative, structural, or
transformative; and
appreciate the emphasis these approaches place on values like justice,
national ownership, and international commitment

9.1 CONCEPTIONS OF PEACEBUILDING

Armed conflict trends and ideas about peace are interrelated. Thus as the trends
on armed conflict change over time, so does the peace response to it. The shift
from short term peacekeeping, to ‗stay on‘ long term peacebulding after the violent
part of conflict has ended and ceasefire agreement is signed, has largely been
driven by the changing nature of conflict. While the earlier conflicts were inter-
state, most post-Cold War conflicts of 1990s were intra-state conflicts. Such
conflicts often arose from and often dissipated gradually into sporadic and low-
intensity violence that blurred the distinction between war and peace situation.
Second, it also made equations between parties to conflict asymmetrical which
attracted larger involvement of civil society actors and external agencies like the
UN to ensure that state was not allowed to renege from its agreed commitments
in their ceasefire agreement. Finally, civil society actors, NGOs and agencies
who had been working in conflict areas became active players in academic
discourses on peacebuilding and its practice, and strongly favoured a wider
conception of peacebuilding; much wider than what was initially adopted in An
Agenda for Peace of the UN.

In general, academics in the area of peacebuilding articulate a wider definition.

They treat peacebuilding as an umbrella concept that includes both traditional
peacekeeping as well as expanded peacekeeping responsibilities. This implies
long-term engagements of peacebuilding operations. Several of them seek to
include various tasks like setting up mechanisms for early warning, violence
prevention, advocacy, intervention, humanitarian relief, ceasefire and
establishment of peace as part of peacebuilding efforts. In the more expansive
definitions, peacebuilding is seen as aiming to create ‗positive‘ peace which does
not limit itself to simple ‗absence of physical violence‘. Instead, it extends to
attending to sources of invisible or ‗structural‘ violence. Even the narrower
definitions of peacebuilding involves addressing the root causes of conflict which
make repatriation, rehabilitation, reintegration, reconciliation, as well as
institution-building and socio-economic (if not political) transformation of the
conflict zone a central task. The definitions lying in the middle ground of these
131
Peace Building two extremes emphasize on stable social equilibrium in order to make peace
sustainable. The stress here is on the need to ensure that new disputes are not
allowed to sprout and escalate into another violent conflict. This means that
peacebuilding efforts must go beyond conflict prevention or conflict management
and try and ‗fix‘ the underlying root causes that lie in the patterns of socio-
political behaviours reflected through institutional or norm-building efforts for
conflict-resolution. Such a line of thinking underlines the need for conflict
transformation that requires the warring parties to move away from confrontation,
and work towards participation in joint peaceful transactions that are aimed at
evolving a relationship of harmony and interdependence. Much of this, however
remains an extremely ambitious, almost idealistic, proposition.

While there are differences among scholars on the exact definition of

peacebuilding, the point on which they all concur is that they all consider
peacebuilding clearly to be a post-conflict activity. There is also a broad agreement
on the need to address the ‗underlying causes‘, and not just the visible effects of
a violent conflict. Beyond this premise, peacebuilding continues to be a highly
contested paradigm. However, while scholarly definitions set the broad contours
of the core responsibilities, peacebuilding has been gradually evolving from below,
through actual peacebuilding operations on the ground. This is particularly so as
the actual practice of peacebuilding has become a regular and acceptable activity
in international relations. Not surprisingly then, peacebuilding is often used as a
catch-all term to describe all the actors and elements of post-conflict stabilising
and rebuilding efforts that may include preventive diplomacy, institution building,
engaging and empowering local populations, ensuring local ownership, capacity
building which makes it almost akin to nation-building. Thus according to Roland
Paris, ―there is no universally accepted definition of peacebuilding‖, while
Charles-Philippe David considers that there are ―as many visions of peacebuilding
as there are experts on the issue and actors on the field.‖

Given these aforesaid limitations, one comprehensive definition of peacebuilding

is provided by Rebecca Spence in her chapter on ―Post-Conflict Peacebuilding:
Who Determines the Peace‖ in Bronwyn Evans-Kent edited volume on
Transformative peacebuilding in post-conflict reconstruction: The Case of Bosnia
and Herzegovina (2001). To quote her, peacebuilding includes –

...those activities and processes that focus on the root causes of the conflict,
rather than just the effects; support the rebuilding and rehabilitation of all
sectors of war-torn society; encourage and support interaction between all
sectors of society in order to repair damaged relations and start the process
of restoring dignity and trust; recognize the specifics of each post-conflict
situation; encourage and support the participation of indigenous resources
in the design, implementation and sustainment of activities and processes;
and promote processes that will endure after the initial emergency recovery
phase has passed.

In recent years there has been a trend in favour of adopting a multi-faceted,

multi-agency, system-wide approach to peacebuilding. These approaches share
common aspects and are convergent in nature. However, often experts may tend
to privilege one or another element in order to make their favoured approach
more viable than others. While there have been multiple ways to categorising
approaches to peacebuilding some of the well-known approaches to peacebuilding
132 are given below.
 Approaches
INTEGRATED OR WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT
(WOG) APPROACH
A few governments have begun to realise that post-conflict security sector reforms,
as the foremost sector of peacebuilding, needs an integrated or Whole of
Government (WoG) approach in order to align development agencies with
military, intelligence agencies, police, prisons and civil society. This approach
has lately become popular and has come to be defined as one where a government
actively uses formal and informal networks across different agencies for effective
coordination of both the design and implementation of the peacebuilding
agreements. The focus clearly remains on greater ‗coordination‘ amongst various
governmental agencies, both in the theatre of post-conflict operations as also
amongst donor governments and other international agencies.

Establishment of inter-departmental organisations in major states like United

Kingdom and United States in 2004 characterises this approach. The UK had set
up the Post- Conflict and Reconstruction Unit (PCRU) which is now known as
Stabilization Unit. Similarly in the USA, the Office of the Coordinator for
Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS) was created within the State
Department. Similarly, Australia too adopted this approach in 2006 through a
White Paper on its Aid Programme and inception of Office of Development
Effectiveness. However encouraging these initiatives are, the promise of the WoG
approach might be severely tested in fragile and unstable states where no formal
structures and clear division of labour exist.

POLITICAL DEMOCRACY APPROACH

One lesson learnt from the experience of peacekeeping operations in the past
two decades concerns the value of local-level governance and related institutions
in sustaining peace after ceasefire has been signed. Increasingly, democratic
validation of peace agreements between authorities and rebels, and later by masses
has come to be seen as essential for peacebuilding. This approach is also called
war-to-democracy approach to peacebuilding.

At one level, this approach has positive elements, especially as it signifies a

departure from the ‗great powers‘ persistent tendency in the cold war decades to
embrace dictators for strategic reasons. However, the ‗war to democracy model‘
is not without its criticism, for it has often meant creating from ‗above‘ democratic
political regimes in postwar
settings by the international ‗Institutionalization Before Liberalization‘
community, recreating the core
institutions of state and society In the West African State of Côte d‘Ivoire, as
largely along Western lines of part of democratic peace building at the end of
a civil war, elections were held in 2010. Violence
thought, and opening post
erupted and after the country lapsed into
conflict societies to market another civil war civil war which lasted until
forces of liberalization. 2011.
The implementation of the In 2015, Côte d‘Ivoire held another election
political democracy model has without an eruption of violence. This is largely
also come up with problems in attributed to notable changed made in this
interim period in the electoral institutions as
a number of fragile states such
well as the civil society
133
Peace Building as Afghanistan, Central African Republic (CAR), among others. Roland Paris
after exploring the challenge of democratic peace building in fourteen countries
after civil wars in the 1990s from Namibia to East Timor found that rapid
transformations of war-shattered states into liberal democracies with market
economies can backfire badly. He argued that absence of effective local institutions
in such contexts can increase rather than decrease the danger of renewed fighting.

