ACCORD Peacebuilding Handbook

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ACCORD

PEACEBUILDING

HANDBOOK

1st Edition

April 2013


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ACCORD Peacebuilding Handbook

2

ACCORD, April 2013: First Edition

All rights reserved.

This Handbook is a product of the African Peacebuilding Coordination Programme (APCP), under

ACCORDs Peacebuilding Unit. APCP is funded by the Government of Finland.

This Handbook was co-edited by Dr Cedric de Coning and Mr Gustavo de Carvalho.

Published by: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD),

Private Bag X012, Umhlanga Rocks, 4320, South Africa. The Handbook can be found online at:

.

This Handbook draws on the cumulative experiences of several years of ACCORD engagement in

the conflict management and peacebuilding fields. Whilst external sources are referenced and

listed in a bibliography available at the back of this Handbook, content that builds on previously

published materials by ACCORD and ACCORD staff is not referenced, except when specifically

quoted. The Handbook builds particularly on the following ACCORD publications:

CIMIC in UN & African Peace Operations(2006), ACCORD, edited by Cedric de Coning

Conflict Management for Peacekeepers and Peacebuilders (2008), ACCORD, written by

Ian Henderson and Cedric de Coning

United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations / Department of Field Support

Civil Affairs Handbook(2012), a joint development by UN DPKO/DFS and ACCORD, edited by

Joanna Harvey, Cedric de Coning and Lillah Fearnley.

Language: English

ISBN: 978-0- 620-56512-7


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Note on 1s t Edition

T

his is the first edition of ACCORDs Peacebuilding Handbook. It is intended

to be an evolving platform on which to build and refine future reference

for peacebuilding work and trainings. After publishing, in early 2013, theHandbook will go through an extensive review process; it will be reviewed by local

and international peacebuilding practitioners and scholars, tested in training courses

and then refined into a second edition. All comments and suggestions about content

are welcome and will be considered for the second edition of the Handbook, to be

published in late 2013. These can be forwarded to [email protected].


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Acknowledgements

A

CCORDs Peacebuilding Handbook has been developed by the African Centre

for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), through its African

Peacebuilding Coordination Programme (APCP), with financial supportfrom the Government of Finland. The Handbook has been developed as part of an

ongoing internal lessons learned and organisational development process since the

programmes inception. The process started in September 2008, when ACCORD invited

a wide range of stakeholders to a Curriculum Development Workshop in Durban, South

Africa, to discuss the proposed Handbook, its content, and its development process.

Many people have since actively contributed to the development of the Handbook

over the years. The Handbook has been co-edited by Dr Cedric de Coning, Advisor for

ACCORDs Peacebuilding Unit, and Mr Gustavo de Carvalho, Coordinator of ACCORDs

Peacebuilding Unit. In earlier stages of this process, Ms Warigia Razia and Dr Walter

Lotze, previous Coordinators of ACCORDs Peacebuilding Unit, led the development of

the Handbook. In particular, several chapters of the Handbook are based specifically

on the PhD dissertation and related work of Dr de Coning. Many others at ACCORD

contributed to the Handbook, by writing sections and chapters, providing comments

or contributing to various supporting processes.

We wish to acknowledge the hard work that has been put into this Handbook over the

years by the whole team. Their work showed the commitment to produce a Handbook

that reflects the cumulative experience and knowledge of those that participatedin APCP initiatives, and that is sensitive to the everyday experiences of the local

communities that live through peacebuilding interventions. In particular we would like

to acknowledge the contributions of Lesley Connolly, Sacha Knox, Dr Martha Mutisi,

Abu Sherif, Joyce Muraya, Nontobeko Hadebe, Dorcas Ettang, Beatrice Nzovu, Martha

Bakwasegha-Osula, Karishma Rajoo, Kemi Ogunsanya, and Dr Pascal da Rocha for their

active contribution and support to this process.

A large number of ACCORD friends contributed with practical reflections, case studies,

and examples to the Handbook. We thank them for their contribution to this process

and we hope to continue counting on their support in the processes of strengthening

and reviewing this current edition.

Lastly, a special word of thanks to the Government of Finland, for its belief in, and

support of the development of this Handbook, the work of the Peacebuilding Unit and

ACCORD in general, and for many contributions to the ongoing process of improving

knowledge and practice of sustainable peacebuilding.


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Preface

T

here have been many important developments in the conflict resolution field

over the past twenty years. During this period several approaches towards

consolidating peace have been strengthened and increased attention has beengiven to the promotion of long-term sustainable solutions in countries coming out

of conflicts. It is in this context that peacebuilding has emerged as one of the most

significant new developments aimed at supporting the establishment of lasting peace

in post-conflict societies.

Peacebuilding initiatives target a countrys institutional and human capacities in

addressing post-conflict challenges. These involve strengthening social institutions,

processes and mechanisms as a means of preventing the resumption (or escalation)

of violent conflict and establishing the foundations for a durable and self-sustaining

peace. As can be expected from such an ambitious undertaking, a large variety of

peacebuilding tasks are conducted at different levels (grass-roots, sub-national,

national and international) and at different stages of a conflict-to-peace spectrum

(pre-conflict through to post-conflict environments). These tasks range from the

disarming of warring factions to the rebuilding or establishment of new political,

economic, security, judicial, social and civil institutions.

Over the past 20 years, ACCORD has been engaged in capacity building initiatives

that increase the individual and collective knowledge and skills of key peacebuilding

stakeholders. The aim of these initiatives has always been to help peacebuilders togain a better understanding of the environments and contexts in which they work

and the processes through which they can support local and national actors to

develop the institutions necessary to sustain their own peace processes. At all these

levels and stages a core issue is the roles and capacities of local and national actors to

lead a countrys or a communitys own peacebuilding processes. Closely linked are a

number of issues relating to the relationship between international and national-local

peacebuilders, including what their respective roles are or should be, and what kind

of support is appropriate in this context. The core theme of this Handbook is thus the

central role of local and national ownership in securing sustainable peace.

This Handbook is the cumulation of an organisational learning process that ACCORD

has been involved in since its inception. Our aim is to strengthen the capacities

for sustainable peacebuilding in Africa and beyond. The African Peacebuilding

Coordination Programme (APCP), funded by the Government of Finland, has since 2008

been an integral part of this process. It works to enhance coherence and coordination

in peacebuilding, to promote and enhance local ownership in peacebuilding processes,

and to support the design and implementation of peacebuilding policy frameworks.


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The programme has grounded its work around the peacebuilding processes of Burundi,

the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Sudan and South Sudan, and

the training materials including this Handbook and related knowledge that was

developed by the programme, has emerged through the programmes engagement

with local and national peacebuilders in these and other countries. We are thus deeply

indebted to the shared experiences and accumulated knowledge of all the people

that this programme, and ACCORD in general, had the privilege to engage with over

the years.

We hope that you will find this Handbook stimulating and meaningful and we look

forward to engaging with you in the use, and further improvement, of this Handbook

in different peacebuilding initiatives over the coming years.

We hope that you will find this Handbook stimulating and meaningful and we look

forward to engaging with you in the use, and further improvement, of this Handbook

in different peacebuilding initiatives over the coming years.

