tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/post-conflict-18249/articlesPost-conflict – The Conversation2023-09-20T12:47:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2133302023-09-20T12:47:01Z2023-09-20T12:47:01ZAmericans do talk about peace − just not the same way people do in other countries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549141/original/file-20230919-29-46yjz8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children wave peace doves at a concert for peace in Bogota, Colombia, in August 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/choir-made-up-of-more-than-10000-children-wave-peace-doves-news-photo/1419832116?adppopup=true">Chepa Beltran/Long Visual Press/Universal Images Group via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Americans don’t talk much about peace. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/lsi.2022.94">it turns out</a> they care about it a lot – they just don’t talk about it the way people who have experienced war or civil conflict do. </p>
<p>When public opinion polls in the U.S. ask people about peace, it’s either in the context of <a href="https://www.thearda.com/data-archive?fid=GSSPANEL2">religion</a> or <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/245705/americans-higher-hopes-prosperity-peace-2019.aspx">world peace</a>.</p>
<p>Instead of using the word peace, Americans are more likely to say that they care deeply about safety and security and issues like <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/02/06/economy-remains-the-publics-top-policy-priority-covid-19-concerns-decline-again/">terrorism, crime, illegal drugs and immigration</a>. </p>
<p>But they still care about the same things people in places that have faced war are focused on. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549142/original/file-20230919-15-3xgj0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People wear face masks and hold large yellow and white peace signs on a city street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549142/original/file-20230919-15-3xgj0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549142/original/file-20230919-15-3xgj0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549142/original/file-20230919-15-3xgj0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549142/original/file-20230919-15-3xgj0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549142/original/file-20230919-15-3xgj0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549142/original/file-20230919-15-3xgj0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549142/original/file-20230919-15-3xgj0l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Protestors hold peace signs in support of Black Lives Matter in July 2020 in Oakland, Calif.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protesters-hold-peace-signs-in-support-of-black-lives-news-photo/1258684586?adppopup=true">Natasha Moustache/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>What is peace?</h2>
<p><a href="https://sps.columbia.edu/faculty-staff/peter-dixon-phd">We are</a> <a href="https://www.scu.edu/cas/political-science/faculty--staff/fiorella-vera-adrianzen/">social scientists</a> who are part of a <a href="https://www.everydaypeaceindicators.org/team">network of peace and conflict</a> <a href="https://www.scu.edu/cas/political-science/faculty--staff/naomi-levy/">researchers </a> and <a href="https://possibilitylab.berkeley.edu/">community-engaged</a> <a href="https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/faculty/amy-e-lerman">scholars</a> at several universities. We and our other colleagues have spent a lot of time talking with different communities that have experienced war, including in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huac030">Colombia</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2020.1812893">Afghanistan</a> and <a href="https://www.everydaypeaceindicators.org/_files/ugd/849039_a2d4c66b63cc4e67815a6b736cc42cd5.pdf">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a>, about what <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-photography-can-build-peace-and-justice-in-war-torn-communities-166143">peace looks like</a> to them.</p>
<p>Peace is hard to define. In the dictionary, it’s equated with tranquility or the absence of war. We see it as broader. Peace is the ability for people to live in harmony with themselves and with each other. In practice, however, that can mean <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395715622967">many different things</a> to different people. </p>
<p><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/everyday-peace-9780197563397?cc=us&lang=en&">We know</a> that <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/reclaiming-everyday-peace/BEB6532292D692933AABC68EFFF9ACB3">people who directly experience conflict</a> and violence tend to have very broad, but also nuanced, definitions of peace. </p>
<p>In Colombia, for example, many communities told us they felt at peace when they had the infrastructure necessary to supply basic needs, like clean water, or when they could actively participate in regular social gatherings. In Bosnia, residents highlighted the ability to use public spaces, including rebuilt ruins from the war, as well as the presence of more day-to-day amenities like streetlights and parking.</p>
<p>But until a recent project in Oakland, California, we weren’t thinking about our work in America as also being about peace. </p>
<p>Since 2021, we’ve been working with six community organizations in Oakland to understand how people define and experience safety and well-being in their everyday lives. As it turns out, these concepts helped us get at how Americans, who have not experienced war like the people in other regions we’ve worked with, might also understand peace.</p>
<h2>Re-imagining safety</h2>
<p>Our research’s focus on safety was inspired by a number of <a href="https://www.nlc.org/post/2021/02/16/nlc-assembles-task-force-of-local-leaders-to-reimagine-public-safety-in-communities-across-the-u-s/">cities and towns</a>, like <a href="https://www.columbus.gov/reimaginesafety/">Columbus, Ohio</a>, and <a href="https://www.austintexas.gov/publicsafety">Austin, Texas</a>, that have launched projects to reform how public safety is conceived of and protected following the widespread <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html">Black Lives Matter protests</a> in 2020. </p>
<p>Oakland has undergone a similar process of asking residents to help their local government <a href="https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/reimagining-public-safety">rethink what safety</a> means. And, like <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-voters-rejected-plans-to-replace-the-minneapolis-police-department-and-whats-next-for-policing-reform-171183">other cities</a>, Oakland residents have had an intense <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/The-Oakland-Police-Department-claims-it-is-16386039.php">debate over the police department</a> and how the government should reform its approach to crime. </p>
<p>We spoke to over 500 residents across parts of Oakland that have been especially hard hit by crime and violence and who live in areas that have historically been both overpoliced and underserved with public resources. </p>
<p>We asked questions like, “What does safety or the lack of safety look like here,” and “What are some signs that the community is doing well or not doing well?”</p>
<p>These conversations covered a lot of ground – ground that was similar to other conversations we’ve had about peace with people who live in conflict zones or countries with long histories of war.</p>
<p>Some Oakland residents spoke about how kids are desensitized to gunshots and violence or are arrested or kicked out of their homes. We heard that these kids and teenagers ultimately lose sight of how their lives – and the lives of others – have value.</p>
<p>High school students also reflected on the prevalence of guns, shootings and gangs in their lives. As one told us, “I want to go back” to a more innocent time, when “I didn’t know nothing about any of this.”</p>
<p>But just as we know that violence and security are only two aspects of people’s understandings of peace, the same is true of safety. The police – and even crime – are just two aspects of how communities think about safety in their everyday lives. They also think about economic opportunities, public space and social connections.</p>
<p>We heard about how, when kids have basic life skills and job skills training, or have mentors and role models, this can give them choices that are alternatives to criminal activity and help them invest back in their communities.</p>
<p>We heard about block parties and <a href="https://www.townnights.org/">town nights</a>, which inspire people of different races and ethnicities to look out for each other and build trust with their neighbors. “By us, for us,” as one resident put it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549145/original/file-20230919-25-r870wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The back of a man flashing two peace signs with his hands is seen on a city street, with many other people walking past him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549145/original/file-20230919-25-r870wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549145/original/file-20230919-25-r870wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549145/original/file-20230919-25-r870wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549145/original/file-20230919-25-r870wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549145/original/file-20230919-25-r870wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549145/original/file-20230919-25-r870wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549145/original/file-20230919-25-r870wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man flashes the peace sign as protesters march during an Occupy Oakland protest in November 2011 in Oakland, Calif.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-flashes-the-peace-sign-as-thousands-of-protestors-march-news-photo/131201340?adppopup=true">Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>From safety to peace</h2>
<p>The United Nations marks the annual <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace">International Day of Peace</a> on Sept. 21, 2023. </p>
<p>In general, the U.S. does not widely recognize or celebrate global holidays like these, including <a href="https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/america-started-international-womens-day-so-why-don-t-we-celebrate-it-50b10ec7829e">International Women’s Day</a> or <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/30/1095729592/what-is-may-day-history">International Labor Day </a>. </p>
<p>But, like peace, safety is about far more than reducing violence. It’s being able to trust that police <a href="https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/whats-next-policing">have communities’ interests in mind</a> and knowing that residents will receive fair treatment in the courts. </p>
<p>It’s also being able to breathe clean air and access work and educational opportunities. It’s about being able to openly share past trauma, feel loved and connected, and so much more.</p>
<p>This all has important implications for what Americans want – and what they actually get – from their local governments. When policymakers define safety as the absence of violence and benchmark it primarily against metrics like <a href="https://theconversation.com/republicans-say-crime-is-on-the-rise-what-is-the-crime-rate-and-what-does-it-mean-192900">crime statistics</a>, they limit the kinds of policies that cities and their residents can look to. </p>
<p>Typically, the main policy responses in the U.S. to crime and violence have centered on policing and incarceration.</p>
<p>In contrast, our conversations across Oakland suggest that communities are already using different frameworks and language to assess safety. These in turn offer up a more holistic set of potential interventions. What, we might ask, would city leaders focus on if they were evaluating the success of public safety reforms by whether children are playing outside in the park, or whether people know the names of their neighbors?</p>
<p>Building safety in the U.S. is more akin to building peace internationally than many Americans may think. As we celebrate world peace, we think people should remember that these conversations matter here at home, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Dixon received funding for this project from Santa Clara University. He is a Board Member of Everyday Peace Indicators. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy E Lerman received funding for this project from the California Community Foundation / California 100 Initiative.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiorella Vera-Adrianzen received funding for this project from California Community Foundation / California 100 Initiative through Santa Clara University. She is a research associate at Everyday Peace Indicators.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Levy received funding for this project from the California Community Foundation / California 100 Initiative. She is a member of the Everyday Peace Indicators Board of Directors. </span></em></p>While Americans tend not to use the word “peace,” and instead opt for terms like “safety and security,” their desires and fears are not so different from what people in war-torn places express.Peter Dixon, Associate Professor of Practice, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Columbia UniversityAmy E Lerman, Professor of Political Science & Public Policy and Executive Director, Possibility Lab, University of California, BerkeleyFiorella Vera-Adrianzén, Political science lecturer, Santa Clara UniversityNaomi Levy, Associate Professor of Political Science, Santa Clara UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1866832022-07-29T12:22:56Z2022-07-29T12:22:56ZWhy men overwhelmingly wear the UN’s blue helmets – a former US ambassador explains why decades of recruiting women peacekeepers has had little effect<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475901/original/file-20220725-11-nocbix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=91%2C0%2C1036%2C688&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Female police officers working with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Liberia participate in a parade in 2008.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://dam.media.un.org/CS.aspx?VP3=DamView&VBID=2AM94SKKB92P&SMLS=1&RW=1495&RH=648#/DamView&VBID=2AM94SKKBOX8&PN=1&WS=SearchResults">UN Photo/Christopher Herwig</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United Nations has about <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/where-we-operate">74,000 peacekeepers</a> in uniform stationed in a dozen conflict zones around the world. It’s easy to spot them in their signature light blue helmets. It’s harder to find a woman among them. </p>
<p>There are military experts, police and infantry units who come from <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/01_contributions_to_un_peacekeeping_operations_by_country_and_post_49_april_22.pdf">121 countries</a> to help maintain peace. </p>
<p><a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/07_gender_statistics_49_april_2022.pdf">Just 8%</a> of peacekeepers are women. </p>
<p>This is a significant increase from 15 years ago – when the number of peacekeepers was about the same as today but women made up only <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/dec07.pdf">about 2%</a> of the ranks. For 20 years, the U.N. has been <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/gender">trying to improve</a> this statistic. </p>
<p>But the U.N.’s long-term goal of having as many female peacekeepers as men may well be unachievable. </p>
<p>As a U.S. diplomat and an <a href="https://sia.psu.edu/faculty/jett">international affairs scholar</a>, I have been involved in peacekeeping in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. While dramatically increasing the number of female peacekeepers has clear benefits, including improved community relationships, the evolution of peacekeeping makes gender parity impossible. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475897/original/file-20220725-13-79362n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men in suits walk past a row of female peacekeepers in camo with blue hats" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475897/original/file-20220725-13-79362n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475897/original/file-20220725-13-79362n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475897/original/file-20220725-13-79362n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475897/original/file-20220725-13-79362n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475897/original/file-20220725-13-79362n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475897/original/file-20220725-13-79362n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475897/original/file-20220725-13-79362n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Namibia’s vice president inspects U.N. peacekeeping troops in Windhoek, Namibia, in 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/oct-31-2020-namibias-vice-president-nangolo-mbumba-inspects-troops-picture-id1229412837?s=2048x2048">Musa C Kaseke/Xinhua via Getty</a></span>
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<h2>What the UN calls for</h2>
<p>The U.N. does not have its own military. So when the U.N. launches a peacekeeping mission, it must ask its 193 member countries to provide the personnel necessary to staff it.</p>
<p>The U.N. pays countries a bit over <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/role-peacekeeping-africa">US$1,400 a month</a> for each soldier loaned to the organization. This can help poorer countries maintain <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2010/12/why-south-asia-loves-peacekeeping/">their armies and pay </a>their soldiers. Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Rwanda <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/troop-and-police-contributors">give the most</a> soldiers to serve as peacekeepers, with over 5,000 people each. The U.S. currently provides only <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/01_contributions_to_un_peacekeeping_operations_by_country_and_post_49_april_22.pdf">30 staff officers</a>. </p>
<p>In 2000, the U.N. Security Council recognized the gender imbalance in peacekeeping when it approved <a href="http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/1325">Resolution</a>1325, which urged that women be given more opportunities to serve. In 2018, the U.N. began specifically <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/uniformed-gender-parity-strategy-2018-2028-full-text">instructing</a> its peacekeeping missions to work toward including as many women as men. </p>
<p>Research shows that including women in resolving conflicts is a good idea, especially since they are frequently the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3877825">victims of war</a> more often than men. When women participate in peace negotiations, the <a href="https://www-tandfonline-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/doi/full/10.1080/03050629.2018.1492386?src=recsys#">resulting peace</a> is more lasting. </p>
<p>Having more female peacekeepers can also help improve <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/217455354?https://literature-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/lion?accountid=13158&parentSessionId=6Us3I5B86vHEja6PB%2BkbKN1ZPDOfkC8tDoSW0btbjUM%3D&pq-origsite=summon">relationships</a> with civilians. Open communication and trust between local communities and peacekeepers can lead to <a href="https://unu.edu/publications/articles/why-un-needs-more-female-peacekeepers.html">better cultural understanding and valuable intelligence</a> – including information about sexual violence that women are more likely to report to a female peacekeeper. </p>
<p>This is particularly important since in the past few years there have been <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/11/un-peacekeeping-has-sexual-abuse-problem">multiple cases</a> of peacekeepers being accused of <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/women-week-un-withdraws-450-peacekeepers-central-african-republic">mistreating and abusing </a>civilians – <a href="https://apnews.com/article/africa-arrests-united-nations-only-on-ap-e6ebc331460345c5abd4f57d77f535c1">including children</a>. </p>
<h2>Not so easy to achieve</h2>
<p>Despite the advantages, there are three major obstacles to getting more women involved in peacekeeping. </p>
<p>First, women make up a <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-countries-with-the-most-women-in-the-military/ar-AAOK9Ab">small percentage</a> of the armed forces in almost every country, ranging from less than 1% in India and Turkey to 20% in Hungary.</p>
<p>Second, very <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_combat">few countries</a> train women for ground combat, which may be part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission. </p>
<p>Third, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/01/25/map-which-countries-allow-women-in-front-line-combat-roles/">countries</a> that do train women for combat are almost always democratic and wealthier. They are also least likely to contribute troops to the more dangerous U.N. peacekeeping missions. </p>
<p>These practical challenges have become even more daunting because of the way peacekeeping has changed.</p>
<h2>Peacekeeping’s evolution</h2>
<p>The U.N. was only three years old when it initiated its <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/undof">first peacekeeping mission </a>in 1948 to respond to the war between Israel and its Arab neighbors. In that operation, and in subsequent ones dealing with conflicts between countries over territory, once the fighting stopped peacekeepers could be placed between the opposing armies to help ensure the cease-fire continued. </p>
<p>In the 1990s, peacekeeping also addressed civil wars in such places as <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/Unavem2/UnavemIIB.htm">Angola</a> and <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/onumozFT.htm">Mozambique</a>. Those operations had to demobilize former combatants, reintegrate them into civilian life and form a new national army. </p>
<p>Often the most important task was helping conduct an election. While I was the U.S. ambassador in <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/past/onumozS.htm">Mozambique in 1994</a>, all this was successfully accomplished and the peacekeepers went home. But this kind of peacekeeping is also mostly a relic of the past. </p>
<h2>A new broader mandate</h2>
<p>In the U.N.’s five most recent peacekeeping missions, launched between 2010 and 2014 and all in Africa, the peacekeepers are mandated to protect civilians and help the government expand its control to lessen the threat of armed rebel groups. Doing that requires large infantry units, which is why the <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/mali-suspends-rotation-of-un-forces/6659011.html">mission in Mali</a>, for example, includes 12,000 troops. </p>
<p>These are not just the largest missions, but also the most deadly – an average of 16 peacekeepers are killed each year in these missions, while an average of two peacekeepers die each year in the oldest peacekeeping operations. </p>
<p>The U.N. initially insisted that all warring parties agree to the presence of the peacekeepers and that the peacekeepers remain impartial and use force only to defend themselves.</p>
<p>In the five newest missions, the mandate required the use of force to be <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/where-we-operate">expanded</a>. This meant peacekeepers no longer had the consent of all the combatants and discarded impartiality to help the government in power. As a result, some of those opposing the government began targeting peacekeepers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475903/original/file-20220725-10216-rtsroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Soldiers are seen carrying coffins draped in blue flags, in front of a white UN plane." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475903/original/file-20220725-10216-rtsroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475903/original/file-20220725-10216-rtsroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475903/original/file-20220725-10216-rtsroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475903/original/file-20220725-10216-rtsroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475903/original/file-20220725-10216-rtsroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475903/original/file-20220725-10216-rtsroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475903/original/file-20220725-10216-rtsroy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ivorian soldiers carry the coffins of four U.N. peacekeepers in Mali in February 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/ivorian-soldiers-carry-coffins-wrapped-with-united-nations-flags-out-picture-id1230731222?s=2048x2048">Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The connection to female peacekeepers</h2>
<p>These latest peacekeeping missions require thousands of troops prepared for combat in order to be able to use force. For that reason, 86% of all of the peacekeepers are military troops, but only <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/07_gender_statistics_49_april_2022.pdf">6%</a> of the troops are women.</p>
<p>The low percentage of female troops stands in sharp contrast to the <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/07_gender_statistics_49_april_2022.pdf">other types of peacekeepers</a> who don’t risk being involved in combat – 27% of the military experts, 19% of the staff officers and 19% of the police are women. </p>
<p>While the wealthy countries pay <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/how-we-are-funded">86% of the financial cost</a> of U.N. peacekeeping, which amounts to $6.4 billion year, they contribute less than 8% of all the troops. </p>
<p>In the U.N.’s six oldest missions, like the ones in Israel, only 7% of the troops are women, and 37% of these women come from the rich countries. In the five more lethal missions, however, 5% of the troops are female and <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/07_gender_statistics_49_april_2022.pdf">only 3% </a> of them are from wealthier members.</p>
<p>So, while the rich countries pay in treasure, the poor countries pay in blood.</p>
<p>Getting more female peacekeepers would require countries to assign more women to the most dangerous peacekeeping missions. In other words, it would be necessary to give more women the chance to shed that blood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186683/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dennis Jett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The UN has been working for 20 years to increase the number of female peacekeepers – but countries that give their troops to the UN are reluctant to put more women in active combat.Dennis Jett, Professor of International Affairs, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1845222022-06-13T12:29:32Z2022-06-13T12:29:32ZImmigrants are only 3.5% of people worldwide – and their negative impact is often exaggerated, in the U.S. and around the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467598/original/file-20220607-20-e7lvii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6700%2C4463&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Academic research plays an important role in helping dispel myths and misconceptions about migration.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-participate-in-a-special-memorial-day-naturalization-news-photo/1241038894">Spencer Platt/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>-<em><a href="https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/ernesto.cfm">Ernesto Castañeda</a> is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at American University and the Director of the <a href="https://www.ernestocastaneda.com/immigrationlab.html">Immigration Lab</a>. Castañeda explains why immigration is an important force counteracting population decline in the U.S. and why that matters to the economy and America’s global power. Below are highlights from an interview with The Conversation. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.</em></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kG48oLHTxz0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ernesto Castañeda speaks about his work studying immigration and migration.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>What do you study?</strong></p>
<p>I direct the Immigration Lab where we conduct research around migration – in all its aspects. For example, emigration – people leaving their countries of origin; or internal migration – people moving within a country. There are millions of people living in a different province or state than where they were born, such as in China or the U.S. We also study international migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, people that cross borders looking for economic opportunities or trying to reunite with family.</p>
<p>We have studied refugees from Central America in Washington D.C., as well as from Afghanistan. We have also compared immigrants from Latin America in New York and those from North Africa in European <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-cities-help-immigrants-feel-at-home-4-charts-97501">cities</a>. I’ve been studying migration since 2003, so almost 20 years.</p>
<p><strong>Immigration is a hot topic now. How different are they than when you started studying it 20 years ago?</strong></p>
