Fifty-five countries are currently in the grips of violent conflict, according to the UN. Can NGOs hope to contend with the massive forces fuelling complex political emergencies? Are NGOs equipped to move beyond traditional roles as providers of humanitarian relief to become promotors of peace? And how are they faring in the 'grey area' between relief and development?

A University of Manchester working paper draws on the experience of agencies in Afghanistan, Liberia and Sri Lanka to suggest ways that NGOs and donors can strengthen their contribution to peace-building.

There are examples of good practice to draw on. Where, despite conflict, there is still a functioning state and dynamic civil society (as in Sri Lanka) the space for NGO engagement in advocacy and community-based conflict mediation can be significant. NGOs in Sri Lanka have played a key role in building a pro-peace constituency.

Even in contexts of chronic political instability, NGOs have been successful in human rights monitoring, demobilising child and adult ex-combatants, trauma counselling, constitutional and judicial reform and fostering local leadership. While violent conflict reigns, NGOs can muster holding operations, providing support for civil society and sheltering the peace entrepreneurs who can diffuse ideas and transform social structures.

Other significant findings are less welcome:

• NGOs can readily get incorporated into, and fuel, the dynamics of conflict. In Afghanistan donors have accepted 'wastage' levels of 40 percent and in Liberia, warlords have profited from food aid.
• In well-resourced major conflicts NGOs are bit players. In Afghanistan the impact of aid expenditure of $300 million is insignificant compared with the estimated US$2.5 billion of illicit cross-border trade with Pakistan alone.
• Expatriate staff come and go with unpredictable frequency with resultant dramatic losses in NGOs' institutional memory.
• Increased donor funds have permitted an increase in the size and numbers of NGOs but stifled innovation. There has been a 'crisis of conformity': NGOs adopt short time frames, avoid risk and focus on activities that promise to produce 'measurable' achievements.
• Pressures on NGOs to be more accountable can be dysfunctional if they lead to a focus on measuring rather than learning.

Key recommendations for NGOs working in conflict zones include the need to:

• apply what they know form development - the importance of listening to clients, analysing social forces, understanding what makes economies tick
• develop a greater sensitivity to the dynamics of peace and conflict and be more mindful of the potential for programmes to exacerbate violent conflict and the opportunities to support peace-building processes
• seek to retain institutional memory by retaining key staff.

In turn, donors should adopt longer timeframes, think beyond their own individual projects and develop a more nuanced approach to engaging with civil society.

Recognising that there is no universal best practice model is essential. What is good practice in one context is bad in another. All depends on understanding the specificity of history and context.

Source(s):
'NGOs and peace building in complex political emergencies: Final report to the Department for International Development', Peace Building and Complex Political Emergencies, Working Paper #12, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, by Jonathan Goodhand and David Hulme, March 2000

Funded by: UK Department for International Development

id21 Research Highlight: 2 November 2001

Further Information:
Jonathan Goodhand
INTRAC
PO Box 563
Oxford OX2 6RZ
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 2809
Fax: +44 (0) 161 273 8829
Contact the contributor: JonathanGoodhand@aol.com

INTRAC, UK

Other related links:
'Time to grasp the nettle? Post-conflict rehabilitation'

'Peacebuilding from below: can NGOs promote non-violent conflict resolution processes?'

'Understanding conflict: are international NGOs out of their depth?'

The Centre for Conflict Resolution provides further research

See the World Bank Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit

The Department of Peace Studies features more relevant research

Eldis focuses on Conflict, including peacebuilding