The nature of intra-state conflicts and the political manipulation of humanitarian aid in the 1990s has led to the popular postulate that humanitarianism has to be included as an instrument for peacebuilding efforts. So far, the debate surrounding such a linkage has largely ignored the nature and behaviour of aid agencies. This paper focuses on the feasibility of including humanitarian action i...

W IS THE RECORD, EFFECTIVENESS AND LEGACY of liberal approaches to peacebuilding in conflict-prone and post-conflict societies? Aside from promoting stability and containing conflict, why does international peacebuilding have a mixed—or even poor—record in promoting welfare, equitable human development and inclusive democratic politics? Have these shortcomings jeopardized overall peacebuilding ...

The Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) provides cutting-edge knowledge services on demand and online and aims to help reduce poverty by informing policy and practice in relation to governance, conflict and social development issues. The Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre (Noref, Norsk Ressurssenter for Fredsbygging) is a resource centre integrating knowledge and experience to...

The right to internal self-determination offers a legal ‘checklist’ for the UN to provide both legitimacy and sustainability to peacebuilding processes. The right both clarifies the actors of postconflict reconstruction and also concretises to what extent these actors should be incorporated into peacebuilding processes. Although the concept of local ownership has become an often-cited concept i...

The article by Potts et al, "The Pill is Mightier than the Sword," points out that family planning has an important role to play in building peace by increasing women's empowerment and their agency, ultimately helping peacebuilding efforts. Evidence has demonstrated that family planning programs are cost effective, produce quick results, help women and couples meet their desired fertility level...

The Lisbon Treaty (LT) has been designed to improve the coherence of the Union’s external action. Whilst peacebuilding, as HR Ashton has said in the European Parliament, is central to what the EU does externally, it is not spelled out in a clear policy statement what this means. The result is that the means that are principally available within the Union are not mainstreamed towards peacebuildi...

Peacebuilding is concerned with the long-term consolidation of peace in countries that have experienced conflict, with a view to building resilience. Peacebuilding has been defined by the United Nations as ‘a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict, to strengthen national capacities at all levels for conflict management, and to lay the foundations for...

Th e Impact of Spoilers on Peace Processes and Peacebuilding M ceasefires and peace agreements in civil wars are initially unsuccessful and give way to renewed violence. In other cases, peace processes have become interminably protracted: lengthy and circular negotiations in which concessions are rare and even if agreements are reached they falter at the implementation phase. State-building and...

The article by Potts et al, “The Pill is Mightier than the Sword,” points out that family planning has an important role to play in building peace by increasing women’s empowerment and their agency, ultimately helping peacebuilding efforts. Evidence has demonstrated that family planning programs are cost effective, produce quick results, help women and couples meet their desired fertility level...

International peacebuilding can improve the prospects that a civil war will be resolved. Although peacebuilding strategies must be designed to address particular conflicts, broad parameters that fit most conflicts can be identified. Strategies should address the local roots of hostility; the local capacities for change; and the (net) specific degree of international commitment available to assi...