Post conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding in Africa’s Great Lakes Region : the role of transitional justice.

Master of Social Science. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2016.Peacebuilding has become a bridging tool through the use of justice processes in order to reconstruct peaceful societies. Increasingly the international community within the last five decades has also become rigorous in its approaches to build global peace and to harness reconciliation. Peacebuilding is formulated in response to a given state’s post genocidal or post-conflict situation it incorporates short, medium and long-term goals that will enable the society to emerge from the conflict and further sustain peace while also spurring development. The contemporary international system is characterized by intra-state conflict, as such post conflict reconstruction should be formulated in such a way that reconciliation is achieved, national identities are created and peace is sustained. Increasingly in an attempt to address the above, the international community has taken into using transitional justice as a means not only of reconciliation, but also to address the impunity which accompanies most intra-state conflicts as well as the spill over effects of conflicting parties to other states within a region. The Great Lakes region in Africa has been a region prone to conflict for well over four decades. The region is made up of countries that have Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria passing within their territories, they are: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Republic of Tanzania and Rwanda. It is evident that the efforts of achieving sustainable peace for each states in that region has been compromised by factors external to their territory therefore regional factors. With violence rampant in the region during 1990 to early 2000’s with inter-state conflict and inter-state violent conflict raging particularly in Rwanda the DRC and Burundi and Uganda sustainable peace seemed to be a distant goal for these states. Peacebuilding supposes sustainable peace by emphasizing the need to address conflict in a manner that will prevent a recurrence of conflict. With the advent of globalisation and the increased interdependence among states, sustainable peace has itself become an international priority and as such global peace is kept and advocated for by organisations such the United Nations. Sustainable peace is therefore no longer just limited to a state and its territories but also essential for global peace and regional cooperation

HEALTH AND PEACE: GLOBAL, REGIONAL AND LOCAL PERSPECTIVE

Over the last few decades, human beings are facing the worst challenges of violence, terrorism and wars apart from health related challenges. Health and peace are the fundamental rights of every human being and are interlinked. Relationship between health and peace is dynamic and bilateral. Peace is an important determinant of health while attainment of peace depends upon health of all people.1-3 Both health and peace have a very broad meaning. World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.3 Similarly, “peace” is currently taken as not just the absence or reduction of war but include negation of violence, presence of harmony, justice, equity; and the capacity to handle conflict in a nonviolent manner.4 Global peace is under threat by various conflicts, violence, terrorism and wars. During second half of 20th century, power game among superpowers resulted in open warfare, cold wars and proxy wars, leading to violent conflicts across the world. Worldwide, conflicts arising from any geopolitical, ethnic, religious and economic matters are handled either by a nonviolent peaceful way or through violence and wars. The use of violence for conflict resolution and peace building is not justified as violence itself is considered as opposite to peace and peace should only be achieved by peaceful means. 5,6 Violence, civil wars and terrorism are major threats to global health. Along with economic and infrastructural damage, wars contribute to increased mortality and morbidly with detrimental effects on physical and psychological health of the population.7 According to Global Burden of Disease Study, wars will be the 8th leading cause of disability and death by 2020.8 Iraq war led to the loss of 1,16,903 Iraqi civilians and more than 4,800 coalition military personnel from 2003-11.9 In Afghanistan, conflict and terrorism is the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost.10 Pakistan is also affected by violent conflict with an increasing trend over the last couple of decades.11 This resulted in 63,554 deaths in Pakistan from 2000-2018.12 The economic burden on Pakistan due to incidents of terrorism from 2001-20018 was US$126.79 billion.13 Achieving the goal of desirable standard of health for all people needs sustainable, long-term peacebuilding measures by reducing all forms of violence and wars. United Nations General Assembly in its resolution no 34/58 stated: “Peace and security, in their turn, are important for the preservation and improvement of the health of all people, and that cooperation among nations on vital health issues can contribute importantly to peace”.14 This gigantic task needs a multidisciplinary approach and cannot be achieved without involvement of the health professionals - as highlighted by WHO- resolution number 34.38 in 34th World Health Assembly.15 Various organizations like “International Committee of the Red Cross”, “International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War”, “International Campaign to Ban Landmines” and others have worked on the involvement of health force in peace building process.16 In 1984, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), introduced the concept of “Health as a Bridge for Peace (HBP)”17 which was later on adopted by WHO in 1998 during 51st World Health Assembly.18 HBP aimed to support the health workers in providing healthcare services in conflict affected zones and simultaneously avail all the opportunities to promote peace through various health related activities.19 Health related initiatives are not only helpful in reducing morbidity and mortality during wars but can also be useful in prevention, resolution and transformation of conflicts before, during and after violent conflicts and wars. “Peace through health (PtH)” is another important peace work initiative from McMaster University, addressing the role of health workers in promoting peace through various health interventions in context of war and conflict.16,20,21 “PtH working group has identified various mechanisms that can explain the peace-work performed by health-workers.21,22 Health professionals are already equipped with knowledge, certain skills, values and qualities that can be utilized in handling violent conflicts and promotion of peace in many situations.5,16 Like any other program, there are some limitations of PBH & PtH programs as well. There is no evidence-based, systematic evaluation of the impact of peace through health initiatives.16, 23 Some quarters advocate that health professionals are only concerned with health care delivery in war-affected areas and should not be involved in conflicts and peacebuilding process. Neutrality and impartiality of healthcare workers in certain situations can also be compromised. Questions are also being raised regarding formal education and appropriate skills of health care workers in conflict management and peace-building process.16, 24-26 However, the usefulness of peace through health theory has not been refuted through solid evidence. 20 As already discussed, South Asian region, including Pakistan and Afghanistan are confronting violent conflicts, wars and terrorism during the recent past. There is a dire need of seeking every opportunity to achieve and promote peace in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the region. The involvement of health professionals in this highly needed and noble cause is a proven and viable strategy. A strategic plan may be developed for integration of health-care delivery system with the prevention and transformation of violent conflicts and wars. Special peace-based training courses should be arranged for health care providers in war affected areas and high intensity conflict zones. Incorporation of peace and conflict studies in undergraduate medical curriculum and postgraduate public-health curriculum at university level will be a way forward in achieving peace through health in Pakistan and the region

