Public Sector Governance and Accountability Series: Budgeting and ...

13
Budgeting in Postconflict
Countries
salvatore schiavo-campo
T
he focus of this chapter is on how to approach public expenditure
management challenges in the special, and especially
difficult, circumstances of a postconflict country. The sad realities
of frequent conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially over the past
decade, have produced a substantial understanding of how to deal
with postconflict reconstruction and recovery. First is a recognition
that severe conflict, especially in its most virulent ethnic form,
destroys more than physical facilities and, of course, human lives.
Protracted conflict also short-circuits the rules that keep human
interaction constructive and predictable, targets primarily the
organizations and individuals who administer those rules, and
wipes out most positive forms of social capital. Postconflict reconstruction
is first and foremost an institutional challenge. The second
imperative is balancing the immediate reconstruction
priorities with sound long-term policy and institutional development.
Accordingly, the experience in budgeting in Africa, reviewed
in the previous chapters, and the recommendations flowing from
that experience cannot be applied in their ordinary form to the
special circumstances of a country emerging from protracted
civil conflict.
Combining that experience with the understanding of the special
challenges of postconflict countries, however, does permit elaborating
a practical approach to budgeting in the early postconflict
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