Security

This report examines the lessons learned from the three year Monitoring the Implementation of Small Arms Controls (MISAC) project which addressed the barriers to the implementation of international controls on small arms such as the 2001 Programme of Action and the UN Firearms Protocol as well as regional control measures such as the EU Code of Conduct, the OSCE Small Arms Document the OAS Convention and the ECOWAS Moratorium. It assesses the key barriers to implementation as well as drawing lessons learned from those countries and regions which have implemented these controls. It concentrates on the lessons learned from three regions, Eurasia, West Africa and Latin America.

This panel discussion aimed to link the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 implementation five years on to the European focus on the implementation of 1325 and the related European Parliament resolution on the participation of women in peaceful conflict resolution.

The first Review Conference for the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects took place in July 2006. This Report identifies and examines key priorities for the 2006 Review Conference for the PoA. It particularly focuses on identifying realistic and potentially negotiable objectives for the Conference.

This report by Biting the Bullet (International Alert, Saferworld and University of Bradford) aims to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date review and analysis of progress towards implementation of the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons In All Its Aspects (PoA) and of the consequent issues and priorities for the 2006 Review Conference.

Produced as part of the EU-funded Conflict Prevention Partnership, this paper analyses the context in which the European Union uses its external relations instruments to address security issues, promote legitimate and effective governance, and support economic recovery and regional integration, in the DRC. Consultations in the region and in the EU, as well as meetings held in Kinshasa in September 2006 with local officials, civil society and international diplomats have been used to develop recommendations and suggest possible avenues under each theme.

This report is the product of field research and subsequent analysis carried out between July 2004 and July 2005 by a team of researchers from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia as well as Nagorny Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia across the South Caucasus, facilitated by International Alert. Based on a series of one-to-one interviews and focus groups with a wide range of stakeholders, it examines the connections between corruption and frozen conflicts in the South Caucasus region, exploring corruption on all sides. It is the first systematic study of corruption from the perspective of conflict analysis and the first to include the unrecognised entities of the region.

This report looks at the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants. It analyses the process and the role of the European Union, and makes recommendations on future EU involvement.

This collection of papers by researchers from Georgia and Abkhazia offers an analysis of international engagement in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict resolution process since the early 90s, with a specific focus on post-August 2008 and the departure of the UN Observer Mission in 2009. Papers assess the impact of non-governmental peacebuilding initiatives, the effectiveness of the ‘Geneva discussions’ co-facilitated by the UN, EU and OSCE, and explore prospects for Abkhaz engagement with the international community. Together, the papers make a powerful argument for the de-isolation of Abkhazia and for continued direct and impartial engagement by both governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Although Central Asia has remained relatively peaceful in the years since the break-up of the Soviet Union, there is still a considerable potential for conflict in the region. The Strategic Framework for Peacebuilding provides an in-depth analysis of conflict potential in Central Asia, from which it derives a peacebuilding strategy. The report focuses its attention on three states: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The regional context (Afghanistan) and the influence and interest of major powers (USA, Russia, China) in the region are also taken into account, as are common regional factors like strict border regimes cutting through communities, the complex ethnic situation in the Ferghana valley, the drug trade and the threat of islamism. The headline conclusion is that the central threat to stability lies not, as has long been thought, in ethnic rivalries or competition over resources, but rather in the relationship between the citizens and the state.

Set up during 2006 with peacebuilding as its sole objective, the UN Peacebuilding Commission has the potential to use its intergovernmental voice to focus attention on the factors that could drive a renewal of conflict. In this light, Alert submitted recommendations in late 2006 on how the PBC could most effectively orientate its short and long-term support to the process of improving security and sustaining peace, for men and women, in Burundi. More widely, this publication also looks at the main challenges for the PBC and how it should focus its activities. The recommendations aim also to draw the PBC’s attention to the “where” and “how” of its engagement. This is because the way it engages with national stakeholders will be a significant determinant of progress towards peace.

The recently established United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) is a body intended to advise and propose integrated peacebuilding, development and reconstruction strategies for countries emerging from violent conflict. This SCR 1325 6 Years On Report examines the recent establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission, its structure, mandate and obligation to implement SCR 1325 in the achievement of durable peace and development.

This publication is one of the chapters of the book 'Human Security and Business' (Ruffer & Rub, 2008) which includes the papers highlighting important considerations concerning business and human rights. This publication points out the interconnectedness of severe human rights abuses in violent conflict with certain corporate practices, drawing on examples from Africa, Asia and Latin America, and shows that voluntary initiatives alone are not enough to ensure that companies, particularly in the extractive sector, act as per the law or best practices. While human rights impact assessments and conflict risk assessments are not sufficient, they are necessary in guiding corporate practices, and he provides examples from Alert's work in Colombia, in implementing Alert's 'Conflict Sensitive Business Practices: Guidance for the Extractive Sector (CSBP)' with respect to two projects in Colombia.

New strategy papers for the EU's engagement with developing countries will soon be agreed. The activities under them will have fundamental impacts on the contexts in which they will be applied, and many of these are prone to, or affected by, violent conflict, or experience some kind of societal or state fragility. Recognising the importance of the strategy papers, and the programming which will flow from them, International Alert, Saferworld and the European Peaceubilding Liaison Office, have come together to produce this briefing paper, providing analysis and advice for decision-making in Brussels and in the field.

This report is based on a GAPS event hosted by the Canadian High Commission on Tuesday, March 13th 2007 at Canada House, London.

Friends for Peace and International Alert undertook research in Morang, Makawanpur, Kailali and Jumla to assess the existing community security situation, people's perceptions towards it and prospects for the future. The research was based on individual and group interviews and wider community interactions and was led by the communities themselves.