Paris laid out an alternative ‗Institutionalization Before Liberalization strategy

for post-conflict peacebuilding that emphasised construction of foundational
economic and political institutions as the essential first step before gradual
introduction of electoral democracy and market oriented adjustment policies in
war-torn states.

Charles Call and Susan Cook in their book Reconstructing Justice and Security
after War (Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2007) examine this
‗political democracy‘ approach. After studying experiences of post-conflict
democracy and peacebuilding in places like Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and
Afghanistan, they conclude that ‗patience‘ must be the hallmark of both
peacebuilding and good governance processes.

PEACE VERSUS JUSTICE APPROACH

There are some who conceive peacebuilding exclusively in terms of either ‗peace‘
or ‗justice‘ driven approaches. The ‗peace‘ driven approach puts emphasis on
‗saving lives‘ and allows accommodation, even appeasement, of aggressor to
swiftly achieve cessation of hostilities and violence in a conflict. Elizabeth
Cousens calls it ‗political peacebuilding‘ which seeks to create authoritative and
eventually legitimate mechanisms which may empower the polity to handle
conflict without violence and to apply established procedures for resolving rival
claims and grievances. Though this approach is normally effective in ensuring
negative peace, they lack the appreciation of ‗victim‘s perspective‘ since the
protagonists of the peace approach tend to treat victim and aggressor as equals.
Furthermore, this approach could threaten to fuel the aggressor‘s appetite for
more conflict.

On the other hand, the ‗justice‘ driven approach to peacebuilding sees building
‗negative peace‘ as job only half done which may not go far in building a
sustainable peace. This approach seeks to go beyond cessation of violence and
explore issues of reconciliation, truth and justice. So, in addition to hard-nosed
bargain for mutual benefits it seeks to evolve provisions that appeal to the sense
of fairness in the eye of parties as well as their respective support bases and
therefore worth honouring. In the context of peacebuilding, justice for them
embodies four components: truth, fairness, rectitude and retribution/requital.
While truth involves an accurate understanding and recording of the causes of
conflict, fairness implies impartiality without any undue pressure on either of
the parties to conflict. Similarly, rectitude relates to a sense of integrity and
righteousness, whereas and retribution/requital means compassion for victims
and punishment for aggressors.

134
 Approaches
Key Points
Peacebuilding is a shift from short term peacekeeping, to long term
peacekeeping and engagements of peacebuilding operations.
Peacebuilding an expansive concept that begins after violence has ended
and ceasefire agreement signed. It includes not only relapse of violent
conflict, but also addressing the root causes of conflict and fostering an
enabling environment for sustainable peace.
Peacebuilding is a regular practice in international relations. Hence, to a
large extent it is still evolving from below, through actual peacebuilding
operations on the ground.
Whole of Government peacebuilding approach is mostly practiced by
states with robust institutions. Its emphasises is on better ‗coordination‘
amongst various governmental agencies in design and implementation
of the peacebuilding agreements.
Political Democracy approach links peacebuilding with democractic
governance, with increasing recognition of the value of strong political
and economic institutions in sustaining peace.
Peace versus Justice approach: Peace driven approach gives greater
attention to ‗saving lives‘ and quickly ending the violence and achieving
negative peace.
Justice approach to peacebuilding seeks to go beyond cessation of violence
and explore issues of reconciliation, truth and justice. It embodies four
components: truth, fairness, rectitude and retribution/requital.

Check Your Progress Exercises 1

Note: i) Use of the space given below for your answer.
ii) See the end of the Unit for tips for your answer.
1) Discuss the main characteristics of peace and different approaches peace
building.
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RECONSTRUCTIVE VERSUS
TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACHES
Prof. Bronwyn Evans-Kent in his book Transformative peacebuilding in post-
conflict reconstruction: The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dwells on
peacebuilding strategies – which he identifies as ‗reconstructive‘ in approach –
as applied in multilateral initiatives under international institutions like the UN.
As opposed to this is the ‗transformative‘ approach often adopted by the civil
society actors and NGOs as part of their bottom-up initiatives. According to
135
Peace Building Kent, both these sets of approaches are two sides of the same coin and complement
each other if balanced appropriately. Hence, too much focus on one is not going
to be effective, as for instance excessive focus by the UN on reconstruction
activities has undermined its transformative capacities.

Reconstructive approaches concern themselves with more tangible aspects of

peacebuilding such as addressing infrastructure needs like roads, communications,
healthcare and public institutions where benefits and outcomes are immediate
and easily measurable. Usually the UN post-conflict reconstruction involves (a)
monitoring ceasefire, (b) disarming and demobilising rebels and ensuring their
reintegration through security sector reforms, and (c) supervising or conducting
elections. But given this ‗tool-kit‘ of peacebuilding, it often begins to become
too rigid and therefore vulnerable to donor agencies‘ expansive reporting processes
and preferences. Instead, these need to be locally rooted, intensive and
contextualised. Moreover, these efforts of the UN peacebuilding have often been
accused of being driven by major powers‘ desire to implant democracy and free-
market economy.

Transformative approach, on the other hand, seeks to address exactly these lacunae
i.e. less focus on physical reconstruction and more focus on transforming social
relationship within and amongst the given conflict-prone communities. As the
very first thing, their outcomes remain less measurable and its processes normally
time-taking. But then transformative approach seeks to address not only manifest
but also latent triggers of conflict that impel the conflict protagonists to see
violence as only means of redress. It also believes that parties to conflict are not
necessarily homogenous social entities. Therefore, the focus would be on
addressing both the manifest and the felt needs for recognition of respective
collective identities - and doing so in such a manner that this recognition does
not appear to threaten other parties.

Lisa Schirch in her book Rituals and Symbols in Peacebuilding (Bloomfield,

CT: Kumarian Press, 2005) believes that rituals and symbols may be useful for
reducing direct violence. Rituals and symbols, she says, are widely used either
to symbolically communicate commitment to nonviolence or to heal trauma or
to transform relationships. However, it may be noted that symbols and rituals are
not the mainstay of peacebuilding but only complement real tools and processes
of peacebuilding like dialogue or mediation. On their own, rituals and symbols
cannot adequately address conflict and peacebuilding.

TOP, MIDDLE AND GRASSROOT

APPROACHES
Peacebuilding scholars John Paul Lederach, Luc Reychler and Thania Paffenholz
in their book Peacebuilding: A Field Guide, have classified a three level approach
to peacebuilding as top, middle and grassroots level approaches.

