DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES ROLE OF POST-CONFLICT PEACE-BUILDING, IN ADDRESS TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE ACADEMY

Press Release
DSG/SM/4

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES ROLE OF POST-CONFLICT PEACE-BUILDING, IN ADDRESS TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE ACADEMY

Following is the text of an address by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fr chette on "The price of peace -- the crucial role of development in peacemaking and peacekeeping", delivered at the International Peace Academy in New York on 11 May:

It is a real pleasure for me to speak at the International Peace Academy. I have had many occasions in the past to be associated with the work of this organization and I appreciate the outstanding contribution it makes to collective thinking on issues of peace and security.

The Academy has of course been blessed by exceptionally good leadership in the person of Olara Otunnu. I'm very happy to count him among my colleagues at the United Nations.

When I left New York in November 1994, the focus was very much on peacekeeping. We had over 70,000 soldiers deployed around the world. Peacekeeping had evolved significantly since the first experiments in the 1950s. The traditional model of peace-keeping consisted essentially of interposing United Nations soldiers between two warring factions to monitor a ceasefire or the implementation of a peace agreement. The new generation of peacekeeping missions involved the United Nations contingents, composed of both military and civilian elements, in everything from delivery of humanitarian assistance to demobilization, demining, elections observation, escort of returning refugees, police training and human rights monitoring. In short, peacekeeping had expanded into the territory of peace-building, which must continue, of course, long after the last peacekeeper has returned home.

Nowadays at the United Nations, the focus is very much on peace-building. There are few new peacekeeping missions, but the United Nations is still very active in consolidating peace in countries where peacekeeping operations are winding down or have been completed. It is also engaged in peace-building in many other countries.

All too often, countries emerging from prolonged conflicts, particularly internal conflicts, are starting almost from ground zero. The administrative apparatus may be in a state of quasi-total collapse, normal economic activity may have practically ceased, a large proportion of the population may have been displaced. Even more daunting perhaps is the legacy of deep suspicion and mistrust which continues to divide populations long after the guns have been silenced. Often, the very sense of nationhood is a casualty of war, and people end up withdrawing or retreating into ethnic, religious or other identities.

The challenge of post-conflict peace-building is to move societies to a state of sustainable peace, the emphasis here being on the world "sustainable". To be sustainable, peace has to be more than the absence of war. It has to give all members of the society the assurances of safety, equitable treatment and the possibility to attend to one's basic needs and aspirations.

Typically, peace-building requires action on a number of fronts.

On the political front, agreement has to be reached on the establishment of legitimate political authorities at the national and local levels. Some form of democratic election and agreed rules for the renewal of political mandates at regular intervals constitute crucial foundations of sustainable peace, since they alone offer the prospects of non-violent change in the political leadership and popular participation in decision-making.

However, formal democracy, in the form of elections and proper constitutional guarantees of the democratic process, is rarely sufficient to set countries emerging from a long civil conflict on a path of sustainable peace. Protection for ethnic or religious minorities, whose treatment is often at the heart of the conflict in the first place, must be ensured and fundamental freedoms must be guaranteed.

Restoring public administration and basic State services as soon as possible is another important pillar of peace-building. It is fashionable in some quarters nowadays to argue that the less government, the better. But one has to have witnessed life in countries where the State apparatus has collapsed to realize how absurd this concept is if pushed to its limits. Ronald Reagan once claimed that government was the problem, not the solution. With all respect to the former President, I would like to suggest that while government -- in the United States and elsewhere -- may have been part of the problem, it must also be part of the solution.

There can be no sustainable peace where the supply of the basic necessities of life is controlled by black markets, where thieves and bandits go unpunished, where children cannot go to schools and adults cannot work. In short, there can be no sustainable peace in chaos.

Placing all armed forces under the control of the legitimate civilian authorities is one essential step. Disarmament and demobilization are integral parts of many peace agreements. Efforts to control the proliferation of small arms have shown considerable promise, for example in Mali, where the United Nations helped in the collection of 3,000 weapons relinquished by former combatants.

But demobilization immediately raises the problem of the economic and social reinsertion of ex-combatants. Very often, special programmes have to be put in place -- such as the distribution of land, micro-finance schemes and start-up grants in the form of tools and seeds -- to ensure that demobilized soldiers have opportunities for gainful employment and do not join the ranks of the jobless or, worse, become a potential source of unrest. Let us remember that former combatants often know only the force of arms and possess only illegal, negative skills such as robbery and extortion with which to earn a living.

Similar plans must be in place for returning refugees and displaced persons. Indeed, peace-building for refugees can be said to begin in refugee camps, where education and job-training programmes are essential complements to humanitarian assistance.

Restoring the judicial system is a high priority in many post-conflict situations. Competent judges and police officers, as well as functional court and prison systems, are essential to maintain order and restore a sense of security in the country. This often necessitates massive training efforts in order to ensure that the law-enforcement agents perform their duties in accordance with acceptable norms of respect for the rights of individuals. Corruption poses particular problems, since it can rarely be brought under control without increasing wages significantly -- an option which war-torn countries usually cannot afford.

