Global

It’s not often that we get a chance to celebrate the culmination of our peacebuilding achievements, but last week in Brussels, International Alert celebrated the end of its three-year project, the Initiative for Peacebuilding (IfP). The finale, which was held in a unique Moorish “folly” in the centre of Brussels, was a chance for  Alert and partners to highlight the Initiative’s “Milestones on the Road to Peace” as well as draw attention to the human dimension of our work.

International Alert is seeking to build on previous initiatives to inform and advance EU thinking on the reintegration of ex-combatants into post-conflict societies and economies. This is the second of two briefing papers produced as part of a year-long initiative aimed at reinvigorating the debate on reintegration. Based on research in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal, it discusses why the lessons of past reintegration programmes are not being learned and what implications this has for future EU disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programming.

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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 paper summarises current debates on conflict, aid and peacebuilding and suggests that humanitarian agencies can go beyond avoiding negative impacts on conflict (‘Do No Harm’), to contributing positively to conflict transformation and peacebuilding (‘Do Good’) in a way that respects their core mandates and key humanitarian principles. The paper argues that this may be achieved by incorporating a ‘conflict sensitive’ approach in planning and programming. ‘Conflict sensitivity’ can be defined as the capacity of an organisation to:

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The European Security Strategy (ESS) commits the EU to using a wide range of instruments in order to prevent violent conflict. Its comprehensive nature is one of its strengths, however, greater analysis of how the EU’s “hard” and “soft” instruments will be applied during the implementation of the Strategy is needed. There is the risk that Member States will pay increasing attention to developing military aspects of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, rather than civilian, and preventive responses, without which, military engagement is counter-productive.

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The goal of this policy briefing is to provide a focused look at the challenges and obstacles to ensuring gender justice and accountability in the context of international peace support operations1 (PSOs) and to provide recommendations for UN and regional peacekeeping bodies (AU, ECOWAS, EU, NATO, OSCE) officials, responsible for peacekeeping in terms of setting policy standards and practice guidelines, as well as those directly involved as military or civilian peacekeepers. It approaches the issue of gender justice (see definition in section (iv)) in PSOs from three angles:

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Conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the continued threat posed by terrorist organisations, have presented significant security challenges to the international community.

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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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In the post-Cold War period, the nature of conflicts has changed, with conflict moving closer to civilians as combatants, victims or (perceived) supporters of one or the other faction. International development and humanitarian NGOs that seek to address the needs of civilians have become operational in more war zones than ever before and, while conflict has always been a pervasive feature of their work in many areas of the world, they have become more aware of the inevitable two-way relationship between conflict and their programmes, staff and partners.

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International Alert welcomes the opportunity from the European Commission to comment on the
“provisional draft non-paper” on EIDHR programming for 2005-2006. Below we have outlined some
recommendations for thematic and sub-thematic priorities, for indicators and some lessons learned of
implementing EIDHR funding which we hope will contribute to this process.

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International Alert works for peace in war-torn and war-threatened countries in Africa, Asia and Eurasia. In 2003 we continued to work on more than forty projects - both with our partners in regions affected by conflict and at the advocacy and policy level.

Review

The informal Small Arms Consultative Group Process on Developing Understandings on Guidelines for National Controls and Transfers to Non-State Actors was established in January 2003, convened by the Biting the Bullet Project. The Consultative Group consists of representatives of some 30 governments from most regions, the UN and regional organisations, and selected civil society experts. It has so far met four times, in London (January 2003), Prague (June 2003), New York (July 2003) and Lake Naivasha, Kenya (September 2003), and has now completed the first phase of its work.

Interim report

This report examines the potential impact that gender issues have on small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation generally and specifically in relation to the 2001 UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA). It provides a general background to the interrelationship between the PoA and gender and provides recommendations to the UN on how the PoA can be better implemented by taking into account gender considerations.

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The 2001 United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) and other associated Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) international commitments and measures are widely understood to encompass not only the weapons but also their ammunition. Unfortunately, progress in implementing the PoA in relation to ammunition remains particularly patchy and inadequate. This is partly because it has too often been considered as a residual category.

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This is an armed and warring world. There have been over 125 armed conflicts of varying scale since the end of the Cold War at the end of 1989, with a combined death toll in that period of at least 7 million people, of whom 75 percent are generally estimated to be civilians. Forty armed conflicts were active during the course of 2004. The vast majority of these armed conflicts are not between states but within them, albeit usually with external involvement.

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