Engaging with armed groups - Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue

Engaging with armed groupsof their efforts to quash them. The question of engagement grewmore controversial, even as globalisation and a ready access tothe media ensured that, at an operational level, armed groups andtheir representatives have never been easier to find or contact.Arguments for engagement today are rooted in principle andpragmatism. They can be broadly summarised as follows :• The persistence of armed conflict and a belief that engagingarmed groups is the preferred means to bring it to anend, not least because military options against insurgentson their own rarely succeed in creating conditions that willfoster sustainable peace. 3 Despite an overall trend toward areduction of violence since the end of the Cold War, therewere 36 active armed conflicts in 2009, all of them involvingthe state and one or more non-state armed groups – a rise ofnearly one quarter since the early 2000s. 4• The imperative to protect local populations from continuingviolence. Even in circumstances in which engagementmay not lead to a resolution, it can address human rights andother humanitarian concerns, secure a presence in a conflictzone to monitor humanitarian conditions, and save lives.• The need to ensure that those armed actors (or their representatives)who have had primary roles in pursuing the conflictand have the capacity to reach – or undermine – agreementsthat will facilitate its end, are included in processes towardspeace and are present at the peace table. Armed groups mayrepresent sizeable constituencies ; when they have grievances,and the ability to sustain armed action, they will have the abilityto spoil any settlement from which they are left out.• An opportunity to develop a channel of communication toan armed group. This has various benefits, even in circumstancesin which a peace process seems remote. A channelmay prove useful to defuse a crisis or emergency, or address9