Development and humanitarian assistance

Alert has been exploring the relationship between development and peacebuilding since 1997. We believe that development practitioners in areas affected by war need to put conflict at its centre of their thinking, planning and implementation – because if they do not, the impact of their work can be disastrous. We call this ‘conflict-sensitive development’.

To find out more about this work, click on the links below:

	Promoting conflict-sensitive approaches to development – Alert provides advice and training for the development community to better understand how conflict-sensitive development and aid works in specific conflict contexts.
	Influencing global debate on development and conflict – We work to ensure that global development policies and policy discussions are better informed so international institutions understand the value of placing conflict at the centre of their analysis and programming.

Linking development and peacebuilding

The relationship between political, economic and social development and conflict is complex. Under-development or failed development is a major contributing factor in violent conflict because of competition over limited resources. Violent conflict can undo the successes of a country’s development efforts for many years because of the destruction it causes to human and material infrastructure, and economic and social investment. In areas of violent conflict, the provision of development and humanitarian assistance becomes highly politicised such that decisions made irrespective of the violence feed directly into conflict dynamics.

Equitable development is therefore key to achieving sustainable peace – and vice versa. However, ensuring that development contributes to long-term peace is not straightforward. Humanitarian aid and development assistance can feed conflict as well as alleviate it, sometimes inadvertently supporting and entrenching the systems and structures that lie at the root causes of civil war, bestowing legitimacy on warring factions or fuelling tensions between communities by the perceived favouring of one community over another. A particularly poignant example of this was during the international response to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when refugee camps were used by those responsible for the killings as a safe space for regrouping and gathering force for renewed attacks.

Over the past decade there has been a growing debate amongst the development community (donors and development or aid organisations) about how to engage in countries affected by conflict – and a recognition that this needs to be done in a ‘conflict-sensitive’ way. There is a pressing need to develop thinking and practice on how this should be done.

At International Alert, our original focus on development work was to understand the unintended negative consequences of development and humanitarian aid projects in conflict zones. This learning has been instrumental in building an understanding of how the development sector works and of the key conflict/development issues and challenges. However, it is not enough for development agencies simply to avoid the negative impacts of their work. The challenge now is to find ways for them to make a positive contribution to building peace in contexts where social tensions run high, where there is active violent conflict, and in so-called post-conflict situations.

Building on the principles of conflict-sensitivity, we work towards this goal through:

• Research with partners in conflict zones to develop an understanding of local contexts, issues and needs
• Global-level research on more effective responses to conflict situations, including advancing thinking on conflict-sensitive approaches to development and humanitarian assistance
• Advocating for more appropriate and strategic approaches to peacebuilding by outside parties in conflict areas at the international policy level
• Bringing together development and humanitarian aid agencies, governments and other donors to strategise on how to provide development assistance and aid in a conflict-sensitive and co-ordinated way
• Providing technical support to development agencies on how to implement projects in a conflict-sensitive way that is tailored to their specific needs and methods of working

For more information, please contact Cynthia Gaigals

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Last updated: February 2006