<p>It’s funny because in the media we always highlight the new things, and there are indeed new twists and turns, new characters. But the story, the dynamics, the human drama, the structural issues are basically the same. So, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s why it’s easier to understand new crises, because immigration researchers have seen something similar happening in the past.</p>
<p><strong>How politicized is immigration?</strong></p>
<p>Immigration is something that has been with us for a long, long time. It’s something that is going to keep happening. It’s something that no one state can fully stop forever. But unfortunately, since as long as I can remember, it is something that has been politicized. There are a lot of misunderstandings by people in the public. Especially because politicians have, for a long time and in different places, used this topic for their short-term political advantage. So it’s something that is recurrent. Nonetheless, when I meet immigrants every day, the realities of their lives and what they are going through are very different from what you hear from the mouths of politicians and from a lot of media outlets.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://american.academia.edu/ErnestoCastaneda">research</a> has tried to understand what happened in the past and what’s going on right now in the streets in order to try to improve our understanding about immigration. If you look at all types of data, there are way more <a href="https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/immigrants-to-the-u-s-create-more-jobs-than-they-take">opportunities</a> born of migration than problems.</p>
<p><strong>The latest census shows that if it wasn’t for immigration, the US population would actually be in decline. So there’s a lot on the line as far as available workers, yes?</strong> </p>
<p>Yes, although some people think that the decline of immigration is not a bad thing, especially if it means maintaining a white majority. Yet immigration is not about a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/08/a-deadly-ideology-how-the-great-replacement-theory-went-mainstream">great replacement</a>” conspiracy but about the maintenance of a successful trajectory of economic growth, cultural vibrancy, scientific and technical innovation. In the economic system that we live in, one of the main ways that the economy keeps growing is by bringing in new labor. Cultural differences disappear across time and family generations. Furthermore, we are talking about changes around the edges. The great majority, over 80%, of the U.S. population has been and will likely continue to be U.S.-born.</p>
<p>Early in the pandemic, people were scared, and rightly so. It made sense to reduce air travel, border crossings and refugee resettlement. In the last couple of years, because of Title 42, which allows the government to prohibit the entry of persons who potentially pose a health risk at ports of entry, even asylum seekers have been sent back to Mexico and made to wait there. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, just in the U.S., we have lost over a million people because of COVID-19. People are also worried about inflation. But inflation has also been made worse by COVID deaths, people staying out of the workforce and by declining immigration, all resulting in a scarcity of workers. </p>
<p>So in the last couple of years we’ve seen an important decrease in migration while American couples have on average two children, keeping the population <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/12/us-population-grew-in-2021-slowest-rate-since-founding-of-the-nation.html">barely growing</a>. So, the current population will not grow without immigration. Declining population growth also means a decrease in economic growth and the influence of the U.S. abroad. If this occurs, then you’d have to be ready to make less money and spend more in goods and services. I don’t think we’re ready for that to be the norm. If we stop taking immigrants in, innovations, population and economic growth will take place in a different part of the globe.</p>
<p><strong>In your almost 20 years of research, what’s one thing that would surprise someone who is not in the field you’re studying?</strong></p>
<p>It’s important for everyone to know that most people do not want to leave their hometown. Most people want to stick around because that’s where their loved ones, family members and friends are. It is the place they know, and they have an attachment to the place. It takes a lot – like an invasion, hunger, a great educational or professional opportunity – to want to leave your home.</p>
<p>Another thing that’s important to know is that <a href="https://www.un.org/en/desa/international-migration-2020-highlights">only around 3.5% of the world</a> population lives in a different country than where they were born. There are as many people moving within China as through international borders. So, international migration is a very important phenomenon for immigrants themselves – we’re talking about the futures of many individuals and families. But in terms of the global population, it’s a very small proportion. And this is not because of immigration deterrence and border fences.</p>
<p>So we’re talking about an exception. Unfortunately, politicians and people make it sound like it’s the main problem. </p>
<p>People may think that immigrants are more likely to commit crime, yet it is the opposite. Immigrants are much <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/3/24/htm">less likely</a> to commit any crimes than the U.S.-born. They are also <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27013329/">less likely to use drugs</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498585651/Building-Walls-Excluding-Latin-People-in-the-United-States">border wall</a> is a monument to intolerance and racism that actively stigmatizes people in the area. Anti-immigrant policies and speech are driven by national politics, scapegoating, misinformation, and dramatic images about caravans, border camps, and border crossers without providing the full context and actual descriptions of reality. There are a lot of myths around migration, but when you look at the data qualitatively, quantitatively, in different societies, in different periods, it is almost the opposite from what people think. That is why academic research on immigration is very important to rectify the story.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184522/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ernesto Castañeda has received funding from NIH, NSF, and American University. </span></em></p>A sociologist shares what his research has taught him about migration.Ernesto Castañeda, Associate Professor of Sociology, American UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1769452022-03-31T12:44:57Z2022-03-31T12:44:57ZAfghan evacuees lack a clear path for resettlement in the U.S., 7 months after Taliban takeover<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455297/original/file-20220330-25-3vwwi5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The U.S. has evacuated 84,600 Afghans since August 2021, but many of these people remain in a legal limbo.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/in-this-handout-provided-by-us-central-command-public-affairs-us-air-picture-id1234876758?s=2048x2048">Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen/U.S. Air Forces Europe-Africa via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Russia’s war against Ukraine has resulted in more than <a href="https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine">4 million</a> Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country. </p>
<p>The United States said on March 24, 2022, that it would welcome <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/03/24/remarks-by-president-biden-in-press-conference-7/">100,000 Ukrainian refugees.</a></p>
<p>The Ukrainian refugee situation continues to overshadow another refugee crisis. That crisis stems from the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/30/afghanistan-update-last-us-troops-leave-kabul-ending-evacuation.html">U.S. military’s official withdrawal</a> from Afghanistan in August 2021. </p>
<p>Since the withdrawal, approximately <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2022/02/19/operation-allies-welcome-announces-departure-all-afghan-nationals-us-military-bases">84,600</a> Afghans were evacuated to the U.S. </p>
<p>It is estimated that thousands of Afghans vulnerable to the Taliban have been left behind. </p>
<p>“There are still Afghans being killed by the Taliban because we haven’t gotten them out of the country,” U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/28/some-lawmakers-worry-afghan-refugees-will-be-forgotten/">said on March 28</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VjFPaPEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">a scholar</a> of refugees and post-conflict reconstruction, I believe that the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/17/time-running-out-address-afghanistans-hunger-crisis">deteriorating situation</a> in Afghanistan will continue to result in rising numbers of refugees in the years to come. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455054/original/file-20220329-26-ibervt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Children and adults are seen from a distance in front of beige, white and blue tents, all fenced in" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455054/original/file-20220329-26-ibervt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455054/original/file-20220329-26-ibervt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455054/original/file-20220329-26-ibervt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455054/original/file-20220329-26-ibervt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455054/original/file-20220329-26-ibervt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455054/original/file-20220329-26-ibervt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455054/original/file-20220329-26-ibervt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young Afghan evacuees at a U.S. military base in Germany in October 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/young-evacuees-from-afghanistan-are-playing-and-running-around-at-the-picture-id1345674198?s=2048x2048">Lukas Schulze/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A hasty retreat</h2>
<p>Prior to the U.S. military withdrawal, Afghanistan produced the <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/worlds-5-biggest-refugee-crises">second-largest number</a> of refugees in the world, topping <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/afghanistan-emergency.html">2.6 million</a>. The largest refugee crisis comes from 11 years of war in <a href="https://www.unrefugees.org/news/syria-refugee-crisis-explained/">Syria</a>.</p>
<p>Following the Soviet Union invasion in 1979, the majority of Afghan refugees have fled to <a href="https://www.american.edu/sis/news/20210823-where-do-afghanistans-refugees-go.cfm">Iran and Pakistan</a>. Since then, ongoing civil war and violence as well as the U.S. invasion in 2001 prompted more people to seek refuge in these countries.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/afghanistan-humanitarian-crisis-famine-foreign-aid-taliban">humanitarian needs</a> in Afghanistan now grow, Afghans continue to cross into <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/world/asia/afghanistan-migration-refugees.html">these</a> countries. </p>
<p>The U.S. evacuation of Afghan refugees in 2021 was the largest evacuation effort in U.S. history since the 1975 <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Newlife-P-J-Ryan/dp/1885372094">Operation New Life</a>, when 110,000 Vietnamese refugees were evacuated to Guam after the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/08/15/saigon-fall-kabul-taliban/">fall of Saigon.</a></p>
<p>President Biden called the Afghan evacuations an <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/08/31/biden-afghanistan-evacuation-extraordinary-success.html">“extraordinary success.”</a> </p>
<p>But there was <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/16/1028081817/congressional-reaction-to-bidens-afghanistan-withdrawal-has-been-scathing">bipartisan condemnation</a> in Congress of the hasty nature of the withdrawal and evacuations, which resulted in many Afghans and some American citizens being left behind. </p>
<h2>Refugee system cuts</h2>
<p>In September 2021, the White House requested Congress to authorize <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/09/07/white-house-asks-congress-billions-afghan-resettlement/5758104001/">$6.4 billion</a> and received <a href="https://immigrationforum.org/article/funding-bill-will-help-afghans-resettle-integrate/">$6.3 billion</a> for Afghan resettlement.</p>
<p>But the nine <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/us-resettlement-partners.html">U.S. refugee resettlement agencies</a> designated to welcome and support refugee arrivals have still struggled to assist the large number of Afghans because of limited staff and continued funding shortages.</p>
<p>This is partially because during the Trump administration, there were severe cuts to <a href="https://theworld.org/stories/2019-09-27/us-refugee-agencies-wither-trump-administration-cuts-numbers-historic-lows">the number of refugees allowed in to the U.S.</a> President Donald Trump also cut <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/refugee-organizations-scramble-settle-afghans-years-trump-era/story?id=79812415">budgets for refugee spending.</a> </p>
<p>Afghan evacuees in the U.S. also continue to face legal and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/02/25/1083029733/afghan-refugees-resettlement-housing-jobs">logistical</a> challenges in their long-term resettlement process. </p>
<h2>Difficult to stay in US</h2>
<p>Typically, the U.S. admits foreigners like Afghans who might fear to return to their home countries <a href="https://www.state.gov/refugee-admissions/">as either refugees</a> or, less often, <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-and-asylum/asylum">asylum recipients</a>. Both of these options allow non-citizens to legally work and live in the U.S., and to eventually gain citizenship. </p>
<p>For Afghan evacuees, the legal pathways to stay permanently in the U.S. are complicated.</p>
<p>Some of the recent Afghan evacuees are recipients of
<a href="https://www.rescue.org/article/evacuations-afghanistan-what-afghan-special-immigrant-visa-siv-program">special immigrant visas</a>. These visas have gone to those who worked closely with the U.S. military in Afghanistan, and give benefits like work permits and a clear pathway to becoming citizens. </p>
<p>The majority of the evacuees, however, received <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/orr/Benefits-for-Afghan-Humanitarian-Parolees.pdf">humanitarian parole</a> - a temporary status given for emergency humanitarian situations. This is valid for up to two years. </p>
<p>On March 16, 2022, the Biden administration also announced that Afghans already living in the U.S. would receive <a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/temporary-protected-status-overview">Temporary Protected Status</a>. This gives Afghans legal work permits, but only lasts for 18 months.</p>
<p>The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11903">estimates</a> 74,500 Afghan nationals could be eligible for this status. </p>
<p>Some Afghan resettlement advocates are pushing for Congress to <a href="https://www.hias.org/sites/default/files/factsheet_afghan_adjustment_act_november_2021.pdf">pass legislation</a> that would allow certain Afghan evacuees to apply for permanent legal status in the U.S.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455055/original/file-20220329-27-4bots.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A U.S. soldier stands in front of a sign that says " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455055/original/file-20220329-27-4bots.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455055/original/file-20220329-27-4bots.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455055/original/file-20220329-27-4bots.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455055/original/file-20220329-27-4bots.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455055/original/file-20220329-27-4bots.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455055/original/file-20220329-27-4bots.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455055/original/file-20220329-27-4bots.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Evacuees from Afghanistan wait to board a passenger plane bound for the U.S. at the U.S. military’s Ramstein air base in October 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/evacuees-from-afghanistan-wait-for-boarding-into-a-passenger-plane-picture-id1345660713?s=2048x2048">Lukas Schulze/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Desperate Afghans outside the U.S.</h2>
<p>Back in Afghanistan, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/taliban-afghanistan">Taliban’s takeover</a> has prompted a <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2022/2/15/Afghanistan-crises-hunger-inflation-migration-by-the-numbers">severe humanitarian</a> and <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/afghanistans-economy-collapse-and-chaos">economic crisis</a>. </p>
<p>About <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1113982">95% of Afghans</a> are not getting enough to eat, according to the United Nations. </p>
<p>Taliban reprisals against Afghans who worked for the previous government, for the U.S. military, for U.S.-based nonprofit organizations and for democracy and human rights have <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2021/08/19/taliban-checkpoints-ring-kabul-airport-as-imf-suspends-funds-to-afghanistan">intensified</a> over the last several months.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.wartimeallies.co/_files/ugd/5887eb_6334755bb6f64b009b629f3513a16204.pdf">at least 78,000</a> special immigrant visa applicants who remain stranded in Afghanistan, waiting for their visas to be processed. </p>
<p>Since July 2021, there have also been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/us/afghan-refugees-humanitarian-parole.html">43,000 Afghans</a> outside of the U.S. who have submitted humanitarian parole applications - <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/us-received-overwhelming-number-of-humanitarian-parole-requests-from-afghans-/6441411.html">which cost $575 each</a> - to enter the U.S. </p>
<p>To date, the U.S. has approved parole for only <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/us/afghan-refugees-humanitarian-parole.html">170</a> applicants. </p>
<p>The exact number of Afghans who worked in democracy, human rights, journalism, law and education, including former students of the U.S.-government funded <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-university-of-afghanistan-evacuated-but-thousands-still-want-to-leave/">American University of Kabul</a>, who are desperate to flee Taliban rule remains unknown. </p>
<p>For many of these Afghans - some of whom were <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/afghanistan-family-left-behind-resettlement-taliban-evacuation-20211030.html">separated</a> from family during the evacuation process - <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/us/afghan-refugees-humanitarian-parole.html?smid=tw-share">hopes of resettlement</a> in the U.S. are fading.</p>
<p>In a recent conversation about the challenges facing Afghan evacuees in the U.S., Arash Azizzada, an advocate with the diaspora coalition <a href="https://www.weareafghans.org">Afghans for a Better Tomorrow</a>, explained to me that “There is a sense that the U.S. has abandoned Afghanistan.”</p>
<p>“Afghan-Americans and military veterans have sprung into action to respond to Afghans in crisis. But we can’t do this alone. We need more support to welcome Afghans with dignity,” Azizzada continued. </p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-need-to-know">Sign up for Politics Weekly</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176945/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tazreena Sajjad does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The U.S. has promised to take in 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. But there is concern that this could further complicate efforts to welcome and resettle Afghan evacuees.Tazreena Sajjad, Senior Professorial Lecturer of Global Governance, Politics and Security, American University School of International ServiceLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1663752021-08-26T13:34:31Z2021-08-26T13:34:31ZFarmers displaced by conflict in north central Nigeria share their coping strategies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417222/original/file-20210820-19-1rqx7zt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of displaced farming communities often end up in internally displaced persons camp like this one in Maiduguri, Borno State.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Fati Abubakar/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the unpleasant outcomes of the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/262-stopping-nigerias-spiralling-farmer-herder-violence">perennial conflict </a> between farmers and herders in Nigeria is the growing population of <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/nigeria-emergency.html">internally displaced persons</a> and the challenges associated with their victimhood. </p>
<p>Internal displacement arising from these conflicts has serious implications for the survival of the displaced populations. Violent attacks force victims to flee to camps for the internally displaced or to move in with friends and relations in safer locations. For instance, between 2010 and 2015 there were 850 clashes resulting in the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/302-ending-nigerias-herder-farmer-crisis-livestock-reform-plan">displacement</a> of 62,000 people in Benue and other adjourning north central states. </p>
<p>But the problems they encounter are not limited to their dislocation. There are problems of shelter, inadequate feeding, and water. My <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00219096211034882">research</a> sought to understand how they cope with their victimhood and what strategies they employ to survive. This is because coping strategies, as strategic alternative plans of action, help us to understand the world of victims of this conflict and their survival strategies. </p>
<p>I interviewed 20 participants selected from two make-shift camps for internally displaced people. These were located in Obi and Lafia local government areas in Nasarawa State in north central Nigeria. The camps housed only victims of the conflicts from the farming communities and were only inhabited temporarily by the internally displaced people. </p>
<p>The findings showed that most of the participants relied on their friends and family for food and shelter to cope. The friend and families also became vicarious victims by providing such support. The displaced farmers listed as their coping strategies job switching, relocation to a safer place which included locating temporary facilities as shelter, formation of a vigilante group which male respondents participated actively in, and trusting in God.</p>
<p>This study has provided insights into the coping strategies adopted by displaced victims of farmer-herder conflict. Having multiple skills proved useful. </p>
<p>Policy intervention should target empowering displaced populations with skills to eke out a living to cope with challenges associated with their displacement.</p>
<h2>Coping strategies</h2>
<p>The different experiences of victims mostly influenced the coping strategies they adopted. Some of the victims had more than one occupation and switched to the alternative occupation to eke out a living while nursing hopes of returning to their community some day. </p>
<p>For example, a married 46-year-old from Panjong village described himself as both a farmer and a businessman. Having abandoned farming because of these conflicts, he was managing solely on income from petty business.</p>
<p>Since they are mostly uneducated, the jobs they seek out are unskilled. Another internally displaced person who is a victim of the conflict described how at the onset of the crisis, he moved from Doma local government area to his mother-in-law’s place in Obi local government area. Soon after, the crisis spread to that community too and they all had to move to Lafia, the state capital, where they are sheltered by his father-in-law. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It has not been easy but my father-in-law is the one providing for us but sometimes if I get mason work I go out to help as (a) “labourer” in building sites to get small money to help me meet some of my needs even though it is not enough.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Other victims of these conflicts exhibit hopelessness; hence they have pushed their worries from the mundane to the transcendental, believing that a solution will come eventually. They do menial jobs but also trust in God as a coping strategy to help ameliorate their situation. They do this to keep hope alive based on the fact that God is believed to be capable of changing bad situations to good situations and relying on God only strengthens their resolution not to allow their present unpleasant situation to drive them into hopelessness.</p>
<p>Social support from relations is part of the coping strategy employed by some of the victims. This may account for why some of the victims of these conflicts were found in different parts of Nasarawa where there was no conflict. The decision to migrate was taken considering factors such as the availability of supportive friends or relations as well as consideration for their safety in the place they were considering.</p>
<h2>Coping with feeding and accommodation</h2>
<p>Internal displacement comes with attendant problems of meeting basic human needs such as feeding oneself and one’s family. Internally displaced persons are usually confronted with this problem as soon as displacement occurs and they are forced to migrate to another location. </p>
<p>Unlike in Benue where formally organised internally displaced persons camps exist, displaced populations in Nasarawa sheltereed in public schools. This made it difficult for them to find food. Some of them ate mangoes while others found help with relatives. To cope with fear of insecurity, the victims organised themselves into vigilante groups to run shifts to provide security for themselves. Through this arrangement, the men were able to ensure relative security with some level of assurance to their wives and children.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>The coping strategies show the innovative agency among the internally displaced victims of farmer-herder conflict in Nasarawa State. Yet it is important that internally displaced persons are empowered with skills that will enable them to cope with post camp life challenges. The government should ensure that the conflict triggers are neutralised before they escalate to violent conflict which has the potential of leading to internal displacement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166375/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oludayo Tade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>They do menial jobs but also trust in God as a coping strategy.Oludayo Tade, Researcher, Communication Consultant, Impact Evaluator, Safeguard Specialist, University of IbadanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1581492021-05-06T13:26:03Z2021-05-06T13:26:03ZPeacebuilding in Côte d’Ivoire: why it’s hard to reintegrate combatants and achieve justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398953/original/file-20210505-19-1xmcdhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social reintegration and personal reconciliation should be paramount in post-conflict Cote d'Ivoire </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/residents-walk-past-barricades-and-burning-tires-on-the-news-photo/110173388?adppopup=true">Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A decade ago the Ivoirian government, with the help of the United Nations, started programmes to build peace after nine years of war. The conflict ended after President Alassane Ouattara was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/15/alassane-ouattara-ivory-coast">brought to power</a> with the help of Forces Nouvelles rebels and French and UN troops. </p>
<p>Côte d’Ivoire has not returned to war. But elections in <a href="https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/166266/cote-divoire-ruling-coalition-wins-municipal-and-regional-elections-update-6">2018</a> and <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/48878/cote-divoire-alassane-ouattara-re-elected-for-a-3rd-term-with-94-27/">2020</a> were marred by <a href="https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/166266/cote-divoire-ruling-coalition-wins-municipal-and-regional-elections-update-6">violence</a>.</p>
<p>Many Ivoirians claim much remains to be done to unite the country.</p>
<p>Post-conflict countries often implement recovery programmes. One type is known as disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. It involves collecting weapons, dismantling armed groups and reintegrating combatants into civilian society. Countries may also work towards holding perpetrators accountable. This “transitional justice” programme often involves truth and reconciliation commissions, prosecutions and reparations.</p>