Gustavo de Carvalho

Coordinator: Peacebuilding Unit

ACCORD

Cedric de Coning

Advisor: Peacebuilding Unit

ACCORD


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How to use this Handbook 8

Part One: Understanding Peacebuilding 10

Chapter 1: Understanding Peacebuilding Concepts and Definitions 11

Chapter 2: Peacebuilding Phases and Actors 28

Chapter 3: Peacebuilding Dimensions 43

Chapter 4: Local Ownership 80

Part Two: Implementing Peacebuilding 92

Chapter 5: Understanding, Analysing and Addressing Conflict 93

Chapter 6: Coherence and Coordination 103

Chapter 7: Peacebuilding Planning 116

Conclusion to the Handbook 126

Concepts 128

Acronyms 135

Bibliography and Reading List 139

About ACCORD and the Peacebuilding Unit 149

Contents


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How to use this Handbook

T

his Handbook is intended to serve as both a training tool and a self-study field

guide for peacebuilding practitioners, and is designed to prove useful to a wide

range of peacebuilding actors, including representatives of non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs), government agencies, development partners, and

intergovernmental organisations, including the African Union, the United Nations

and sub-regional mechanisms. The Handbook is intended so that a wide-audience of

internal and external actors can read and gain knowledge from it on their own, but it

will also be used as a training aid by ACCORD in support of its peacebuilding training

courses and processes.

The Handbook is expected to give a broad- base d introduction to aspect s of

peacebuilding. Its methodology builds on ACCORDs experience of two decades

of conflict management training and policy and research experience in Africa. It is

specifically designed to meet the needs of peacebuilders elsewhere by providing a

better understanding of several different approaches to peacebuilding, including its

concepts, definitions and historical context but also practical skills that might be useful

for peacebuilding practitioners acting in different fields and arenas.

This Handbook is intended to support an ongoing learning and study. There is much in

the Handbook that will only be touched on briefly, and users will need to read further

to understand the concepts in more detail. Repeated reference will be found in the

Handbook, and it will assist a continuing development as a peacebuilding practitioner.It is suggested that the Handbook is used as a workbook writing notes and reflecting

on personal and professional experiences will increase its usefulness. There is a lot of

detailed information packed into these pages users should feel free to skip some

sections and refer back to them as appropriate.

Th is Ha ndb oo k us es an in te gr at ed ap pr oa ch to le ar ni ng .

Each chapter has been designed so it can be used independently

and provides links to other sections of the book which may be

relevant to the user. The structure has been designed such that

each section has its own objectives independently

of the Handbook, yet also adds to the general

aim of the Handbook: developing knowledge on

peacebuilding.


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ACCORD Peacebuilding Handbook as Part of an Evolving Process

This Handbook is based on the premise that in order to be relevant, peacebuilding

needs to be strongly anchored in the principles of local ownership and context

adaptability. As such, whilst this Handbooks edition was written by ACCORD staff, it

will go through an extensive piloting and reviewing process, ensuring it is reflectiveof views, expectations and needs of peacebuilding practitioners and related actors.

Comments, suggestions and criticism are very much welcomed and will be taken

into consideration in the production of further editions. These can be forwarded to

[email protected]

The Structure of the Handbook and its Learning Process

The Handbook is divided into two main parts, which will respectively cover different

aspects that are relevant for peacebuilders.

Firstly, it will focus on generating a general understanding of peacebuilding for the

reader, and on contextualising peacebuilding. By presenting principles, concepts,

ideas and dimensions around peacebuilding, the Handbook expects to provide users

an overview of what are some of the key issues related to promoting sustainable peace

in post-conflict countries, how have these evolved throughout the years, and who are

the key actors and issues involved. This section intends to show the broad aspect of

peacebuilding, and how interconnected different dimensions are from each other.

Secondly, building on the above chapters, this section addresses the practical elements

of peacebuilding, focusing on tools that can be used by practitioners. This section willfocus on more practical based chapters, looking at how to implement all the theory and

topics that part one introduces. The skills and approaches contained in this section are

generic and are based on the core principle that, in the vast majority of peacebuilding

situations, core similar challenges can be encountered.


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In this section we will explore some views relevant to the concept of

peacebuilding. First, we will begin by unpacking this concept; tracing

the historic context in which it developed and discussing some of

its emerging characteristics. Second, we will present an overview of

some of the phases, actors, dimensions and tools that are relevant to

peacebuilding. As there are many different dimensions important for

peacebuilding, this section will be presented in the most detail. Finally,

we will look at a central theme for peacebuilding through elaboration of

the concept and practice of local ownership.

Part one: Understanding Peacebuilding

UN

Photo/SophiaParis


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1.1 Introduction

The notion of peacebui lding is a comple x and continuously changing term.

Peacebuilding itself has several key characteristics, including the long-term nature of

the process, the interdependence of the actors, the multidimensional nature of the

process and its concern with the consolidation of peace. In the post-cold war era, the

idea of what peacebuilding is became an important process in the fight for sustainable

peace across the world. In this chapter, the historic context in which the peacebuilding

concept has developed is traced, and some of its emerging characteristics are

discussed.

Whilst the peacebuilding concept is now more widely used than ever, there is still a

lot of confusion as to what exactly it means in practice, and what is included in the

concept. Broadly speaking, peacebuilding seeks to help people recover from, prevent,

reduce, and transform violence. As such, the broad nature of peacebuilding often

leads to its use as a catch-all concept for many of the so called conflict management

activities. Peacebuilding involves concepts of conflict prevention, management andtransformation, all of which must be undertaken to address comprehensively conflicts

that arise in post-conflict settings, but should also aim to transform the conflict system

as a whole, preventing violent conflict from arising in the future.

At the same time, peacebuilding empowers people to foster relationships at all levels

that sustain them and their environment. It is a systematic process that facilitates the

establishment of durable peace and tries to prevent the reoccurrence of violence by

addressing the root causes and effects of conflict. Peacebuilding is the responsibility

Chapter 1:

Understanding Peacebuilding Concepts and Definitions

What will this chapter do?

This chapter will outline the different aspects of peacebuilding

and show how they are inter-linked yet have different functions.

Why is it important?

This chapter will assist readers to understand how peacebuilding

can be used in different situations.

What should you learn?

By the end of this chapter, the reader should have developed a

deeper understanding of peacebuilding and its applications.


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of many different actors, including governments, religious organisations, civil society,

traditional leaders and mechanisms, media and the private sector.

This chapter is designed to equip those working to build peace with a functional

understanding of key concepts and terms, and key approaches to peacebuilding.

As such, this chapter will focus on the definition of peacebuilding, showing that whilstit has a broad nature, it is also possible to narrow it down to an idea that is practically

viable. It will present a brief historical overview, followed by a discussion on two ways in

which peacebuilding can be determined, namely in the context of specific programmes

as well as an overall systemic approach. Finally, the chapter will present emerging

trends in the peacebuilding field.

1.2 Peacebuilding as Peace Consolidation

Although the term peacebuilding was coined by Johan Galtung in the 1970s, the

concept only became widely used as part of contemporary conflict management

vocabulary when then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali used it as one of

the key concepts of his 1992 report titled An agenda for peace: preventative diplomacy,

pea cema king and pea ce-keeping . In this report, peacebuilding was

described as:

action to identify and support structures which tend to

strengthen and solidify peace to avoid a relapse into

conflict.

Peacebuilding was explained as the counterpart of preventive

diplomacy, where preventive diplomacy was seen as action aimed

at avoiding a crisis whilst peacebuilding was aimed at preventing its

recurrence. In this report, conflict prevention and peacebuilding were thus

juxtaposed at the opposite ends of the conflict management spectrum, with preventive

diplomacy representing the first or opening stage of an intervention and peacebuilding

the last or closing stage.

