Peacebuilding &conflict transformation A ... - Peaceworkafrica

There is a great deal of human suffering related to violent conflicts, political instabilityor unjust policies and practices. While short‐term humanitarian relief and crisisintervention are most important to reduce the immediate sufferings in violent conflicts,they are not enough in fragile states or post‐conflict societies. There must beadditional initiatives for post‐conflict reconciliation, for the development of capacityfor conflict transformation and for the building of sustainable peace. Meanwhilethere is increasing awareness of the need to increase the capacities for nonviolentconflict transformation everywhere, even before open violence has occurred.2.1 What is peacebuilding?As you may expect, the term “peacebuilding” is not clearly defined and is used in avariety of areas 19 . It is most often used to describe work that has peace‐enhancingoutcomes, and it attaches great importance to how things happen. It involves a fullrange of approaches, processes and stages needed to transform towards more sustainableand peaceful relationships, just governance modes and fair structures. Thelist below might give a glimpse of the current state of understanding and discussion:▶ Peacebuilding is the set of initiatives by diverse actors in government andcivil society to address the root causes of violence and protect civilians before,during, and after violent conflict. Peacebuilders use communication, negotiation,and mediation instead of belligerence and violence to resolve conflicts.Effective peacebuilding is multi‐faceted and adapted to each conflict environment.There is no one path to peace, but pathways are available in every conflictenvironment. Peacebuilders help belligerents find a path that will enablethem to resolve their differences without bloodshed. The ultimate objective ofpeacebuilding is to reduce and eliminate the frequency and severity of violentconflict.▶ Peacebuilding consists of a wide range of activities associated with capacitybuilding, reconciliation and societal transformation. Peacebuilding is along‐term process that occurs after the violent conflict has slowed down orcome to a halt. In a narrower sense, peacebuilding is a process that facilitatesthe establishment of durable peace and tries to prevent the recurrence of violenceby addressing the root causes and effects of conflict through reconciliation,institution building and political as well as economic transformation.This consists of a set of physical, social and structural initiatives that are oftenan integral part of post‐conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation.2 . P e a c e b u i l d i n g 29