"Efforts to build and sustain peace are necessary; not only once conflict has broken out, but long beforehand through preventing conflict and addressing its root causes. We must work better together across the peace continuum, focusing on all the dimensions of conflict"
-UN Secretary- General António Guterres
We live in a ‘webbed’ world, where the development or crisis of any nation affects other nations too. Existence of today's nation states had a violent and long struggle phase. The 20th century was one of the most violent periods in human history. An estimated 191 million people lost their lives as a result of conflicts, and well over half of them were civilians. The past wasn't peaceful as well. There has been a decrease in armed conflicts and the number of people getting killed after the formation of the United Nations (UN). The wars "after the Korean War" have killed a quarter as many people as the wars "before the Korean War" and this is an indication that the world has become a more peaceful place. Yet in the present scenario, violence causes more than 1.6 million deaths worldwide every year and the future still seems to be uncertain. In the upcoming 40 years, the risk of conflicts will be greatest in India, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Till now, the UN has played a significant role in maintaining peace among countries. Still, there are numerous conflicts going on all across the globe. Initiatives revolved around the narratives of peacekeeping, peace-making & peacebuilding were taken to create a sustainable peace process after the destructions caused by the two World Wars, the Cold War and Civil wars between the Third World Countries. Research has indicated that investing early in preventing conflicts from escalating to violent crises is, on average, 60 times more cost-effective than intervening after violence erupts. Yet, the world spends just $1 on conflict prevention for every $1,885 it spends on military budgets.
Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in non-violent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. Successful peacebuilding activities create an environment supportive of self-sustaining, durable peace; prevent conflict from restarting; integrate civil society; create the rule of law mechanisms, and address underlying structural and societal issues. Peacebuilding has been evolved from a post-conflict process to “activities aimed at preventing the outbreak, escalation, continuation and recurrence of conflict” which “should flow through all three pillars of the UN’s engagement at all stages of conflict".
Following are some peacebuilding initiatives undertaken by the UN -
UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC)
UNPBC was established in 2005, in the 60th session of the UN General Assembly. It is a unique "inter-governmental body” that sits between the UN Security Council, whose 15 members are primarily tasked with maintaining peace and security in the world; the General Assembly; and the Economic and Social Council, or ECOSOC, which works with the 14 specialized UN agencies. Its membership also includes representatives from the countries who are the top financial and troop contributors to the UN. Recent noteworthy practices of the Peacebuilding Commission include attention to cross-border and regional issues in the Great Lakes region and the Sahel, support for the transition from a peace operation in Liberia and the adoption of a gender strategy that is the first of its kind for an inter-governmental body of the United Nations.
UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF):
UNPBF funds peacebuilding activities that directly promote post-conflict stabilization and strengthen state and institutional capacity for 2-3 years immediately following the conflict.
UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO):
UNPBSO supports PBC with strategic advice and policy guidance, administers the Peacebuilding Fund and helps the Secretary-General coordinate UN agencies' peacebuilding efforts.
Peacebuilding missions-
United Nations peacekeeping missions operate in the most dangerous and difficult environments of the world to end the conflict and work towards development. Since 1948, many successful peacekeeping operations were conducted by the UN in many countries like Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mozambique, Namibia etc. There are 57 missions completed by the UN; 13 missions are currently deployed. The Peacebuilding Commission tries to work in support of the Government, in order to strengthen the rule of law and regional bodies.
UN peacebuilding missions significantly increase the likelihood of democratization.
 |
| Source- Unsplash By-Mat Reding |
Aims of UN Peacebuilding -
A) Support basic safety and security, including protection of civilians, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, strengthening the rule of law and initiation of security sector reform;
B) Support political processes, including electoral processes, and promoting inclusive dialogue and reconciliation;
C) Support the provision of basic services, such as water and sanitation, health and primary education, and support to the safe and sustainable return of refugees and internally displaced people;
D) Support restoring core government functions, particularly basic public administration and public finance;
E) Support economic revitalization, including creating jobs.
Criticisms of UN Peacebuilding
Some of the Peacebuilding Missions failed because they didn't address functional structures, emotional conditions and psychology and stability of the society, rule of law and ethics. UN peacebuilding has drawn some criticisms as well -
A) The role of the liberal democratic model in peacebuilding is considered as a rushed transition to democratic elections and liberal economy; more focus should be given on social transformation to develop non-violent mechanisms of conflict resolution.
B) David Chandler mentioned that the involvement of third-party actors creates dependency and undermines domestic politics, autonomy and the capacity for self-governance and leaves the governments weak. More focus should be given on making the state self-dependent. The post-conflict societies didn't get governed the way they should have been.
C) Autesserre stresses that international peacebuilders do not fully understand the conflicts they are trying to resolve because they rarely include local leaders in decision-making. Without genuine domestic support, peacebuilding becomes hollow.
D) Barnett et al. criticizes peacebuilding organizations for undertaking supply-driven rather than demand-driven peacebuilding; they provide the peacebuilding services in which their organization specializes, not necessarily those that the recipient most needs.
E) Many academics argue that peacebuilding imposes Western values and practices onto other cultures, leading to cultural hegemony.
Conclusion
In an era of complex global challenges, the United Nation has secured its position in achieving peace and prosperity for all people & acts as a ray of hope for suppressed people and victims of any conflict or war. In some cases, the government of the state becomes the reason behind war, and in some cases civilians & terrorists indulge actively in spreading chaos. UN contributes via military, financial aid, by mediating between forces to lessen the risk and to maintain stability and peace. Despite successful peacebuilding missions, the UN has failed several times because of lack of cooperation between UN Officers and civilians; and because of lack of knowledge and interest in domestic development as in Israel, Cambodia, Kashmir, Somali etc. UN is working to restore international peace as the world is entering a new period of global instability.
WRITTEN BY RAKSHITA JOSHI
REFERENCES:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacebuilding_Commission
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacebuilding#:~:text=Peacebuilding%20is%20an%20activity%20that,generate%20deadly%20or%20destructive%20conflict.
https://peacealliance.org/tools-education/statistics-on-violence/
https://www.un.org/peacebuilding/sites/www.un.org.peacebuilding/files/documents/peacebuilding_orientation.pdf
[World Health Organization: visit: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention (2002)].
https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/peacebuilding
Comments
Post a Comment