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Pathways for Peace: A Call to Rethink the Prevention of Violent Conflict in a Turbulent World
Op-Ed: Alexandre Marc is the Chief Technical Specialist in the World Bank’s Fragility, Conflict and Violence thematic group, a lead author of the report Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violence Conflict.
The joint United Nations–World Bank report, Pathways for Peace, was published on March 1, 2018. It is the first report that these two organizations have prepared in concert, and this alone represents something very new. The joint undertaking reflects the sense of urgency that many of us feel at organizations with a global reach to find common solutions to address violent conflict in the twenty-first century.
It is estimated that by 2030, between 45 and 60 percent of the world’s poor will live in countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence. As such, no improvement in the reduction of world poverty will be possible if we don’t work together to reduce the occurrence of violent conflict. Since 2010, violent conflict has increased rapidly, as measured by all possible indicators: in numbers of conflicts; civilian casualties; the scope of forced displacement; and the economic cost to affected countries, their neighbors, and even entire regions. Today’s conflicts are also increasingly difficult to end. They are more internationalized, and in most cases cross borders. They also feature the involvement of an unprecedented number and diversity of armed groups and are strongly influenced by global issues: ideology, trafficking of all sorts, illegal financial flows, climate change, fast movement of populations, and increasing geopolitical competition. In Pathways for Peace, we offer strong evidence that most conflicts today feature, at their origin, group-based grievances around exclusion, especially exclusion from power, resources, and access to security and justice. We know, however, that it is typically not exclusion of the poor that creates conflict; rather, conflict is generated by the exclusion or frustrated aspirations of groups that might be relatively well off. Inclusion is not straightforward, it requires negotiation between various groups and the State, as inclusion of some can be experienced as exclusion by others. The report, which we partially base on an analysis of countries that have been able to successfully address the risk of violent conflict, has several messages for policy makers in countries and for the international community.First, development policies have a strong role to play in preventing violent conflict; however, so far development policies have been placed only marginally on the agenda of prevention efforts, which constitutes a significant missed opportunity.
Second, pathways toward violent conflict take a very long time to be forged, sometimes generations; however, most prevention efforts are focused on crisis management in the short term. We need prevention efforts long before a crisis starts: When early risks are first perceptible; at the beginning of a crisis, to avoid the eruption of violence; during conflict, to avoid its expansion; and long after conflict ends, to ensure peace holds. Early efforts, and those undertaken long after conflict ends, are neglected in today’s prevention panoply, and this constitutes another major missed opportunity for all of us. Third, development that solely focuses on growth and poverty alleviation is not sufficient to reduce today’s risk of violent conflicts. In the last decade, more conflicts have started in middle-income countries than in low-income ones. We need development to be inclusive, and specific themes require careful attention. For example, gender equality plays an important role in making societies more resilient to violence, as does engaging citizens and holding the state accountable for providing security and justice. Regional imbalance and decentralization, and providing access to inclusive services are also important themes for prevention. Finally, we need to build strong bridges between diplomacy/peacebuilding, development, security, and humanitarian assistance efforts. We must aim these efforts at the regional, national, subnational, and local levels for greatest impact. Photos: World Bank Group
Are Youth the Key to Palestinian Peace?
While the peace process between Israel and Palestine is often conducted at a state level, some groups are working with youth at a grassroots level to build peace.
Forward Thinking runs forums in conflict zones to promote a more inclusive peace process, and held forums in Gaza recently.
“Forward Thinking essentially deals with mediation, and promoting political dialogue, with the view of trying to resolve differences,” said Forward Thinking co-founder and director Oliver McTernan.
“Our principles are not to visit a country, or get engaged in a country, unless we are invited to do so,” he said, “and then once we are invited to do so by credible partners in any country then our goal would be to let those partners set the agenda for the discussion.”
The mediator’s sessions in Gaza focused on the role of youth in peacebuilding. More than half of the Palestinian population is under 24 years old, but youth often feel politically marginalized.
“Youth are the biggest category that suffers from the years of division,” said Mamoun Swidan, Palestinian Authority Presidential Adviser for Youth.
“They have a lot of issues and worries, dreams and ambitions,” he said. “The focus should be on youth.”
“It discussed lots of issues; such as youth, employment, parties, and political participation,” said Amani Al Faleet, Islamic University of Gaza student.
“It also discussed important points about how we – Palestinians – could consolidate peace and reconciliation between parties.”
“It was quite good to discuss different opinions and issues that people may feel ashamed to discuss in the Gaza Strip,” said Tahani Abu Dagga, Former Palestinian Culture Minister.