<p>The success rate of these post-conflict programmes has been mixed. Some countries, like Angola and Spain, have avoided a thorough engagement with past human rights abuses and war-era crimes. They also managed to <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2021/04/05/angola-celebrates-19-years-of-peace-and-the-end-of-armes-conflicts//">maintain peace</a> long after the conflict ended. South Africa <a href="https://www.beyondintractability.org/library/reconciliation-through-restorative-justice-analyzing-south-africas-truth-and-reconciliation">claims</a> its truth and reconciliation commission and transitional justice programmes helped prevent a recurrence of conflict. Demobilising programmes have often been viewed with scepticism for failing to reintegrate combatants into society – <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jrs/article/33/4/832/5902023">the Democratic Republic of Congo</a>, Iraq and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/westafrica0405/7.htm">Liberia</a> are examples.</p>
<p>Cote d'Ivoire implemented both the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration and the transitional justice types of programmes. Past <a href="https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/r25604.pdf">research indicated</a> that these types might be more effective if they worked more closely together rather than always being isolated. But Cote d'Ivoire opted to keep them apart. I set out to explore why. </p>
<p>I spent 12 months in 2017-2018 <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13533312.2020.1850281">researching</a> the implementation and success, or lack thereof, of the programmes in Côte d’Ivoire. I found that generally civilians, victims and ex-combatants were dissatisfied by both programmes and the way they had been implemented. </p>
<p>Also, it was highly likely that a more coordinated approach would have addressed many of their grievances. </p>
<p>Coordination was not implemented, however, for three main reasons. It posed a risk of destabilisation; it was not in the interests of political elites; and it was too technically challenging. These obstacles underscore the need for a more nuanced approach that takes into account the local context and the political dynamics of a post-conflict state. </p>
<h2>The post-conflict period</h2>
<p>After the Ivoirian conflict, the government first established a programme to demobilise, disarm and reintegrate combatants from both sides of the conflict. It also aimed to prepare them for civilian life. Simultaneously, the government set up several programmes intended to assist with reconciliation. The most prominent was the dialogue, truth and reconciliation commission. This sought to take testimony from Ivoirians and to provide reparations to victims. It was also intended to produce a report providing the truth about the war.</p>
<p>When I interviewed Ivoirian civilians, victims and ex-combatants in nine cities, I found that many were disappointed. Although there were some ex-combatants who fought on the losing side and were pleased to have post-conflict assistance, the vast majority of ex-combatants were frustrated. The absence of sustained financial help or provision of employment infuriated them. Many pro-Ouattara combatants complained that they had been unable to socially or economically reintegrate because they were viewed with suspicion by many residents. </p>
<p>Equally, those who had participated in the truth and reconciliation commission felt it had failed to foster reconciliation. Victims, civilians and ex-combatants were angry that the government had not followed through on the commission’s <a href="http://www.gouv.ci/doc/presse/1477497207RAPPORT%20FINAL_CDVR.pdf">findings</a>. These included suggestions that the rule of law should be reinforced in the management of land sales. This has long been a contentious issue in Cote d'Ivoire. The findings also indicated that an impartial and fair legal system would be essential to reconciliation. Ivoirians didn’t like the fact that the commission’s report was not released for several years after it was given to the president. </p>
<p>They also felt <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2018/02/28/how-selective-justice-eroding-peace-cote-d-ivoire">prosecutions</a> and arrests for war-era crimes were one-sided. Opposition supporters were arrested en masse, while very few pro-Ouattara supporters have been prosecuted for their role in the conflict. </p>
<p>Ethnic tensions persisted and fear of a further conflict was evident in many of the towns I visited. </p>
<h2>What went wrong?</h2>
<p>Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, and transitional justice, have historically been implemented in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14678800903395999">silos</a>. It is assumed that the former will serve the needs of ex-combatants and the latter will aid victims and that there is no need for coordination. </p>
<p>In fact, UN <a href="https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/TJ_Guidance_Note_March_2010FINAL.pdf">policy guidance</a> and a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jrs/article-abstract/27/2/234/1580786">majority</a> of <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.521.2396&rep=rep1&type=pdf">scholarship</a> in this field calls for increased linkages to ensure their success. </p>
<p>External advisors and UN officials I interviewed in Côte d’Ivoire said they tried to get the Ivoirian government to link its programmes. These efforts were repeatedly ignored. </p>
<p>Through interviewing policymakers and government officials, I found three core reasons related to the political context. </p>
<h2>Political obstacles to coordination</h2>
<p>Most prominently, there was a significant risk of destabilisation where coordination was attempted. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, and transitional justice are, in some respects, contradictory processes. One reintegrates ex-combatants while the other seeks to hold them accountable, which is likely to prompt them to spoil the peace. Bringing these programmes together was dangerous in Côte d’Ivoire, where former warlords were prominent and powerful. </p>
<p>Secondly, there was an absence of political will to coordinate programmes. The government’s post-war priorities centred on presenting a positive image to the international community and attracting foreign investment, as well as shoring up support for itself and marginalising the opposition. Demobilising combatants was evidence of this. Transitional justice might have uncovered the crimes committed by the government and marginalised powerful figures on whom the government depended. </p>
<p>Finally, there were considerable technical challenges to coordinating programmes.</p>
<h2>What should be done</h2>
<p>These findings indicate a need for the UN to reconsider its emphasis on coordinating reintegration and transitional justice irrespective of the post-war context. Instead, political dynamics must be accounted for. </p>
<p>A more practical option might be to coordinate programmes at a local level. These could focus on social reintegration and personal reconciliation, rather than seeking to coordinate all the aspects of both mechanisms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158149/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Moody received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council while she was conducting field research for this article. </span></em></p>Based on the Cote d'Ivoire experience, the United Nations must reconsider its emphasis on coordinating reintegration and transitional justice irrespective of the post-war context.Jessica Moody, PhD Candidate and Freelance Political Risk Analyst, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1541492021-03-05T21:04:02Z2021-03-05T21:04:02ZWomen in Afghanistan worry peace accord with Taliban extremists could cost them hard-won rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387893/original/file-20210304-15-1sypk8u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C19%2C4274%2C2796&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Audience members listen to Afghan parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi speak in 2014. Women's access to politics increased greatly after the Taliban's 2001 ouster.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/afghan-women-listen-to-a-speaker-address-a-political-news-photo/181903098">Sha Marai/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Three Afghan women who <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/world/asia/afghanistan-women-journalists-killed.html">worked at a media company were gunned down in Jalalabad in early March</a>. In January, unidentified gunmen killed <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attack-judges/gunmen-kill-two-female-supreme-court-judges-in-afghanistan-police-idUSKBN29M076">two female Supreme Court judges in Kabul</a>.</p>
<p>These are the latest victims on a long list of assassinations and attempted assassinations of female politicians and women’s rights activists. Such attacks have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/taliban-attacks-in-afghanistan-surge-after-us-peace-deal-inflicting-heavy-casualties/2020/04/30/1362fb40-88c0-11ea-80df-d24b35a568ae_story.html">intensified since the government began peace negotiations</a> with the Taliban militant group in September 2020. In the past year, 17 <a href="https://twitter.com/HRD_Memorial/status/1359814612921778179">human rights defenders</a> have been killed in Afghanistan. </p>
<p>The Taliban’s rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 was the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/essay/the-fate-of-womens-rights-in-afghanistan/">darkest time for Afghan women</a>. Assuming an austere interpretation of Islamic Sharia and Pashtun tribal practices, the group limited women’s access to education, employment and health services. Women were required to be fully veiled and have <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm">male escorts in public</a>. </p>
<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C11&q=H+Hoodfar&btnG=">scholars</a> of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=pRDRavYAAAAJ">women’s rights in Muslim majority countries</a>, including in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1554477X.2013.820115">Afghanistan</a>. We have been following Afghanistan’s peace talks with an eye on gender, seeking to understand how Afghan women view the prospect of their government striking a power-sharing agreement with the group that oppressed them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387899/original/file-20210304-22-fcm9w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sunny, blue-painted classroom full of smiling Afghan boys and girls" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387899/original/file-20210304-22-fcm9w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387899/original/file-20210304-22-fcm9w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387899/original/file-20210304-22-fcm9w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387899/original/file-20210304-22-fcm9w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387899/original/file-20210304-22-fcm9w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387899/original/file-20210304-22-fcm9w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387899/original/file-20210304-22-fcm9w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A coed private school classroom in Kabul, September 2019. Girls’ education is still restricted in Taliban-controlled areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/afghan-boys-and-girls-attend-mixed-classes-at-the-ariana-news-photo/1183342347">Scott Peterson/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Seat at the table</h2>
<p>Women are a pale presence in the on-again, off-again, U.S.-brokered Afghanistan peace process underway in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban, which still controls roughly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-rule-territory/">30% of Afghanistan’s territory</a>, has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/05/opinions/women-should-be-at-the-center-of-afghan-peace-talks-bigio-cleaveland/index.html">no women on its negotiating team</a>. Only four of the Afghan government’s 21 negotiators are women – even though several women play prominent roles within the national government. </p>
<p>The past six months of talks have demonstrated the contradictions between each side’s stance on women’s equality and other central issues. </p>
<p>The government intends to preserve Afghanistan’s democratic institutions and constitution, which guarantees <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Afghanistan_2004.pdf?lang=en">the rights of women and minorities</a> as equal citizens of an Islamic republic. </p>
<p>The Taliban, on the other hand, is pushing for an Islamic emirate controlled by a nonelected council of religious leaders who rule based on their conservative interpretation of Islam, according to unpublished analysis by the nonprofit <a href="http://www.wluml.org">Women Living Under Muslim Laws</a>, where we are board members. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387895/original/file-20210304-17-75uw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Men, some in suits and other in traditional Pashtun clothing, stand in a hotel conference room at a distance from each other, wearing face masks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387895/original/file-20210304-17-75uw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387895/original/file-20210304-17-75uw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387895/original/file-20210304-17-75uw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387895/original/file-20210304-17-75uw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387895/original/file-20210304-17-75uw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387895/original/file-20210304-17-75uw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387895/original/file-20210304-17-75uw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other U.S. officials meet with senior Taliban leaders in Doha, Qatar, November 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo-meets-with-taliban-co-news-photo/1229709572">Patrick Semansky/Pool/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p><a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/10/afghan-women-should-be-the-centerpiece-of-the-peace-process/">Roya Rahmani</a>, the Afghan ambassador to the United States, says <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2019/11/first-lady-rula-ghani-afghan-womens-consensus">having women on its team</a> gives the Afghan government more leverage to negotiate on women’s rights. That’s important because our research indicates that the Taliban maintain their extremist stance on women. </p>
<p>“The Taliban live in their 1990s universe and they refuse to see the reality of Afghanistan and in particular the young generations today who see themselves entitled to human rights, education, and an open public sphere,” Palwasha Hassan, an Afghan women’s rights activist, told us in an interview in December 2020.</p>
<p>The Taliban claims its views on women have evolved. But in some Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/06/30/you-have-no-right-complain/education-social-restrictions-and-justice-taliban-held#_ftn1">girls are barred from getting an education</a> after puberty – in violation of the Afghan constitution. And while women are elected and appointed to high-level posts nationally, their political participation is restricted in Taliban-controlled regions.</p>
<p>There is a “gap between official Taliban statements on rights and the restrictive positions adopted by Taliban officials on the ground,” according to <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/06/30/you-have-no-right-complain/education-social-restrictions-and-justice-taliban-held">the international nonprofit Human Rights Watch</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387898/original/file-20210304-24-8g7fpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Veiled women and some children stand on the street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387898/original/file-20210304-24-8g7fpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387898/original/file-20210304-24-8g7fpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387898/original/file-20210304-24-8g7fpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387898/original/file-20210304-24-8g7fpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387898/original/file-20210304-24-8g7fpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387898/original/file-20210304-24-8g7fpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387898/original/file-20210304-24-8g7fpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women were required to be fully veiled in public when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. Kabul, 1996.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/veiled-women-stand-in-the-street-october-11-1996-in-kabul-news-photo/744044">Roger Lemoyne/Liaison</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Women and war</h2>
<p>Armed conflicts may be primarily fought by men, who are killed or injured, but women are <a href="https://socwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/fact_fall2006-impact-of-war.pdf">war victims in a different way</a> – and therefore have different needs when it ends. Many lose their husbands and children, and thus their income, and are disproportionately displaced by violence. <a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-as-a-weapon-of-war-what-the-law-can-do-10038">Rape is one weapon of war</a>, and in some places women may be sexually assaulted en masse. </p>
<p>In 2000, the United Nations <a href="https://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/wps/">adopted a resolution</a> emphasizing that women should be included in all post-conflict reconstruction efforts.</p>
<p>Colombia was the <a href="https://apolitical.co/en/solution_article/colombias-peace-agreement-worlds-first-gender-core">first country to ensure gender equity in its peace process</a>. In its landmark 2016 accord with the FARC insurgents, which was mediated by Sweden, women were on <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2017/2/gender-and-the-role-of-women-in-colombias-peace-process">both the insurgent and government negotiating teams</a>, and the final accord included a <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/feminist-peace-colombia">chapter outlining what assistance women in conflict zones</a> would need to start businesses, participate in politics, thrive in rural areas and the like.</p>
<p>Afghanistan, the first big globally brokered peace deal to follow Colombia’s, does not follow this model. </p>
<p>In interviews with more than 15 Afghan women’s rights leaders, we heard frustration over women’s exclusion from the peace talks given that women are the main victims of Afghanistan’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Afghan-War">40-year conflict</a>.</p>
<p>These women support the effort at national reconciliation. But they cited the targeted killings of women over the past year as reason for concern that the Taliban’s disregard for human rights jeopardizes the longevity of any peace deal.</p>
<p>As one interview subject put it, “Taliban’s win is a win for ISIS, Boko Haram and other extremist groups.” </p>
<h2>Targeting women</h2>
<p>Outspoken critics of the Taliban’s undemocratic vision of peace have been threatened or killed. </p>
<p>In August 2020, Fawzia Koofi, an Afghan government negotiator and long-time Afghan parliamentarian, was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/16/female-afghan-peace-negotiator-wounded-in-assassination-bid">shot in the arm</a> in an attempted assassination. The attack is an instance of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/misogyny-in-the-capitol-among-the-insurrectionists-a-lot-of-angry-men-who-dont-like-women-153068">gendered violence</a> that women often face as a way to deter them from participating in politics. </p>
<p>Koofi <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/28/why-was-i-targetted-asks-afghan-activist-after-gun-attack">refused to be silenced</a>. Just days after her injury, she flew to Doha to attend the peace talks. </p>
<p>The Afghan government has made recent missteps on women’s rights, too.</p>
<p>In 2020, the Afghan <a href="https://www.khaama.com/govt-dissolves-state-ministry-for-human-rights-affairs-6565444/">government dissolved the State Ministry of Human Affairs</a>, led by Dr. Sima Samar, a key advocate for women’s rights with nearly two decades of experience at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387896/original/file-20210304-23-4cj5ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman in hijab sits at a table with microphones between two men in sits, with international flags behind them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387896/original/file-20210304-23-4cj5ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387896/original/file-20210304-23-4cj5ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387896/original/file-20210304-23-4cj5ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387896/original/file-20210304-23-4cj5ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387896/original/file-20210304-23-4cj5ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387896/original/file-20210304-23-4cj5ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387896/original/file-20210304-23-4cj5ak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Afghan women’s rights advocate Sima Samar, center, at a United Nations event on domestic violence in Afghanistan in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chairperson-of-the-afghan-independent-human-rigths-news-photo/470337312">Parwiz Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This ministry, as the main body documenting and reporting on Afghanistan’s human rights status, could have played an instrumental role in the negotiations. </p>
<p>After the fall of the Taliban in the 2001 U.S. invasion, women eagerly embraced every opportunity to advance professionally in diverse sectors, from politics to social services. Today women compose around <a href="https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=10&year=2020">27% of the Afghan Parliament</a>, one of the highest rates of women’s political representation in the region.</p>
<p>“There is no going back,” Zarqa Yaftali, a women’s rights activist told us. “Women intend to guide their country towards peace and stability.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154149/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mona Tajali is affiliated with Women Living Under Muslim Laws, a transnational feminist research network. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Homa Hoodfar is affiliated with the organization Women Living Under Muslim Laws, a transnational Feminist Research Network</span></em></p>Afghan women interviewed about current talks between the government and the Taliban say, ‘There is no going back.’ Taliban fundamentalist rule in the 1990s forced women into poverty and subservience.Mona Tajali, Assistant Professor in IR and WGSS, Agnes Scott CollegeHoma Hoodfar, Professor of Anthropology, Emerita, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1394362020-06-30T12:34:39Z2020-06-30T12:34:39ZWhat primates can teach us about managing arguments during lockdown<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344810/original/file-20200630-103661-1pomh03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C57%2C4236%2C2785&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grooming is the key to positive relationships.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/family-monkeys-59218678">tratong/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world may be <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-how-museums-and-galleries-are-preparing-for-the-new-normal-141401">reopening in some places</a>, with people looking forward to pubs, restaurants and haircuts. Many of us will no doubt also be looking forward to some time away from home – alone – once more. </p>
<p>Spending such prolonged time in close quarters with others puts strain on relationships and increases social tension. Tempers can flare and arguments erupt. But we can increase our understanding about how to cope in these situations by looking at how our closest relatives – non-human primates – <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-monkeys-make-friends-and-influence-each-other-65906">manage social relationships</a> during similar periods. </p>
<p>For many different animals, forming friendly relationships that endure can <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6493/eaax9553?casa_token=RAdR06n7WqkAAAAA%3A5OIxWqMfRfqRUNt5fL-awpIH8KnOLBBNopbrNpdvWz-xNVF__xK1f8T8y4FY31p-BjwQ9wTbu_BkOg">influence health, survival and reproduction</a>. Though of course, living in a group where individual needs differ inevitably brings group mates into conflict. But behavioural strategies have evolved that can minimise the risk and costs of conflict.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lockdown-challenges-what-evolution-tells-us-about-our-need-for-personal-space-136527">Lockdown challenges – what evolution tells us about our need for personal space</a>
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</em>
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<p>Many studies have investigated what happens after an aggressive conflict. Indeed, <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.anthro.31.032902.101743">reconciliation</a> is well documented across primates and functions to calm opponents, restore contact and minimise the costs of aggression. Though far fewer studies have investigated what happens before a conflict. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-006-9073-9">our research</a> has found that when space is at a premium and conditions become a little crowded, primates engage in a variety of pre-conflict strategies. </p>
<h2>Coping strategies</h2>
<p>A temporary reduction in living space, can cause a surge in social tension for primates – and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajp.20290?casa_token=bWJq1ryTKjAAAAAA:XoSebsUy0JCypDDOkyjDX1b-JoO9kg0wnaiLltpTbtxrwL4lUEXVw3pNau8V2-dV9tFdN-Sc41DQ5WLP">behavioural indicators of anxiety such as scratching</a> increase. But primates also use several coping strategies during such times to prevent or reduce conflict. </p>
<p>One such approach is a conflict avoidance strategy – whereby individual primates lessen how much they actively seek interactions with others. They reduce friendly behaviour and aggressive escalation, even though mild threats still occur. </p>
<p>Another option is a tension reduction strategy. This sees individual primates increase friendly behaviours such as grooming and appeasement. This alleviates tension by increasing tolerance, and minimising the likelihood of conflict occurring or escalating. </p>
<p>Alternatively, individual primates can show a blanket reduction of behaviours – be it friendly, submissive or aggressive – with an inhibition strategy. This means individual primates will spend a bit more time on their own.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344038/original/file-20200625-33546-y2gijx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344038/original/file-20200625-33546-y2gijx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344038/original/file-20200625-33546-y2gijx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344038/original/file-20200625-33546-y2gijx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344038/original/file-20200625-33546-y2gijx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344038/original/file-20200625-33546-y2gijx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344038/original/file-20200625-33546-y2gijx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Conflict management chimp style.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-chimpanzee-pan-troglodytes-on-mangrove-542351401">Shutterstock/Sergey Uryadnikov</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Different species and even different groups of the same species adopt these strategies during short-term space restriction. Some rhesus monkeys, for example, display a conflict avoidance strategy <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/157f/0a81c330c03a466b0e58d78d4c551653d136.pdf?_ga=2.176504741.1898633397.1591555641-969788825.1588343913">to reduce the likelihood of intense fights</a>. </p>
<p>Other monkeys <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajp.22430">increase friendly behaviour</a>, consistent with a tension reduction strategy. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-006-9070-z">And brown capuchin monkeys</a> and some <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291098-2345%281997%2941%3A3%3C213%3A%3AAID-AJP4%3E3.0.CO%3B2-%23?casa_token=IfxuFzkYyZoAAAAA:LHoZLZwUddYlKSnZ9cbZ-DkzOfeUSkYO0RUmWSakD1eXiED1JEbA9lRfht7CsmFbCgvrDJGnVkloTk4">chimpanzees</a> adopt an inhibition strategy. </p>
<h2>Put to the test</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-006-9073-9">Our study of a zoo chimpanzee group</a>, took place during a month of space restriction when the group was confined indoors for health reasons.</p>
<p>We found that during this time of restriction, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1026280329544">aggression rates decreased</a>. But this was only between individuals with a history of more frequent aggression. Individual chimps were also less likely to join in conflicts. Though the amount of friendly and appeasement behaviour didn’t change – suggesting chimpanzees were using a type of selective inhibition. </p>
<p>We also found that female chimpanzees had a less cohesive grooming network and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-018-0675-6">fewer grooming partners during space restriction</a>.