It can thus be said that peacebuilding aims to consolidate and institutionalise peace

by undertaking a range of actions that go beyond merely preventing a lapse intoviolent conflict, what Galtung (1985) termed negative peace. It aims to address the

underlying root causes of conflict and to create the conditions for a just social order,

what Galtung (1985) termed positive peace. This core focus on avoiding a lapse into

violent conflict is also referred to as peace consolidation, and that is why it can be said

that the core aim of peacebuilding is peace consolidation.


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Galtungs ideas of Negative and Positive Peace

Negative peace is a situation where there is an absence of

violence and war.

Positive peace is a situation where open conflict as well asthe threat of conflict is absent; the causes of conflict have

been removed from the situation.

Source: Gautung, Johan (1985) Twenty-Five years of peace research:

ten challenges and some responses,Journal of Peace Research 22 (2).

Peacebuilding thus aims to generate a range of measures that will create

positive peace conditions, with a view to avoid a lapse, or re-lapse into

violent conflict.

Pr a c t c a lRe f l e c o n s

Impact and challenges in dealing with the

notions of positive and negative peace

Frauke de Weijer, Policy Officer Conflict, Security and Resilience

European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)

Positive peace is much more difficult to define and measure than negative peace. This

may lead to an overly strong focus on this negative definition of peace with strategies

therefore centering on managing, or at best mitigating conflict. This can therefore

lead to a concentration of resources and energy to short-term measures rather than

long-term ones. Doing a better job at measuring positive peace may rebalance this

somewhat. Theories of peacebuilding are often highly ideological and intuitive.

A more systematic challenge of the underlying assumptions can help reveal some

of these assumptions, and test them for the degree to which they are justified and

very importantly fitting that particular context.

Peacebuilding strategies are and need to be highly context specific. As important

as knowledge and experience sharing are, in particular in relation to innovativeideas, it can lead to an overreliance on best practice. The notion of best practice

goes quite strongly against the notion of context-specificity, especially if it is used

as if often is as a strategy that can thus work anywhere. This is clearly not the

case, as the wealth of critical analysis on transplanting international best practice

shows. Knowledge sharing, experience sharing, and learning must therefore lead

to localised best practice, which can at best serve as a source of inspiration for

other situations. However, in a political economy of aid where best practice is still


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widely used for benchmarking and resource allocation decisions, this is a real risk.

A more evidenced-based analysis of the success or failures of different

peacebuilding theories would facilitate learning and knowledge sharing.

1.3 Peacebuilding in Historic Context

In the post-cold war era, the focus of international conflict management has

increasingly shifted from peacekeeping, which was about maintaining the status

quo, to peacebuilding, which has to do with managing change. The nexus between

development, peace and security has become key in the development of international

conflict management strategies. From the way peacebuilding has been used in major

UN policy documents such as In Larger Freedom: Towards Security, Development

and Human Rights for All (2005) and Delivering as One (2006) we can argue thatpeacebuilding is increasingly seen as the collective framework under which the peace,

security, humanitarian, rule of law, (RoL) human rights and development dimensions

can be brought together under one common strategy at country level.

In the early 1990s the approach to international conflict management, as developed

in the context of then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghalis 1992 An agenda

for peace, was first to try to prevent violent conflict (conflict prevention). If that failed

the next step was to make peace by facilitating dialogue among the belligerent

parties (peacemaking). If a cease-fire or peace agreement was reached that included

a neutral third-party monitoring role, the UN (or a regional organisation authorised

by the Security Council) would typically deploy a peace operation to monitor the

cease-fire and to support the implementation of the peace agreement (peacekeeping).

Once the conflict had been stabilised, emergency humanitarian needs addressed and

a peace process agreed upon, the international community would shift its focus to

post-conflict reconstruction. This phase was focused on rebuilding and reconciliation

(peacebuilding) with the aim of addressing the root causes of the violent conflict to

prevent it from reoccurring.

As a result of a series of peacekeeping failures and challenges in the 1990s, especiallythe experiences in Somalia, Rwanda and Srebrenica, the understanding of international

conflict management has become more nuanced. It is now recognised that the

different elements of the international response introduced in An agenda for peace

do not necessarily follow on from one another neatly in a linear or chronological

progression as An agenda for peace suggested.


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In practice conflict prevention, peacemaking,

peacekeeping and peacebuilding seem to overlap; they

are interlinked, mutually support each other and often

take place simultaneously.

The emergence of peacebuilding should thus be understood

in the context of an increasingly complex and interdependent

international conflict management system. During the cold war

period, the UN, regional organisations and independent agencies

were called upon to undertake humanitarian relief, peacemaking

and peacekeeping actions at a scale usually manageable within the scope of the

independent capabilities of these organisations, or at a level that could be managed

with limited cooperative arrangements.

In the post-cold war era, the scale and complexity of the conflict managementprogrammes designed to deal with crises faced by the international community were

of a different magnitude. As a result, it was often the case that no single actor being

that a government, international organisation or agency, could manage them on

their own. These organisations were ill prepared to deal with the complexity of the

challenges posed by the emerging post-conflict reconstruction challenges of the post-

cold war era. Furthermore, as a result of the international communitys experiences in

El Salvador, Cambodia, Namibia, Nicaragua, and Mozambique in the late 1980s and

early 1990s, a major shift in focus and approach became necessary.

The question was no longer how a situat ion can be stabilised to maint ain the

precarious cold war balance. Instead the focus shifted to a new agenda: how could

the collective international, regional, national and local community better facilitate

and support the implementation of comprehensive peace agreements in countries

emerging from violent conflict and civil war? In the context of these developments,

peacebuilding was increasingly seen as the collective framework under which the

political, security, rule of law, governance, human rights and development dimensions

of these international interventions could be brought together under one common

strategic framework at a country level.

As a result of thes e developments peacebuilding

emerged as a new form of peace intervention; one aimed

at assisting societies emerging out of conflict to manage

their peace processes. However, beyond this broad notion,

the concept was highly contested.


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1.4 Approaches to Peacebuilding

We can identify several approaches in which the understanding of peacebuilding can

be operationalised. The next sub-sections will present two different perspectives and

approaches which are often guides for different peacebuilding approaches, namely

both programmatic peacebuilding and systemic peacebuilding.

Programmatic peacebuilding

Programmatic peacebuilding refers to specific activities aimed at addressing urgent

or imminent risks to a peace process. The following bullets summarise some of the key

aspects of programmatic peacebuilding:

As perspectives shifted, peacebuilding became more comprehensive to incorporate broader dimensions of

society thus increasing its ability to aid more people in the aected societies

UNPhoto/MartinePerret


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Risks refers to an assessment that a certain situation or condition may contribute

to the increased likelihood of lapse or relapses into violent conflict;

It focuses on conflict factors that may potentially impact negatively on the

peace process, and that can be addressed through specific targeted programme

responses;

This can also be thought of as preventative peacebuilding or instrumental

peacebuilding in that it refers to specific programming that is meant to prevent a

lapse or relapse into conflict; and

The time-frame for programmatic peacebuilding is necessarily short- to medium-

term, because it is focussed on countering immediate or imminent threats to the

peace process.

Some donors now have funds specifically earmarked for peacebuilding, and those

funds would most likely be used to fund specific programmes in this category. For

instance, the activities supported by the UN Peacebuilding Fund typically also fall in

this category and are aimed at addressing specific peace consolidation needs that have

either remained unfunded, or under-funded, or which have newly emerged.

Programmatic peacebuilding initiatives

Examples of such peacebuilding programmes include conflict resolution

training and capacity building, the development of institutional

capabilities needed for conflict prevention (such as

the Peace Commission in Southern Sudan or the

Ituri Pacification Commission in the DRC), support

for civil society or womens groups to participate

in peacemaking initiatives, and support for

national reconciliation initiatives, including aspects of

transitional justice.