The overwhelming aspiration of populations emerging from war is to resume a normal life in their community. Restoration of basic infrastructure -- roads, water and energy supplies, reconstruction of destroyed dwellings -- must be attended to. Clearing fields of landmines constitutes in many countries a prerequisite to the resumption of agricultural production.

But the challenge in post-conflict peace-building in the economic and social areas cannot, in most cases, a mere return to the status quo ante, since social inequalities and real or perceived discrimination are often at the root of the conflict. The achievement of sustainable peace will often require more in-depth reforms. Land ownership regimes, pricing and taxation policies, quality of and access to education and health services and the development of human resources are issues that concern every citizen. The eradication of mass poverty cannot happen overnight; but if nothing is done to begin addressing inequalities and put the country on a path of sustainable growth, the risks of renewed conflict are evident.

The equitable provision of good quality basic education deserves special mention. Education which enables children to think critically, build self-esteem and learn positive values like tolerance, can be a major contributor to a democratic, participatory society composed of thinking citizens, and thus to peace rather than war. The rapid restoration of basic educational services in a post-conflict situation is one of the best ways of helping children to regain a sense of normalcy and to refocus on the future.

Issues of governance and human rights nowadays form an integral part of any strategy for development. What distinguishes a post-conflict peace-building situation from standard development strategies is, in my view, the element of urgency -- the need to achieve and be able to show tangible progress on a number of fronts in a short period of time.

Peace accords are the most fragile of creatures and they can easily be derailed. While their success in the end depends essentially on the commitment of the parties themselves, the international community -- and by this I mean the United Nations, neighbouring and other influential countries, donor countries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) -- can help significantly in moving the process forward.

Experience so far suggests a few lessons for the international community.

There must be a coherent plan to guide the actions of all the players. Identifying what will need to be done early on and ensuring the fundamental elements in the peace accord itself will provide a solid basis for holding the parties accountable in the next phase. The peace agreements in El Salvador, for example, were of such breadth and scope in addressing the root causes of that conflict that many described the process as a "revolution achieved by negotiation".

Speaking with one voice has proven time and time again to be a key factor in any peace-building effort. If compliance is to be induced on the part of all the parties, the message they receive from all the outside players must be crystal clear and fully consistent. The United Nations, for its part, has made cohesiveness and coordination primary objectives of the reform process. Politically, for example, we are working more closely with regional organizations in conflict resolution and its aftermath. Operationally, this translates into better communication and cooperation among the various United Nations agencies and other development partners that are present in a given country.

All those involved in the peace-building process must be ready to adjust their own activities to meet the goals and priorities set out in the plan. In a post-conflict situation, the overriding criterion for the selection and establishment of priorities is political, and it involves addressing problems which, if left unresolved, could lead to the return of fighting. It may be necessary to give preferential treatment to those particularly involved in or affected by the conflict in order to address the grievances that led them to resort to arms, to discourage them from doing so again, and to redress hardships or repressions suffered during the war.

Such a degree of coordination does not come easily. Aid agencies, whether national or international, have their own sets of goals, priorities and principles. We are making good progress in the United Nations in developing common development frameworks, but the discipline required in a post-conflict peace-building context is still not the norm in development programming. The challenge is all the more daunting when we attempt to bring together the full array of players, including the World Bank, the bilateral donors and even the NGOs.

There is a need to develop further our collective policies on how to deal with countries emerging from conflicts. The Secretary-General, in his report on Africa, referred, for instance, to the need for "peace-friendly" adjustment programmes. The current policy framework seems to be insufficiently flexible to take account of the exceptional needs of these countries. Also, donors must be prepared to provide funding and create effective mechanisms to support essential but perhaps less politically attractive activities. It is much easier to find funds for demining than for building jails. Recruiting qualified police officers to provide training and perform monitoring functions remains a major challenge in all peace operations.

The development, as soon as possible, of a national capability to reduce dependence must be a guiding principle of all international assistance. Humanitarian assistance in particular should, to the maximum extent possible, take forms which will facilitate a return to self-sufficiency -- work for food, rehabilitation of wells in place of food, and water distribution.

The involvement of local administrative structures and non-governmental institutions, and the participation of the local population, is imperative in all post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. Peace will endure if the hearts and minds can be won. This cannot be imposed from outside, and the ultimate purpose of all peace-building is to help people re-learn how to work and live together.

The media also have an important role to play. Ensuring the free flow of information in a post-conflict setting is a virtue in and of itself. But just as media coverage can sensationalize, just as it can make a situation seem worse than it might actually be, so too can images and reportage have the power to generate and sustain momentum in favour of recovery.

My final comment will be to remind us all that the wounds of war are slow to heal. If we are serious about peace-building, we must be prepared to make a long-term commitment. Flexibility and creativity will be required to respond to the inevitable setbacks. And the necessary resources will have to be found to set these countries back on the path to growth, justice and development. I am well aware that this can mean a lot of money. In Bosnia and Herzegovina today we are spending roughly three times the amount spent on European recovery through the Marshall Plan -- some $250 for every man, woman and child, not including the cost of the Stabilization Force of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This is an extraordinary sum, a remarkable level of commitment; but when compared with the human costs of conflict, with the cost in ravaged lives and damaged societies, even this is a small price to pay for peace.

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