By grooming fewer partners, females adopted an avoidance strategy and focused on their strongest friendships. On the other hand, the most aggressive individuals reduced how often they attacked others – and so adopted a selective inhibition strategy.</p>
<h2>Preparing for conflict</h2>
<p>These pre-conflict strategies are not only geared toward preventing or deescalating conflict. Primates can also minimise the costs of future aggression by strengthening bonds with allies. </p>
<p>We found, for example, that on the day before a conflict, chimpanzees who groom a friend are more likely to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-006-9074-8">receive support from them in a following conflict</a>. By maintaining good friendships, chimpanzees can further reduce the costs of future aggression by ensuring help is there when needed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344036/original/file-20200625-33546-p2826w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344036/original/file-20200625-33546-p2826w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344036/original/file-20200625-33546-p2826w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344036/original/file-20200625-33546-p2826w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344036/original/file-20200625-33546-p2826w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344036/original/file-20200625-33546-p2826w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344036/original/file-20200625-33546-p2826w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/monkey-family-on-blue-sky-background-551178088">Shutterstock/Maksym Gorpenyuk</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conflict management strategies are widespread across primate species and are part of our evolutionary history. As social, cooperative beings, we have evolved coping strategies to use in such situations and there are <a href="https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/arguments-conflict-family-tension-coronavirus-lockdown/">many</a> <a href="https://www.bacp.co.uk/news/news-from-bacp/2020/27-march-coronavirus-lockdown-how-to-maintain-happy-family-relationships-in-difficult-circumstances/">practical</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-stay-calm-and-manage-those-family-tensions-during-the-coronavirus-lockdown-137166">resources</a> out there to remind us how to deal with a conflict before it happens. </p>
<p>Though lockdown may be lifting – and fewer people will be spending all their time in the house, there are those who will likely remain at home for some time to come due to underlying health conditions. These are unusual times but our primate heritage equips us to deal with unpredictable social situations and the challenges imposed by enforced close proximity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicola F. Koyama does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Primates have evolved behavioural strategies that can minimise the risk and costs of conflict.Nicola F. Koyama, Senior Lecturer in Biological & Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1317552020-02-26T14:02:02Z2020-02-26T14:02:02ZA guerrilla-to-entrepreneur plan in Colombia leaves some new businesswomen isolated and at risk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316500/original/file-20200220-92558-1b3ifsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4003%2C2669&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More than 2,000 women were processed through demobilization camps in Colombia as the government transitions disarmed FARC guerrillas back into civilian life, Jan. 18, 2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/guerrilla-fighters-seen-during-a-line-up-inside-a-news-photo/641252372?adppopup=true">Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women made up nearly a quarter of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-to-yes-in-colombia-what-it-would-take-to-reintegrate-the-farc-66710">13,000 guerrilla fighters</a> disarmed by Colombia’s 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, <a href="https://theconversation.com/colombian-guerrillas-disarm-starting-their-risky-return-to-civilian-life-73947">or FARC</a>. Though implementation has been <a href="http://theconversation.com/violence-climbs-in-colombia-as-president-chips-away-at-landmark-peace-deal-with-farc-guerrillas-115112">halting</a>, the landmark peace deal officially ended Colombia’s 52-year armed conflict with this Marxist rebel group. </p>
<p>But even before the peace deal more than 19,000 fighters – including thousands of women – had <a href="http://www.reincorporacion.gov.co/es/agencia/Documentos%20de%20ARN%20en%20Cifras/ARN%20en%20cifras%20corte%20septiembre%202019.pdf">abandoned different Colombian guerrilla and paramilitary groups</a>, voluntarily or after being captured by the army. </p>
<p>In exchange for disarming, Colombia offered this first group of ex-combatants training in accounting, stock management, market analysis, development of business plans and US$2,300 – roughly eight months of <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=RMW">minimum wage earnings</a> – to <a href="https://www.reincorporacion.gov.co/es/la-reintegracion/centro-de-documentacion/Documentos/Documento%20Conpes%203554%20l%20Pol%C3%ADtica%20nacional%20de%20reintegraci%C3%B3n%20social%20y%20econ%C3%B3mica%20para%20personas%20y%20grupos%20armados%20ilegales.pdf">start a small business</a>. With the government’s assistance, thousands of former female insurgents have started small home businesses, tailoring clothing, making handicrafts or selling food. </p>
<p>Now, <a href="http://www.reincorporacion.gov.co/en/reintegration/Pages/dimensions/productive.aspx">the government is expanding its entrepreneurship program</a> to cover all 2,990 female FARC fighters <a href="http://pensamiento.unal.edu.co/fileadmin/recursos/focos/piensa-paz/docs/presentacion_censo_farc.pdf">disbanded under the 2016 peace deal</a>. </p>
<p>So I wanted to check in on past beneficiaries to see how they were faring. For seven months in 2018 and 2019, as part of my <a href="https://independent.academia.edu/PaulinaArango4">dissertation research on Colombia</a>, I conducted in-depth interviews with 12 retired female guerrilla fighters to document their transition back into civilian life.</p>
<p>They’re not doing so well. </p>
<h2>Transforming identities</h2>
<p>In Colombia, as in other conflict zones, rejoining society after war is generally <a href="https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/gender-inclusive-framework-and-theory-guide.pdf">more challenging for women</a>. </p>
<p>Whether they served as soldiers, cooks, spies or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-5968-1">sexual partners</a> to male fighters, women <a href="https://theconversation.com/colombian-militants-have-a-new-plan-for-the-country-and-its-called-insurgent-feminism-77148">militants</a> are frequently seen as abnormal, or unfeminine. Fighting violates traditional expectation of women as the peaceful and <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-to-yes-in-colombia-what-it-would-take-to-reintegrate-the-farc-66710">nurturing</a> gender. </p>
<p>In Colombia, many of the women I interviewed said they were shunned when they returned to <a href="https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/4acdd8512.pdf">civilian life</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316498/original/file-20200220-92526-nmubqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316498/original/file-20200220-92526-nmubqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316498/original/file-20200220-92526-nmubqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316498/original/file-20200220-92526-nmubqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316498/original/file-20200220-92526-nmubqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316498/original/file-20200220-92526-nmubqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316498/original/file-20200220-92526-nmubqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316498/original/file-20200220-92526-nmubqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Female FARC insurgents days before their relocation to government-run transition camps, Vegaez municipality, Antioquia department, Colombia, Dec, 30, 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/guerillas-members-pose-for-a-picture-at-the-34-alberto-news-photo/630698248?adppopup=true">RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Even my family thought the worst of me – that I had become bloodthirsty or bad,” said a 33-year-old woman who was forced by her father to join the FARC when she was 17.</p>
<p>Other women reported feeling similar social exclusion. The perception of stigma prevented them from fully engaging with their local communities. All hid their pasts. Some avoided interacting with neighbors, afraid they would discover their secret.</p>
<p>This is the opposite of the government’s intention with the small business program, which aims to promote social interactions. Funded by the Colombian government, USAID and the <a href="http://escolapau.uab.cat/img/programas/desarme/ddr005i.pdf">United Nations</a> and designed following <a href="https://www.unddr.org/uploads/documents/IDDRS_4.30%20Reintegration%20WEB.pdf">U.N. guidelines</a>, entrepreneurship is supposed to help former insurgents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667661">gain community acceptance</a>, take control over their circumstances, rejoin the <a href="https://www.reincorporacion.gov.co/es/la-reintegracion/centro-de-documentacion/Documentos/Documento%20Conpes%203554%20l%20Pol%C3%ADtica%20nacional%20de%20reintegraci%C3%B3n%20social%20y%20econ%C3%B3mica%20para%20personas%20y%20grupos%20armados%20ilegales.pdf">labor market</a> and reduce poverty.</p>
<p>Promoting entrepreneurship is a popular development strategy for women, not just in conflict zones but also in poor countries with entrenched gender inequality. Since 2001 the World Bank has launched micro-lending and small grant programs in South Sudan, Liberia, Afghanistan, Haiti and Kosovo, <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/20618/WPS7098.pdf?sequence=1">among others</a>. </p>
<p>However, their effectiveness is <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2622220">unproven</a>, and some <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-microfinance-disappointed-the-developing-world-23206">studies</a> find entrepreneurship does not meaningfully improve women’s lives.</p>
<p>Running a home business seemed to isolate the former insurgents in my study. More than half told me they were unable to form the kind of social support system that research <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667661">shows is necessary for reintegration</a>.</p>
<p>“I don’t like to go anywhere, I don’t like to visit anyone,” a 31-year-old woman told me. </p>
<p>She was particularly worried that if neighbors learned about her history as an rebel fighter, they would tell the gang members who control her neighborhood, endangering her life.</p>
<p>This social isolation effectively trapped some women in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.09.027">violent relationships</a>. One felt that working from home kept her from meeting new people who might have become a protective network. </p>
<p>“He punched me. I still have the bruise,” she said. </p>
<p>I could see the mark on her cheek. The attack was recent. The woman told me she hadn’t left the house in 15 days.</p>
<h2>Constraints to social inclusion</h2>
<p>Succeeding in business is difficult for anyone, in any country, under any circumstance. Research shows the chances for success are <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2622220">even lower</a> for poor female entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>My interviews in Colombia suggest that the Colombian government’s reliance on entrepreneurship may make female ex-insurgents financial situation even more precarious than it would otherwise be because they lack the safety net of formal employment. </p>
<p>“I was not used to having a business, so I gave credit to many people,” said one ex-combatant whose government seed-funded grocery store in Medellin, Colombia went broke.</p>
<p>When former insurgents who receive government benefits fail, they do not get another loan. They must find a job <a href="https://www.redjurista.com/Documents/resolucion_754_de_2013_agencia_colombiana_para_la_reintegracion_de_personas_y_grupos_alzados_en_armas.aspx#/">on their own</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316496/original/file-20200220-92502-wno0rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316496/original/file-20200220-92502-wno0rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316496/original/file-20200220-92502-wno0rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316496/original/file-20200220-92502-wno0rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316496/original/file-20200220-92502-wno0rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316496/original/file-20200220-92502-wno0rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316496/original/file-20200220-92502-wno0rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316496/original/file-20200220-92502-wno0rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many women left the FARC guerrilla group along with their partners, Colinas, Guaviare, Colombia, June 15, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-revolutionary-armed-forces-of-colombia-walk-news-photo/696684966?adppopup=true">RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Another problem I identified with Colombia’s governmental entrepreneurship program was that it restricts grant recipients to low-skill jobs that may not align with an individual’s experience, skills and interests.</p>
<p>“My dream was to study dentistry, but I did not have a high school diploma,” a woman who was a dentist in the FARC told me. “I had to do tailoring.” </p>
<p>Sewing and selling underwear and jackets helped the former fighter support herself and her son through a divorce. But the work was not meaningful to her, and it did not further her long-term educational and career goals.</p>
<p>Running a small business at home also reinforced <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/3F71081FF391653DC1256C69003170E9-unicef-WomenWarPeace.pdf">unequal distribution of family responsibilities</a> for many of the women I interviewed. Because they were in the house, they were expected to do all domestic chores and childcare – all while cooking, sewing or selling food.</p>
<h2>Gender troubles</h2>
<p>The former guerrilla fighters I interviewed are years into the reintegration process. Their struggles signal great challenges ahead for Colombia as it returns thousands of <a href="https://theconversation.com/peace-makes-strides-in-colombia-but-the-battle-is-far-from-won-83601">FARC women</a> back to civilian life <a href="http://www.reincorporacion.gov.co/en/reintegration/Pages/what.aspx">by 2023</a>, the timeline for completing the reintegration process.</p>
<p>In some ways, however, Colombia is actually ahead of the game. Gender-specific policies are in short supply in war zones globally.</p>
<p>“Peace agreements are still adopted without provisions considering the needs and priorities of women and girls,” <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sgsm19834.doc.htm">said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in October 2019</a>. </p>
<p>He said a “pitifully small” amount of aid to fragile and post-conflict nations – just 0.2% – goes to “women’s organizations.”</p>
<p>Colombia’s accord tried to do better. At the <a href="https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/acuerdo-de-paz-con-las-farc-enfoque-de-genero/504340">FARC’s insistence</a>, women were on the negotiating team. The accord specifically commits the state to promoting <a href="https://kroc.nd.edu/assets/349904/200128_second_gender_report_in_english.pdf">equal rights for women and men</a>. </p>
<p>But my research suggests that making peace work for female insurgents will take more than a well crafted accord.</p>
<p><em>Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, a professor of international and multicultural education at Florida State University, contributed research to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131755/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Paulina Arango receives funding from the United States Institute of Peace. </span></em></p>Small business grants are supposed to help Colombia’s disarmed FARC fighters start new lives as entrepreneurs. But interviews with 12 female ex-insurgents suggests the government plan may fail women.Maria Paulina Arango, PhD candidate in International and Comparative Education at Florida State University and 2019-2020 USIP Peace Scholar, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1323032020-02-21T20:57:55Z2020-02-21T20:57:55ZAfter US and Taliban sign accord, Afghanistan must prepare for peace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317883/original/file-20200229-24664-9177yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C14%2C4842%2C2844&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar sign an agreement ending the US's 18-year war in Afghanistan, Doha, Feb. 29, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/special-representative-for-afghanistan-reconciliation-news-photo/1204133093?adppopup=true">GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United States has <a href="https://apnews.com/491544713df4879f399d0ff5523d369e?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow">signed a peace deal</a> with the <a href="https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/afghan-taliban">Taliban</a>, an armed insurgency promoting an ultra-conservative form of Sunni Islam of Afghanistan. </p>
<p>The Taliban has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-taliban-talks-resume-raising-prospect-end-war-afghanistan-n1097981">battled the Afghan government</a> for power for three decades. Since the U.S. invasion of 2001 following the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, it has also fought the United States – an 18-year war that killed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/">2,300 American soldiers and more than 43,000 Afghan citizens</a>. </p>
<p>The accord, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/taliban-set-sign-deal-war-afghanistan-200228055452287.html">signed on Feb. 29</a> in Doha, Qatar, follows a week-long truce and 18 months of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49729612">stop-and-go</a> <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/resurrected-taliban-peace-talks-open-qatar-191207105319486.html">negotiations</a>. It sets the terms for the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/02/world/asia/us-withdrawal-afghanistan-taliban.html?module=inline">withdrawal</a> of the remaining roughly 13,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan over 14 months. In exchange, the Taliban must enter talks with Afghan government officials and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-taliban-talks-resume-raising-prospect-end-war-afghanistan-n1097981">cut ties</a> with terrorist groups like al-Qaida. </p>
<p>But peace in Afghanistan will take more than an accord. History shows that <a href="https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/crisis%20prevention/undp-cpr-post-conflict-economic-recovery-enable-local-ingenuity-report-2008.pdf">economic growth</a> and better job opportunities are necessary to <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=GXIGCAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=peacebuilding+in+post-conflict+countries+jobs+economic+growth&ots=wUBmA_dxxg&sig=0Td9VUiuEADEdC4iJuBrNghWkLA#v=onepage&q=peacebuilding%20in%20post-conflict%20countries%20jobs%20economic%20growth&f=false">rebuild stability after war</a>. My <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Hessami">work</a> on armed conflict, the environment and peacebuilding indicates that careful and sustainable use of Afghanistan’s <a href="https://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Afghanistan_NRM_guidance_chart.pdf">abundant natural resources</a> could be one path toward recovery.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C4000%2C2664&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C4000%2C2664&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A market in the Old City of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 8, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Afghanistan-Daily-Life/a9c73acd22884f5d83b007a534f699b4/9/0">AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Building a lasting peace</h2>
<p>Insurgent groups recruit people who desperately need an income. As <a href="https://www.wired.com/2010/07/taliban-pays-its-troops-better-than-karzai-pays-his/">Wired magazine reported back in 2007</a>, the Taliban paid its soldiers far better than the Afghan government. Today, salaries for members of ISIS-KP, the Islamic State’s local branch, are reportedly even higher. </p>
<p>Creating well-paid alternatives to extremist groups, then, is a critical piece in solving Afghanistan’s national security puzzle.</p>
<p>And since many fighters for insurgent groups in Afghanistan come from a <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/turning-former-afghanistan-warlord-fighters-farmers">farming background</a> – and agriculture accounts for <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/publication/unlocking-potential-of-agriculture-for-afghanistan-growth">40% of total jobs</a> in Afghanistan – rural development will be particularly important for peacebuilding. </p>
<p>“Strengthening natural resource-related livelihoods can [provide] a future for youth who might otherwise join rebel forces,” says Carl Bruch, president of the <a href="https://environmentalpeacebuilding.org/">Environmental Peacebuilding Association</a>, a nonprofit organization that studies the relationship between armed conflict and natural resources. </p>
<p>The United States Agency for International Development, which also funds <a href="https://www.chemonics.com/projects/building-economy-promoting-peace-colombia/">efforts to build the economy of post-conflict countries like Colombia</a> and <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/democratic-republic-congo/fact-sheets/peace-and-security">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a>, sees sustainable economic growth as <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan/economic-growth">crucial for a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316671/original/file-20200221-92502-1j826ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3696%2C2248&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316671/original/file-20200221-92502-1j826ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3696%2C2248&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316671/original/file-20200221-92502-1j826ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316671/original/file-20200221-92502-1j826ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316671/original/file-20200221-92502-1j826ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316671/original/file-20200221-92502-1j826ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316671/original/file-20200221-92502-1j826ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316671/original/file-20200221-92502-1j826ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Taliban fighters surrender their weapons in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Feb. 8, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/feb-9-2020-taliban-fighters-attend-a-surrender-ceremony-in-news-photo/1199763068?adppopup=true">Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Figs, saffron and pine nuts</h2>
<p>The export market for coveted Afghan agricultural products like cashmere, pine nuts, figs and saffron is one potentially lucrative sector of the rural economy.</p>
<p>In November 2019, several Chinese importers finalized a deal with Afghan <a href="https://www.avapress.com/en/news/196297/afghanistan-to-export-62-000-tonnes-of-pine-nuts-china-over-next-five-years">companies</a> to buy US$2.2 billion in Afghan pine nuts over the next five years. </p>
<p>Other agricultural exports from Afghanistan are finding their place in the world market, too. <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/country/afg/">Grape sales</a> brought Afghanistan $143 million in 2017. Tropical fruits earned $101 million. Afghanistan’s economy <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/01/22/afghanistan-improves-its-growth-despite-uncertainty">grew 2.9% in 2019</a>, largely driven by agriculture.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Afghan women work in a saffron field in Herat, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Afghanistan-US-Spending/8e4d2f9194de4c85809339acf7c6665a/3/0">AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Afghan government recognizes its potential as a global source of fine foods. </p>
<p>Eight months after Afghan president Ashraf Ghani created several <a href="https://tolonews.com/business/afghan-exports-through-air-corridors-total-100m">new air corridors in 2018</a> – safe and direct flight paths created for trade and other purposes – <a href="https://www.themigrantproject.org/afghanistan-opens-air-cargo-corridors/">exports from Afghanistan increased 32%</a>. These air routes connect Afghanistan to India, Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan – commercial hubs that give Afghan products access to other trade destinations. </p>
<p>Recently, browsing in a local health food store in Los Angeles, I was surprised to come upon a bright red bag of Kandahar figs. </p>
<p>The distributor, Ziba Foods, told me that 80% of their workforce – both management and staff positions – is female, and that the company provides English lessons and other professional development to staff. </p>
<p>“We are committed to providing our Afghan staff with year-round employment despite the cyclical nature of the agricultural sector,” Ziba partner Raffi Vartanian said. </p>
<h2>Emerald mining</h2>
<p>Emeralds are another Afghan product with the potential to drive economic growth. High up in the Hindu Kush mountains of Panjshir Province are buried vivid green emeralds of <a href="https://www.gia.edu/doc/SP91A2.pdf">noted color and purity</a>. </p>