Some donors also include support for specific programme activities that form part

of, or support, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), rule of law andSecurity Sector Reform (SSR) in this peacebuilding category. However, in Sierra Leone,

Burundi and Liberia, it has been noted that some of the activities earmarked in this

category may appear to be very similar to traditional development categories, such

as youth employment, infrastructure development and basic social services. This is

because the frustrations with the lack of progress in these areas have become so critical

in some of these communities that they become grievances which can be a source of a

potential relapse into violent conflict, and urgent action is required to show that some

of these needs are being met. This potential relapse links to the notion of structural


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violence and it is vital to address the structural root causes of violence and grievances

to truly prevent future outbreaks of conflict.

Some donors do not allocate funds specifically for peacebuilding, but prefer to

encourage a conflict sensitive approach to development when working in conflict-

affected countries. Conflict-sensitive development programmes have a developmentalobjective i.e. poverty reduction but are sensitive to the conflict environment within

which they operate, in that specific steps are taken in the design and management of

the programme to avoid aggravating the situation. In some cases, the design of the

programme can also be intended to support conflict prevention efforts proactively,

and, in the latter case, such activities are almost indistinguishable

from targeted peacebuilding.

An important pre-requisite for a programmatic

peacebuilding programme to be effective, is an

understanding of the risks to the peace process, and the

conflict factors that characterise the conflict system.

Forms of risk analysis are recommended to be undertaken as part

of the process leading up to the design of appropriate targeted

peacebuilding programmes. That analysis is meant to assist the

peacebuilding agent, and key stakeholders to work towards a common understanding

of what the conflict factors in a particular context are from the earliest planning

stages and continuously throughout the life-cycle of the peacebuilding system.

Funding for, and capacity- building towards, effective participation in an appropriateanalysis approach could also be regarded as a programmatic peacebuilding activity,

because it makes the peacebuilding activities context-specific and therefore more

likely to succeed.

Systemic peacebuilding

In contrast to programmatic peacebuilding, systemic

peacebuilding emerges out of the total combined effort of

the activities undertaken under the various peacebuilding

dimensions, and thus exists in the form of a system-wide orholistic process.

This overall effort may sometimes be anchored in a strategy or vision,

for example, an integrated strategic framework such as the Lift Liberia

Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) or the Afghan Compact in Afghanistan.

There may be specif ic processes and struc tures that facilitate the development,

management and monitoring of such peacebuilding frameworks and these may be

purposely funded.


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In general, however, support for systemic peacebuilding occurs in a highly fragmented

manner in that the various agents that participate in, and contributes to, the overall

process, each independently design, manage, monitor and evaluate and secure funding

for their own programmes. These activities are not necessarily identified, or funded, as

peacebuilding activities at the programme level, although some of the programmes

discussed in the previous section on programmatic peacebuilding can be included here.

Instead, they are considered and funded as peacekeeping, development, human rights,

job creation, or rule of law activities. It is when these activities are considered together

over time, in the context of their combined and cumulative peace consolidation effect,

which their systemic peacebuilding identity emerges.

A strategic or integrated framework, that is aimed at an overall strategic vision for the

systemic peacebuilding process, such as a conflict-sensitive poverty reduction strategy

(PRS), maps out the overall priorities and objectives of the systemic peacebuilding

strategy for a particular country. Examples include the Results Based TransitionalFramework (RFTF), interim Integrated Regional Support Programme (IRSP) and Regional

Strategy Paper (RSP) in Liberia, the Peace Consolidation Strategy and the Poverty

Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in Sierra Leone, and the Integrated Peacebuilding

Frameworks in Burundi and the Central African Republic. Individual programmes

become part of the systemic peacebuilding process when they contribute to, and are

considered as part of the overall effort directed towards achieving the objectives set

out in the strategic vision.

In some cases, the individual agencies may be conscious of their role in the overall

framework, but in many cases this link is drawn only at the systemic level, for instance in

strategic evaluations or in annual PRS reports. This does not imply that the connections

are artificial, but rather that those at the programme level are not always aware

of the degree to which their individual activities contribute to an overall systemic

peacebuilding framework.

There is disagreement over the extent to which a development activity such as a

programme aimed at poverty reduction or infrastructure development (for example,

the construction of a road) can be regarded as having a peace consolidation effect, and

thus be considered part of a peacebuilding system. The confusion lies in perspectiveand context. An individual donor or implementing agent may not think of, or categorise

the funding of an activity (for example, the construction of a road), as peacebuilding,

from a programme level or budget-line perspective. However, from a systemic

perspective for instance, in the context of an integrated peacebuilding framework

and sticking with the example, the construction of roads may be regarded as an

important element of a larger systemic peacebuilding framework. It may perhaps create

work for ex-combatants, it may stimulate local economies and improve livelihoods by


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providing access to markets, it may stimulate local contractor capacity, it may open

up outlying areas previously marginalised because of their inaccessibility, and assist in

the extension of the authority of the state into those territories, and it may contribute

to overall economic growth, all of which are important aspects of an environment

conducive to a successful peace process and preventing a relapse into conflict.

Any particular system is framed by the observer, and it thus requires an overall systems

perspective to recognise that a specific programme activity, such as the road building

project in this example, has a positive feedback effect for peace consolidation, and is

thus regarded as being part of the peacebuilding system. It is not necessary for the

agent to be aware that it is part of a particular system, for it to contribute to the overall

system effect.

CHARACTERISTICS PROGRAMMATIC

PEACEBUILDING

SYSTEMATIC

PEACEBUILDING

Time frame Short or medium term Long term

Funding Funding is generallyproject specific, and so

each programme will be

individually funded.

Often fragmented from

various funders.

Approach Problem specific Holistic approach

Focus Immediate threats Conflict as a whole: targeted

through a broad strategy.

When various activities, undertaken by various stakeholders, are considered together, in the context of their

peace consolidation eect, a systemic peacebuilding identity emerges.

UNPhoto/OlivierChassot


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1.5 Emerging Characteristics

Whilst there is no one common definition, approach or model for peacebuilding that

is yet widely accepted, some common characteristics that have emerged over the last

decade and a half of peacebuilding practice can start to be identified.

Characteristics of Peacebuilding

Multi-Dimensional

Inter-dependanceof actors

Long-Termprocess withshort-termrealities

Peaceconsolidation

Emerging

Characteristics

PeaceAgreement

MultiplePeacebuildingInstruments

Peacebuilding is primarily concerned with peace consolidation

The first characteristic is that peacebuilding is primarily concerned with securing or

consolidating peace. It is concerned with preventing a lapse, or relapse, into violent

conflict. Peacebuilding is aimed at consolidating peace by addressing those conflict

factors that may, in the short to medium term, threaten a lapse or relapse into

conflict as well as addressing root causes of conflicts, that may threaten the peace in

the long term.

Sierra leone peacebuilding initiatives

After the civil war ended in Sierra Leone, the

government made commitments to peacebuilding

commitments which involved addressing the

following aspects: consolidation of democracy and

good governance; justice and security sector reform;

youth employment and empowerment; capacity-building; energy


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sector development and sub-regional peacekeeping (involving presidential and

ministerial summits for the Manu River Regions leaders).

This is distinct from the governments development commitments, which involve

development of infrastructure, productive sectors and human development. Whilst

this agenda of development will have positive effects on Sierra Leones stability and

peace, it is distinct from the peacebuilding agenda in that the latter is primarily

concerned with peace consolidation and long-term development in the country.

