Horizontal inequalities and post-conflict development

Abstract

This volume evaluates the extent to which post-conflict reconstruction has addressed problems of horizontal inequalities by looking at the experiences of seven diverse post-conflict countries: Burundi, Rwanda, Nepal, Peru, Guatemala, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Afghanistan. It includes four cross-cutting thematic studies on macro-economic policies, privatisation, PRSP's, and employment generation. Revealing important gaps in the redressal of what are often deeply entrenched forms of group-based discrimination, deprivation and marginalisation, it points to distinct implications for policy and further research. The authors find that even in cases where HI's have been reduced, this has happened in a somewhat haphazard and inconsistent manner, with patchy implementation, gaps in coverage, and doubts as to the sustainability of this improvement. In addition, there is a clear pattern of evidence which suggests that improvements in some metrics of HI's are being offset and rendered ineffective by new forms of group inequalities, particularly those linked to neo-liberal reforms and global economic integration