Post-War and Post-Conflict Challenges for Development Cooperation

Conflict and violence have become an important context for development
cooperation during the last decade. Donors not only have to
cope with the consequences of conflict in their day‐to‐day work on
the ground, but also need to develop strategies in the fields of early
warning and prevention, as well as instruments for conflict analysis
and conflict‐sensitive approaches for cooperation. At the same time,
external actors have been important supporters for many peace processes
aiming at the termination of armed conflicts and violence.
When wars or armed conflicts end (or at least when violence on the
ground decreases) the hope for sustainable peacebuilding grows. UN
General Secretary Ban Ki Moon pointed out the importance of the
immediate post‐conflict/post‐war period in a report to the Security
Council on June 11, 2009: “The immediate post‐conflict period offers
a window of opportunity to provide basic security, deliver peace
dividends, shore up and build confidence in the political process, and
strengthen core national capacity to lead peacebuilding efforts.” This
gives a first impression of the many challenges internal and external
actors face; at the same time experiences on the ground show that
liberal peacebuilding conceived as a profound transformation process
is a difficult endeavour.
Read more