Source: United Nations Peacebuilding Commission. (2008) Progress report on the implementation of

the Sierra Leone Peacebuilding Cooperation Framework. PBC/3/SLE/3

Peacebuilding is multi-dimensional

The second characteristic is that peacebuilding is a multi-dimensional or system-wide

undertaking that spans several dimensions. There are different models or approaches,

but most range from differentiating between three core dimensions to the more

elaborate approaches listing six to eight different dimensions. The UN Secretary-

General Report S/2001/394 No Exit without Strategy(2001), argues that peacebuilding

should be understood as fostering the capacity to resolve future conflicts by:

Consolidating security,

Strengthening political institutions and

Promoting economic and social reconstruction.

Other UN policy documents, for instance the Secretary-Generals Note on the

Integrated Approach (2006), prefer a more elaborate list that includes: political,

development, humanitarian, human rights, rule of law, social reconciliation and security

dimensions. The AUs Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development Framework

(2006) comprises six similar constitutive elements, but adds gender as a self-standing

dimension.

Humanitarian assistance should be highlighted as one dimension that is treated

differently in the various models. A number of peacebuilding models such as the UNs

Integrated Approach and NEPADs Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy Framework forAfrica (2004 include humanitarian dimensions. However, some in the humanitarian

community argue that humanitarian assistance should not be seen as being part

of peacebuilding, because it needs to be recognised as independent, neutral and

impartial. In other words, whilst peacebuilding is inherently political, humanitarian

assistance is at pains to remain above the politics of the day. Some models, including

the UNs integrated approach, nevertheless include humanitarian assistance within

their peacebuilding framework, because they argue that the humanitarian dimension

needs to be factored into the overall peacebuilding planning and coordination


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mechanisms. However, they explicitly recognise that the humanitarian dimension

has a special status and that it needs to be treated as an independent, but parallel,

peacebuilding dimension.

Five dimensions of peacebuilding system

Security and

Rule of Law

Providing a Safe and Secure Environment

Protection of Civilians

Mine Action

Security Sector Reform

Disarmament and Demobilisation

Police, Corrections and Judicial Reform (Rule of Law)

Political and

Governance

Support the Peace Process and Oversee the Political Transition

Political Participation, National Dialogue and Reconciliation

Electoral Capacity Building and Oversight (Observation)

State and Government Institutions, Public Administration and

Civil Service Capacity Building (Governance)

Extend State Authority Throughout the Territory

Conflict Management Capacity

Socio-economic

Recovery

Physical Infrastructure: Roads, Ports, Airports; Electricity;

Telecommunications

Social Services: Health, Education, Social Welfare, Population

Registration

Stimulate and Facilitate Economic Growth and Employment

Strengthen Civil Society

Human Rights Human Rights Education, Advocacy and Monitoring

Humanitarian

Assistance

Emergency and Early Recovery Services in the areas of Food,

Water & Sanitation, Shelter, Health, Protection and Returns of

Refugees/ internally displaced peoples (IDPs)

The interdependence of peacebuilding actors

The emergence of peacebuilding should be understood in the context of an increasingly

complex and interdependent conflict management system. One of its defining


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characteristics is the large number of diverse international and local actors that

are engaged in any particular peacebuilding systems, including states, multilateral

institutions, NGOs, local communities and corporations.

The work of these actors spans all dimensions of life: political, security, development,

governance, economics and socio-cultural. In each specific case the full spectrum ofnational actors including government, political parties, militias, traditional leaders, civil

society, and others are engaged in the peacebuilding process. The relationships and

links between these varied internal actors, between the many different external actors,

and between the internal and external actors, generate the structure, hierarchy and self-

organisation that characterise the complexity of peacebuilding systems.

There is a continual tension between the independence and interdependence of these

peacebuilding actors. The various peacebuilding actors exist as independent agents

with their own mandates, programmes and resources, yet they are interdependent on

each other to achieve their respective objectives, and that of the overall peacebuilding

undertaking. Most peacebuilding related programmes only make sense as part of a

larger system of related programmes.

Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes

Disarmament and demobilisation programmes rely on the assumption that

others will provide a series of reintegration programmes, and they all rely on

the assumption that there are other programmes or initiatives in place that

will create security, improve opportunities for education and healthcare,

and create employment for ex-combatants or alternative opportunities

for sustainable livelihoods. Such a network of programmes exist

both as independent programmes with their own sources of

funding and separate implementing arrangements, and as

a system of interdependent programmes whose combined

output produce an outcome that their individual efforts could

not have achieved independently.

Peacebuilding is a long-term process, but it is driven by short-term

realities

The fourth aspect relates to the perspective of time. There seems to be broad

agreement around two time-related issues. The first is recognition, at least at

the policy level, that post-conflict peacebuilding is a long-term process, and that

a longer and more sustained international commitment is necessary than was

understood a decade ago. The acceptance that a longer-term time frame was

necessary for post-conflict peacebuilding was agreed on at the World Summit in


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2005 and resulted in the establishment of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC).

The core aim of the PBC was to ensure that the international community in general

and the UN in particular, remains engaged in countries in the post-conflict peace-

building stage.

This was regarded as necessary because the UN Security Council s attention tends tobe focused on those crises where the UN has a direct stake, usually in the form of a

UN peacekeeping operation. When such operations come to an end, the post-conflict

countries in question tend to move off the Security Council agenda. Failures to sustain

international engagement in countries like Haiti, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s

was seen as an important factor in the serial-relapse into violent conflict experienced

in these countries a decade later.

The international community now seems to recognise a causal link between sustained

international attention and longer-lasting peace processes. However, there is still a

large gap between the time-period that the UN, World Bank and international donors

seem willing to plan and commit to, which rarely exceeds one to three years, and the

time it takes for these transformative processes to take hold, which seems to take at

least two to three decades.

Liberia and Sierra Leones post-conflict peacebuilding time-frames

States such as Sierra Leone and Liberia have been fluctuating between war

and peace, further decreasing the chances of ceasefire and affecting the

local population. The short-lived periods of relative peace have usually been

established after foreign aid and international experts have been allocated to

the regions. The concerted efforts of the local governments, NGOs, and various

international actors achieve relatively easy the [sic] short-term goals of political

and economic stability in the country. However, once the foreign financial

aid and international assistance is gradually reduced, the states fail to sustain

the peace due to the lack of local human resources that are able to continue

the already initiated policies. The poor social

development in these areas affects the long-termgoals of peacebuilding, thus exposing the country to

a risk of conflict reoccurrence.

Source: Filipov, F (2006) Post-conflict Peacebuilding: Strategies

and Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina, El Salvador and

Sierra Leone. Available: .


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The second time related characteristic is the recognition that although post-conflict

peacebuilding requires a long-term commitment, there is also a need for immediate

and short-term gains to solidify the peace, build confidence in the peace process and

stimulate a vision of a better future. This has resulted in practices such as the now

standard inclusion of funds for quick impact projects in UN peacekeeping budgets,

and an acceptance that some aspects of DDR, RoL and SSR should be funded out of

the assessed contributions to the UN peacekeeping operations budget. This is an area

that still leaves room for significant debate, and the peacekeeping-peacebuilding

nexus discussion in the UN system raises the question as to where the limits should

be drawn when it comes to the use of the assessed contribution budget, and how UN

peacekeeping can, in post-conflict situations, best be used as early-peacebuilders.

