Economy and Peacebuilding

We are pleased to launch two new practice notes in the Peacebuilding Essentials for Economic Development Practitioners series. This forms part of International Alert’s project Strengthening the Economic Dimensions of Peacebuilding.

Socio-Economic Reintegration of Ex-Combatants explains what economic development planners and practitioners can do to support the socio-economic reintegration of former combatants.

Together with its Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN) partners from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia as well as South Ossetia, International Alert participated in the 20th Economic Forum in Krynica, Poland between 8th-11th September 2010. It was the fourth time CBDN participated and chaired a panel in the event, often dubbed as the “Davos of Central and Eastern Europe”. This year, CBDN was among the Forum’s official institutional partners.

Private sector development in conflict-affected environments: key resources for practitioners

Alert’s Canan Gunduz and Joost Van Der Zwan co-authored this new Donor Committee on Enterprise Development guide on Private Sector Development (PSD) in conflict-affected environments.

On 23rd October 2010, International Alert’s Economy & Conflict project partners, the Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN), organised the third Caucasus Tea Festival together with the Caucasian Tea Producers’ Association. The goal of the Festival was to popularise varieties of teas from the region, including CBDN’s own brand of "Caucasus Tea", and to promote cooperation in the tea sector throughout the South Caucasus.  

Le petit commerce de produits vivriers (légumes, fruits etc.) entre la Province du Nord Kivu de la RDC (Goma) et la Province de l’Ouest du Rwanda (Gisenyi) est très important. Le petit
commerce transfrontalier est défini comme « activité commerciale génératrice de revenus dont la valeur des transactions commerciales journalières ne dépasse pas 100 dollars américains (USD) par commerçant ».

La Traversée: Petit Commerce et Amélioration des relations transfrontalières entre Goma (RD Congo) et Gisenyi (Rwanda).

This case study, commissioned by International Alert, examines the governance of natural
resources in São Tomé and Príncipe by focusing on the management, oversight and
transparency mechanisms or structures set up to monitor oil revenues since 2007. The study
explores the activities, challenges and social communication strategies of these oil-related
bodies from 2007 through 2009, identifying problems areas and analysing if and how these
problems are linked to larger social dynamics, and how they could be exacerbated by the

Executive summary (English)

Private sector activity – including both licit and illicit trade and business – is a significant factor influencing the shape and intensity of many conflicts. With a few significant exceptions, however, there has to date been little effort (from public, private and civil society sectors alike) to engage different types of private sector actor systematically in conflict prevention.

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THIS REPORT SHEDS analytical light on the complex linkages between economic factors and the conflict in Mindanao, and on the possible role of local business leaders and their associates in communities or other sectors in the country in breaking these links. It also explores options for government in addressing these dynamics.

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This report is an overview of illicit small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation in West Africa, focusing on the implementation of sub-regional control instruments. In this regard, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa (ECOWAS Moratorium) stands out as the main platform on which arms control in the sub-region is based.

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During the past decade the forces of political transformation and economic globalisation have created a world of new opportunities and hope for some, but increased instability and insecurity for others. As we enter the 21st Century violent conflict continues to affect the lives of millions of people, undermining human progress and economic development. This has important implications for the private sector, which has become an influential player in many conflict-prone or conflict-ridden countries.

The Business of Peace

Introduction

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INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION has turned in recent years towards understanding the economic dynamics of conflict – with a particular emphasis on the ways in which natural resource exploitation can fuel armed violence. Research into these dynamics has emerged from a spectrum of actors – from major multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, to both Northern and Southern based NGOs.

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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is immensely rich in natural resources but its people are among the poorest in the world. This paradox is both cause and effect of the brutal exploitation of the country’s resources that has taken place since King Leopold, and that has fuelled such violent and devastating conflict.

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Это результат восемнадцати месяцев исследований и анализа, направленных на изучение того, как более полное понимание существующей экономической ситуации в регионе может способствовать решению региональных конфликтов. Это также первая книга, в которой данный вопрос изучается с точки зрения людей, живущих в регионе - авторы являются членами Исследовательской Группы по Экономике и Конфликтам; команда экспертов собранана со всего Южного Кавказа, включая Армению, Азербайджан, Грузию, Турцию, а также Абхазию, Нагорный Карабах и Южную Осетию.

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Executive summary

This is the product of an 18-month period of research and analysis that aimed to explore how a better understanding of the region’s current economic dynamics might contribute to the resolution of its conflicts. It is the first book to examine this topic from the perspectives of those living in the region - the authors are members of the Economy and Conflict Research Group; a pool of experts from throughout the South Caucasus, covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and including Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia.

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Executive summary