At the top level, peacebuilding normally involves a top-down approach which

has the following salient features. First, it normally involves very eminent and
influential yet singular personalities. These are people with a visible public profile,
working as peace- builders or norm-entrepreneurs, and who operate as
intermediaries or mediators. They often have strong backing from governments
of major powers, important international agencies as also from the parties to the
136
conflict. Second, it usually involves very high-level leaders from amongst parties Approaches
to the conflict and these peace-builders generally act on their own to facilitate a
dialogue between these high profile protagonists of the given conflict. Such
negotiations are normally arranged by these high-profile peace-builders at some
neutral venue and they also help facilitate setting up the tone (sometimes even
agenda) for a successful mutual bargaining amongst major protagonists in the
given conflict.

At the middle level, there remains a whole range of middle ranking leaders
(including identifiable policy- and opinion-makers). If integrated properly, these
mid-ranking leaders can provide key to creating ‗infrastructure‘ or atmospherics
for achieving an effective peacebuilding by the top level. There are several
practical and professional approaches that are applied in this category of
interactions amongst mid-ranking protagonists of conflict. These include (a)
problem-solving workshops, (b) conflict resolution training programmes, and
(c) setting up of peace commissions and/or truth and reconciliation commissions.
These approaches have been particularly emphasized in conflict-resolution
discourses as an addition; these mid-ranking protagonists may also become useful
contact point to reach out to the wider masses that form the core of grass-root
approaches to peacebuilding.

The grassroots approaches remain distinct as they focus not on protagonists but
on victims of a given conflict and these normally involve massive numbers.
Grassroots approaches deal with only those protagonists who may be working
with local (victim) communities and can facilitate peacebuilders‘ access to people.
At this level, issues in survival-mode, such as providing them with food, shelter
and safety, assume the top priority. From this perspective, although their miseries
flow from an unresolved larger conflict, conflict resolution efforts might appear
to be a diversionary luxury. Guided by the immediate needs and priorities, the
grass roots approaches could often remain focused on ad hoc fire-fighting rather
than evolving long-term planning which is the essence of peacebuilding.

CIVIL SOCIETY OR TRANSFORMATIONAL

APPROACH
The civil-society or transformational approach to peacebuilding and conflict
resolution involves the development of an interactive, interdependent web of
activities and relationships amongst elite and grass roots to build, what Louis
Kriesberg calls ‗culture of peace‘. It is widely accepted that non-governmental
organisations are a prominent component of the civil society.

As Jonathan Goodhand notes, non-governmental organisations further the goals

of peacebuilding in both indirect and direct ways like supporting local leadership,
human rights monitoring and protection, facilitating good governance,
constitutional reforms, local capacity building, and development of alternative
livelihoods. While activities that could have direct bearing on peacebuilding
include conflict monitoring, mediation, security sector reforms, advocacy,
education and building peace constituencies, those of indirect category tend to
mainstream peacebuilding into ongoing activities.

Thania Paffenholz and Christoph Spurk, in their monograph Civil Society, Civil
Engagement, and Peacebuilding (Social Development Paper No. 36, October
137
Peace Building 2006), suggest the need for a holistic and comprehensive approach to relate civil
society to post-conflict peacebuilding. At the same time they caution us against
expecting miracles from the civil society‘s role. Among the points made in this
regard are the following: (1) Civil society comprises of not just non-governmental
organisations but other bodies which together have important roles to play in
peacebuilding. (2) The acknowledgement of the importance of civil society does
not mean that state is any less important. (3) Enthusiasm over support to the civil
society role has to be based on full understanding of its imprecise character and
composition. (4) It may not be accurate to assume that all civil society functions
are equally effective in all post-conflict phases. (5) For a critical assessment of
civil society‘s impact on peacebuilding, the timing and sequencing of various
civil society functions need to be borne in mind.

FEMINIST APPROACH
In the past few decades, feminist scholarship in the area of conflict and
peacebuilding, have brought to the fore women‘s daily struggles and experiences
of conflict and peacebuilding that are distinct from men, and call for inclusion of
previously marginalised feminist and women‘s perspectives to peacebuilding.
There is also growing recognition that long before formal cease fire and
negotiations begin, women on the ground are the first to take informal steps to
restore peace, initiate peace dialogues at the community level to end violence,
build peace villages. However, formal peacebuilding and conflict resolution
initiatives continue to ignore or marginalise issues of gender, and women‘s
involvement in formal missions and talks remains low.

At its core, the feminist approach considers war as a form of a highly militarised
patriarchy that is fought among men, who make the rules, decide when, why and
how wars are to be fought. Wars further reinforce militarized notions of
masculinity which has detrimental impact on women. Often, when the violence
of conflict is seen to have ended and ceasefire agreements are signed, the violence
instead emerges inside homes and community. For example domestic violence
in post conflict society is found to increase manifold as men return from the
brutal experience of conflict. Feminists thereby looks at peacebuilding as
gendered, meaning that perceptions of peace and approaches to peace differ based
on different experiences of men and women in conflict. A feminist approach is
guided by the concern for gender equity, touches upon questions of identity,
power asymmetry, and is closely allied to notions of positive peace.

However, men tend to dominate the formal roles in any peacebuilding process;
there are mainly male peacekeepers, male peace negotiators, and male politician
and formal leaders. Power is unequally distributed between men and women and
the majority of women do not have a voice in local and national decision making
processes. This inequity of normal times is heightened manifold during conflict
as power becomes centralized and the male dominated military takes more control
(Byrne, 1995). However, as highlighted earlier, women play an important role in
building peace in informal spaces and build a holistic notion of peacebuilding
that seeks an end to the continuum of violence from the home to the street, but
their vision goes unrecognized. A report by Mazurana and McKay brings out
examples of women‘s peacebuilding activities, illustrating that women play a
very active and crucial role in peacebuilding and reconstruction at the local,
regional, national, and international levels (1998).
138
Check Your Progress Exercises 2 Approaches

Note: i) Use of the space given below for your answer.

ii) See the end of the Unit for tips for your answer.
1) Explain the salient points of constructive versus transformative approach
and peace versus justice approach.
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2) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages do the civil society actors have
in the context of the peace building and conflict resolution.
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LET US SUM UP
It is clear from the discussion so far in this Unit that there is no single approach
that is either universally accepted or uniformly applicable across a wide spectrum
of conflict situations. Each conflict is unique in its own way; therefore a right
mix of approaches would be naturally necessary. We have learned that scholars
and thinkers have come up with a variety of approaches to highlight different
aspects in peacebuilding. For example, the top, middle and grassroots approaches
identify the interlinkages among the three levels at which peacebuilding needs
to be pursued for the best results. On a different note, another approach emphasizes
the need to adopt an integrated, coordinated approach for peacebuilding. Peace
and justice is the essence of another approach. Similarly, the role and relevance
of civil society and/or non- governmental organisations have become the prime
concerns of transformational approach. The feminist approach highlights the need
to include women‘s experience, concerns and voices for transformative and
sustainable peacebuilding. Notably, these approaches share many commonalities
amongst them. Hence, it may not be advisable to stress only on one approach
and reject other approaches.

In the end, two things distinguish peacebuilding from other similar activities.
Firstly, it is an activity located in post-conflict context. Secondly, it seeks to
address deep-rooted, underlying causes of conflict rather than deal only with the
visible violence. An effective peacebuilding approach, therefore, has to be
grounded on deeper understanding about the parties to conflict and their contexts.
This requires peacebuilding effort to be sensitive to, and show an understanding
towards, the warring parties‘ history and society as also their political and strategic
culture. At the same time, successful peacebuilding requires national ownership 139
Peace Building by local people on the one hand, a clear division of labour between national and
international actors and agencies on the other. Given its evolutionary nature, it
also needs to be innovative to keep evolving in the face of real time challenges.
This requires huge staying power in terms of commitment and resources as also
patience; peacebuilding processes will continue to be really long- drawn as they
seek to ensure building a sustainable peace.