Peace agreements and its impact on peacebuilding and statebuilding

A central issue relates on how to further explore the fact that a large number of peace

agreement end up falling apart, allowing countries to return to conflict. One issue

refers particularly to the fact that many, directly or indirectly, see peace agreements as

an opportunity for disengagement, as it can be seen by partners and the international

community as a potential milestone for departure. Several examples and cases can be

highlighted, including cases of South Sudan, Rwanda, Liberia, the DRC, Burundi and

others.

In order for peacebuilding to be successful, there is a strong need to understand local

contexts and to develop strategies that address root causes of conflict. It is important

to highlight that peace agreements are the starting point for the development of

longer-term solutions for a country. In this context, where conflicts end through

reaching a negotiated settlement, there is a potential for longer-term impact that

particular compromises that were made by the parties in relation to the sustainability

of peace processes.

Existence of multiple peacebuilding and statebuilding instruments

Post-conflict countries are frequently engaged in the development of several

frameworks and initiatives to aim to deal with peacebuilding and statebuilding

challenges. Some of these initiatives are nationally led, others are internationally led.

Internationally, many examples and references can be made, including for instance

those happening at the at the AU level and its Post conflict reconstruction and

development framework; the UN larger peacebuilding framework, including through

the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the UN Development Programme

(UNDP) and many others; the work and practice of the World Bank; the development

of the New Deal and the g7+; amongst others. Some of those instruments will be

further explained further in this Handbook. Nationally, in each peacebuilding context


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and country several different initiatives can be referenced as instruments utilised to

address peacebuilding related issues. Those include Peacebuilding Strategies, Poverty

Reduction mechanisms, peacebuilding and development compact, amongst many

others national frameworks.

With the developments of many instruments that aim to structure and supportpeacebuilding processes, there is certainly a stronger space for better convergence

between many of these platforms and frameworks. The frequent lack of convergence

between processes creates, to a large extent, sentiments of confusion between local

actors and international actors, and challenges on identifying priorities of engagement

and action. This confusing process leads to dangerous risks. For instance, in this

approach many actors end up engaging in processes due to the funding potential,

rather than the belief of the relevance of the process.

A better coherence between policies and frameworks is required both at the national

and international levels. Nationally, the design of frameworks that are complementary

to each other would benefit national, local and international actors opportunities

to constructively engage in peacebuilding processes. Internationally, actors could

certainly provide better coordination of how policies can better channel responses

towards peacebuilding.

1.6 Conclusion

This chapter has explained that there are two distinct ways in which peacebuilding

tends to be approached. Some see peacebuilding in the context of specific programmes

that aim to contribute to peace consolidation, whilst others see peacebuilding as an

overall or system-wide effort, i.e. from a holistic perspective. The first approach is

focussed on what can be done, whilst the second is focussed on understanding how

and why peacebuilding works the way it does. These two approaches are related: for

programmatic peacebuilding to be meaningful and sustainable, it needs to be part of

a peacebuilding system that is actively pursuing a strategic direction. This chapter has

also looked at a number of emerging characteristics that taken together may assist

with understanding the peacebuilding concept better. Characteristics such as peace

consolidation; the multi-dimensional nature of peacebuilding; the interdependence of

peacebuilding actors; the longer-term vs. shorter-term approaches to peacebuilding;

the existence of multiple frameworks for peacebuilding, the linkage with the

development of peace agreements; all have been discussed.


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Chapter 2:

Peacebuilding Phases and Actors

What will this chapter do?

This chapter outlines the three phases of peacebuilding and therole of both internal and external actors.

Why is it important?

The value of this chapter is to provide a deeper understanding of

the phases of peacebuilding as well as of the actors involved.

What should you learn?

By the end of this chapter, the reader should have a deeper

understanding of peacebuilding and the actors involved in

the process.

2.1 Introduction

The first chapter of this Handbook mentions several emerging charac teristics of

peacebuilding. In this chapter we will elaborate further on two of them. The first relates

to time, in other words the phases that peacebuilding processes go through in the

transition from violent conflict to sustainable peace. The second relates to the large

and diverse number of actors that together constitute peacebuilding systems. These

actors and the very different actions they take together build momentum towards

peace, provided that their support is coherent with the needs of the process.

2.2 Peacebuilding Phases

Peacebuilding is situated in the time-period between the cessation of violent conflict

and the return to a normal development process. It is possible to identify three phases

that may be generally applicable to most peacebuilding processes: the stabilisation

phase, the transitional phase and the consolidation phase. This process may take

decades, and it is helpful to break it down into phases so that the different phases of

peacebuilding can be better understood, planned and managed, based on the distinct

priorities and dynamics of each phase.

However, these phases should not be understood as clear chronological stages that

follow on each other with identifiable boundaries where the one step starts and the

other step stops. They are more like oceans that flow into each other, there are parts

that are clearly identifiable as belonging in one of these phases, but there are also

parts that are greatly influenced by the transition between phases. They thus overlap

and flow into each other, and it is very difficult to identify clearly where one phase ends

and another begins.


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The political milestones presented in this chapter to describe the three phases are more

clearly identifiable in situations where peacebuilding follows on severe disruptions of

the state. This does not mean that it is not applicable to situations where a government

has remained in control of part of the country affected by conflict, for instance in

Sudan, but the nuance needs to be appreciated when considering how these phases

should be presented in such conditions.

Stabilisation phase

The stabilisation phase is the period that either precedes, or follows immediately after,

the formal ending of hostilities, and typically focuses on:

establishing a safe and secure environment;

responding to the consequences of the conflict through emergency relief

operations;

introducing political stability in the form of a credible peace process.

Pr a c t c a lRe f l e c t o s

Peacebuilding as a long-term process

Cedric de Coning, Peacebuilding Advisor, ACCORD

I think most international peacebuilders underestimate

the amount of time (duration) that is necessary for socialtransformation to take hold, i.e. to become sustainable.

Change can be something that disturbs a social system, and then it recovers to

more or less the way it functioned before, or change can be transformative. For

change to be transformative it requires that societies process, adapt and establish

new patterns of behaviour. It takes time for any social system to develop a new

collective understanding of its own situation, and for such common knowledge

to be processed into new, agreed-upon norms and values. For peacebuilding to

be sustainable, it would need to invest in processes that are slow-maturing. It

thus requires long-term engagement, and processes that allow societies the timeand space they need for their internal, home-grown self-organising processes to

emerge and to mature.

Unfortunately, most international peacebuilding institutions do not have the

patience to engage is such long-term and slow-maturing processes. They are driven

by results and are under pressure to constantly demonstrate the effects they have

been able to generate. This results in unrealistic planning, and programming that

is driven by supply side pressure rather than local needs and tempo, as the wealth

of critical analysis on transplanting international best practice shows. Knowledge

sharing, experience sharing, and learning must therefore lead to localised


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In some cases, for instance the AU-UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) or the AU

Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), a peacekeeping mission may have been deployed prior

to a cease-fire or peace agreement in order to protect civilians and secure humanitarian

assistance, whilst a political process seeks an end to the conflict. In others, for instance

the UN missions in Liberia (UNMIL) and Burundi (ONUB), peace operations have been

deployed to assist with the implementation of a peace agreement, but, even in these

cases, the initial phase of the mission is focused on stabilising the situation.

As this is the f irst phase, it is also the start-up phase of the peacebuilding intervention,

and it is often accompanied by the deployment of a peacekeeping operation. In this

initial period the immediate focus is on security, humanitarian relief and political

transition, and this first stage of the stabilisation phase can be referred to as the

emergency stage. A focus of this start-up phase is devoted to getting the resources in

place that are necessary for the next phase of the intervention. In most cases the initial

planning would have been limited to the emergency response, and more planning isnow being done for the next phase of the international response. Most agencies and

NGOs are engaged in undertaking assessments, designing programmes and mobilising

resources. Those NGOs and agencies that are already on the ground and engaged in

the humanitarian response start to plan for shifting their focus from the emergency

phase to the recovery and rehabilitation phases. The peacekeeping mission is focussed

on getting people and resources in place for the next phase of its work.

