Making Peace Work: The Role of the International Development Community (Policy Essay)

In the first 50 years following World War II, some 45 million people perished as a result of armed conflict. The magnitude of damage to infrastructure, depletion of human resources, militarization, lack of government legitimacy, societal trauma, and institutional weaknesses distinguish war-torn societies from countries undergoing economic or political transitions under more peaceful conditions.

The international community now recognizes that warring parties require assistance both to negotiate peace agreements and to sustain and consolidate the peace. Making Peace Work extracts lessons for future peacebuilding efforts from the recent experiences of Cambodia, El Salvador, Mozambique, and Nicaragua. These lessons offer guidance to the international community in general as well as to the governments and citizens of war-torn societies, and in particular to the development cooperation agencies.

Making Peace Work suggests the responses required of donors as countries move through the phases of the peace process and reviews the international development community's efforts to strengthen the political institutional base of war-torn societies, consolidate post-conflict security, and promote economic and social revitalization once hostilities end. The major lessons derived from these early efforts at peacebuilding are analyzed and their implications for the international development community are explored.

Nicole Ball is a Fellow at the Overseas Development Council and directs the Program on Enhancing Security and Development. Among her recent publications is Pressing for Peace: Can Aid Induce Reform? Tammy Halevy served as assistant director for the Program.