<p>The inhabitants of Panjshir once sold these famous emeralds <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/09/09/140333732/in-afghanistan-assessing-a-rebel-leaders-legacy">to finance</a> their <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/09/09/140333732/in-afghanistan-assessing-a-rebel-leaders-legacy">resistance to Soviet occupation</a>. In a more stable future, these precious stones could provide substantial incomes for people in an area that’s too mountainous for farming or herding.</p>
<p>Afghanistan exported an estimated $100 million in emeralds in 2018, according to <a href="https://www.gemstone.org/publications/incolor">InColor Magazine</a>, a publication of the International Colored Gemstone Association. In 2015, <a href="http://www.lj24magazine.com/article/article_000516/1.aspx">Christie’s</a> auction house sold an Afghan emerald for <a href="https://www.gemstone.org/incolor/40/85/">$2,276,408</a>, a <a href="https://magazine.stregis.com/the-emerald/">record price for Christie’s</a>. </p>
<p>Despite some <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/01/02/access-to-all-weather-road-allows-afghan-valley-inhabitants-to-flourish">recent road repairs</a>, the mountainous and remote Panjshir region remains <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-dec-22-la-fg-afghanistan-panjshir-20131222-story.html">extremely difficult to get in and out of</a>. With better access, improved technology and <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2016/08/29/smallbusiness/afghanistan-emeralds-panjshir-aria/">more training for miners</a>, analysts estimate Panjshir could produce <a href="https://www.gemstone.org/incolor/40/86/">$300 to $400 million</a> worth of emeralds each year. </p>
<h2>Good timing</h2>
<p>Afghanistan’s peace deal comes just over 40 years after the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7883532.stm">1979 Soviet Invasion</a> that triggered a cycle of armed conflict that has destabilized this Central Asian nation since. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Afghan rebels on top of knocked out Russian armored vehicle in Afghanistan in February 1980.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-I-AFG-APHS302628-Soviet-Invasion-and-/9b7e7023102b4486998be9caab7ca1df/155/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An estimated <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-26-op-soviet26-story.html">2.5 million Afghans</a> were killed or wounded during the decade-long Soviet occupation. The <a href="https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/afghanistan-russia-programs/2019-02-27/soviet-withdrawal-afghanistan-1989">withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989</a> left the country in chaos, vulnerable to the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2010/12/07/131884473/Afghanistan-After-The-Soviet-Withdrawal">eventual rise</a> of militant groups like the Taliban, al-Qaida and, eventually, IS-KP.</p>
<p>Though the 27.5 million Afghans <a href="https://afghanistan.unfpa.org/en/news/young-people-make-their-voices-heard-through-afghan-youth-parliament">under the age of 25</a> have only known war, the population is eager for peace. A late 2019 survey by the Asia Foundation of <a href="http://heartofasia.af/peace-talks-instilled-hopes-in-afghans/">18,000 Afghans</a> found that <a href="http://heartofasia.af/peace-talks-instilled-hopes-in-afghans/">90% of those</a> surveyed strongly supported negotiations with the Taliban.</p>
<p>Older Afghans remember happier times. My husband, who left Afghanistan as a young man after the Soviet invasion, has photo albums showing his family grilling kebabs and lounging in the rose-filled Paghman Gardens, just outside the city. Back then, beautiful Kabul was known as “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/weekinreview/18bumiller.html">the Paris of Central Asia</a>.” </p>
<p>Many of <a href="http://www.bakhtarnews.com.af/eng/culture/item/38569-president-ghani-inspects-restoration-process-of-paghman-historic-palaces.html">Paghman’s lawns and palaces</a> are now in the process of careful restoration – a hopeful sign after decades of destruction. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C2995%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C2995%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Visitors in 2009 at at a lake in Band-e-Amir, Afghanistan’s first national park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Afghanistan-Bring-On-The-Tourists/ecfab6a615744d3ab911d7a39ac284b2/16/0">AP Photo/Rahmat Gul</a></span>
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<p>In the 1960s and 1970s, Afghanistan’s spectacular natural landscapes attracted thousands of tourists each year, <a href="https://www.mfa.gov.af/about-afghanistan/tourism.html">according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan</a>. Young travelers who took the famous “Hippie Trail” – a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-lonely-planet-journey-the-hippie-trail-6257275.html">4,660-mile</a> journey from London to Goa, India – would pass through Afghanistan. </p>
<p>Ecotourism is another industry that could develop in Afghanistan if armed conflict there ends. </p>
<p>A Taliban accord ends America’s Afghanistan war. But only in creating meaningful jobs and sustainable economic development will a <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan/economic-growth">durable peace</a> take root. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/taliban-negotiations-resume-feeding-hope-of-a-peaceful-more-prosperous-afghanistan-127772">article</a> originally published Dec. 10, 2019.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132303/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth B. Hessami is a Visiting Attorney for the Environmental Law Institute and a founding member of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association.</span></em></p>A peace deal with the Taliban has been signed. But rebuilding Afghanistan after three decades of conflict will take much more than an accord, says a scholar of peacebuilding.Elizabeth B. Hessami, Faculty Lecturer, Johns Hopkins UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1261512020-01-28T20:34:19Z2020-01-28T20:34:19ZHow sport for development and peace can transform the lives of youth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312139/original/file-20200127-81403-nqaawb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=97%2C122%2C3832%2C2023&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Orphan Swazi schoolboys playing soccer in a local school in Mbabane, Swaziland, in 2006. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Thousands of young athletes have been competing at the <a href="https://www.olympic.org/news/from-lausanne-to-gangwon-winter-youth-olympic-games-headed-for-republic-of-korea">2020 Youth Winter Olympic Games in Lausanne</a>, Switzerland, this month. But there are actually millions more young people participating in sports, and not just to bring home medals — but to bring peace. </p>
<p>In December, <a href="https://www.peace-sport.org/forum-en/">the Peace and Sport Forum</a> took place in Monaco to discuss the work of peace and acting through sport. But what is sport for development and peace? </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9mVm2tvGIAI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Highlights from the 2019 Sport International Forum held in Monaco in December.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sport for development and peace is an international movement that began with the United Nations’ <a href="https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">Millennium Development Goals</a>, which ran from 2000 to 2015, and continues through the <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300">Sustainable Development Goals</a>, a second global development plan running from 2015 to 2030.</p>
<p>Organizations and associations use sport as a vehicle to reach several social and humanitarian missions: <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/sport-for-development-and-peace-current-perspectives-of-research">education, social cohesion, health, reintegration, diplomacy and peace</a>. </p>
<h2>Origins and history</h2>
<p>Sport for development and peace is not a new phenomenon. In 1894, Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<a href="https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/sport-for-development-and-peace-current-perspectives-of-research">I remained convinced that sport is one of the most forceful elements of peace and I am confident in its future action</a>.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But it’s really Nelson Mandela’s words that inspired the contemporary movement. In a speech at the 2000 Laureus World Sport Awards, he said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, <a href="http://db.nelsonmandela.org/speeches/pub_view.asp?pg=item&ItemID=NMS1148">it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does</a>.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indeed, the South African leader decided to use the power of sport <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/08/nelson-mandela-francois-pienaar-rugby-world-cup">during the 1995 Rugby World Cup</a> after the official end of apartheid in order to unite the South African people.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Nelson Mandela speaking at the 2000 Laureus World Sports Awards in Monaco.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2003, the United Nations General Assembly adopted <a href="https://www.sportanddev.org/en/document/un-reports-un-resolutions/un-general-assembly-resolution-585-sport-means-promote-health">a resolution in favour of the use of sport as a tool</a> for development and peace building. In 2015, it <a href="http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13150&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">reaffirmed the 1978 UNESCO International Charter</a> for Physical Education and Sport. Between 2008 and 2017, the UN went a step further by establishing the UN Office for Sport and Development and Peace. Through this agency, a large number of projects were developed <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/physical-education-and-sport/sport-for-peace-and-development/">particularly in Central America and West Africa</a>. </p>
<h2>From soccer clubs to community tournaments</h2>
<p>In these initiatives, sport is a lever for integration or social reintegration in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-01-2014-0011">developing countries</a> or in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2014-0263">conflict-affected areas</a>. For youth especially, sport can be a way of instilling respect for opponents and rules, teamwork, sportsmanship, determination and discipline. </p>
<p>For example, soccer matches are used between <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/no-israeli-palestinian-sides-just-team-football-can-build/">two enemy sides to help rebuild relationships</a>. In addition to its positive impact on health, sport also helps with the prevention of violence and with awareness of diseases <a href="https://grassrootsoccer.org/wp-content/uploads/F4_HIV_Report.pdf">such as HIV/AIDS</a>. These fundamental principles can transfer into the social lives of the athletes in a way that has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F146499340700800204">a positive impact on development in their region</a>. </p>
<p>In practice, sport for development and peace can then take many forms. It can look like organizing clubs and tournaments in El Salvador to reclaim territories from street gangs and to <a href="https://jsfd.org/2017/12/26/using-report-analysis-as-a-sport-for-development-and-peace-research-tool-the-case-of-el-salvador-olimpica-municipals-programme/">make sure kids are going to school</a>. It can also be training coaches in the poorest neighbourhood of Montréal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/iscj.2017-0027">to act as mentors for kids</a>. </p>
<p>In Madagascar, sport is used to occupy kids after school and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tegwen_Gadais/publication/337033314_O_Que_e_o_Desporto_Para_o_Desenvolvimento_e_a_Paz/links/5dc1e052a6fdcc212808793b/O-Que-e-o-Desporto-Para-o-Desenvolvimento-e-a-Paz.pdf">divert them from dangers of the streets</a>. It can also take the form of soccer games between Palestinian and Israeli youth to work on social cohesion and <a href="https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/peacebuilding-through-sports-israelpalestine">teach them how to respect one another</a>. </p>
<p>Events like the Olympic Games and indeed, the Youth Olympic Games, are carrying out de Coubertin’s vision but in an increasingly less amateur and often more corporate fashion. Truly, it is the smaller and more local initiatives, such as <a href="https://ongbelavenir.org/proyectos/ecoles-sociosportives/">Bel Avenir</a> (a sports initiative in Madagascar and Cambodia), that are aiming to accomplish Mandela’s goal of uniting people through sports.</p>
<h2>Benefits for development and for peace</h2>
<p>Sport offers many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2015.1050264">benefits, including individual development</a>, health promotion and disease prevention, gender equality, social integration, peace-building or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17430430802019268">conflict prevention/resolution and post-disaster/trauma assistance</a>. From a development perspective, the goal is to enhance <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17430430903377938">mass sport, not elite sport</a>. Think: less NHL and more Timbits hockey. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"452812691066060800"}"></div></p>
<p>In this sense, sport is used to reach the most needy, including refugees, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02y0tsv">child soldiers</a>, victims of conflict and natural disasters, poor people, people with disabilities, victims of racism, stigma and discrimination. Today, organizations like the United Nations do not only rely on institutions like schools and governments to solve conflict. </p>
<p>Sports organizations like <a href="https://www.righttoplay.ca/en-ca/">Right to Play</a>, <a href="https://www.grassrootsoccer.org/">Grassroots Soccer</a>, <a href="https://pour3points.ca/en/">Pour3points</a> and <a href="https://www.peaceplayers.org/">Peace Players International</a> are an essential part of the path to peace and progress.</p>
<p>In the more than 100 years between the ideas of de Coubertin and those of Mandela, a lot has happened in the world of sport for development and peace. Both men were visionary in using sport as a vehicle for development and as a means of ending conflict. As geopolitical crises erupt globally and communities struggle against entrenched problems, there is potential for sport or other non-formal recreation to resolve conflicts and educate future generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126151/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tegwen Gadais consults to UNESCO and World Bank. He is affiliated with UNESCO Chair (cudc.uqam.ca) </span></em></p>Whether it’s global conflicts or communities in trouble, the solutions to peace and prosperity aren’t only found by government. Sports, too, can bring about much-needed change.Tegwen Gadais, Professor, Département des sciences de l'activité physique, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1277722019-12-10T13:56:52Z2019-12-10T13:56:52ZUS-Taliban truce begins, feeding hope of a peaceful, more prosperous Afghanistan<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305944/original/file-20191209-90609-1cb5fgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C4000%2C2664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A market in the Old City of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 8, 2019. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Afghanistan-Daily-Life/a9c73acd22884f5d83b007a534f699b4/9/0">AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If a <a href="https://apnews.com/62c7a74076796c180677d0826a5da506">seven-day truce</a> between the United States and the Taliban holds until Feb. 28, 2020, Afghanistan’s decade-long conflict may finally end. A peace deal could be signed as soon as Feb. 29, according to the State Department. </p>
<p>The draft accord follows months of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49729612">stop-and-go</a> <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/resurrected-taliban-peace-talks-open-qatar-191207105319486.html">negotiations</a> between the United States and the <a href="https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/afghan-taliban">Taliban</a>, an armed insurgency promoting an ultra-conservative form of Sunni Islam. </p>
<p>The Taliban has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-taliban-talks-resume-raising-prospect-end-war-afghanistan-n1097981">battled the Afghan government</a> for power for three decades. Since the U.S. invasion of 2001 following the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, it has also fought the United States – an 18-year war that killed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/">2,300 American soldiers and more than 43,000 Afghan citizens</a>. </p>
<p>A peace deal with the Taliban would set the terms for a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/02/world/asia/us-withdrawal-afghanistan-taliban.html?module=inline">staged withdrawal</a> of the remaining 14,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan. In exchange, the Taliban must agree to enter talks with Afghan government officials and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-taliban-talks-resume-raising-prospect-end-war-afghanistan-n1097981">cut ties</a> with terrorist groups like al-Qaida. </p>
<p>But peace in Afghanistan will take more than an accord. History shows that <a href="https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/crisis%20prevention/undp-cpr-post-conflict-economic-recovery-enable-local-ingenuity-report-2008.pdf">economic growth</a> and better job opportunities are necessary to <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=GXIGCAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=peacebuilding+in+post-conflict+countries+jobs+economic+growth&ots=wUBmA_dxxg&sig=0Td9VUiuEADEdC4iJuBrNghWkLA#v=onepage&q=peacebuilding%20in%20post-conflict%20countries%20jobs%20economic%20growth&f=false">rebuild stability after war</a>. My <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Hessami">work</a> on armed conflict, the environment and peacebuilding indicates that careful and sustainable use of Afghanistan’s <a href="https://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/UNEP_Afghanistan_NRM_guidance_chart.pdf">abundant natural resources</a> could be one path towards recovery.</p>
<h2>Building a lasting peace</h2>
<p>Insurgent groups recruit people who desperately need an income. As <a href="https://www.wired.com/2010/07/taliban-pays-its-troops-better-than-karzai-pays-his/">Wired magazine reported back in 2007</a>, the Taliban paid its soldiers far better than the Afghan government. Today, salaries for members of ISIS-KP, the Islamic State’s local branch, are reportedly even higher. </p>
<p>Creating well-paid alternatives to extremist groups, then, is a critical piece in solving Afghanistan’s national security puzzle.</p>
<p>And since many fighters for insurgent groups in Afghanistan come from a <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/turning-former-afghanistan-warlord-fighters-farmers">farming background</a> – and agriculture accounts for <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/publication/unlocking-potential-of-agriculture-for-afghanistan-growth">40% of total jobs</a> in Afghanistan – rural development will be particularly important for peacebuilding. </p>
<p>“Strengthening natural resource-related livelihoods can [provide] a future for youth who might otherwise join rebel forces,” says Carl Bruch, president of the <a href="https://environmentalpeacebuilding.org/">Environmental Peacebuilding Association</a>, a nonprofit organization that studies the relationship between armed conflict and natural resources. </p>
<p>The United States Agency for International Development, which also funds <a href="https://www.chemonics.com/projects/building-economy-promoting-peace-colombia/">efforts to build the economy of post-conflict countries like Colombia</a> and <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/democratic-republic-congo/fact-sheets/peace-and-security">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a>, sees sustainable economic growth as <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan/economic-growth">crucial for a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan</a>.</p>
<h2>Figs, saffron and pine nuts</h2>
<p>The export market for coveted Afghan agricultural products like cashmere, pine nuts, figs, and saffron is one potentially lucrative sector of the rural economy.</p>
<p>In November 2019, several Chinese importers finalized a deal with Afghan <a href="https://www.avapress.com/en/news/196297/afghanistan-to-export-62-000-tonnes-of-pine-nuts-china-over-next-five-years">companies</a> to buy US$2.2 billion in Afghan pine nuts over the next five years. </p>
<p>Other agricultural exports from Afghanistan are finding their place in the world market, too. <a href="https://oec.world/en/profile/country/afg/">Grape sales</a> brought Afghanistan $143 million in 2017. Tropical fruits earned $101 million. Afghanistan’s economy <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/01/22/afghanistan-improves-its-growth-despite-uncertainty">grew 2.9% in 2019</a>, largely driven by agriculture.</p>
<p>The Afghan government recognizes its potential as a global source of fine foods. </p>
<p>Eight months after Afghan president Ashraf Ghani created several <a href="https://tolonews.com/business/afghan-exports-through-air-corridors-total-100m">new air corridors in 2018</a> – safe and direct flight paths created for trade and other purposes – <a href="https://www.themigrantproject.org/afghanistan-opens-air-cargo-corridors/">exports from Afghanistan increased 32%</a>. These air routes connect Afghanistan to India, Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan – commercial hubs that give Afghan products access to other trade destinations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305946/original/file-20191209-90552-pqvmm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Afghan women work in a saffron field in Herat, Afghanistan, Nov. 27, 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Afghanistan-US-Spending/8e4d2f9194de4c85809339acf7c6665a/3/0">AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recently, browsing in a local health food store in Los Angeles, I was surprised to come upon a bright red bag of Kandahar figs. </p>
<p>The distributor, Ziba Foods, told me that 80% of their workforce – both management and staff positions – is female, and that the company provides English lessons and other professional development to staff. </p>
<p>“We are committed to providing our Afghan staff with year-round employment despite the cyclical nature of the agricultural sector,” Ziba partner Raffi Vartanian said. </p>
<h2>Emerald mining</h2>
<p>Emeralds are another Afghan product with the potential to drive economic growth. High up in the Hindu Kush mountains of Panjshir Province are buried vivid green emeralds of <a href="https://www.gia.edu/doc/SP91A2.pdf">noted color and purity</a>. </p>
<p>The inhabitants of Panjshir once sold these famous emeralds <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/09/09/140333732/in-afghanistan-assessing-a-rebel-leaders-legacy">to finance</a> their <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/09/09/140333732/in-afghanistan-assessing-a-rebel-leaders-legacy">resistance to Soviet occupation</a>. In a more stable future, these precious stones could provide substantial incomes for people in an area that’s too mountainous for farming or herding.</p>
<p>Afghanistan exported an estimated $100 million in emeralds in 2018, according to <a href="https://www.gemstone.org/publications/incolor">InColor Magazine</a>, a publication of the International Colored Gemstone Association. In 2015, <a href="http://www.lj24magazine.com/article/article_000516/1.aspx">Christie’s</a> auction house sold an Afghan emerald for <a href="https://www.gemstone.org/incolor/40/85/">$2,276,408</a>, a <a href="https://magazine.stregis.com/the-emerald/">record price for Christie’s</a>. </p>
<p>Despite some <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/01/02/access-to-all-weather-road-allows-afghan-valley-inhabitants-to-flourish">recent road repairs</a>, the mountainous and remote Panjshir region remains <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-dec-22-la-fg-afghanistan-panjshir-20131222-story.html">extremely difficult to get in and out of</a>. With better access, improved technology and <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2016/08/29/smallbusiness/afghanistan-emeralds-panjshir-aria/">more training for miners</a>, analysts estimate Panjshir could produce <a href="https://www.gemstone.org/incolor/40/86/">$300 to $400 million</a> worth of emeralds each year. </p>
<h2>Good timing</h2>
<p>If signed, the Afghanistan peace deal would come just over 40 years after the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7883532.stm">1979 Soviet Invasion</a> that triggered a cycle of armed conflict that has destabilized this Central Asian nation since. </p>
<p>An estimated <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-26-op-soviet26-story.html">2.5 million Afghans</a> were killed or wounded during the decade-long Soviet occupation. The <a href="https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/afghanistan-russia-programs/2019-02-27/soviet-withdrawal-afghanistan-1989">withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989</a> left the country in chaos, vulnerable to the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2010/12/07/131884473/Afghanistan-After-The-Soviet-Withdrawal">eventual rise</a> of militant groups like the Taliban, al-Qaida and, eventually, IS-KP.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305945/original/file-20191209-90603-gyukz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Afghan rebels on top of knocked out Russian armored vehicle in Afghanistan in February 1980.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-I-AFG-APHS302628-Soviet-Invasion-and-/9b7e7023102b4486998be9caab7ca1df/155/0">AP Photo</a></span>