9.10 SOME USEFUL REFERENCES

Bertram, Eva. ―Reinventing Governments: The Promise and Perils of United
Nations Peace Building‖, Journal of Conflict Resolution, 39 (3), 1995, pp.387-
418.
Boutros-Ghali, Boutros, An Agenda for Peace 2nd ed., UN Department of Public
Information, New York, 1995.
Cousens, Elizabeth M., Chetan Kumar, and Karin Wemester, (eds.), Peacebuilding
as Politics: Cultivating Peace in Fragile Societies, Lynne Rienner, Boulder CO,
2001.
Cutillo, Alberto., ―International Assistance to Countries Emerging from Conflict:
A Review of Fifteen Years of Interventions and the Future of Peacebuilding‖,
Paper compiled for the International Peace Academy, New York, 2006,
(www.reliefweb.int)
Call, Charles and Cousens (February 2008), ―Ending Wars and Building
Peace,‖ International Studies Perspectives 91 pp. 1-21
De Coning, Cedric., ―Coherence and integration in the planning, implementation
and evaluation of complex peacebuilding operations‖, Conflict Trends, Durban:
ACCORD, Vol , 2004, pp.41-48; access at www.accord.org.za
De Coning, Cedric., ―Civil-Military Coordination and UN Peace building
Operations‖, 2005, (www.trainingforpeace.org/pub/accord/civmil2005.pdf )
Dixon, Paul. ―Consociationalism and the Northern Ireland Peace Process: The
Glass Half Full or Half Empty‖, Nationalism & Ethnic Politics, Vol. 3, no.3,
1997, pp.20-36.
Doyle, Michael W, and Nicholas Sambanis., ―International Peacebuilding: A
Theoretical and Quantitative Analysis‖, World Bank Research Paper, 2000,
(August) (www.worldbank.org/research)
Erin McCandless (2010), In pursuit of Peacebuilding for Perpetual Peace, CIPS-
NUPI, p. 18
Galtung, Johan, ―Three Approaches to Peace: Peacekeeping, Peacemaking and
Peace building,‖ in his Peace, War and Defense – Essays in Peace Research,
Christian Eljers, Copenhagen, Vol. 2, 1975, pp. 282-304.
Goodhand, Jonathan., ―Working ‗in‘ and ‗on‘ war‖, in Helel Yanacopulos, Hanlon,
Joseph (eds.), Civil War, Civil Peace, James Currey Publishers, Oxford, 2006.
Heinrich, W., Building Peace: Experience of Collaborative Peace building in
Somalia, 1993-96, Life and Peace Institute, Uppsala, 1996.

140
Lederach, John Paul., ―Conflict Transformation in Protracted Internal Conflicts: Approaches
The Case for a Comprehensive Framework‖, in Rupesinghe, K., (ed.), Conflict
Transformation, St. Martin‘s Press, Houndmills, 1995.
Lederach, John Paul., Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation Across
Cultures, Syracuse University Press. Syracuse, NY, 1995
Lederbach, John Paul., Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided
Societies, US Institute of Peace, Washington DC, 1992.
MacKey, Susan, and Dyan Mazurana., Women & Peacebuilding, Rights &
Democracy, Montreal, 2001, January.
Oliver P. Richmond (2014), New Approaches to Peacebuilding, International
Peacekeeping, 21:5, 696-700
Paris, Dan., At War‘s End: Building Peace After Civil Conflict, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 2004.
Paris, Roland, ―Peace building and the Limits of Liberal Internationalism‖.
International Security. 22 (2), 1997, pp.54-89.
Regehr, Ernie, ―The Challenge of Peace building – Rebuilding peace in war-torn
and war- threatened societies‖, Ploughshares Monito, 1995, http://
www.ploughshares,ca/content/ MONITOR/mond95a.html.
Reychler L, and T Paffenholz., (eds.), Peacebuilding: A Field Guide, Lynne
Rienner, Boulder CO, 2001.
Sampson, Cynthia, Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Claudia Liebler and Diana Whitney.,
Positive Approaches to Peacebuilding: A Resource for Innovators, Pact
Publications, New York, 2003.
Schirch, Lisa., Ritual and symbol in peacebuilding, Kumarian Press, Bloomfield
CT, 2005.
Smith, Dan., Towards a Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding: Getting Their
Act Together, Overview report of the Joint Utstein Study of Peacebuilding, PRIO,
Oslo, 2004.
UN Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, An
Inventory of Post-Conflict Peacebuilding Activities, United Nations, New York,
1996.

9.11 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOU PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercises 1
1) Your answer should include conceptions of Peace Building, Integrated
Approach. Political Democracy Approach and Peace versus Justice
Approach.
Check Your Progress Exercises 2
1) Your answer should have the following points:

141
Peace Building a) Constructive versus Transformative Approach and
b) Top, Middle and Grass-root Approach.
2) Your answer should have the following points:
a) Civil Society Approach and
b) Feminist Approach

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 Approaches
UNIT 10 POST-CONFLICT
RECONSTRUCTION AND
REHABILITATION*

Structure
Introduction
Aims and Objectives
Defining Post-conflict Re-construction and Rehabilitation
Actors and Stakeholders
Post-conflict Fund and the Role of World Bank, Asian Development Bank
(ADB) and Africa Development Bank (AfDB)
Case Study: Re-construction and Rehabilitation of the Tamils in Sri Lanka
Let Us Sum Up
Some Useful References
Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

10.0 INTRODUCTION
Conflict has been a feature of human history and has shaped civilizations. It
emerges from political differences, or ideological, religions and ethnicities divides,
over resources. Conflicts among societies and people also arise from failed
political institutions resulting in poor governance, lack of political and social
justice, accountability and transparency of the government, corruption, abuse of
political power and high levels of poverty. These deficiencies in governance
have resulted in civil war that threatened the stability of states.

At another level, conflicts arise due to clash of interests over national values
among states, groups of states, organisations, organised groups who are ever so
aggressive to uphold their views and interests and win their cases. In contemporary
times, conflicts have become transnational in nature and its actors have challenged
state authority. At another level, nature-based cause such as climate change has
further contributed to conflicts among humans. These varying forms of conflicts
leave societies destroyed with long and lasting adversarial impacts on the lives
of people.

According to ―Global Conflict Barometer‖, a report published by the Institute

for International Conflict Research at the University of Heidelberg, conflicts of
low and medium intensity have grown steadily over the years. In 2017, the HIIK
recorded 222 violent conflicts, five fewer than in the previous year. While the
number of wars (20) increased by two, the number of limited wars (16) decreased
by four. Overall, the HIIK recorded 385 violent and nonviolent conflicts
worldwide in 2017, excluding the currently 22 inactive but still potential conflicts.
Six new conflicts were observed in Ethiopia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic,
Iraq, as well as Qatar. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.

