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Abstract: "While scholars and practitioners alike argue that the pursuit of sustainable peace in post-conflict developing countries requires international interventions to build state capacity, many debate the precise effects that external assistance has had on building peace in conflict-affected states. This paper seeks to clear conceptual ground by proposing a research agenda that disentangles statebuilding and peacebuilding from each other. Recent scholarship has made the case that the two endeavours are geared towards distinct sets of goals, yet few have subjected the causal mechanism underlying those processes or the relationship between them to sustained theoretical and empirical inquiry. Additionally, despite decades of mixed results from international interventions, we lack knowledge of the mechanisms by which external engagement leads to specific outcomes. To address these gaps, this paper offers a causal framework for understanding the effects of aid dynamics on state coherence and the depth of peace. It specifies the variables in that framework, with a view to establishing a new research agenda to advance our understanding of statebuilding and peacebuilding. Finally, it proposes that public service delivery in post-conflict countries offers fertile empirical ground to hypothesize about and test the relationship between state coherence and sustainable peace." (Seite 187)

This paper reviews the history of development assistance to Rwanda since the genocide of 1994 in the light of the lessons learnt from the pre-war experience. The study highlights the continued lack of analysis and understanding among donors of the impact of development assistance on structural causes of conflict. Where analysis exists, it is rarely linked to aid allocation decisions, and where actions are taken in this direction, they are rarely consistent across donors. The paper argues that the United Nations could play a role in bridging the gap between development and conflict prevention by extending some key political monitoring functions currently carried out as part of peacekeeping missions to post-conflict and fragile states that are not currently in crisis. Adapted from the source document.

Changes in the nature of war in the course of the last century are thrusting young people inevitably into more intimate relationships with conflict. This article builds on a critical approach to the issues of young people living in conflict zones which promotes their agency in conflict transformation and peacebuilding. 'Participation' is explored in the context of conflict transformation theory and is linked with child rights-based approaches to development. Examples of young people's contributions to peacebuilding in several parts of the world are shared demonstrating their political and social capacities. The article concludes that there is a need to understand how young people perceive conflict and what drives some to become involved in violent conflict when others choose non-violence. It is argued that it is necessary to seek non-violent ways for young people to impact conditions that lead to, and out of conflict. This will require young people's empowerment. Development actors can look to models of conflict transformation and peacebuilding to better understand how to promote inclusion of young people in peace processes and their more constructive engagement with conflict. Adapted from the source document.

United Nations sources are drawn on to examine the progress of peacekeeping missions underway Jan-Mar 2006. Addressed first is the situation in Darfur, Sudan, where thousands have been killed, injured, & displaced by government forces, militia, & insurgent tribal groups. The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), its military & civilian personnel numbering almost 7,000 in Darfur in Mar 2006, has achieved limited security in some areas. AMIS has focused on protection in the refugee camps. No lasting resolution is in sight. The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has focused on the goals set out in Security Council resolution 1546 (2004): to maintain political, electoral, & constitutional activities; & to engage in reconstruction, development, & human rights activities. UNAMI's most recent report stressed concern over human rights abuses in light of the heavy casualties suffered by Iraqi civilians at the hands of terrorist, insurgent, & paramilitary groups. It is working in conjunction with the Multinational Forces to train Iraqi security forces. J. Stanton