peace building and sustainable development

Peace-building for Sustainable Development

By Lovelyn Nwolisa+2348098234737

lovelynlisa@yahoo.com

Peace-building is a term describing outside interventions that are designed to prevent the start or resumption of violent conflict within a nation/community by creating a sustainable peace

Peace-building activities address the root causes or potential causes of violence, create a societal expectation for peaceful conflict resolution and stabilize society politically and socioeconomically

Peace-building, peace-making and peace-keeping

Peace-making involves stopping an ongoing conflict

Peace-building happens before a conflict starts or once it ends

Peace-keeping prevents the resumption of conflict; it does not address the underlying causes of violence or work to create societal change, as peace-building does. It also differs from peace-building in that it only occurs after conflict ends, not before it begins

Components of peace-building

Create an environment that supports durable peace

Reconcile opponents Prevent conflict from reoccurring Integrate civil societies Create rule of law mechanisms Address underlying structural and societal

issues

Peace-building must address

Functional Structures

Emotional Conditions

Social Psychology

Social Stability

Rule of Law

Ethics and cultural sensitivities

Three dimensions of peace-building

1st dimension

• Taking away weapons

• Re-integrating former combatants into civilian

society

2nd dimension

• Rebuilding basic facilities, transportation and communication networks, utilities

• Developing rule of law and public administration

• Building educational and health infrastructure

• Providing technical and capacity-building assistance for institutions

• Creating legitimate (democratic ,accountable) state institutions

3rd dimension

• Trauma counselling

• Community dialogue

• Building bridges between different communities

• Increasing human rights

• Gender empowerment

• Raising environmental awareness

• Promoting economic development

• Developing a civil society and private sector that can represent diverse

interests and challenge the state peacefully

What Has Been Done So far to Curb Communal Conflicts in Nigeria

Mention more...

Group discussion

Group 1: Discuss different ways of Re-integrating

former combatants into civilian society.

Group2: What is the best form of education for

survivors?

Group 3: Suggest ways peace can be maintained

in communities in Nigeria

key to building a long-term sustainable peace.

Respected local figures Public dimension Story-telling and airing of grievances Emphasis on relationships Reliance on local resources

sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable development, if achieved, contributes decisively to the dissipation, if not the elimination, of several primary causes of conflict

If a sustainable development strategy has been successful in terms of the reduction of poverty, the levelling of social inequalities, and the optimum allocation of scarce resources, then certainly many of the situations that exacerbate conflict between different groups, communities, and nationalities will be avoided.

Discussions + Questions