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An ounce of prevention: The failure of G8 policy on armed conflict
Partnership Report
2 Jun 2004
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| Status: | Partnership |
| Keywords: | All "Peace & Conflict" reports |
executive summary
The English language has three proverbs that proclaim the virtues of exerting a planned effort in the short-term to save a great deal of effort and heartache in the long term: "penny-wise but pound-foolish", "a stitch in time saves nine", or "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" are just a few of those sentiments. These sayings, however, have not yet permeated the international institutions whose policies and practices currently affect at least 19 million people displaced by wars taking place in sixteen selected countries. The international community's collective failings have cost over 14 million lives in the last four decades, and run up over US$84 billion in debt.
The chapters in this report represent World Vision's distinct analysis on the human, social and economic costs that violent conflict has wreaked in sixteen different contexts that have not had the high media profile of Iraq. It is World Vision's attempt to highlight countries suffering from the 'perfect storm' of post-conflict recovery: low human development, high indebtedness, and another significant challenge, often disease or poor economic prospects. These conflicts have exacted concurrent and crippling consequences on the people living in them; factors which, left unaddressed, make them highly susceptible to future violent conflict. Industrialised countries, and in particular the G8, however, need not be resigned to inevitable civil wars. If pursued, the recommendations presented here offer a realistic chance not only of averting re-cycling of individual conflicts, but of addressing other global afflictions that are fuelled by the preponderance of wars.
The total debt of the countries1 profiled in this study - US$84.1 billion - is significantly less than Iraq's debt. None of the countries profiled have the same economic potential that Iraq possesses with its oil reserves. These countries on average have experienced longer conflicts, have much lower GDP per capita and their debt represents a larger proportion of their income potential. The principle of immediate and total debt forgiveness should at the very least be extended to these countries. Debt forgiveness for all the countries in this study would have immediate effects.
The recommendations contained in this paper include suggestions for conflict-sensitive and effective debt relief and development assistance. Recommendations included here also cover improving peacekeeping, controlling small arms and curtailing the illegal exploitation of natural resources in countries in conflict, and the inclusion of civil society in peacebuilding and peacemaking. This report attempts to catalogue the human, social and economic costs of conflict in sixteen different countries and recommend changes that will help prevent future conflicts. Perhaps the biggest challenge for the international community to address the costs of conflict is a political one. Ten years ago the research NGO Saferworld undertook a comprehensive study on the financial costs of conflict and potential savings of peace, which concluded that the principle challenge of preventing conflicts is one of political will.
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