Peace education, militarism and neo-liberalism: conceptual reflections with empirical findings from the UK

This article explores ‘peace days’ in English schools as a form of peace education. From a historical overview of academic discussions on peace education in the US and Great Britain since the First World War, we identify three key factors important for peace education: the political context, the place in which peace days occur and pedagogical imperatives of providing a certain narrative of the sources of violence in politics. Although contemporary militarism and neoliberalism reduce the terrains for peace studies in English schools, peace days allow teachers to carve out spaces for peace education. Peace days in Benfield School, Newcastle and Comberton Village College, Cambridgeshire, are considered as case studies. We conclude with reflections on the opportunities and limitations of this approach to peace education, and on how peace educators and activists could enlarge its reach

The structure of global economic integration and conflict

Empirical examinations have reached a number of conclusions regarding the relationship between global economic integration and interstate conflict. Most studies find that increased economic relations dampen the likelihood of interstate violence. Yet these studies have focused largely on bilateral trade measures and domestic-level causal mechanisms. In this paper I take the discussion to the structural level and construct systemic variables for global economic openness and concentration. I then test the relationships among these variables and international conflict using an autoregressive model and event count regression methods. The outcomes suggest that high levels of hegemonic protection and global economic concentration are associated with low levels of systemic violence, a finding that runs counter to much of the existing empirical and theoretical literature surrounding the international market and conflict.Governmen

The EU as a global-regional actor in security and peace: the EU-GRASP final integrative report

This report is a final product of a research project, called EU-GRASP that aimed at a better understanding of the EU’s role in regional and global peace and security issues. Undertaking this was a fascinating and challenging task, especially as the subject matter was, for various reasons, a real moving target

World polity: anatomy of and arguments for regional and global integration

This article is inspired by taking sort of a medical view on the international political world2. A medical view here means that first we need to understand the anatomy of the organism that we observe, i.e. the world. Secondly, we need to make some diagnoses and prognoses about possible threats to the functioning of this organism as well as how to restore health. In Political Science terms this means identifying threats to security, peace, survival and wellbeing of states, nations, and individuals, as well as the whole, and to identify possible political solutions to these threats. The first part of this article will present the history of global integration and why it is necessary to prevent war and to facilitate peace at the example of Europe. Europe is here regarded a greenhouse for global integration. This part describes the attempts at integration before the major wars in Europe in the last centuries, the reasons for these wars as the failures or lack of integration, and the way it was overcome. The second part of this article will present an ideal type global political anatomy. This will be illustrated with graphics, which are thought to make the global political system better understood by visualising key aspects of it. The third part of this paper will discuss the nature of reality, which is important to understand conflicts in today’s world, as ‘virtual’, material, social and cultural. It will present a challenge to Alexander Wendt’s recent idea of reality as a hologram and discuss how civilizational conflicts, as described by Samuel Huntington, can possibly be resolved by creating a global demos (polity) by establishing a global parliament. As the basis for the latter argument, finally, this paper will present and analyse the results from the survey on global citizenship. Global demos here refer to the idea of a global polity, or identification of the global population with the global, or to say it alternatively: as global citizens. It is argued that, if we would have a global demos, this would facilitate global integration, which is necessary for peace. For example, further global integration towards a world state with a world parliament, is thought to be only possible and sensible if there is a reasonable global demos to build this entity on.For this reason, this article presents results from a survey run at the University of Hull in 2016 intended to measure global citizenship

Why we need to establish international political psychology

A combination of Psychology with International Relations yields important results and ideas for improving the international world. This chapter proposes to establish International Political Psychology as a discipline with the purpose of harvesting ideas, theories and concepts that derive out of a combination of the above disciplines

International democracy promotion: a role for public goods theory?

The state of international democracy promotion is in flux. After more than fifteen years of increasing activity and with more organisations and resources devoted to promoting democracy than ever before, a mood of uncertainty surrounds democracy support's current performance and future prospects. The last decade has also seen the emergence of a new literature on global public goods theory, offering fresh analytical perspectives on pressing issues in international affairs like peace, security, development, and environmental sustainability. The future of democracy promotion will be determined chiefly by the realities of the political market place, in societies on both sides of the relationship. But could recent theorising about the market for global public goods offer some analytical support for making sense of its current condition and, by identifying the democratic peace as a global public good strengthen the case for greater international cooperation in promoting democracy as means to achieve that end