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<p>Though the 27.5 million Afghans <a href="https://afghanistan.unfpa.org/en/news/young-people-make-their-voices-heard-through-afghan-youth-parliament">under the age of 25</a> have only known war, the population is hopeful about their country’s prospects for peace. A recent survey by the Asia Foundation of <a href="http://heartofasia.af/peace-talks-instilled-hopes-in-afghans/">18,000 Afghans</a> found that <a href="http://heartofasia.af/peace-talks-instilled-hopes-in-afghans/">90% of those</a> surveyed strongly support efforts towards a deal with the Taliban.</p>
<p>Older Afghans remember happier times. My husband, who left Afghanistan as a young man after the Soviet invasion, has photo albums showing his family grilling kebabs and lounging in the rose-filled Paghman Gardens, just outside the city. Back then, beautiful Kabul was known as “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/weekinreview/18bumiller.html">the Paris of Central Asia</a>.” </p>
<p>Many of <a href="http://www.bakhtarnews.com.af/eng/culture/item/38569-president-ghani-inspects-restoration-process-of-paghman-historic-palaces.html">Paghman’s lawns and palaces</a> are now in the process of careful restoration – a hopeful sign after decades of destruction. </p>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s, Afghanistan’s spectacular natural landscapes attracted thousands of tourists each year, <a href="https://www.mfa.gov.af/about-afghanistan/tourism.html">according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan</a>. Young travelers who took the famous “Hippie Trail” – a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-lonely-planet-journey-the-hippie-trail-6257275.html">4,660-mile</a> journey from London to Goa, India – would pass through Afghanistan. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C2995%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C2995%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305943/original/file-20191209-90603-1wtozv5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Visitors in 2009 at at a lake in Band-e-Amir, Afghanistan’s first national park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Afghanistan-Bring-On-The-Tourists/ecfab6a615744d3ab911d7a39ac284b2/16/0">AP Photo/Rahmat Gul</a></span>
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<p>Ecotourism is another industry that could develop in Afghanistan if <a href="https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan">armed conflict ceases</a>. </p>
<p>A Taliban accord is necessary to end the Afghanistan war. But creating meaningful jobs and sustainable economic growth will <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan/economic-growth">help create a durable peace</a>. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/taliban-negotiations-resume-feeding-hope-of-a-peaceful-more-prosperous-afghanistan-127772">article</a> originally published Dec. 10, 2019.</em></p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127772/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth B. Hessami is affiliated with the Environmental Law Institute as a visiting attorney and for the Environmental Peacebuilding Association as a volunteer.</span></em></p>Building a lasting peace in Afghanistan will take much more than an accord with the Taliban. In post-conflict nations, economic development and job creation are critical to national security.Elizabeth B. Hessami, Faculty Lecturer, Johns Hopkins UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1226962019-08-30T13:12:57Z2019-08-30T13:12:57ZColombia’s peace process under stress: 6 essential reads<p>Three years after negotiating a landmark peace agreement with the Colombian government, a top commander of the now defunct FARC guerrilla group has called for “<a href="https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/08/29/actualidad/1567065255_850419.html">a new stage in the armed struggle</a>.”</p>
<p>In a 32-minute online video posted Aug. 29, FARC second-in-command Iván Márquez appeared with other rebels in fatigues to announce that their dissident FARC faction would renew its insurgency.</p>
<p>“The state has not fulfilled its most important obligations,” Márquez said, saying the group aims to install a new government in Colombia that will support peace.</p>
<p>He does not represent all former FARC guerrillas. The FARC’s top commander, Rodrigo Londoño, who briefly ran for president last year, <a href="https://twitter.com/TimoFARC/status/1167044800954142720">tweeted</a> that “more than 90% of ex-guerrillas remain committed to the peace process.” </p>
<p>“War cannot be the destiny of this country,” <a href="https://twitter.com/TimoFARC/status/1167112444050845696">he wrote</a>.</p>
<p>How did Colombia’s fragile peace unravel? These six stories will bring you up to date on the complicated peace process that ended the Western Hemisphere’s longest-running conflict.</p>
<h2>1. A model agreement</h2>
<p>Peace talks with the FARC guerrillas began in 2012. In September 2015, President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño announced that they had developed a plan to end a 52-year conflict that had killed 220,000 Colombians and displaced 7 million.</p>
<p>The deal was “<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-peace-deal-in-colombia-be-a-model-for-other-conflicts-48564">precedent-setting in several ways</a>,” wrote professors Jennifer Lynn McCoy and Jelena Subotic.</p>
<p>The two sides agreed to use “new forms of restorative justice” to reach peace while “also holding perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable.” Colombia was the first conflict zone in the world to bring victims to the negotiating table. </p>
<p>In exchange for laying down their weapons, FARC leaders determined not to have committed human rights violations during their armed struggle would be given amnesty and the right to run for office. </p>
<p>But guerrillas accused of “grave human rights crimes … like sexual crimes, kidnapping, torture, forced displacement and extrajudicial killing” would be tried by a special new wartime justice system, wrote McCoy and Subotic.</p>
<h2>2. Colombia votes no</h2>
<p>The final FARC accords, signed on Sept. 26, 2016, had to be approved by the Colombian people. That referendum – the “peace plebiscite” – would divide the nation.</p>
<p>The allure of reconciliation in a war-torn nation was clear. But some people simply could not conceive of making a deal with the rebels who had killed their friends and family. </p>
<p>A well-organized “no” campaign, run by a powerful and hardline former president, formed to turn other Colombians against the deal. </p>
<p>Michael Weintraub, an associate professor at Bogotá’s University of the Andes, <a href="https://theconversation.com/colombias-peace-plebiscite-the-case-for-yes-and-the-case-for-no-66325">summarized the “No” camp’s argument</a> like this: The deal “provides too many concessions to the FARC, essentially rewarding terrorism and human rights violations.”</p>
<p>Still, as Colombians prepared to vote on Oct. 2, 2016, polling suggested that they would cast their ballots for peace. </p>
<h2>3. The ‘No’ vote wins</h2>
<p>The pollsters were wrong. </p>
<p>Just over half of Colombian voters – 50.24% – opposed the government’s agreement with the FARC guerrillas. </p>
<p>“A cloud of uncertainty descended on Colombia,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-nobel-prize-help-or-hurt-colombias-peace-process-66729">wrote Oscar Palma</a>, a professor at the University of Rosario, in Bogotá, shortly after the vote. “There was no Plan B for a rejection of the agreement.”</p>
<p>Then, five days later, President Santos won a surprise Nobel Peace Prize for his failed peace accord.</p>
<p>Analysts wondered if the Nobel could revive Santos’ failed efforts to end Colombia’s civil conflict.</p>
<p>“It is up to the president to take advantage of this moment,” Palma wrote.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Santos took his rejected peace accord to the Colombian Senate, which approved it in a marathon 13-hour session on Nov. 29, 2016.</p>
<h2>4. Peace makes progress</h2>
<p>The accord showed immediate results. </p>
<p>Nearly 7,000 FARC fighters laid down their weapons and joined government retraining camps. The FARC rebranded as a political party. Violence dropped markedly in 2017, Colombia’s safest year since 1975.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257276/original/file-20190205-86195-1v1k4yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257276/original/file-20190205-86195-1v1k4yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257276/original/file-20190205-86195-1v1k4yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257276/original/file-20190205-86195-1v1k4yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257276/original/file-20190205-86195-1v1k4yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257276/original/file-20190205-86195-1v1k4yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257276/original/file-20190205-86195-1v1k4yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/257276/original/file-20190205-86195-1v1k4yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Santos and FARC commander Rodrigo Londoño after signing Colombia’s historic peace treaty on Sept. 26, 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://ustv-mrs-prod.ap.org/c252dad242cd4409b95ba59533955502/components/secured/main.jpg?response-cache-control=No-cache&response-content-disposition=attachment%3Bfilename%3DAP_16273806278437.jpg&Expires=1544041737&Signature=CRwY1BLXm99DQCoQbAgLsWlliS52a0f1A5K4FpAUWiewT20lQOEJ0z70Unmd9vQ">AP Photo/Desmond Boylan</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But half of the country still opposed the agreement. And the Santos government struggled to hold up its end of the ambitious deal, <a href="https://theconversation.com/peace-makes-strides-in-colombia-but-the-battle-is-far-from-won-83601">according to Fabio Andres Diaz</a>, writing 10 months after the accord was signed.</p>
<p>“From underfunded mental health care for ex-combatants to setbacks in passing the laws necessary to activate components of the peace deal, the process has been fraught,” Diaz said.</p>
<p>The government’s lack of follow through raised concerns early that the FARC guerrillas would lose faith.</p>
<p>“There are already reports that demobilized fighters are being recruited by other armed groups,” Diaz warned.</p>
<h2>5. Duque’s election</h2>
<p>The powerful political forces that derailed the peace referendum hadn’t disappeared with the signing of the accord. They continued to criticize the deal, agitating for a “corrected” agreement that would more harshly punish FARC militants.</p>
<p>In July 2018, one of the peace accord’s biggest opponents, Iván Duque, was elected president of Colombia. </p>
<p>Duque, a conservative, felt the 2016 FARC accord was “too lenient and should be renegotiated,” Diaz <a href="https://theconversation.com/colombia-elects-a-conservative-who-promises-to-correct-its-peace-accord-98273">wrote following the Colombian election</a>. He was the only candidate in the 2018 presidential election who did not support the FARC accords. </p>
<p>“Reneging on the deal risks restarting the longest-running conflict in the Western Hemisphere,” warned Diaz.</p>
<h2>6. Unraveling a fragile peace</h2>
<p>Duque has fulfilled his campaign promise to dismantle Colombia’s peace agreement since taking office in August 2018.</p>
<p>Though the courts have largely blocked his efforts to send FARC guerrillas to jail, the president has found many <a href="https://theconversation.com/violence-climbs-in-colombia-as-president-chips-away-at-landmark-peace-deal-with-farc-guerrillas-115112">other ways to weaken the deal</a>, says Diaz.</p>
<p>Duque has appointed “No” campaign loyalists to lead the agencies tasked with implementing the Colombia peace deal, underfunded their budgets and broken promises to boost economic investment in rural areas. His administration also sought to imprison some high-level FARC commanders on drug trafficking charges.</p>
<p>“Under Duque’s leadership, the government’s progress on fulfilling its commitments to peace has slowed to nearly a standstill,” Diaz says.</p>
<p>One-third of the peace deal’s 578 provisions have not even begun to be implemented, according to Notre Dame University’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.</p>
<p>As a result, trust between the FARC and the government has deteriorated, Diaz says. A May 2019 Gallup poll found that 55% of Colombians doubted that the government would fulfill its commitments. </p>
<p>By June, an estimated 1,700 former FARC guerrillas had joined one of Colombia’s many other active militant groups. </p>
<p>Political violence in Colombia rose sharply in 2018, with hundreds of activists and several former FARC fighters assassinated. Saying he feared for his life, FARC commander Iván Márquez went into hiding last August. </p>
<p>He has now returned to public view – and, it appears, to armed rebellion.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Dissidents in Colombia’s FARC guerrillas are threatening to renew armed struggle three years after signing a landmark peace deal. Here, experts explain the history of Colombia’s fragile peace process.Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1131552019-03-14T14:49:29Z2019-03-14T14:49:29ZBloody Sunday: as former British soldier faces murder charges, Northern Ireland still divided by legacy of violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263686/original/file-20190313-123554-nkvy20.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mural in Bogside in Derry/Londonderry near the site of the events of Bloody Sunday. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8647344@N04/14396308996/sizes/l">murielle29/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47540271">former British soldier</a> is to face trial for the murder of two unarmed civilians, and the attempted murder of two others in Derry/Londonderry on “Bloody Sunday” in January 1972. While the soldier, known as “soldier F”, will be prosecuted, the Public Prosecution Service deemed there was “insufficient evidence” to charge another 16 former soldiers for the deaths of 13 people, and two men from the official Irish Republican Army (IRA). </p>
<p>The landmark decision emphasises once more the primacy of the past in Northern Ireland and the difficulties in coming to terms with the legacy of conflict.</p>
<p>It’s been a hectic period for investigations and prosecutions related to what’s known as Northern Ireland’s “Troubles”. In early March, the Republic of Ireland decided <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47415011">to allow the extradition</a> to Northern Ireland of John Downey, accused of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing which killed four soldiers. In February, an inquest was also opened into <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n04/chris-mullin/diary">the Birmingham pub bombings</a> of November 1974, and the Supreme Court declared that a previous investigation into the killing of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/27/pat-finucane-inquiry-fell-below-human-rights-standards-judges-rule?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet">failed to meet the necessary standards</a> under human rights law.</p>
<p>The decision to prosecute the soldier also comes amid an increasingly vexed Brexit process, ongoing <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47075933">paramilitary activity</a>, and an incident in early March when letter bombs were posted to London sites, including Waterloo train station and Heathrow airport, from a Dublin address. A group previously known to the authorities as the “New IRA” <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/new-ira-admit-responsibility-for-letter-bombs-sent-to-london-and-glasgow-37904557.html">claimed responsibility</a> for sending the explosive devices. </p>
<p>Every day, local newspapers in Northern Ireland carry reports devoted to the Troubles: from atrocities being or not being investigated, to controversial <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/dup-attack-michelle-oneills-speech-at-memorial-for-ira-men-killed-by-sas-at-loughgall-an-insult-to-victims-35668364.html">commemorations</a> of Republican and Loyalist actions. The Unionist News Letter went as far as to publish a “legacy” series in 2018, with the purpose of challenging what Unionists regard as <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime/legacy-unit-imbalance-is-clear-for-all-to-see-1-8831665">“imbalance”</a> against British state forces in how the past is officially addressed.</p>
<h2>Politics of the past</h2>
<p>The problem in Northern Ireland is that each side regards the past competitively and as part of an ongoing political dispute. It is the lifeblood for the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) and Sinn Féin. </p>
<p>Sinn Féin wants justice for victims of “collusion” – between British security forces and Loyalist paramilitaries – and those who died at the hands of British security forces during incidents such as Bloody Sunday, but not for the <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/tables/Organisation_Responsible.html">1,700 people</a> who died from IRA violence. The DUP, on the other hand, wants more Republicans (or “terrorists”, as they term them) to be investigated for past atrocities and <a href="https://www.irishnews.com/news/politicalnews/2017/02/07/news/sdlp-and-sinn-fe-in-reject-time-limit-on-prosecutions-against-soldiers-922528/">members of the security forces to be spared</a>.</p>
<p>In early March, secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley – commonly regarded in a packed field as the worst secretary of state ever to serve the people of Northern Ireland – stated in the House of Commons that killings by British troops were <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47471469">“not crimes”</a>, and that the British Army’s general conduct was “dignified and appropriate”. Understandably, this led to immediate calls for her resignation. Unionists then <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/ben-lowry-far-from-being-too-soft-on-the-security-forces-karen-bradley-has-failed-to-defend-them-1-8841510">turned on her</a> when she apologised for her comments.</p>
<p>Many in Northern Ireland’s little political echo chamber are unaware of groups of former servicemen in England who are becoming increasingly active in response to suggested trials and prosecutions of British troops. This hardens into public comments such as those from a former paratrooper that Bloody Sunday was a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46514940">“job well done”</a>. It is a lobby, surfacing through some veterans campaign groups, that is sure to grow in volume, numbers and anger.</p>
<p>There are a number of ways in which the past might be addressed beyond the current <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/i-wish-we-could-point-fingers-at-commanders-says-uup-war-veteran-doug-beattie-over-troubles-soldiers-prosecutions-37876205.html">“piecemeal”</a> approach of prosecuting certain one-off cases.</p>
<p>In 2018, the UK’s Northern Ireland Office issued an open consultation to hear views on the issue, garnering a staggering <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/nio-sifting-17-000-responses-to-legacy-plan-with-no-end-in-sight-1-8811211">17,000 responses</a>. Its published recommendations range from an increased role for the current <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/legacy-scandal-plans-for-the-past-perpetuate-a-mess-which-favours-dividers-and-terrorists-says-trevor-ringland-1-8627323">criminal justice system</a>, to an “oral history archive” (first properly outlined in a <a href="https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/publications/haass-report-proposed-agreement">2014 report</a> by US diplomat Richard Haass), to a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission.</p>
<h2>Barriers to an amnesty</h2>
<p>Echoing what happened in South Africa, one of the more controversial solutions highlighted as a recommendation from the consultation is a conditional Troubles “amnesty”. Some <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/a-conditional-troubles-amnesty-is-worthy-of-consideration-1.3624008">have suggested</a> that former protagonists of the conflict would be able to come forward to discuss their role “outside their own tribe or circle of intimate acquaintances”, potentially leading “to a fuller disclosure of the facts” than any law court.</p>
<p>It’s worth remembering that there is currently a form of de facto amnesty. Those convicted of Troubles killings – including British soldiers – will only serve two years of any jail term under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Initially this only covered offences committed between 1973 and 1998, but the British government <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/troops-convicted-over-bloody-sunday-would-qualify-for-early-release-scheme-37909537.html">recently confirmed</a> it would extend the early release scheme to cover offences committed since January 1968, and so would ensure the swift release of soldier “F” should he be convicted.</p>
<p>Still, talk of a broad amnesty is normally rejected by Unionists, Irish nationalists and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47518887">victims groups</a>, as it would mean those responsible for killing would avoid prosecution. However, if applied across the board – to Republicans and Loyalists, as well as to former British troops – it might take the heat and partiality out of the subject. </p>
<p>Former Republican and Loyalist players in the conflict are routinely condemned, but many have gone on to play an important role in community work, education, the media and the arts. Even more importantly, peace only arrives when the protagonists engage and decide to stop the violence. </p>
<p>Leaving aside the case of the ex-paratrooper due to be tried for Bloody Sunday, a wider amnesty is most unlikely in the present moment. As the current Conservative government is <a href="https://theconversation.com/conservatives-strike-deal-with-the-dup-experts-react-80101">reliant on the DUP</a> for critical votes in the House of Commons, the British and Irish governments would need to be in a stronger position before imposing this necessary framework from above.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Connal Parr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why a broad amnesty for Northern Ireland’s Troubles remains unlikely.Connal Parr, Lecturer, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1074592018-12-18T13:51:15Z2018-12-18T13:51:15ZRewilding war zones can help heal the wounds of conflict<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251223/original/file-20181218-27773-1js41fa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/poppy-flowers-meadow-nice-sunset-scene-1140132983?src=JQEKpzQ8PDNSwk8Rn8aaOw-1-1">TTstudio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Where the Iron Curtain once divided Europe with barbed wire, <a href="https://brilliantmaps.com/european-green-belt/">a network of wilderness</a> with bears, wolves and lynx now thrives. Commemorating 100 years since the end of World War I, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/how/poppy.shtml">people wear poppies</a> to evoke the vast fields of red flowers which grew over the carnage of Europe’s battlefields. Once human conflict has ended, the return of nature to barren landscapes becomes a potent symbol of peace.</p>
<p>These tragedies, which force people away from a place, can help ecosystems replenish in their absence. Though <a href="https://theconversation.com/rewilding-isnt-about-nostalgia-exciting-new-worlds-are-possible-44854">rewilding</a> is typically considered an active decision, like the reintroduction of wolves to <a href="https://theconversation.com/restore-large-carnivores-to-save-struggling-ecosystems-21828">Yellowstone National Park</a>, abandoned rural land often returns to wilderness of its own accord. Today, as people <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/617488/IPOL_STU(2018)617488_EN.pdf">vacate rural settlements for life in cities</a>, accidental rewilding has meant large predators <a href="https://theconversation.com/bears-wolves-lynx-europe-is-going-wild-19917">returning to areas of Europe</a>, long after they were almost made extinct. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251025/original/file-20181217-181905-16hcnge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251025/original/file-20181217-181905-16hcnge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251025/original/file-20181217-181905-16hcnge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251025/original/file-20181217-181905-16hcnge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251025/original/file-20181217-181905-16hcnge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251025/original/file-20181217-181905-16hcnge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251025/original/file-20181217-181905-16hcnge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Abandonment of Pripyat, Ukraine after the Chernobyl disaster ushered in wildlife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pripyat-chernobyl-ukraine-09-03-17bumper-726223369?src=3m-WKYOpi7KZi_aP46_cIA-1-6">Meunierd/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sudden changes, such as the <a href="http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspx">the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster</a> in 1986, result in wildlife recolonising <a href="https://theconversation.com/wolves-boar-and-other-wildlife-defy-contamination-to-make-a-comeback-at-chernobyl-48600">exclusion zones</a> in previously developed areas.</p>
<p>Warfare can also result in human exclusion, which might benefit wildlife under specific conditions. Isolation and abandonment can generate wild population increases and recoveries, which has been observed in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.</p>
<h2>The strange link between war and wildlife</h2>
<p>Fish populations in the North Atlantic <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-010-0696-5">benefited from World War II</a> as fishing fleets were drastically reduced. Fishing vessels were requisitioned by the navy, seamen were drafted and the risks of fishing due to enemy strikes or subsurface mining deterred fishermen from venturing out to sea.</p>
