Exploring the peace building-Exploring the peace building-development nexus in development nexus in

situations of conflict and situations of conflict and fragilityfragility

AAlina Rocha Menocal, ODI

International Parliamentary Conference on Peace Building: Tackling State Fragility

2 February 2010

• The challenge

• A peace- and state-building approach to tackle fragility

• Operational lessons and implications

• A role for parlamentarians

OverviewOverview

• In conflict affected fragile states, the international community and domestic actors face the dual task of promoting peace while helping to build more effective and legitimate states that are inclusive and responsive.

• At the heart of efforts to build more peaceful states and societies lies the challenge to strengthen/revitalise the linkages between state and society.

The challengeThe challenge

A peace- and state-A peace- and state-building approach to building approach to

tackle fragilitytackle fragility

• Work needed along three crucial dimensions:

1) work towards making political systems more inclusive and legitimate

2) work towards strengthening key core functions of the state so that it can operate at a minimal level

3) work towards helping the state meet public expectations

• Crucially, these are interrelated and not sequential.

More inclusive and More inclusive and legitimate political legitimate political

systemssystems

• Objective is to develop a new vision of the state and rules of the game that:

– Are acceptable to a majority of actors, and – Can create a legitimate political centre

• The current context in which conflict affected fragile states are being transformed offers the potential for more inclusive statecraft.

• But this remains a daunting task.

• Guatemala provides a useful illustration.

Core state functionsCore state functions

• Before the state can do anything else, it must be minimally effective in the following three areas:

– Security (enforcing and protective) – Rules-based environment – Administrative, financial and macro-economic

management

Public expectationsPublic expectations

• This focuses attention on those state functions and activities which are expected by the population based on the local context, including:

– enabling infrastructure and regulatory framework

– public service delivery (health, education, water)

– employment programmes and job creation

– access to justice Anti-corruption measures

– voice and accountability (fair elections, free media, freedom of information, human rights, budget monitoring)

Operational lessons and Operational lessons and implicationsimplications

• PB and PB is an endeavour full of contradictions. There are important complementarities but also tensions. Difficult trade-offs are always involved.

• Start with domestic context to:– make informed policy decisions among

competing priorities– facilitate existing domestic processes and

leverage local capacities– foster inclusive dialogues at different levels

of governance

Operational lessons and Operational lessons and implicationsimplications

• Think politically and sharpen tools for more sophisticated political economy analysis. This is an area that DFID is increasingly engaging with, as well as other international organisations.

• Be humble and realistic about what international actors can achieve from the outside.

• Remain engaged over the long term. Developing in-depth knowledge and building trust and contacts in-country are time-consuming, and the kinds of transformations being sought are likely to take generations and not years.

Role for ParlamentariansRole for Parlamentarians

• Parliament and parlamentarians are a key institution linking state and society.

• They are crucial in terms of providing checks and balances, holding the executive to account and channelling citizens’ demands.

• But in fragile contexts they are not as effective.

• Donors can help by working with parliaments and parlamentarians in efforts to strengthen their internal capacity, their autonomy, and their ability to promote horizontal and vertical accountability.