* Dr. Vijay Sakhuja, National Maritime Foundation Varuna Complex, Airport Road, NH-8,
New Delhi 143
Peace Building The report clearly reflects that the contemporary world continues to be less
peaceful. and violent force is repeatedly used in an organised way. Therefore
there is a need for greater engagement by the international community to prevent
conflicts, wars, and crisis among the people. In the above context, post-conflict
reconstruction and rehabilitation is a critical step for longer-term peace and
stability and requires the responsiveness of a variety of actors, state and non-
state, either unilaterally or multilaterally.

Aims and Objectives

This Unit would enable you to understand
The dynamics of post-conflict re-construction and rehabilitation in order to
achieving the overarching goals of sustainable peace and prosperity.
The definition of the post-conflict re-construction and rehabilitation
The identification of the actors and stakeholders.
The process of re-construction and rehabilitation of the Tamils in Sri Lanka
in the post-LTTE period (case study).

10.1 UNDERSTANDING POST-CONFLICT

RECONSTRUCTION AND REHABILITATION
Although the Cold War ended the great power rivalry, it witnessed large number
of intrastate conflicts particularly among the developing countries. During the
1990s, nearly one third of the world‘s countries were afflicted with armed conflict
and nearly two-thirds of these experienced conflict particularly in Asia, Africa
and Latin America. These entailed international attention and global collective
action in post-conflict reconstruction.
The World Bank defines post-conflict reconstruction as ―the rebuilding of the
socioeconomic framework of society‖ and the ―reconstruction of the enabling
conditions for a functioning peacetime society [to include] the framework of
governance and rule of law.‖ It is noted that post-conflict reconstruction is a
process of rebuilding war-affected communities and ‗includes the process of
rebuilding the political, security, social and economic dimensions of a society
emerging from conflict. It also includes addressing the root causes of the conflict
and promoting social and economic justice as well as putting in place political
structures of governance and the rule of law in order to consolidate peace building,
reconciliation and development.‘ This entails delivering social and economic
development, providing governance and the rule of law including justice and
reconciliation and longer-term development assistance. It has also been argued
that there is ‗no definition for post-conflict rehabilitation and peace- building
that has been agreed to by the consensus needed in order for them to be used by
the different actors that participate in the process.‘
For the purpose of this chapter, post- conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation
can be defined as the process of developing long-term programs that are designed
for improving the economic well being of the affected societies and people, and
also developing institutions that can deliver governance, and political and social
justice.
In the aftermath of any violent conflict and military interventions, the need for
post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation becomes central. A variety of
144
agencies including international organisations and coalitions of countries are in Post–Conflict Construction
and Rehabilitation
the forefront to bring in their respective capacities for restoration or transformation (Case Studies – Local, Sub–
of the fragile social capital. There is also a need for a greater commitment to National and International)
post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation in areas and societies to develop
strategies that close the gap between humanitarian assistance and development,
and help to organise cooperation and partnership.

At another level, the economic penalty of conflict includes capital flight, economic
decline, high defence spending, and structural changes to the economy. Post-
conflict economic recovery is also dependent on the responses by the private
sector.

In its broad sense, reconstruction entails rebuilding of governance structures,

institutions, and conditions that had existed prior to war. It also includes the
rehabilitation and restoration of basic services like health and education. However,
the biggest challenge facing countries is to define the priority areas in the post-
conflict reconstruction programme and how to reconstruct. This issues gains
salience due to the fact that all peacetime conditions, though desirable, cannot
be reconstructed in short time and would need to be prioritised. In 2002 a
consortium of international actors, including the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, published the Post Conflict Reconstruction Framework.
The framework envisages identifies three phases of activity between the cessation
of violent conflict and the return to normalization

Post Conflict Reconstruction Framework

The Framework identifies three phases of activity between the ―cessation of
violent conflict and the return to normalization‖
1) The initial phase response comes immediately after the end of widespread
violence. It involves provision of emergency humanitarian services,
stability and military interventions to provide basic security.
Internationally such responses also include the deployment of
peacekeepers.
2) The transformation or transition phase is a period in which legitimate
local capacities emerge and should be supported, with particular attention
needed for restarting the economy, including physical reconstruction,
ensuring functional structures for governance and judicial processes and
laying the foundations for the provision of basic social welfare such as
education and health care.
3) The final phase or the period for fostering sustainability is a time when
recovery efforts should be consolidated to help prevent the resurgence of
conflict. Military actors—particularly international peacekeepers—
withdraw and society begins to ―normalise‖ during this phase.

ACTORS AND STAKEHOLDERS

It is an acknowledged fact that no single actor can manage the post-conflict
reconstruction and rehabilitation and requires the assistance and support of a
variety of actors both at the government and non-government level. Among these,
the governments are the most important players and without their support,
rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts will yield little in improving the well-
145
Peace Building being of the affected people. Multilateral institutions such as the United Nations
and financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development
Bank emerged as significant stakeholders in the process of reconstruction and
rehabilitation by providing fiscal support outside the national budget process.
The non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and other development agencies
too are critical for the purposes of relief and emergency assistance.

At the societal level, women play a critical role in the post-conflict re-construction
and rehabilitation process. Though the military is a coercive tool of the state, it
has an important role in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of war torn societies.
It has an important role in ensuring a viable and an effective domestic security
system through the civil police agencies and ensue that democratic civilians are
able to ensure law and order.

Role of the State: The state is the primary actor in the post-conflict reconstruction
and rehabilitation efforts. It should formulate and lead the development strategy
and be in the driver‘s seat. The government must undertake economic recovery
and structural adjustment programmes to restore macroeconomic stability and
bring down inflation. It must be noted that the private sector has an important
role to play and be an effective instrument that can support the government deliver
sustained growth. Also, economic growth requires the active participation of the
population.

The task of rebuilding the nation and reconstructing social and physical
infrastructure is critical for post-conflict re-construction and rehabilitation. The
post-conflict period requires major health sector reforms and investments in
education, investment with smooth flow of funds reaching to the grass root level.
It should also define the objective of post-conflict reconstruction process, identify
institutional and human resource development needs, and clearly spell the capacity
building strategy.

At another level, there must be close collaboration between the government and
the international community including international financial institutions for
availability of fiscal resources, grants and loans. The externally funded
investments must be controlled by the Government and these must fit well into
the national development programme to achieve fruition over the longer term.
Further, aid cannot be effective unless the state has a robust institutional
framework that allows the rule of law to prevail. The government must evolve
long term plans for development that are fully integrated in national development
policies, plans and strategies. For that it must have in place an efficient institutional
and administrative machinery to formulate, coordinate, and implement policies,
strategies, programmes, and projects. The focus should be on good governance
and sound economic management. In essence, the government must promote
security and human development, rebuild infrastructure for economic growth,
and create conditions for private sector participation for a sustainable and inclusive
economic growth.