The duration of this phase may be as short a one year, for example in Sierra Leone,

Liberia and Burundi, or it may drag on in certain parts of a country for several years. For

instance, the eastern part of the DRC in general, and north and south Kivu in particular,

have remained partly in the stabilisation phase for more than a decade after the peace

process started. In Sudan a similar situation seems to have developed in the disputed

border region between the north and the south.

The primary focus of the stabilisation phase is thus

ensuring physical security, addressing immediate

humanitarian needs and putting in place the first steps

necessary to signal the start of the implementation

of the peace agreement and the process of politicaltransition.

Intensive diplomatic activity may be typically witnessed in

both the peace and security domain, and in the development

and reconstruction domain, most probably manifesting in the

form of a follow-on peacebuilding-orientated UN Security Council resolution, and an

international donor conference, that is aimed at mobilising the resources necessary for

the transition phase.


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The stabilisation phase is, by its nature, largely determined by the external players.

However, once the situation has been sufficiently stabilised the attention turns to the

process of handing the initiative back to local actors. Naturally, the political process

needs to be agreed to, and is determined by the local context, but very often external

actors play an important role in mediating and facilitating such peace agreements. If a

peacekeeping mission is required to guarantee or impose security, it naturally will have

a significant impact on the local conflict dynamics.

Transitional phase

The transitional phase often starts with the selection of a transition government,

followed by some form of election or legitimate traditional process to elect a

transitional government or some other institutions responsible for developing

a constitution and other administrative and political functions. The transitional

stage ends with hosting of elections, and then is able to run according to the rules

established in the transitional phase, including the constitution and the established

elected government. The transition being referred to is thus that from an interim to an

elected, and thus legitimately sovereign, local political process.

The Interim Governing Council of Iraq or the Government of South Sudan prior to

independence in 2011 are good examples of such initial interim authorities, that were

replaced after a period of transition, with elected governments. Because of their limitedcredibility such interim governing bodies typically have restricted powers and they

are dependent on the physical security and political legitimacy of the international

intervention and the credibility and legitimacy of the internal political process that

has generated the interim authority. It is thus also a transition from partial to full

sovereignty.

The length of this phase is determined by the time it takes to make the necessary

arrangements for a more legitimate process to take place to elect the first

Stabilisation phase in East Timor and South Sudan

For instance, in East Timor and South Sudan where new states have been formed,

new constitutions had to be written and new institutions had to be established. In

other cases, where some form of institutions existed prior to the violent conflict,

for instance in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the DRC, the focus is on the reform

and further development of these institutions. In some cases,most typically in the case of security institutions, these

institutions may have been strongly associated with one

party to the conflict, and they thus have to be transformed

so that they serve society as a whole.


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post-conflict government, but it typically lasts between two and four years.

A lot depends on how intensive the process has to be.

Whilst the overall focus is on the political transition,

many other aspects of the overall peacebuilding campaign

will start to be implemented in this phase, with anemphasis on DDR process, the return of refugees and IDPs,

the rehabilitation of infrastructure, and the development

of the institutions of government and civil society.

During the transitional stage the initial appointed interim

government is typically followed by some form of more legitimate

temporary government, with a mandate to govern for a limited period of time whilst

a new constitution is being developed, and prior to the first post-conflict national

elections. This may typically include some form of interim elections, for instance for

a constituent assembly, or some formal traditional system of represented selection,

that results in the formation of a constituent assembly and/or parliaments where a new

constitution may be drafted, and where other transitional legislation, such as electoral

laws may be passed.

The transitional stage typically ends with an election, run according to the new

constitution, after which full sovereignty and legitimacy is restored to the state. Then

a new government is elected which, for the first time since the conflict ended, and

in many cases for years before and during the conflict, can be said to represent the

legitimate voice of society as a whole.

Consolidation phase

The consolidation phase is aimed at supporting the newly elected

government and civil society with a broad range of

programmes aimed at fostering reconciliation, boosting

socio-economic recovery and supporting the ongoing

processes of change and development. Consolidation

refers to the consolidation of the peace process and

the newly implemented constitution and/or other agreed

aspects of the peace process.

The consolidation phase also represents a change in the posture of the

international engagement in two important ways. First, during the

stabilisation and transitional phases, the external actors had to be seen

to be politically impartial, but once all the parties have agreed to a new constitution

or a comprehensive political process, the role of the international actors changes in

that they now become responsible for consolidating the implementation of this new

agreed process. This does not mean that they are no longer impartial when it comes


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to local politics, but they are now firmly in support of the newly agreed political order.

In some cases, for instance in the DRC, Somalia and Afghanistan, this means that the

international political and security actors may have to support the new government

to fight against insurgencies that aim to undermine the new peace process. This may

be misunderstood as international support for the government of the day, as opposed

to international support for the newly instituted constitutional order or new peace

process.

The second way in which the consolidation phase represents a change in the posture

of the international engagement is that there is now an elected government in place

which legitimately speaks on behalf of the society. Whilst local needs and local context

needed to be the driving forces behind the peacebuilding process from the beginning,

the consolidation phase now represents the official point at which a legitimate national

government can take full local control and ownership of the peace process and the

future of the society and people it represents. The consolidation phase thus alsorepresents a formal shift in responsibility to the national government, and the point at

which it should formally take over the lead role in the coordination of the international

peacebuilding effort.

This shift in local ownership and sovereign legitimac y is most relevant for those

societies that have experienced a complete breakdown of state order, such as those

in Liberia or Sierra Leone, or those where a new state has been formed, such as in East

Timor and South Sudan. In other cases where the sovereign governance of the state

was never interrupted, such as in Sudan and Burundi, this shift is more nuanced, in that

the government would have officially retained its lead role throughout the process.

However, the international community, whilst recognising its sovereignty, would

have dealt with these governments as a party to the conflict, but in the consolidation

phase, they will now be dealt with as a partner in the peace process. In Burundi and

Sierra Leone there have been peaceful hand-overs of power between the ruling

and opposition parties. In these cases, the distinction between the state and the

government of the day has thus been more clearly demonstrated than in the other

cases cited.

The peacebuilding work in this phase covers all aspects of a societ y in transition,

and thus all the dimensions, including SSR, rule of law, governance, socio-economic

recovery and development, human rights and reconciliation, and others.

The transition from the peacebuilding process to a normal development process

is gradual and it will typically be very difficult to pinpoint the exact period when

such a transition occurred. The consolidation phase, and with it the peacebuilding

process, can be said to have come to an end when a society is no longer in danger

of lapsing into violent conflict, and its development is thus no longer determined


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by a peace consolidation imperative. This is why this post-peacebuilding phase is

referred to as normal development, in other words a phase where the development

of the country is not determined by preventing a return to violent conflict, but rather

traditional development concerns such as the fight against poverty,

developmental capacity, etc.

The duration of this phase can last anything from a

decade to several decades, depending on how peace

consolidation is measured.

Typically, it can be said that a peace process has been consolidated

when there have been two or three post-conflict elections without a

relapse into violent conflict. However, as an example, both the DRC

and Liberia held their second post-conflict elections in 2011, and both were contested

and resulted in some violent clashes and loss of life, although,

in both cases, thepeace process avoided relapsing into violent conflict and remained overall stable, but

showed continuous signs of fragility. As discussed in Chapter 1, what is clear is that it

takes several generations, and thus several decades for a society to truly transform its

identity, and whilst it is not necessary for this entire period to be seen as peacebuilding,

it is important for all the stakeholders to recognise that this is a long-term process.

