Suchergebnisse

Throughout the global south, local and international organizations are frequent participants in peacebuilding projects that focus on interreligious dialogue. Yet as Atalia Omer argues in Decolonizing Religion and Peacebuilding, the effects of their efforts are often perverse, reinforcing neocolonial practices and disempowering local religious actors. Based on empirical research of inter and intra-religious peacebuilding practices in Kenya and the Philippines, Omer identifies two paradoxical findings: first, religious peacebuilding practices are both empowering and depoliticizing and, second, more doing of religion does not necessarily denote deeper or more critical religious literacy. Further, she shows that these religious actors generate decolonial openings regardless of how closed or open their religious communities are. Hence, religion's occasional usefulness in peacebuilding does not necessarily mean justice-oriented outcomes. The book not only uses decolonial and intersectional prisms to expose the entrenched and ongoing colonial dynamics operative in religion and the practices of peacebuilding and development in the global South, but it also speaks to decolonial theory through stories of transformation and survival.

Attentive to intersecting issues of colonialism, political marginalization, and ethnic diversity, this book examines the crucial role that local actors play in working towards sustainable peace in Mindanao, Philippines. Interviewees include both those involved in the formal peace process between the Bangsamoro people and the government of the Philippines, as well as those who have worked more broadly in building a local culture of peace through activities such as education, dialogues, awareness-building, or social reconciliation. This book provides provocative insights for multidimensional peacebuilding strategies in conflict-impacted communities, regions, and nations.

The Limits of Peacekeeping highlights the Australian government's peacekeeping efforts in Africa and the Americas from 1992 to 2005. Changing world power structures and increased international cooperation saw a boom in Australia's peacekeeping operations between 1991 and 1995. The initial optimism of this period proved to be misplaced, as the limits of the United Nations and the international community to resolve deep-seated problems became clear. There were also limits on how many missions a middle-sized country like Australia could support. Restricted by the size of the armed forces and financial and geographic constraints, peacekeeping was always a secondary task to ensuring the defence of Australia. Faith in the effectiveness of peacekeeping reduced significantly, and the election of the Howard Coalition Government in 1996 confined peacekeeping missions to the near region from 1996-2001. This volume is an authoritative and compelling history of Australia's changing attitudes towards peacekeeping

"Sustaining and strengthening local livelihoods is one of the most fundamental challenges faced by post-conflict countries. By degrading the natural resources that are essential to livelihoods and by significantly hindering access to those resources, conflict can wreak havoc on the ability of war-torn populations to survive and recover. This book explores how natural resource management initiatives in more than twenty countries and territories have supported livelihoods and facilitated post-conflict peacebuilding. Case studies and analyses identify lessons and opportunities for the more effective design of interventions to support the livelihoods that depend on natural resources -- from land to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and protected areas. The book also explores larger questions about how to structure livelihoods assistance as part of a coherent, integrated approach to post-conflict redevelopment. Livelihoods and Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding is part of a global initiative to identify and analyze lessons in post-conflict peacebuilding and natural resource management. The project has generated six books of case studies and analyses, with contributions from practitioners, policy makers, and researchers. Other books in this series address high value resources, land, water, assessing and restoring natural resources, and governance"--

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