1991-1993: At a Crossroads

Faced with dramatic changes within the organisation and in the outside world, International Alert’s viability and survival were tested in the early 1990s. With the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, a wave of nationalism swept through Southeast Europe, Russia and Central Asia. In the post-Soviet vacuum of power, desires for self-determination provoked civil war in many countries. A new world order was emerging in which the UN had far more capacity than before to deploy peacekeeping operations and offer its good offices for peace negotiations. The role of non-governmental organisations also began to be better understood and more widely accepted.

Meanwhile, instability troubled Alert at home with the tragic death of its first Secretary General. This was not only a tremendous loss for the peace and human rights community, but to an organisation just growing into its own, gaining credibility around the world. Alert faced a crossroads and, revisiting the vision of the founding members, it undertook a strategic review that assessed its own role, points of entry in conflict, and new ways to stimulate funding. In particular, Alert evaluated its response to the new global context, with emphasis on areas where there were political and military developments or an escalation in the level of human rights violations.

With several years of achievements owing to the hard work and networking of its founders, Alert was just at the point of becoming more confident and assured. This period of reflection gave the organisation space to now take a more strategic and systematic approach to its programmes. New standards were developed to scrutinise each programme and thus create a priority approach based on programme balance and other agreed criteria. This included ensuring that all future programmes had the potential for a positive contribution by Alert, that funding and programme capacity were available, and that no other body was playing a comparable lead role – criteria that still hold today.

By the end of 1992, Alert had restructured its governing body, discussed a business plan, and made concrete plans for future direction. It appointed Kumar Rupesinghe, a long-standing Alert board member, as its new Secretary General. The organisation focused on developing a stronger support base to carry out its vision through increased staffing, funding for core activities, and the creation of a positive work environment.

Responding to a new world order

The end of the Cold War had a significant impact on the global conflict landscape, further provoking intra-state conflicts characterised by ethnic and political divisions. In 1992, Alert began its programme in the former Soviet Union following a formal request by the Russian Federation Minister for Nationalities to monitor the situation in regions of possible and on-going conflict. Alert organised a series of fact-finding missions to Tatarstan, the North Caucasus and outer Mongolia, as all three regions, though geographically and ethnically distinct, shared common aspirations and grievances. By 1993, Alert also was exploring a role in facilitating negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh.

The importance of on-going analysis and the ability to respond flexibly to changing situations became paramount in such a fluid landscape. What were to be regarded as ‘frozen’ conflicts towards the end of the 1990s were, at this stage, very active.

Healing wounds in southern Africa

While International Alert’s longest-established and best-developed programme at this time was in Asia, the organisation was increasingly exploring work in Africa, where many countries were emerging from long internal conflicts. Much of this work focused on southern Africa, where Alert co-organised a major conference, The Consequences of Organised Violence in Southern Africa in Harare, Zimbabwe, in September 1990. The conference aimed to identify and focus attention on the direct consequences of apartheid, destabilisation, imprisonment, torture, and other related traumas in southern Africa. In a regional context marked by prolonged internal conflict, this was an exercise both in peacebuilding and in ‘early warning’, as it not only addressed the consequences of organised violence in the region, but also problems that could emerge in the future.

The Harare conference resulted in additional fact-finding missions to explore other work in the region. Of particular note was Alert’s evaluation of the National Peace Secretariat in South Africa, which brought together an international and cross-cultural fact-finding team and produced a detailed and well-received analysis. Beyond southern Africa, fact-finding missions were sent to Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia, although this work was affected by sweeping political/military changes in these countries.

The expansion of Alert’s work into the former Soviet Union and across Africa demonstrated how the organisation emerged from its re-evaluation period with renewed clarity of direction and focus. By 1993, Alert had tripled its previous year’s funding and increased staff from 10 at the start of the year to 35 at the end. More confident and assured, Alert was on its way to a much higher profile in the growing field of peacebuilding.

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Last updated: July 2006

■ International Alert awarded UN Consultative Status, Category II, with the United Nations.

■ Alert conducts exploratory work in Papua New Guinea/Bougainville.

■ Publication of racism report, Equal Treatment and Discrimination in Europe; later followed by ‘Alternative Maastricht Summit’ on racism in Europe.

■ Alert conducts missions to Kenya and South Africa.

■ Conferences on People’s Right to Participate in Governance and Role of Military in Democratic Transitions, in the Philippines.

■ Kumar Rupesinghe is appointed new Secretary General.

■ Programme in the former Soviet Union starts with monitoring and fact-finding missions

■ Alert starts its train-the-trainer programme on conflict resolution in Moscow.

■ Mission to Germany to look at racism and xenophobia in Europe.

■ Mission sent to Colombia, Guatemala and Peru to gain advice, support and participation in the project ‘Peacemaking in Latin America’.