There is hope that a new generation of Israelis and Palestinians can revitalize the peace process.
“This world demands the qualities of youth; not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination…” – Robert F. Kennedy
Orchestra Uniting North and South Korea
North and South Korea have clashed for seven decades, but now a group of musicians are building peace, one note at a time.
The Lindenbaum Festival Orchestra recently performed a concert on the border of North and South Korea in the dangerous Demilitarized Zone. The 100 musicians moved outside for the final song so people across the border could hear the music.
“The DMZ – the demilitarized zone – in the Korean peninsula is one place on earth that desperately needs music,” said the orchestra founder Hyung Joon Won.
Joon Won founded the orchestra in 2009 to promote reconciliation. He dreams of organizing a performance with musicians and singers from both sides of the border.
“I believe in the power of music, which can definitely help and promote reconciliation and peace between two countries,” Joon Won told PeacePrints.
“Conflict happens, in my mind, in my opinion, when there’s no communication, for groups, or for people. For example, North and South Korea – we do not have communications at all,” he said, “but music, for example, when we are gathered through music, we learn instantly how to communicate.”
“I really wish North and South Korea will talk and meet through music, so the world will see the hope of our reconciliation and peace, and the value of music – to contribute to building bridges as to the division of our nation, conflict, and a lack of communication. Peace is Harmony.”
Footage courtesy of PeacePrints, an independently funded blog for peace projects around the world. Learn more about PeacePrints here.
People Choosing Peace: Kehkashan Basu (Canada)
Kehkashan is the founder of the Green Hope Foundation, youth ambassador on the World Future Council, United Nations Human Rights Champion, and winner of 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize.
Our world today has more children than ever before, yet we continue to be one of the most marginalized and oppressed section of civil society. When I was eight years old and I founded Green Hope to provide a platform to engage, educate, and empower young people so that they could realize their rights. We believe in education for sustainable development and workshops and conferences called “Environment Academies” for school and university students to spread awareness about the environment and sustainability. So far, I have conducted over 100 academies and engaged more than 5000 students from over 100 institutions all over the world. I started Green Hope with a handful of friends and it now has over 1000 members and volunteers working in Canada, USA, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. We have planted over 11,000 trees, cleaned beaches, worked on species and habitat conservation, organized fund raisers to help the victims of floods and earthquakes, recycled several hundred tons of waste, engaged communities to adopt sustainable lifestyles and promoted the use of renewable energy. In my role as the voice of young person, I have traveled to over 20 countries speaking at over 75 United Nations and other forums, such as the World Bank, the European Parliament, Bonn Town hall, and youth festivals, campaigning for our right to a sustainable planet.
If we are to achieve sustainability then the world must also achieve peace. Peace is the basis of humanity and its absence is starkly evident in many parts of our world which are torn apart by violence and war, in which, sadly, children are the worst victims. The plight of Syrian refugees has been dominating news headlines for many months now. Every social media platform broadcasts haunting images of their sad plight, especially those of women and children, who inevitably suffer the most. Feeling sorry for them is no longer the solution and it is imperative that each and every member of civil society takes steps to alleviate their suffering as they have every right to a life of dignity like all of us.
I have always believed in turning words into action and recently decided to visit Syrian refugee children living in camps in Lebanon close to the border. We wanted this New Year to be very special for these children, and with the help of our members collected a large consignment of clothes, woolens, books, flasks and toys. A five-member Green Hope team flew to Lebanon in the first week of January with this consignment and visited camps housing the Syrian refugees. Over a two day period, we conducted six environmental workshops with each workshop targeting a specific age group. Several hundred children, ranging in age from seven to 18, attended our workshops. This was their first exposure to conservation issues and their enthusiasm was limitless. We discussed global warming, the impacts of climate change, the UN Environment’s “Beat Pollution” campaign , the need to go “plastic free” , how tree planting reduces the carbon footprint impact and the need to recycle and reuse so that they could reduce wastage in their camps and do “more with less”. Our workshops were extremely interactive and we used music, songs, art and quiz to communicate with the children. Each group painted their dreams of the future on white T-shirts that we gave them and their ideas and expressions were truly amazing. Since their camps are without electricity for most of the day, we also distributed solar rechargeable lamps which would enable them to study at night.
A dream of a peaceful, and sustainable, world can become a reality only if all sections of civil society, especially the marginalized sections, are involved and Green Hope will continue to reach out to them and empower them so that together we get “The Future We Want”.
See more about Kehkashan here.