Peace processes that are truly transformational, and which address the root causes of

conflict will usher in decades of change and uncertainty, and this will be characterised

by political strife between those who want faster and more radical change and those

who want slower and more stable change.

South Africas consolidation phase

Perhaps South Africa is a good example, as it is soon reaching the end of its second

decade since the end of apartheid in 1994, and it has gone through four elections.

The peace process in South Africa has been consolidated in the sense that there

is almost no risk of a lapse into violent conflict, but it is also a society that is still

experiencing a high level of political and socio-economic transformation, and

thus uncertainty. In South Africa political racial inequality was transformed

in a relatively short period of time, but the underlying socio-

economic inequalities between races and classes have been

much more resistant to change and will require many more

decades and generations to change significantly enough tosay that the legacy of apartheid has been eroded.


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Peacebuilding, is thus about peace consolidation in the

sense that it is focused on avoiding a lapse into violent

conflict, but this should not be confused with political

stability and socio-economic certainty.

On the contrary, all stakeholders engaged in peacebuilding should

know that they are unleashing change dynamics that will play

out over several generations and many decades, and that the role

of peacebuilding is to facilitate these processes of change whilst

avoiding a lapse into violent conflict.

2.3 Peacebuilding Actors

When considering the range of actors engaged in peacebuilding, a distinction

between internal and external actors can be made. Internal refers to those actors

that are indigenous to the conflict system. For example, in South Sudan, the internal

actors are all of the South Sudanese actors, the political parties and other political

actors, government institutions, civil society, the private sector, traditional leaders,

etc. External refers to those actors that are engaged in a given conflict system, butwhich are outside or international actors, in other words, they are neighbouring states,

they are international organisations like the UN, or regional organisations like the AU,

international NGOs, donor countries or countries that have commercial interests, the

international private sector, etc.

The first or macro-level distinction is thus between actors that are local and those

that are international. International actors come and go, and many are professional

peacebuilders, in other words, they do peacebuilding for a living wherever it is needed.

Need for prioritisation and sequencing

Peacebuilding is a field that covers a wide variety

of tasks and dimensions, and as such, a core issue in

peacebuilding relates to how to prioritise and order

responses to post-conflict challenges. Countries

emerging from conflict are frequently faced with a wide

variety of possible priorities and thus, it is important to identify

what aspect should be addressed first in terms of its ability to also allow for

other priorities to be addressed. A first step in post-conflict countries relates to

the need for a clear definition of priorities in relation to peacebuilding processes,

the impacts these will have on overall sustainability, and the legitimacy of these

processes for local actors.


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Internal actors, on the other hand, have lived through the conflict and their future will

be shaped by its legacy and the transformative power of the peace process. They have

become peacebuilders by necessity. The internal actors own the space and should own

the process, because they will suffer, or benefit from, its consequences. Local actors

also have the greatest cultural, regional and national understanding, placing them

in the best strategic position to develop a relevant and appropriate peacebuilding

process. Only they can make peace, and only they can take responsibility for its

outcome. External actors have an important role to play in supporting facilitation.

They are interested parties because they stand to gain or lose from a lapse into violent

conflict, sustained instability and fragility, or a successful and sustainable peace. They

have the agency to influence the process, but they cannot make peace on behalf of the

internal actors. Their role is thus influential but limited.

An important principle that is emphasised throughout this Handbook is that external

actors need to be self-aware of their limited agency.

They have the responsibility not to cause harm, and not to

substitute the capacities that should rightfully be performed by

internal actors. When they do they delay local ownership, and

occupy the space that need to be filled by internal actors in

order for the system to self-organise and, in so doing, they

contribute to the fragility of the system.

External actors thus have to limit their role to providing a broad secure

space within which local actors can find a safe grip to regain their footing.Their role should be limited to capacity and to providing suppor t, with the

aim of assisting the internal actors to manage themselves.

Unfortunately, many external actors have failed to uphold these principles. Many

external actors try to direct and control the conflict systems in which they are engaged.

Some do so by intent, others through ignorance. Some believe that it is only by

adopting certain characteristics, such as Western-style democracy and rule of law, that

a society will avoid lapsing into conflict. This is the so-called neo-liberal state model

and it has been the prevailing approach to peacebuilding since the end of the cold

war. Others are simply eager to provide assistance, and their own lack of self-discipline

ends-up substituting, or eroding local capacity for example, by hiring local expertise

to serve external actors, rather than internal actors needs. This undermines the very

local institutions and capacities they intended to support, and perversely contributes

to the very fragility they intended to counter. A major theme in the second generation

approach to peacebuilding is thus to f ind the optimal balance between the role of the

external and internal actors.


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External actors

There are a number of external actors that need to be considered in the peacebuilding

context typically, a core group that is dedicated to the peacebuilding effort. These

usually include international or regional peacekeeping operations, a number of UN

agencies, organised as the UN Country Team, a large range of international NGOs

organised around a number of clusters such as food security, health, etc. and a number

of interested governments, including neighbours, countries with commercial interests

and donor agencies.

In many post-conflict situations the UN, the AU or sub-regional organisations, such

as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern African

Development Community (SADC), or the Intergovernmental Authority on Development

(IGAD) in the Horn of Africa deploy a peace operation to stabilise the situation and

to monitor and support the peace process. The bulk of a peace operations effort and

resources are focused on ensuring a safe and secure environment so that the rest of the

peacebuilding can be carried out without fear of disruption.

These peace operations usually deploy at the start of the

stabilisation phase, play a major role during the transitional

phase, and withdraw during the consolidation phase when the

risk of lapsing into violent conflict is no longer deemed to

be a serious short- to medium-term likelihood.

The different members of the UN system in a given country are commonly

referred to as the UN Country Team (UNCT). The UNCT is headed by a ResidentRepresentative. The Resident Representative (RR) is also the Resident Coordinator

(RC) of the UN System in the country and usually also the Humanitarian Coordinator

(HC). Members of the UNCT may include the UNDP, the World Bank, the UN High

Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN

Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Development

Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

(OCHA) and others.

All of these agencies, funds and offices have their own mandates, budgets and

programmes and the RC/HCs function is to ensure that the UNCT develops a

coherent overall effort in support of the needs of the country where they are based.

The members of the UNCT meet on a regular basis and use various coordination

mechanisms to harmonise their policies and programmes.

The members of the UNCT and the government of the country in which they are

operating usually agree on a common strategic framework, called the UN Development

Assistance Framework (UNDAF), which specifies how the UN system will support the


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government over a given time-frame (typically three to five years). The UNDAF is

typically aligned with an even broader strategic framework, which encompasses the

government and all the external actors, including the UN the International Financial

Institutions (IFIs), like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the

donor countries. This overall strategic framework is usually called the PRSP. In some cases

there will also be a specific peacebuilding strategy, or strategic framework, sometimes

facilitated by the engagement of the UN PBC.

International NGOs include a broad range of independent not-for-profit organisations

that work in the humanitarian assistance and development spheres. Most NGOs have

developed a specific field of specialisation. Some like Mdecins sans Frontires (Doctors

without Borders/ MSF) focus on the health sector. Oxfam is known for its work in the

water, sanitation and preventive health sectors. Others, such as Care International

and World Vision, have a more cross-cutting app

ACCORD Peacebuilding Handbook

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Transcript of ACCORD Peacebuilding Handbook