Role of the UN: During the Cold War period, the UN mandate for international
governance entailed supporting states to monitor borders and ceasefires, and in
the conduct and monitoring of elections. However, in the post Cold War period,
the UN has been increasingly engaged in post-conflict reconstruction and
rehabilitation missions. In 1992, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Former UN
Secretary-General, in the landmark An Agenda for Peace set out an international
146
strategy for conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping, post-conflict Post–Conflict Construction
and Rehabilitation
reconstruction and peace building. Since then post-conflict reconstruction has (Case Studies – Local, Sub–
been an agenda for the UN in its efforts to rebuild war-affected communities. In National and International)
2005, Kofi Annan‘s, then Secretary-General, report, In Larger Freedom: Towards
Development, Security and Human Rights for All recommended that UN member
states ‗establish a Peace building Commission to fill the institutional gap that
exists with regards to assisting countries to make the transition from war to lasting
peace.‘ In September 2005, during the UN world summit and the 60th session of
the General Assembly, the recommendations of the report were reviewed. Kofi
Annan noted ―Our record of success in mediating and implementing peace
agreements is sadly blemished by some devastating failures. Indeed, several of
the most violent and tragic episodes of the 1990s occurred after the negotiation
of peace agreements ... if we are going to prevent conflict we must ensure that
peace agreements are implemented in a sustained and sustainable manner.‖

Role of Military: The role of military in the post-conflict reconstruction and

rehabilitation has been an acknowledged factor. In that context, it has been noted
that the ‗use of military force in the aftermath of a conflict to underpin rapid and
fundamental societal transformation ... [including] comprehensive efforts ... aimed
to engineer major social, political, and economic reconstruction‘.

The military is an important tool for post-conflict re-construction and

rehabilitation in at least three areas: (a) Establishing a secure and safe environment
for the people at large and for the development agencies to commence their
activities, (b) restoring essential services to an acceptable standard, and (c) creating
stable conditions for development and economic growth. The militaries are also
critical for security sector reforms in the post-conflict re-construction and
rehabilitation environment. Their role can be envisaged in both defensive and
offensive domains. The military is trained and equipped to address contingencies
arising from chaos, lawlessness, reappearance of violence, human rights
violations, untrustworthiness and mutiny.

The military is also crucial for disarming violent groups and their demobilisation,
recovery of arms from the public, quelling violence and emergency stabilisation,
and preventing relapses into anarchy. At another level, the military should prepare
and train the police forces to take on the responsibility of post-conflict situations
and develop capacities for establishing rule of law. Its primary aim is to
demilitarise the society and ensure civil control.

Several militaries have developed comprehensive strategies and developed

capacities to respond to post-conflict re-construction and rehabilitation and have
constituted specialised units for such purposes. Some militaries are engaged in
addressing human security issues in the post-conflict environment. The UN too
is engaged in transforming its capability to address issues of security, development
and democratisation, notably in fragile and post- conflict states in a comprehensive
manner.

Role of Civil Society Organisations and Non-governmental Organisations :

The Civil Society Organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
are important stakeholders and have assumed a crucial role in the post-conflict
reconstruction and rehabilitation dynamics. These entities play a pivotal role by
setting up and maintaining essential services, assisting the refugee and internally
displaced populations in remote areas. They help to strengthen societies through
147
Peace Building their deep understanding of local needs and culture which acts as a catalyst for
fast and effective aid. Further, they fill the gap when political circumstances
prevented multilateral and bilateral activities inside the country.
It is true that any violent conflict results in the polarisation of social relationships
that can have long term devastating effects on societies. The circumstances of
uncertainty contribute to the creation of a long-lasting social mistrust. It is this
reason that the communication bridges must be restored among the social groups
and encourages participation in political life for social reconciliation. The civil
society must contribute to resolving differences of interests of the different groups
over the long-term. However it is important that the actors of the civil society
drive the mechanisms that are critical for strengthening peace and reconciliation
within the communities and avoid supporting the forces that were responsible
for the war.
Civil societies can also help manage the tensions in the community by influencing
the political leaders and creating unofficial mechanisms for the resolution of
disputes. Traditional institutions and mechanisms for peace-building such as
advice from elders or religious leaders can play a significant role in peace-building
and reconciliation processes thereby creating a connection of trust with local
partners. In general, the NGO‘s and civil society must explain the idea of their
work and the processes they chose to the people who should develop trust in
their activities. Also they must have a network with the society, public authorities
and other social sector actors. Their efforts can be instrumental for improving
the quality of people‘s lives.
Role of Media: The media has a major role to play in the post-conflict re-
construction and rehabilitation process. Experiences show that media can play a
positive role in promoting peace and reconciliation. However, the flip side is
that media can also act as tool that can generate hatred leading to disintegration.
Be that as it may, if democratic social actors have access to the media it can
establish connectivity among all the stakeholders i.e. governments, financial
institutions, civil society and NGOs and provide information about the society,
economic and political structures, and generate social cohesion and enhance social
human capital. Therefore a well-functioning media can help promote
democratisation.
As a result, international organisations, bilateral donors and NGOs have begun
to explore opportunities for media as a tool for enhancing their activities. For
instance, the UN has developed a sophisticated strategy to harness the tool of
media in almost every UN intervention and the media‘s role in sustaining peace
and democratic transitions continues to increase.
The media can also have a role in terms of social education, addressing many
issues of concern to the target audience, and in the process helping to reduce
tensions and build trust within the society. Important information can be relayed
to the populations regarding health, literacy, the environment; in areas of conflict
or post-conflict, this can include information on landmine awareness, war trauma,
the Geneva Conventions or the peace accords and demobilisation processes, and
it may also ensure that each side to a dispute is allowed to hear the other‘s position,
thereby opening lines of communication between them. On their part, the media
should train the local staff in reporting on conflicts, to help develop high quality
and accurate overage, establish autonomous national and local media institutions
and create a gene pool of professionals with high ethical standards.
148
Some of the successful media ventures in the post-conflict and rehabilitation Post–Conflict Construction
and Rehabilitation
process are (a) The Center for Conflict Resolution, Uganda, which conducts (Case Studies – Local, Sub–
workshops for media persons and outlets to examine their roles in peace-building, National and International)
develop conflict resolution skills, including sensitizing reporters to traditional
African mechanisms of dealing with peace and reconciliation; (b) Studio Iamb,
created by Search for Common Ground to specifically counter recurrence in
Burundi of genocidal hate radio, as in Rwanda. (c) Radio Blue Sky, established
by UN in Kosovo, to specifically open dialogue and democratic debate in
Albanian, Serbian and Turkish communities, (d) UNTAC Radio, Cambodia, to
inform people about United Nations Transitional Authority and promoting
reconciliation.

Role of Women: The

discourse on the role of Women‘s Role in Rebuilding Rwanda
women in the post-conflict Post the civil war and genocide in 1994,
re-construction and women constituted a high proportion of the
rehabilitation has gathered population.
some recognition. However,
Impoverished and challenged to take charge
while women‘s contribution of their destiny, women came to play a key
is getting recognized, it is role in reconstructing the country‘s
important to go beyond economy, and its moral fabric.
conventional images of
women as victims of war, and Many women entrepreneurs emerged, and
to document the many have helped build Rwanda‘s economy and
their communities. In the coffee industry,
different ways in which they
today women constitute half of Rwanda‘s
contribute to the rebuilding of
farmers and produce over 90% of its
countries emerging from
exported coffee beans. Throughout the
armed conflicts. Feminist
country, women today own 41% of
scholars like Brigitte businesses.
Sorensen draw attention to
girls and women‘s unique post conflict needs and concerns, to their resources
and capacities, and to structural and situational factors that may reduce their
participation in reconstruction processes. Special attention is given to women‘s
priority concerns, to their resources and capacities, and to structural and situational
factors that may reduce their participation in reconstruction processes‘. Further,
the post-war reconstruction processes influence the reconfiguration of gender
roles and positions in the wake of war, and how women‘s actions shape the
construction of post-war social structures. Illustration of this can be seen in
Rwanda, which after four years of civil war, followed by the 1994 genocide of
nearly a million people- was an economically ravaged and socially divided
country. Rwandan women, compelled to take on new roles and responsibilities
out of sheer necessity, were central to Rwandan reconstruction