<p>As a result, the war essentially created vast “marine protected areas” for several years in the Atlantic Ocean. After the war, armed with faster and bigger trawlers with new technology, <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/ge/2012/00000005/00000010/art00005">fishermen reported bonanza catches</a>.</p>
<p>A more gruesome result of World War II allowed opportunistic species such as the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-worst-shark-attack-in-history-25715092/">oceanic whitetip shark</a> to flourish, as human casualties at sea proved a rich and plentiful food source.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251218/original/file-20181218-27770-1ggfuh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251218/original/file-20181218-27770-1ggfuh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251218/original/file-20181218-27770-1ggfuh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251218/original/file-20181218-27770-1ggfuh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251218/original/file-20181218-27770-1ggfuh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251218/original/file-20181218-27770-1ggfuh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251218/original/file-20181218-27770-1ggfuh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251218/original/file-20181218-27770-1ggfuh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The growth of oceanic whitetip shark populations during WWII is a grisly example of how war can sometimes benefit wildlife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_whitetip_shark#/media/File:Oceanic_Whitetip_Shark.png">OldakQuill/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Warship wrecks also became artificial reefs on the seabed which still contribute to the abundance of marine life today. The 52 captured German warships that were sunk during World War I between the Orkney mainland and the South Isles, off the north coast of Scotland, are now thriving <a href="https://theconversation.com/orkneys-shipwreck-graveyard-is-bursting-with-life-95179">marine habitats</a>.</p>
<p>Exclusion areas, or “no mans lands”, which remain after fighting has ended may also help terrestrial ecosystems recuperate by creating de facto wildlife reserves. Formerly endangered species, such as the <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141219-persian-leopard-iran-iraq-land-mine/">Persian leopard</a>, have re-established their populations in the rugged northern Iran-Iraq frontier.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251254/original/file-20181218-27779-10p43d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251254/original/file-20181218-27779-10p43d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251254/original/file-20181218-27779-10p43d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251254/original/file-20181218-27779-10p43d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251254/original/file-20181218-27779-10p43d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251254/original/file-20181218-27779-10p43d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251254/original/file-20181218-27779-10p43d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251254/original/file-20181218-27779-10p43d8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">War between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s forced people from the border territory where the Persian leopard lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/persian-leopard-panthera-pardus-saxicolor-magnificent-1150544855?src=a4W_kwTG4DGpFijjPofMiw-1-1">Ondrej Chvatal/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An uneasy post-war settlement can create hard borders with vast areas forbidden to human entry. The Korean Demilitarised Zone is a 4km by 250km strip of land that has separated the two Koreas since 1953. For humans it is one of the most dangerous places on Earth, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers patrolling its edges. For wildlife however, it’s one of the safest areas in the region. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251255/original/file-20181218-27758-tx5yj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251255/original/file-20181218-27758-tx5yj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251255/original/file-20181218-27758-tx5yj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251255/original/file-20181218-27758-tx5yj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251255/original/file-20181218-27758-tx5yj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251255/original/file-20181218-27758-tx5yj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251255/original/file-20181218-27758-tx5yj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251255/original/file-20181218-27758-tx5yj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The long-tailed goral – a resident of the Korean Demilitarised Zone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/central-chinese-goral-nemorhaedus-caudatus-arnouxianus-314365223?src=U7Woo6dHRS7IW2kQuPui7w-1-3">Vladimir Wrangel/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, <a href="https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/koreas-green-ribbon-of-hope-history-ecology-and-activism-in-the-dmz/">the zone is home to thousands of species</a> that are extinct or endangered elsewhere on the Korean peninsula, such as the long-tailed goral.</p>
<p>Miraculously, even habitats scarred by the most horrific weaponry can thrive as places where human access is excluded or heavily regulated. Areas previously used for nuclear testing, such as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/15/quite-odd-coral-and-fish-thrive-on-bikini-atoll-70-years-after-nuclear-tests">Marshall Islands</a> in the Pacific Ocean have been recolonised by coral and fish, which seem to be thriving in the crater of Bikini Atoll, declared a nuclear wasteland after nuclear bomb tests in the 1940s and 50s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251234/original/file-20181218-27779-nx6mi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251234/original/file-20181218-27779-nx6mi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251234/original/file-20181218-27779-nx6mi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251234/original/file-20181218-27779-nx6mi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251234/original/file-20181218-27779-nx6mi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251234/original/file-20181218-27779-nx6mi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251234/original/file-20181218-27779-nx6mi8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The recovery of marine ecosystems in Bikini Atoll is despite nuclear testing and largely due to human abandonment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/baker-test-operation-crossroads-july-25-339956981?src=e0zOi6kLLhx3hedTbeFQgA-1-0">Everett Historical/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>War – still good for nothing</h2>
<p>For all the quirks caused by abandonment, warfare overwhelmingly harms human communities and ecosystems with equal fervour. A review of the impact of human conflict on ecosystems in Africa showed an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25194.epdf?referrer_access_token=BQj-1PjTvfnQ5a-m_i1ebNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0Mfd7b9IoyJhviF-hZE7mPXSoSMhm2B2z0mkOLBeIkxu0_MVMUx5G5Dm383fcX4F4J6Pvg5vIWBdls8WvAoWnshn3JgCXZcGxURZu2p4RbMpNMTDbOMpFzmtIdSYNJ3w5PqfSsJTwYo0Kyv1zgi1DQ0mUiyrheCBAuYGSzXzDigJXmfjgenS0JZ_nG44vyMyr2uMBruNNKfmZEIBv2c7OXlNQx9i3PmvhXEJxxSb9Qutg%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.theatlantic.com">overall decrease in wildlife</a> between 1946 and 2010.
In war’s aftermath, natural populations were slow to recover or stopped altogether as <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.1433">economic hardship</a> meant conservation fell by the wayside.</p>
<p>Humans often continue to avoid a “no mans land” because of the presence of land mines. But these don’t differentiate between soldiers and wildlife, particularly large mammals. It’s believed that residual explosives in conflict zones have helped push some endangered species <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ldr.754">closer to extinction</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251230/original/file-20181218-27746-1ehb0gg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251230/original/file-20181218-27746-1ehb0gg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251230/original/file-20181218-27746-1ehb0gg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251230/original/file-20181218-27746-1ehb0gg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251230/original/file-20181218-27746-1ehb0gg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251230/original/file-20181218-27746-1ehb0gg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251230/original/file-20181218-27746-1ehb0gg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251230/original/file-20181218-27746-1ehb0gg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Today’s European Green Belt traces the original route of the Iron Curtain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Green_Belt#/media/File:EuGB_solid_labels_web.png">Smaack/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, where possible, accidental rewilding caused by war can help reconcile people after the fighting ends by installing nature where war had brought isolation. There is hope that should Korea reunify, <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/south-korea-seeks-rotect-endangered-species-demilitarized-zone/">a permanently protected area</a> could be established within the current demilitarised zone boundaries, allowing ecotourism and education to replace enmity.</p>
<p>Such an initiative has already succeeded elsewhere in the world. The <a href="https://www.radio.cz/en/section/in-focus/countries-once-divided-by-iron-curtain-join-to-protect-environment">European Green Belt</a> is the name for the corridor of wilderness which runs along the former Iron Curtain, which once divided the continent. Started in the 1970s, this project has sprawled along the border of 24 states and today is the longest and largest <a href="https://www.europeangreenbelt.org/">ecological network</a> of its kind in the world. Here, ponds have replaced exploded land mine craters and forests and insect populations have grown in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13511610.2011.592075">absence of farming and pesticide use</a>.</p>
<p>Where war isolates and restricts human movement, nature does seem to thrive. If, as a human species, we aim for a peaceful world without war, we must strive to limit our own intrusions on the natural paradises that ironically human warfare creates and nurture a positive legacy from a tragic history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107459/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Antonio Uzal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Human conflict can bring isolation to environments, which helps the local ecology thrive. After the war has ended, the return of nature is a poignant memorial and symbol of peace.Antonio Uzal, Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/984232018-08-06T08:52:42Z2018-08-06T08:52:42ZColombia’s troubled peace process and the lessons of Bosnia-Herzegovina<p>Colombia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/colombia-elects-a-conservative-who-promises-to-correct-its-peace-accord-98273">recent presidential election</a> proved that the polarisation that marked the 2016 referendum on the peace agreement with the FARC is still at work. As they did in the plebiscite, the country’s left and right-wing politicians respectively asked the electorate to accept or reject the agreement – and the ultimate winner was a right-wing sceptic of the deal, Ivan Duque.</p>
<p>Throughout the campaign and since his victory, Duque has insisted he will try to adjust the peace agreement in accordance with the No campaign’s platform in the 2016 plebiscite. Among his pledges are to make sure that crimes related to drug trafficking will not be given amnesty, to revise the transitional justice arrangements to primarily focus on guerrilla members responsible for atrocities, and to keep guerrilla members from participating in politics before serving time in jail. He has also suggested that members of the armed forces be exempt from the transitional justice system.</p>
<p>Duque’s victory was therefore greeted with worry around the world. People <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/sgia/about/events/?eventno=38711">were – and are – concerned</a> about what his presidency might mean, not just for the peace accords, but for Colombia’s long-term future. But this is not an unprecedented problem; states and societies transitioning from conflict to peace very often face deep political challenges.</p>
<p>The questions Colombia faces today also confronted Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s after the end of a devastating war that claimed thousands of lives. In the <a href="https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/bih/13615?download=true">first elections after the accords</a>, the population voted for the former wartime leaders, further entrenching ethnic segregation; in the end, the Dayton Accords ended up institutionalising ethnic division as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17502977.2012.655614">part of the constitution</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, many members of the elites who helped drive the war were not prosecuted, and have continued to run businesses <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27800359.pdf?casa_token=zLHpCqn76vEAAAAA:3FtY69YXriA_n-e1bNIS0clIlyzbQAGX5P382EXJc3ZnfeWNudHvXJynOKK8kUjimQY2suz4DPeGhFoNzfDIf4R8DavxahLwn1s6lTMyyC0cv4ukZDCb">from privileged positions of authority</a>. This approach to the transition from war to peace has essentially frozen the structures of war rather than breaking them down – and plenty of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Peacebuilding-and-Spatial-Transformation-Peace-Space-and-Place/Bjorkdahl-Kappler-Galtung/p/book/9781138924154">deep geographical and political segregation</a> persists to this day.</p>
<p>While Colombia’s 50-year conflict was not divided along ethnic lines, the parallels between these two troubled peace processes are uncomfortably close. Just as in the Bosnian case, the structures of separation that underpinned Colombia’s conflict for five decades might outlast the war’s official end. If Duque is serious in his intentions, the process might be narrowed to focus principally on atrocities committed by guerrilla forces, with crimes associated with the state and its allies taken off the agenda.</p>
<h2>Fear and failure</h2>
<p>Post-conflict transitions are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13533310802485617">often driven by people’s fears</a> of losing rights, jobs or physical security. It is these very fears that may lead people to vote in favour of ethnic leaders or actors, more generally, who claim to prioritise security over other concerns. When peace agreements are not able to allay such fears, they risk being rejected, undermining hopes for a future where people’s identities as “victims” and “perpetrators” can start to be be broken down.</p>
<p>The effect on victims can be severe. When the general mood is focused on stabilising the logics and structures that underpin a conflict, there is no space to discuss compensation. Restorative justice tends to sink down the agenda, and those affected most by violence and trauma are often the last to be heard. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, this meant that <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bosnia-war-reparations/bosnian-war-victims-despair-at-court-fines-over-reparations-claims-idUKKCN1GE0VB">some never received reparations</a>, and many who did only received them <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/30/bosnia-victims-compensation-landmark-ruling">decades after the crimes were committed</a>.</p>
<p>It remains to be seen whether Colombia will be able to handle this challenge differently. Its Comprehensive System for Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition has been designed as a restorative justice mechanism, tasked with <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Truth-Justice-and-Reconciliation-in-Colombia-Transitioning-from-Violence/Diaz-Pabon/p/book/9781857438659">attending to the needs of victims</a>. By focusing on reparation, it purports to empower the victims of the conflict.</p>
<p>This approach has been praised for specifically giving attention to women and ethnic minorities, facilitating their representation in the transitional justice process. Thanks to a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-peace/colombia-peace-deal-cannot-be-modified-for-12-years-court-rules-idUSKBN1CH0BQ">recent ruling</a> by Colombia’s Constitutional Court, making any substantive changes to the terms of the Havana Accords will be difficult. But there are still plenty of ways for those in power to throw the transitional justice process off balance, whether by delaying its implementation or simply limiting the supply of funds.</p>
<p>As in the Bosnian case, Colombia faces the risk that its hard-won peace mechanisms could be co-opted for political ends. If that happens, the country’s political and economic polarisation will only become deeper entrenched – and the needs of its civilians will never be fully met.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98423/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stefanie Kappler receives funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and the Swedish Research Council. She has previously received funding from the ESRC, the AHRC and the British Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louis Monroy-Santander has previously received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)</span></em></p>Post-conflict processes are often slowed down or even halted by fear. Can Colombia buck the trend?Stefanie Kappler, Associate Professor in Conflict Resolution and Peace Building, Durham UniversityLouis Monroy-Santander, Teaching Fellow in Defence, Development and Diplomacy, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/877062017-12-14T12:18:11Z2017-12-14T12:18:11ZColombia’s peace process is moving too slowly – and squandering people’s trust<p>Colombia’s president, Juan Miguel Santos, <a href="https://theconversation.com/santos-got-the-nobel-prize-for-not-giving-up-on-peace-heres-why-all-colombians-won-66689">won a Nobel Peace Prize</a> for striking a peace deal with the FARC guerrillas after decades of conflict. But now his government is charged with putting the deal into action – and with parliamentary and presidential elections coming up in 2018, the clock is ticking.</p>
<p>Some advances have been made; the members of Colombia’s Truth Commission have at last been elected, and the Constitutional Court has finally given the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a body meant to try those responsible for human rights violations, the go-ahead. But for all that these look like steps forward, the reality is more worrisome. The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-40155871">demobilisation of the FARC</a> proceeded slowly, as did the approval of the JEP. These difficulties have not only bogged the peace process down, but eroded the population’s trust in both the government and the settlement. </p>
<p>There are other problems too. The Constitutional Court only approved the JEP with some far-reaching last-minute changes. Although previous justice processes have demonstrated how big a role <a href="http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0124-05792012000100007">business and industry</a> played in the conflict, the Constitutional Court chose to downgrade these third parties’ participation in the JEP from mandatory to voluntary. This will not only narrow the scope of justice, but also limit the resources for reparations to victims, which are meant to be partly provided by perpetrators.</p>
<p>On another front, the Senate recently decided that human rights lawyers who have previously defended conflict victims are no longer eligible to serve as JEP magistrates. This affects <a href="http://www.verdadabierta.com/procesos-de-paz/farc/6818-corte-constitucional-dejo-a-medias-la-justicia-transicional">several magistrates already appointed</a>, and raises doubts about just how committed the state is to the victims.</p>
<h2>Hard truths</h2>
<p>Then there’s the proposed Truth Commission. Many consider it a crucial device for establishing a unified narrative of the conflict, but what is it really going to do that hasn’t been done before? Colombia’s <a href="http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/en/about-the-national-center-about-the-national-center">National Centre for Historical Memory</a> has already produced a wealth of reports about many aspects of the conflict, with survivors’ experiences prominently featured. As for the wider “historical truth” that the commission is meant to clarify, attempts have already been made by the Centre’s 2014 “<a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/reinventingpeace/2014/01/13/basta-ya-on-the-colombian-center-for-historical-memory-report/">Basta Ya!</a>” report and by the academics of the <a href="http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/para-que-servira-la-comision-de-la-verdad/546581">Historical Commission on the Conflict</a>.</p>
<p>More worryingly for the commission’s advocates, the truth commissions held in places as diverse as <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-04-06/south-africas-imperfect-progress-20-years-after-truth-reconciliation-commission">South Africa</a> and Peru show that survivors expect more than the “collective catharsis” that truth commissions promise to deliver. Simply testifying can be far from healing for survivors, especially when they continue to suffer the poverty and insecurity the conflict caused them.</p>
<p>So what will these peace and justice measures actually achieve? Survivors’ experiences suggest that their key concerns are security and access to basic public services. The infrastructural and development services for reintegration camps and surrounding communities are being set up <a href="http://www.defensoria.gov.co/es/nube/destacados/6646/Consulte-aqu%C3%AD-el-Informe-Espacios-Territoriales-de-Capacitaci%C3%B3n-y-Reincorporaci%C3%B3n.htm">disappointingly slowly</a>. This is slowly but surely eroding people’s already brittle trust in the state.</p>
<p>The same goes for the efforts to tackle Colombia’s drug problem. The forced coca eradication campaign <a href="http://www.defensoria.gov.co/es/nube/destacados/6646/Consulte-aqu%C3%AD-el-Informe-Espacios-Territoriales-de-Capacitaci%C3%B3n-y-Reincorporaci%C3%B3n.htm">is not matched</a> by a similar commitment to implement <a href="https://www.wola.org/analysis/coca-colombian-peace-accords-commentary-pilot-substitution-project-briceno/">coca substitution projects</a> or improve the infrastructure needed to commercialise new crops. The persistent insecurity caused by the FARC has in fact increased, with other illegal armed groups filling the vaccuum; <a href="https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/investigacion/la-lista-roja-de-defensores-de-derechos-humanos-articulo-713488">more than 200 civil society leaders</a> have been killed since 2016. </p>
<h2>Making peace a reality</h2>
<p>For peace and reconciliation to take hold, people need the basic conditions that support a dignified life. In a country like Colombia, where the state has been historically all but absent from conflict-hit rural areas, this requires proper structural transformations. </p>
<p>The state’s planned “transformation of the rural sector” will be implemented by the recently created Agency for the Renovation of the Territory. The plans will target 170 municipalities in 16 subregions, but they are far from comprehensive; they fail to include historically abandoned regions such as Magdalena, where I conducted my own research. And as the prestigious Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies <a href="http://kroc.nd.edu/assets/258961/171127_english_version_of_kroc_institute_report_executive_summary.pdf">recently noted</a>, there is little sign of these and other measures actually being implemented.</p>
<p>Colombia has a tendency to tackle problems by creating <a href="https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/paz/una-implementacion-que-avanza-media-marcha-articulo-723543">new institutions, laws and programmes</a>, but that is not enough to restore trust. Rather than investing in an ever more complicated legal and institutional framework to provide peace and justice, the government must strengthen the existing state institutions needed to provide basic public services and security. </p>
<p>The gap between survivors’ needs and what’s currently provided must be closed. If these laws and policies don’t change living conditions on the ground, this hard-won peace could turn out to be mere performance – and for all the good it’ll do Colombia’s international image, that will be a sad disappointment for many of the conflict’s millions of survivors. As one community leader I worked with put it: “There is peace, but we continue to suffer, so we don’t know what peace really means.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sanne Weber does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some of the crucial mechanisms meant to deliver peace in Colombia have yet to be set up.Sanne Weber, Research fellow at the International Development Department, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/823502017-09-18T13:02:44Z2017-09-18T13:02:44ZColombia struggles to deliver justice in army ‘cash-for-kills’ scandal<p>As Colombia’s 50-year armed conflict enters a post-conflict phase, the country is having to face up to the toll it took on millions of lives. There are more than <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2017/02/current-situation-colombia">8m registered victims</a>, and today, Colombia is host to <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/briefing/2017/3/58c26e114/forced-displacement-growing-colombia-despite-peace-agreement.html">7.4m</a> internally displaced people – more than <a href="http://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/colombia">anywhere else</a> in the world. Atrocities were committed by all sides, including the government, and civilians were the principal casualties. </p>
