2015-08-21
1742
Building lasting peace in war-torn societies is among the most daunting of challenges for global peace and security. Peacebuilding requires sustained international support for national efforts across the broadest range of activities – monitoring ceasefires; demobilizing and reintegrating combatants; assisting the return of refugees and displaced persons; helping organize and monitor elections of a new government; supporting justice and security sector reform; enhancing human rights protections and fostering reconciliation after past atrocities.
If you imagine the post-conflict area, you'll see demolished buildings, hospitals, schools, governmental institutions. It's not enough to restore it. It is clear that there's a necessity in teachers, professors, doctors, nurses, ministers, clerks and officials. Most of them probably fled away from the country to avoid being involved in the conflict or even injured and by now would have found new jobs somewhere far away. At the same time, there's not enough qualified specialists in the country and it would take a couple of years to teach the new ones and prepare them for work. Moreover, for hospitals we'll need special equipment, which is very expensive, for schools we need furniture for the classrooms and so on. Also, you'll probably notice the great need for the electricity, water supply and transport infrastructure to create a system between these objects. And, hopefully, you understand that this complex of measures is far from being complete.
It is commonly acknowledged by the Security Council and the World Community that rebuilding (restoring) the most important institutions (public health, food and water supply, transport, education etc.) is one of the essential steps of recovering the area after the military conflict along with physical restoration of buildings and other infrastructure and organizing assistance to help people return to their homes.
Assisting countries recovering from conflict and disasters and working towards preventing future instability remains a major challenge for the international community currently. In recognition of this, there has been a proliferation of programs in post-conflict and fragile states attempting to build stability and move towards economic growth. However evidence on what works in promoting economic gains and development, and ensuring peace and security building remains scarce.
The special circumstances surrounding the reconstruction of weak or failed states induced the donor community to review its policy tools and methods:
◦ The United Nations Development Programme founded in 2001 a Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery to work for the restoration of the quality of life of people who have been victims of natural disaster or violent conflict
◦ The United Nations established in 2005 a Peacebuilding Commission (and a Peacebuilding Support Office and a Peacebuilding Fund) with the aim of bringing together and improving coordination among all relevant actors who get involved in a reconstruction effortthe IMF revised in 1995 its policy on emergency assistance in order to address the needs of countries in post-conflict situations.
◦ The World Bank established in 1997 a Post-Conflict Unit (later renamed to Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit) and a Post-Conflict Fund
◦ The UK, to mention a donor country, set up a Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department within its Department for International Development.
The United Nations have developed this topic through last decades, but still we can not say that there has been created a universal strategy that is being brought to action and actually works.
Developing the strategies for rebuilding critical institutions in post-conflict societies is all about it. It's not just about medical and educational structures, it includes political, economical, social and cultural institutions. These should work together to ensure that people continue working on rebuilding their neighborhood, to attract more foreigners to help, to find international financial support (and not only financial), to prevent more people from losing their property and fleeing the country.
In most post-conflict situations there are many actors who contribute to peacebuilding:
◦ Humanitarian and development agencies may be in a country before, during and after the conflict. Once on the ground and when the conflict ends, these actors can lay the important foundations for the peacebuilding process (by providing early peace dividends).
◦ Peacekeeping operations increasingly play a significant role as early peacebuilders. The mandates of multi-dimensional operations include disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR), security sector reform (SSR) and support to electoral processes.
◦ DPA Special Political Missions and integrated peacebuilding missions are also given the mandate to cover a wide range of peacebuilding tasks.
The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), established in 2005 during the World Summit, is an intergovernmental advisory body of the United Nations that supports peacebuilding in countries emerging from conflict. The Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) acts as a secretariat to the PBC. This is on of the key bodies of the UN that work in post-conflict areas. The Peacebuilding Commission plays a unique role in 
1. bringing together all of the relevant actors, including international donors, the international financial institutions, national governments, troop contributing countries;
2. marshalling resources and
3. advising on and proposing integrated strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery and where appropriate, highlighting any gaps that threaten to undermine peace.
Following a request from the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Secretary-General established a Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) for post-conflict peacebuilding initiatives in October 2006. The PBF constitutes an essential component of the enhanced UN architecture to provide for a more sustained engagement in support of countries emerging from conflict and will support peacebuilding activities which directly contribute to post-conflict stabilization and strengthen the capacity of Governments, national/local institutions and transitional or other relevant authorities.
The PBF extends fast, relevant and catalytic support to countries and has so far garnered $400 million, from which it is funding 193 projects in 22 countries. These projects cover a wide range of areas, such as supporting national peace dialogues, promoting community reconciliation, strengthening the rule of law, reforming the security sector, supporting disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, providing economic stimulus for community businesses and addressing youth unemployment.
The PBF funds through two different facilities:
The Immediate Response Facility is designed to jumpstart peacebuilding and recovery needs. It is a flexible and fast funding tool for single or multiple projects up to one year in duration. Proposals submitted by the senior UN representative – that meet the criteria – may receive funding within three weeks.
The Peacebuilding and Recovery Facility is designed to support a more structured peacebuilding process, driven by national actors based on a joint analysis of needs with the international community. When a country has been declared eligible to receive funding from the PBF, the PBSO established a country allocation based on the approved Priority Plan and elegates project approval authority to a Joint Steering Committee co-chaired by the national Government and the United Nations.
Also a focus of peace building and post-conflict reconstruction should be ensuring transparent and accountable management of natural resources. This should involve assessments of what natural resources the country has and their best possible usage; creating laws and regulations that require transparency and accountability; and building institutional capacity to manage natural resources wisely and enforce the law effectively.
There are different approaches to post-conflict regulation. Some organization focus on people and the impact of the conflict on their lives, making most common problems a priority for restoration of the peace and security. Other focus on governmental institutions, elections, public order and human rights. There are more approaches and every country nowadays is free to choose it's own way to contribute to recovering affected states after the military conflicts – through the UN or many other international organizations.
The international community also adopted a more complex approach to reconstruction and merged efforts towards relief, rehabilitation and development from the beginning of its involvement in post-conflict situations. Above all, donors ascribed to more interventionist practices. They have attempted to influence the policies of recipient countries, prescribing reforms to streamline institutions in war-affected countries in accordance with the norm of ‘good governance’.
The problem itself came into the attention of the world community as far as in the 19th century, it was developed through the decades and was extremely significant for the 90th years of the XX century. But still question can not be universally used and regulated and needs a deeper and more humane study. That's why today this topic is brought to the attention of the Security Council, as the most powerful and respectable body of the United Nations. We hope that this is a chance for the member-states to contribute to the future of the global community and develop the strategies for rebuilding critical institutions in post-conflict societies that they will not miss.
Useful Links:
· GA Res 65/7. Review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/65/7
· http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sc10160.doc.htm
· http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/hsp/hj.html
· The Peacebuilding Commission: http://www.un.org/en/peacebuilding/index.asp
· The Peacebuilding Fund: http://www.unpbf.org/
· The UN Peacebuilding support office: http://www.un.org/en/peacebuilding/pbso/about.shtml
· 2010 Progress report of the Secretary-General on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/64/866
· Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Checklist for Intermediaries: http://www.beyondintractability.org/userguide/checklist/peacebuilding-intermediaries
· ECOSOC on Peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery: http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/about/peacebuilding.shtml
· Definition of the topic: http://pesd.princeton.edu/?q=node/260