It is an acknowledged fact that women are the primary civilian victims of war;
yet they are generally excluded from the decision-making process. Significantly,
they are powerless to prevent wars and are excluded from the discussions and
negotiations when it comes to their resolution. They are restricted to a secondary
and unimportant role in the post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation efforts.
This is notwithstanding the fact that the United Nations Security Council
Resolution 1325 of October 2000 on women, peace and security calls upon the
member states ‗to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-
149
Peace Building making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms
for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.‘

Women are also critical in conflict prevention and ensuring establishment of a

democratic and lasting peace. For example, in the conflict in Nagaland, the Naga
peace process in 1997 called for ceasefire between the two armed parties, the
NSCN and the GOI, and overlooked concerns about civilian security as infighting
between Naga factions escalated. It was civil society groups, including influential
women‘s groups, who insisted that the ceasefire must be about transforming the
difficult, insecure lives of civilians too. They compelled the two parties to redefine
the ceasefire agreement to include civilian security issues and accept the need
for a monitoring mechanism that had independent non-partisan observers in the
2001 parley.

In Afghanistan, the peace process initially sought to empower women and enhance
their roles in Parliament and society. The Afghan government‘s National
Development Framework (NDF) also acknowledged that national development
cannot be realized without the participation of women in policies, resource
allocation, and also without specific programmers for women. However, the peace
process which was internationally maneuvered and militarily buoyed up stands
threatened as it has been making compromises and trading people‘s and women‘s
rights to negotiate and bring in groups like the Taliban.

Key Points
Post-conflict reconstruction implies rebuilding the socio-economic fabric
of society emerging from conflict; addressing the root of conflict, ensuring
justice and putting in place governance and the rule of law.
Post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation requires assistance from
variety of government and non-government actors that include the state,
its Military, United Nations, Civil Society, Media, international financial
institutions.
The state is the primary actor. It must collaborate with the diverse
stakeholder, communities to promote good governance human security
and development.
The focus should be on good governance and sound economic
management. In essence, the government must promote security and
human development, rebuild infrastructure for economic growth, and
create conditions for private sector participation for a sustainable and
inclusive economic growth.
The role of the UN in post post-conflict reconstruction relatively new,
since 1992 An Agenda for Peace. In 2000, the UN Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).
Women have played critical role in post conflict reconstruction, but their
contribution remains invisible. Democratic and lasting peace requires
participation of women, and inclusion of their special needs in rebuilding
and rehabilitation process.

150
Check Your Progress Exercises 1 Post–Conflict Construction
and Rehabilitation
Note: i) Use of the space given below for your answer. (Case Studies – Local, Sub–
National and International)
ii) See the end of the Unit for tips for your answer.
1) Explain the dynamics of post conflict reconstruction and re-habilitation in
order to achieving the overarching goals sustainable peace and prosperity.
.....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................

POST-CONFLICT FUND AND THE ROLE OF

WORLD BANK, ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
(ADB) AND AFRICA DEVELOPMENT BANK
(AFDB)
States engaged in war divert substantial resources from productive activities to
acquiring destructive tools. This diversion of resources to the war effort often
results in decrease in other public expenditures for infrastructure, health and
education. During the war, the opposing forces often target physical infrastructure
such as telecommunications, airports, ports, roads and bridges. They also destroy
housing, schools and health facilities. Post- conflict reconstruction therefore
involves the repair and reconstruction of physical and economic infrastructure
and rebuilding weakened institutions. Funds for the post-conflict reconstruction
activities can be broadly divided as one requiring funds for relief and the other
for the long-term development. The immediate post-conflict situation requires
large amounts of aid to a conflict-ridden country on an urgent basis and the long
term development funds can be made available over a period of time.

At the end of World War II, The World Bank was established for reconstruction
and development activities in its member countries and since then it has been in
the forefront of post-conflict reconstruction. In the initial stages, it concentrated
on providing financial capital and rebuilding physical infrastructure through
country assistance programmers. The increase in intrastate and regional conflicts
in the 1980s and early 1990s highlighted the need for the Bank to rethink its role
and shift away from providing physical capital to rehabilitating social capital
and institutions of conflict-affected countries.

With its successful track record in the post-conflict reconstruction and

development activities, in July 1997, the Executive Board of the World Bank
decided to constitute and establish the Post-Conflict Fund (PCF) ‗to increase
knowledge and improve available instruments within the Bank tenable early
engagement and ensure an appropriate role for the Bank in the crucial transition
from relief to rehabilitation, and reconstruction activities.‘ The programmed
envisages ‗constructive engagement in conflict-affected countries where normal
instruments and budget provisions cannot apply.‘
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Peace Building In 2009, the Post-Conflict Fund (PCF) was superseded by the State and Peace-
Building Fund (SPF) and the Low Income Countries under Stress (LICUS)
Implementation Trust Fund. The SPF also serves as an entry point to countries
that have had limited or no involvement with the World Bank, or piloting an
approach that is later scaled up with IDA funding. The SPF allows the Bank to
evaluate the programmed performance in the concerned country, region, or theme
and offers strategic direction for effective implementation of the programmed. It
is planned to make available about $100 million for the SPF over the three-years
of FY09 to FY11 with three equal installments of $33.3 million. Since 2009, 28
grants, of which 22 have been signed with the recipients and 11 are effective and
commenced disbursing.

Like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been actively
engaged in the post-conflict reconstruction activities in the Asian countries. For
instance, the ADB began post-conflict reengagement in Afghanistan with a disaster
and emergency relief programmed in Afghanistan. The 2004 Performance-Based
Allocation (PBA) Policy provided a framework for ADF allocations to post-
conflict countries. In the case of Afghanistan, ADB set aside $400 million during
two biennial periods, 2005–2006 and 2007–2008.

The African Development Bank (Fad) programmed of assistance to fragile

countries aims to support socio-economic development and fighting poverty in
its Regional Member Countries (RMCs). The bank has recognized the huge
challenges faced by post-conflict countries and fragile states and the criticality
of providing basic services and restart economic activity. The Bank‘s point of
entry into a country‘s post-conflict reconstruction and development effort begins
after the cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a transitional government
authority supported by stakeholders within the country and the international
community.

CASE STUDY: RECONSTRUCTION AND REHABILITATION OF

THE TAMILS IN SRILANKA
The twenty five year old civil war in Sri Lanka that has claimed nearly 70,000
civilian lives came to end in 2009. The United Nations estimated that over 7,000
people were killed and about 300,000 people displaced in the final phase of the
war. By early 2010, about two thirds of the displaced population had returned to
their homelands and communities and were confronted with total destruction of
the infrastructure including their homes.

The genesis of the civil war lies in the discrimination meted out to the minority
Tamil community, who during the course of the civil war, wanted complete
autonomy for Tamil- dominated areas under their control in the north and the
east of the country as part of the devolution of powers at the Provincial level.
Over the years, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which led the
demand for Tamil Eelam or independent Tamil homeland had developed extensive
military capability and had challenged the Sri Lankan government forces with
great success.

