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The Contribution of Community Development to Peacebuilding; World Vision's Area Development Programmes
Partnership Report
26 Jul 1999
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| Status: | Partnership |
| Keywords: | All "Peace & Conflict" reports |
FINDINGS
by Siobhan O'Reilly-Calthrop
The insight gained from the research has been illuminating, encouraging and challenging for
the fields of peacebuilding, community development and natural resource management.
Peacebuilding & good development practice
First of all, it is clear that peacebuilding and transformational community development are intimately linked. There appears to be a direct connection between effective, participatory grass-roots development and peacebuilding. A dual lesson is, therefore, to be learnt and peacebuilding should not be seen as an irrelevant activity that is a distraction from the business of poverty reduction.
Capacity to create 'peacebuilding environment'
ADPs clearly have a strong capacity to generate a culture of mutual understanding, interdependence and trust amongst diverse people groups. This emerges as an indirect result of the development process, the approach used and the structure around which the ADP operates. The participatory, all-embracing approach in which all beneficiaries are encouraged to work together towards one aim, the structure of committee networks that connect communities throughout the ADP, and the role of an independent co-ordinating agent all combine to create a powerful 'peacebuilding environment'.
By this we mean an environment in which conflicting parties can become reconciled, disputes are more easily resolved or managed peacefully, and the likelihood of violent conflict reduced. The latter refers to the increased interdependence and building of solidarity between diverse ethnic or religious groups and their leaders that the ADP brings about. This, in turn, reduces the leverage for manipulation of prejudices or differences by conflict entrepreneurs who frequently exploit such differences. It also builds local capacities for peace should war break out.
General outcomes found in the ADPs researched were: the erosion of ethnic and sectarian prejudice, mistrust and division; transformation of inter-community dynamics; reconciliation of conflicting parties; the growth of deep respect for human dignity; and a certain measure of ADP-wide solidarity.
Catalysts
Certain peacebuilding 'catalysts' have been identified. These are: the formation of heterogeneous, voluntary development committees that are representative of all the different communities and which are connected from the village to district level; the all-embracing approach of World Vision; the role and example of village development workers or facilitators; the strengthening of local churches; racially mixed education; and the role of community celebration.
Capacity varies and depends on structure, approach and process
The existence of these catalysts in each ADP depends on the exact structure, approach and process used. However, because ADPs are not homogeneous and details of design vary from region to region, the degree to which they encourage peacebuilding is variable.
Lessons for natural resource management
One area of peacebuilding in which ADPs are demonstrating excellent competence and which needs little extra attention is local dispute management. By building the capacity of local leaders and above all, by causing them to become familiar with each other, the ability to resolve local disputes has markedly improved. This has important lessons for natural resource management.
Potential greater than reality - the need for a peacebuilding perspective
However, in spite of the above, it must be stressed that the peacebuilding capacity of many ADPs so far lies more in their potential than their actual performance - the full extent of their capacity remains untapped. This is because their peacebuilding capacity has neither been recognised by ADP managers nor consciously been managed towards that aim. Therefore, for the peacebuilding capacity of ADPs to be substantial or influential they require specific and careful management towards this aim. Peacebuilding using the ADP model requires few extra financial resources; what is required is a peacebuilding perspective.
Secondly, there is an important aspect of the ADP model not being fully employed or taken advantage of, which has enormous potential not only for peacebuilding but also for community development.
This is the opportunity for coalitions and forums at the level beyond the village or parish, which provide an excellent platform for economies of scale and collective advocacy on issues of common concern.
Eight points for peacebuilding
In order to fully exploit the peacebuilding potential of ADPs, and indeed many other community development programmes, certain key insights and lessons would need to be applied. Most of these involve merely applying a peacebuilding perspective to the design and management of ADPs but there are also some specific concrete measures that would need to be taken:
1. The more participatory, the more peacebuilding.
2. Slow, gradual entry with emphasis on relationship building.
3. Influence of the agent of change: the need for impartiality.
4. Formation of committees - representative, voluntary and district-wide.
5. Coalitions and apex groups - tapping into the potential to "think ADP".
6. Training and education in civil society for the beneficiaries.
7. The need to integrate the non-poor into the process.
8. Regionalisation of ADPs to be considered.
Limitation of ADPs
It is important to note the limitations of ADPs in peacebuilding, of which there are many: ADPs cannot hope to influence the full range of types of conflict or the complex factors that affect them. We recognise that this can only be a contribution.
ADPs cannot influence the top-level actors: macro factors such as the political economy or historical formation of the state, predatory leaders or political associations, globalisation or global systemic poverty. The crucial importance of targeting these contributors to modern conflict, where possible, is increasingly being recognised. This is not, however, an area that ADPs can influence unless the concept of regionalisation of ADPs is considered.
Secondly, as long as ADPs do not integrate the local rich or non-poor into the process, they do not have the ability to restore full dignity to the poor and to defray latent conflict inherent within unjust economic relationships. If we are to apply the holistic understanding of peacebuilding as defined in this report, ADPs would not match up.
Areas for consideration
Due consideration must be given to the fact that this research is relatively preliminary - the ADP sample was modest and the ADP concept is comparatively young. The true test for this research has to be time. One can never prove the success of a programme in conflict prevention until the region undergoes a serious threat to peace. However, it is clear that strong potential exists within this approach. The challenge is to incorporate a more deliberate approach to the implementation of ADPs, and community development, that exploits the inherent peacebuilding capacity to its fullest potential.
This requires facing another challenge, and is neatly summarised in the following quote:
''The true challenge is to integrate a sensitivity to conflict into the vision of development''
(World Bank 1998).
We hope that this research has gone some way to begin this process.
The structure of the report is as follows. It begins with a chapter examining the driving force behind this research - the post-Cold War context of conflict that has forced humanitarian NGOs to radically re-think their approach. It then moves on to define theoretical concepts and the justification for seeking a community development approach to peacebuilding. Clarification of the definition of ADPs, the rationale for choice of ADPs for the field research and the contexts in which they reside are given in Chapters 3-5. A description of how the methodology was devised, along with a comprehensive account of the results, is provided in Appendix A. Chapters 6-8 analyse the findings and draw out policy and programming lessons both for World Vision and the wider NGO community, concluding with Eight Points for Peacebuilding.
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