The Security-Politics-Development Nexus: The Lessons of State-Building in Sub-Saharan Africa

How can development policy support weak, dysfunctional or fragile states? What constitutes state fragility and what are the appropriate instruments for state-building? After reviewing two recent quantitative indexes (The Index of State Weakness in the Developing World and The Ibrahim Index of African Governance), this paper cautions against the current tendency to categorise a large number of countries as weak, fragile or failing states. Drawing upon country case studies on Namibia, Somalia and Guinea-Bissau, the paper argues that state-building is fundamentally a political process and external state-builders need to develop greater understanding of the internal dynamics of individual societies in order to provide appropriate support to address state fragility. Current strategies for statebuilding are heavily weighted in favour of technical, institutional and formal arrangements. Moreover, since 9/11, the international state-building agenda has increasingly focused on state weakness as a challenge for international peace and security, rather than as an issue of national governance. As a result, many preferred policy prescriptions risk weakening the very states that they hope to strengthen.governance

Investing in Equity: Creating Equitable Funding for Women Peacebuilders

Although women are vital to the success and sustainability of peace efforts, and despite progress made by the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda over the past two decades, women peacebuilders remain severely underfunded — and the funding that is available to them is often unresponsive to their needs and characterized by a power disparity between funder and funded. In order to advance women’s inclusion in peace and justice processes, this report examines what equitable funding partnerships are, why they are essential to peacebuilding, and how they can best be cultivated, providing evidence from the field to support its findings, conclusions and recommendations.https://digital.sandiego.edu/ipj-research/1002/thumbnail.jp

Conflictos globales y el camino hacia la paz

Versión en francés disponible en la Biblioteca Digital del IDRC: Développement et sécurité : un même butVersión en inglés disponible en la Biblioteca Digital del IDRC: Linking development and security researc

Construção da paz: A interface entre abordagens nacionais e internacionais

This paper focuses on the chasm between domestic and international understandings and approaches to peacebuilding and the mixed outcomes that characterize contemporary efforts to assist war‑torn countries. It argues that post‑Cold War peacebuilding relies on a wide array of international actors with diverse interests and mandates which are not necessarily aligned with local realities or needs. Building on the rich literature on the role of external actors in conflict zones, the paper examines the interface between domestic and international actors through the concept of ‘hybridity’. It then reviews two mechanisms that aim to level the playing field between war‑affected countries and international actors: the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission and the New Deal for Engagement with Fragile States

The Security-Politics-Development Nexus: The Lessons of State-Building in Sub-Saharan Africa

European Report on DevelopmentHow can development policy support weak, dysfunctional or fragile states? What constitutes state fragility and what are the appropriate instruments for state-building? After reviewing two recent quantitative indexes (The Index of State Weakness in the Developing World and The Ibrahim Index of African Governance), this paper cautions against the current tendency to categorise a large number of countries as weak, fragile or failing states. Drawing upon country case studies on Namibia, Somalia and Guinea-Bissau, the paper argues that state-building is fundamentally a political process and external “state-builders” need to develop greater understanding of the internal dynamics of individual societies in order to provide appropriate support to address state fragility. Current strategies for statebuilding are heavily weighted in favour of technical, institutional and formal arrangements. Moreover, since 9/11, the international state-building agenda has increasingly focused on state weakness as a challenge for international peace and security, rather than as an issue of national governance. As a result, many preferred policy prescriptions risk weakening the very states that they hope to strengthen

Global conflict : the path to security

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Développement et sécurité : un même butSpanish version available in IDRC Digital Library: Vinculando el desarrollo a la investigación sobre segurida

Recherche de la sécurité

Version espagnole dans la bibliothèque: Vinculando el desarrollo a la investigación sobre seguridadVersion anglaise dans la bibliothèque: Linking development and security researc