However, with the civil war over, the Sri Lankan government faced major
challenges to ensure that the conditions was conducive for more than 2,50,000
152
internally displaced people (IDP) who wished to return to their homes. The Post–Conflict Construction
and Rehabilitation
northern and eastern part of Sri Lanka require reconstruction of infrastructure (Case Studies – Local, Sub–
such as roads, hospitals, houses, churches, temples, schools, etc. National and International)

The Sri Lankan President Rajapaksha has made several assurances and
commitments and noted that ―there are still some aspects of security of the IDPs
that had to be taken care of in view of the likely presence of LTTE infiltrators
among the IDPs, who had come to the Government controlled areas. When
conditions improve, especially with regard to security, there would be no objection
to such assistance from organisations that are genuinely interested in the well
being of the IDPs and the needs of rehabilitation and reconstruction. He said that
there is a plan to resettle most of the IDPs within 180 days, under internationally
accepted norms.‖

Further, the UN Secretary General appealed to the international community to

assist Sri Lanka in its Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) jointly
launched by the Sri Lankan Government and the UN, to support the relief, shelter
and humanitarian needs of those in the IDP sites. The Sri Lankan President has
also undertaken demilitarisation, rehabilitation and re-integration of ex-
combatants into civilian life with the assistance of the UN and other international
organisations. It has also been acknowledged that reconciliation is critical for
promoting peace though it is a long drawn process. Further, having won the war,
it is important for the government to win the hearts and minds of the Sri Lankan
Tamils that would the pave the way for reconciliation and peace.

Several NGOs are engaged in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the IDP.
For instance, the North-East Rehabilitation and Development Organisation
(NERDO) is playing a key role in the rehabilitation, reconstruction and
resettlement processes and is engaged in various activities in support of the Tamil
speaking people. Similarly, the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, the largest
community based organisation in Sri Lanka has been actively engaged in
supporting people displaced by the war. In 2008, it began coordinating relief
programmes in the north and east of the country and provided services in 23 IDP
camps. It provided Sarvodaya‘s water, sanitation and medical services and over
200,000 people benefitted from their services. It provided a mobile library for
children and also offered legal services to help families obtain birth certificates
and other legal documents. The Community Health Unit took care of malnourished
children with a high-energy diet and brought them to normal health. Overall,
people benefited from the Sarvodaya‘s assistance.

Likewise there has been a call on the media to play a positive role in reconstruction
and rehabilitation of the IDP and also strengthen the ongoing reconciliation efforts.
Negative reporting should be avoided and the focus should be on development
and peace building efforts such as rebuilding, swift resettlement of the IDP and
rehabilitation of the former combatants.

The Tamil community women living in the conflict ridden areas had witnessed
violence and brutality and there have been reports of them being killed, injured,
raped, tortured, trafficked, harassed and physically and sexually assaulted. They
are now taking on the responsibility for their families‘ economic and emotional
survival, taking on new roles to enhance family income in the face of economic
hardship.
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Peace Building Check Your Progress Exercises 2
Note: i) Use of the space given below for your answer.
ii) See the end of the Unit for tips for your answer.
1) Explains the role of International Financial Institutions equipped to support
Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Re-habilitation of States? If so, how?
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LET US SUM UP
Post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation is a critical step in the longer-
term development process. Its success is based on a number of factors such as
the political will, the legitimacy of the state, support from international
organisations, financial institutions, and other non-state actors such as the civil
society, NGOs and the media. These institutions should identify the gaps and
constraints of capacity in their strategies for post-conflict reconstruction and
rehabilitation. They also need to undertake sound political analysis and
international responses should be adapted to country and regional contexts.

SOME USEFUL REFERENCES

Birgitte Sørensen, ―Women and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Issues and
Sources‖, available at http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/(http
Publications)/ 631060B93 EC1119E C1256D120043E600?OpenDocument
Caroline Bahnson, and Jozefina Cutura. , ―The Post-conflict Fund, Addressing
Challenges of Globalization: An Independent Evaluation of the World Bank‘s
Approach to Global Programs‖ The World Bank, Washington, 2005, 2004.
Chinkin, Christine, ―Post-conflict Reconstruction and Rehabilitation” in
Coomaraswamy, Radhika and Fonseka, Dilrukshi, (eds.) Peace Work: Women,
Armed Conflict and Negotiation. Women Unlimited, 2004 pp. 208-237
Ferguson, Neil, (ed.) Post-Conflict Reconstruction. Cambridge Scholars
Publishing : Newcastle upon Tyne, 2010
John J. Hamre, and Gordon R. Sullivan. Toward Postconflict Reconstruction,
The Washington Quarterly, Autumn 2002, 25: 4.
Manchanda, Rita, No women, no ‘democratic’ peace, Seminar, March 2011, http:/
/www.india-seminar.com/2011/619/619_rita_manchanda.htm (Accessed on 27.
Aug.2018)
―Progress Report: State And Peace-Building Fund, With Licus And Pcf Trust
Funds‖, Operations Policy and Country Services May 17, 2010, available at http:/
/www-
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ds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2010/05/26/ Post–Conflict Construction
and Rehabilitation
000333037_20 100526005802/Rendered/PDF/546780BR0R2010101Official0 (Case Studies – Local, Sub–
Use0Only1.pdf National and International)

Lund, Michael, ‗A Toolbox for Responding to Conflict and Building Peace‘, in

L. Reychler and T. Paffenholz., (eds.), Peacebuilding: A Field Guide, Lynne
Rienner Publishers, Boulder, Colorado, 2001.
Peter Wallensteen., Understanding Conflict Resolution: War, Peace and the Global
System, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California, 2002.
Tim Murithi, ―Towards a Symbiotic Partnership: The UN Peacebuilding
Commission and The Evolving African Union/NEPAD Post-Conflict
Reconstruction Framework‖, in Adekeye Adebajo and Helen Scanlon., (eds.), A
Dialogue of the Deaf: Essays on Africa and the United Nations, Jacana,
Johannesburg, 2006.
Junne, G, and Verkoren, W., (eds), Post conflict development: meeting new
challenges, Lynne Rienner, Boulder CO, 2005.
Hakena, HP, Ninnes, P and Jenkins, B., (eds), NGOs and Post-Conflict Recovery,
Asia Pacific Press ANU Canberra, 2006 .
Collier, P. and A. Hoeffler., ―Aid, policy and growth in post-conflict societies‖,
European Economic Review, vol. 48, 2004, pp.1125-1145.
Kamphuis, B., ‗Economic Policy for Building Peace‘, in G Junne and W Verkoren
(eds), Post-Conflict Development: Meeting new challenges, Lynne Rienner,
Boulder, 2005, pp. 185-210.
Ottaway, M, ‗Rebuilding State Institutions in Collapsed States‘, Development
and Change, vol. 32, no. 5, 2002, pp. 1001-1023.

ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercises 1

1) Your answer should include Understanding Post Conflict Reconstruction

and Re-habilitation and actors and stakeholders.

Check Your Progress Exercises 2

1) Your answer should have the following points:
a) Role of World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Africa Development
Bank.
b) A case Study: Reconstruction and Re-habilitation on the Tamils in
Srilanka.

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