<p>As the post-conflict justice system takes shape, there are many individual rights violations and atrocities to be addressed. But the conflict’s most emblematic atrocity is the extrajudicial murder of thousands of innocent civilians during the so-called “<a href="https://colombiareports.com/false-positives/">false positives</a>” scandal.</p>
<p>After the right-wing paramilitary <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/85">AUC</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/may/14/colombia.sibyllabrodzinsky">demobilised in 2004</a>, the then-defence minister, Camilo Ospina, introduced a policy known as “cash-for-kills”, which awarded US$1,500 to Colombian Army personnel in exchange for evidence of “positive combat kills”. This resulted in a state-sponsored onslaught of Colombia’s most vulnerable citizens. Poor or mentally ill civilians were lured with offers of employment and driven for hundreds of miles into FARC-controlled areas, where they were executed and dressed in FARC combat uniforms. Photographs were taken of their corpses, and their murders presented as combat kills.</p>
<p>The scheme only came to light in 2008, when 22 men from <a href="http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/falso-positivo-de-soacha-condenas-de-hasta-52-anos/520904">Soacha</a> disappeared and were found dead hundreds of miles away in North Santander. A Soacha government official, Luis Fernando Escobar Franco, filed a lawsuit and gradually many other similar cases came to light. According to <a href="http://archives.forusa.org/sites/default/files/uploads/false-positives-2014-colombia-report.pdf">one study</a> on the links between US Aid and the false positives scandal, there were more than 5,763 extra-judicial executions between 2000 and 2010. </p>
<p>These murders were not linked to the Colombian armed conflict. Instead, it seems members of the army simply exploited an incentives programme for personal economic gain. Colombia has a legal duty to prosecute those responsible for these crimes, and to some extent, it has followed through. But even with the peace deal done, the dispensation of justice has been slow – and now, a new obstacle is emerging. </p>
<h2>Slow going</h2>
<p>The peace agreement’s plan for post-conflict justice hinges on a new Special Jurisdiction for Peace. Known as the “JEP” in Spanish, it will create a special system of transitional justice to deal with atrocities committed by all sides during the five-decades-long armed conflict.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, the system is designed to provide “alternative sentences” for people guilty of serious crimes, who can voluntarily enter the JEP and receive a sentence of up to eight years in prison – a significantly shorter sentence than they might otherwise expect. Perpetrators who want to access these more lenient sentences must come forward, plead guilty, provide a full account of what happened, and undertake to make reparations to their victims. </p>
<p>This form of “limited justice” is meant to kill two birds with one stone: to help persuade rebels to lay down their weapons while fulfilling the victims’ right to truth and accountability. But the JEP’s slow setup is already creating problems. Defence lawyers across the country are arguing that with the new system coming down the line, the “ordinary” justice system is avoiding the false positives cases.</p>
<p>In Caldas, a judge suspended a <a href="http://caracol.com.co/emisora/2017/05/22/manizales/1495476444_818197.html">kidnap and murder case</a> that implicates three high-ranking military officers. In <a href="http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/falsos-positivos-de-madres-de-soacha-juzgados-por-la-jep/524586">Soacha</a>, a case was suspended against five military officers accused of murdering a 16-year-old. In Manizales, another judge suspended a case against <a href="http://colombia2020.elespectador.com/justicia/un-gran-debate-sobre-la-jep">nine armed forces personnel</a> suspected of committing extrajudicial executions as part of the false positives scandal. That particular judge was convinced that the cases should be heard at the new post-conflict tribunal, and said there was little point wasting time and resources on a case that would probably be heard in the new system.</p>
<p>This rationale is both dangerous and incorrect. It will be for the JEP to decide which cases it will hear, and judges in the ordinary criminal justice system simply cannot predict its decisions. But many judges seem happy to bet that the JEP will take up their cast-offs. As the judge in Manizales put it: “what is it to wait six more months?”. </p>
<p>There are good reasons for the JEP to reject the false positives cases. For one, those implicated in the scandal acted for personal gain, and their crimes were not linked to the armed conflict. Besides, the peace agreement made clear that ongoing cases should continue until the JEP is up and running. Instead, cases are being suspended, and some military officers who have already convicted are even being <a href="http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/libertad-condicional-para-el-general-r-henry-torres-escalante/535508">released</a> so they can access the JEP. </p>
<h2>Unwilling or unable?</h2>
<p>This is all deeply concerning, and if doesn’t change course, it could become an issue for the International Criminal Court (ICC). If Colombia continues to deny victims access to justice in cases that come within the ICC’s jurisdiction, then there may be good reason to step in. The court can <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/InternationalCriminalCourt.aspx">initiate proceedings</a> when a state is “unwilling or unable” to prosecute a case itself.</p>
<p>That would certainly flatter the ICC’s image at a time when it urgently needs to prove it’s willing to investigate <a href="https://theconversation.com/international-criminal-court-must-not-ignore-threats-of-an-african-mass-withdrawal-67257">cases from outside Africa</a>. But it could also destabilise an already fragile peace process. </p>
<p>Colombia’s next presidential election is due in <a href="http://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-colombias-2018-elections">2018</a>, and post-conflict criminal trials are highly politicised. It must be remembered that in the 2016 plebiscite, the majority of Colombian citizens voted against the peace deal. And if the ICC were to prosecute individuals from the army but leave the FARC high command alone, the resulting resentment could easily be exploited by those willing to return to war.</p>
<p>The post-conflict system ought to be given a chance, and as long as the JEP is still “under construction”, the ordinary justice system should carry out its legal duty and prosecute those suspected of extrajudicial killings. But if things don’t change course very soon, the ICC may feel that it has no choice but to intervene – whatever the consequences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82350/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seb Eskauriatza does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It seems the culprits in a “cash-for-kills” scheme that claimed thousands of lives might find a way to wriggle out of the peace process.Seb Eskauriatza, Teaching Fellow in Law, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/805092017-07-31T08:13:27Z2017-07-31T08:13:27ZIraq must now rebuild itself – and that means fixing its dreadful governance<p>With the defeat of the so-called Islamic State (IS) on the battlefield looking imminent, Iraq is confronting a monumental challenge: to repair a deeply fractured society fraught with <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/542811487277729890/Iraq-Systematic-Country-Diagnostic">ethno-religious, geographic and socio-economic divisions</a>. It must end infighting within its political power blocs, and navigate the dangers of <a href="http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/after_isis_how_to_win_the_peace_in_iraq_and_libya_7212">assorted regional conflicts</a>. The state must also earn legitimacy among <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-syria-iraq-mosul-children-victims-suffering-waking-nightmares-report-save-the-children-warchild-a7823391.html">traumatised people</a>, liberated from the areas formerly held by IS, many of whom felt disenfranchised even before the group took hold in 2014. Some <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iraq-crisis-uk-humanitarian-response-factsheet">estimates</a> say that at least 3.1m people – 10% of the population – are displaced, while 11m need humanitarian assistance. </p>
<p>On top of all this, Iraq faces an economic crisis, with high government debt, falling oil prices and high unemployment, meaning the state is <a href="http://www.iq.undp.org/content/dam/iraq/img/Publications/UNDP-IQ_IraqNHDR2014-English.pdf">unable</a> to provide security or even the most basic of public services. The costs of immediate humanitarian assistance will eat into both the normal economy and plans to rebuild the country for the future; in June 2017, the Abadi government announced a <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/en/originals/2017/06/mosul-iraq-reconstruction-national-reconciliation.html">ten-year reconstruction plan</a>, but the funding in place or pledged is totally inadequate.</p>
<p>To keep Iraq from imploding into a <a href="http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/after_isis_how_to_win_the_peace_in_iraq_and_libya_7212">new state of civil conflict</a> a clear political strategy is necessary to build an effective, inclusive society that meets people’s common demands for security, economic opportunity, services and equal citizenship. </p>
<p>Post-IS nation-building will require negotiation among political elites with strong sectarian identities. But the long-term stability of any settlement they reach depends crucially on their ability to address popular priorities and national interests, not sectarian ones. And fortunately for those tasked with the job, there is clear evidence of what the Iraqi public want.</p>
<p>As they see it, a significant barrier is <a href="http://www.publications.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Future-of-Iraq-Task-Force-web-0531.pdf">poor governance</a>, and in particular corruption. According to <a href="https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016">Transparency International</a>, Iraq is one of the most corrupt countries in the world; systematic corruption pervades all levels of government and is widely accepted as the price of doing business, and <a href="http://www.blog.cdacollaborative.org/how-corruption-impedes-reconstruction-in-iraq-after-isis/">extortion and patronage networks</a> are a major impediment to stabilisation, reconstruction and the delivery of basic services. Beyond draining the treasury and wasting public money, corruption also breeds resentment and violence; when a democratic government is seen as weak, illegitimate and corrupt, extremism flourishes. </p>
<p>In 2015 there were <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2015/09/qa-iraqi-protesters-demand-action-corruption-and-reforms">mass protests</a> across the country demanding better public services and an end to corruption, but promised reforms to fight corruption <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/files/Maha_Discontent_Final_Web.pdf">have yet to materialise</a>.</p>
<p>Judging by what Iraqis themselves say about their country, this is a major missed opportunity.</p>
<h2>Just fix it</h2>
<p>Recent data from the <a href="http://www.arabtrans.eu/">Arab Transformations</a> nationwide public opinion survey, on which we ourselves worked, indicate that what people want is stability, jobs, decent services, and an end to corruption. And crucially, these concerns <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305658357_The_Relative_Importance_of_Religion_and_Region_in_Explaining_Differences_in_Political_Economic_and_Social_Attitudes_in_Iraq_in_2014_Findings_from_the_Arab_Transitions_Public_Opinion_Survey_Arab_Transf">cut across ethno-religious lines</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305658357_The_Relative_Importance_of_Religion_and_Region_in_Explaining_Differences_in_Political_Economic_and_Social_Attitudes_in_Iraq_in_2014_Findings_from_the_Arab_Transitions_Public_Opinion_Survey_Arab_Transf">survey</a> included districts in Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region, central region and southern region: those living in the Kurdish districts were virtually all Sunni Muslim, those in the southern ones Shiite, and those in the central area roughly evenly divided between the two. This allowed us to look at the relative impact of region and ethno-religious identity on people’s views. </p>
<p>Most people of all identities agree that corruption is pervasive: between 88% and 98% identify it as a problem, regardless of regional location or religion. Only around 10% thought that the government was making a concerted effort to tackle corruption, varying from 13% of Shiites in the south to 7% of Sunnis in the Kurdish region. Even the highest levels of confidence that government was making at least some effort to work towards tackling corruption – among Shiites in the central and southern regions – remain troublingly low, at 50% and 40% respectively. And as far as employment goes, between 86% and 97% thought it was generally necessary to have <em>wasta</em> (patronage) to get a job, regardless of region or ethno-religious identity.</p>
<p>Perhaps not surprisingly, trust in central government was also worryingly low nationwide. Only around a third of Shiites in the southern and central regions consider it trustworthy, with rates far lower among Iraq’s Sunnis. Satisfaction with the government’s performance was even lower: only just over a quarter of Shiites in the southern and central regions rated it as good, and this fell to a fifth in the Kurdish region and a mere 7% among central Sunni. </p>
<p>Local government was considered more trustworthy, especially among Shiites, but satisfaction with its performance was rated as “good” by just 47% of southern Shiites, with a low of just 10% among central Sunnis. The government’s performance at creating jobs and inclusive development opportunities was universally rated as poor, winning the praise of less than a fifth of the central region’s Shiites and only 7% of its Sunnis. </p>
<p>On providing basic utilities the government fared slightly better, but even then its best performance was mediocre: just 57% of southern Shiites thought the government was performing at least quite well. This fell to just a quarter among central Sunnis.</p>
<h2>Rocky road</h2>
<p>It’s easier to say what should be done than to come up with a concrete plan for doing it. Iraq’s sectarian divisions run deep, the legacy of sectarianised politics and political marginalisation. The United Nations Development Programme and the Iraqi government are already working to <a href="http://www.iq.undp.org/content/iraq/en/home/ourwork/Stabilization/In-depth.html">stabilise communities liberated from IS</a>, but commendable as their efforts are, more work is urgently required. </p>
<p>Governance and development are both politically sensitive and practically complex, and the territorial defeat of IS complicates this dynamic, rather than reducing it. As the country reclaims territory from IS and moves on, it must quickly strike a national compact of non-violence and co-operation to follow one common struggle with another. </p>
<p>Tackling corruption, meanwhile, promises to <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sores051116a">boost economic growth</a> and legitimise both the federal government and the political forces who support it. But the sad fact is that corruption’s main beneficiaries are Iraq’s political elites and political parties.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the data above show that Iraq has a major opportunity on its hands. Simply recognising that people’s concerns are not determined by their identity alone can help forge a socially, economically, and politically inclusive social contract. Both Saddam Hussein’s “Sunni-centric” regime and the “Shia-centric” post-2003 government proved that governing along sectarian lines is a road to ruin. However it’s done, sorting out the way Iraq is governed is the surest way to secure peace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pamela Abbott received funding from the European Union 7th Framework Programme for the research on which this article draws</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Teti receives funding from the European Commission 7th Framework Programme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin M. DeJesus received funding from the Johnson and Wales Faculty Development Fund for his recent visit to Iraqi Kurdistan. The author was also supported by a Faculty Research Fellowship from the Faculty Center for Academic Excellence & Innovation and the Provost’s office at Johnson & Wales University while working on this project.
</span></em></p>Survey data shows that Iraqis of all sectarian stripes agree on what’s wrong with their country.Pamela Abbott, Director of the Centre for Global Development and Honorary Professor of Sociology, University of AberdeenAndrea Teti, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of AberdeenKevin M. DeJesus, Assistant Professor, Johnson & Wales UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/733382017-03-22T11:48:15Z2017-03-22T11:48:15ZWhy victims and survivors of atrocities need a right to the truth<p>When heinous atrocities and human rights violations are committed, knowing the truth about what happened to the victims matters. </p>
<p>In many conflicts raging around the world today, among them those in <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/IICISyria/Pages/AboutCoI.aspx">Syria</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/yemen-a-calamity-at-the-end-of-the-arabian-peninsula-67954">Yemen</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cant-nigerias-president-defeat-boko-haram-66581">Nigeria</a>, legal norms meant to protect civilians are being utterly disregarded, with brutal consequences for thousands of people. When the dust settles on gross human rights violations, victims of these crimes should have the right to know who and what caused their suffering, and what happened to family members who went missing. Societies should also have the right to know and understand what happened to them as a whole.</p>
<p>Documenting patterns of violence not only serves as a record of human rights abuses, it may also lead to information on victims who may still be alive. Survivors need to mourn their dead, and they also have pressing practical needs; they often need formal evidence of what happened to file insurance claims, reparation schemes and other benefits.</p>
<p>These are urgent moral imperatives – and they are increasingly being acknowledged.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/righttotruthday/">March 24 marks</a> the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. The date commemorates the 1980 assassination of <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-beatification-of-oscar-romero">Óscar Romero</a>, human rights advocate and archbishop of San Salvador. He campaigned for justice and peace for his fellow citizens against a repressive regime and during a brutal conflict; he was assassinated by a paramilitary unit.</p>
<p>The right to the truth is being advocated and shaped by <a href="https://www.ictj.org/gallery-items/right-truth">various actors</a>, from governments to NGOs and civil society groups. The <a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/65/196">UN</a> officially deems it essential to recognise the memory of victims of gross and systematic human rights violations. International law <a href="http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/CN.4/2006/91">recognises</a> the right of victims and survivors to know about the circumstances of serious violations of their human rights. Initially conceived as the right of families to know the fate of their loved ones, the idea has since evolved into a more-encompassing right that extends to society. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161872/original/image-20170321-24884-1tpth4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161872/original/image-20170321-24884-1tpth4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161872/original/image-20170321-24884-1tpth4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161872/original/image-20170321-24884-1tpth4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161872/original/image-20170321-24884-1tpth4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161872/original/image-20170321-24884-1tpth4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161872/original/image-20170321-24884-1tpth4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Archbishop Óscar Romero.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A%C3%93scar_Arnulfo_Romero.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When confronted with a history of human rights violations, states are obliged to undertake, on their own initiative, effective, independent investigation to provide victims, their next of kin and the public with a full and detailed understanding of what happened, why it happened, and who was responsible, both directly and indirectly. The purpose is not only to satisfy the need to know, but also to provide the basis on which victims and others can obtain whatever reparation the law permits for these violations of fundamental rights.</p>
<p>The right to the truth also forms a central and necessary element in efforts to combat <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G05/109/00/PDF/G0510900.pdf?OpenElement">impunity</a> for human rights violations. On the basis of a proper understanding of the facts, victims, prosecutors and others can then pursue the right to justice against perpetrators as well as the right to reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition. </p>
<p>Mechanisms that can help achieve the right to the truth are truth commissions, official inquiries and courts of law. But they have their detractors and often face serious obstacles. </p>
<h2>Uphill struggles</h2>
<p>Any government or organisation charged with seeking the truth may clash with political forces seeking to protect their own interests, whether or not those same forces were involved in the crimes being investigated. In societies transitioning from dictatorship or conflict to a less violent future, some people imagine that silence, forgetting and even impunity are needed to keep all sides on board with the process of peace. </p>
<p>Then there’s the <a href="http://www.saiia.org.za/opinion-analysis/multiple-truths-and-no-reconciliation-the-international-criminal-court-not-yet-in-sudan">problem</a> of multiple, contested and unacknowledged truths; if these are downplayed or overlooked, the result can be an incomplete or unsatisfying process of truth-seeking and truth-telling that leaves deep problems and grievances unresolved.</p>
<p>These are all understandable complications, but they should not deter truth-seeking efforts. The need for truth is seemingly universal; what is required is a clarification in international law whether a right to it can be articulated and upheld as a right in itself, rather than as an aspect of other rights. A standalone right has to be robust and convey some real force, not just aspiration or rhetoric. </p>
<p>But no matter what the legal basis, truth-seeking and truth-telling carry moral weight regardless of what mechanism is used. In an era marred by <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/12/age-outrage">post-truth politics</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/seeking-truth-among-alternative-facts-72733">blatant contempt</a> for the actual facts, finding and telling the truth is all the more urgent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73338/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Klinkner has previously received funding from the Nuffield Foundation for a reserach project linked to the right to the truth.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Howard Davis has previously received funding from the Nuffield Foundation for a research project linked to the right to the truth</span></em></p>Establishing what happened to lost relatives and brutalised populations is a moral imperative.Melanie Klinkner, Senior Lecturer In Law, Bournemouth UniversityHoward Davis, Reader in Public Law, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/631672016-12-06T09:59:20Z2016-12-06T09:59:20ZUkraine peace plan follows a familiar path – but there are potholes in the east<p>More than two years after protests that defenestrated its president and kicked off a conflict, Ukraine remains a starkly divided country, with violence still simmering in the east among Russian-backed separatists. For most of 2016, it has been trying to solve these problems through a deal struck by the leaders of <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-ukraine-peace-deal-met-with-shelling-and-suspicion-37591">Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France</a> – a plan known as as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11408266/Minsk-agreement-on-Ukraine-crisis-text-in-full.html">Minsk II</a>.</p>
<p>Minsk II isn’t a permanent settlement, but it contains a template for one. At its heart is a form of self-governance for territory currently controlled by pro-Russian separatists in two breakaway regions, the self-proclaimed <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/dispatch-ground-zero-donetsk-peoples-republic/">Donetsk</a> and <a href="https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/self-proclaimed-luhansk-peoples-republic-postpones-elections.html">Luhansk People’s Republics</a>. This is a tried-and-tested solution to separatist conflicts, but it comes with several pitfalls for international mediators to avoid as they edge Ukraine’s conflict parties closer to a permanent settlement. </p>
<p>Giving the separatists of Donetsk and Luhansk some degree of territorial autonomy follows a template that is used in separatist conflicts around the world. Depending on the circumstances, it can range from little more than ceding control over cultural and administrative matters to effectively creating a state within a state.</p>
<p>On the face of it, this is a good strategy for defusing a conflict. Granting separatists some degree of autonomy usually doesn’t require major reforms at the top of the state they want to separate from. It recognises the rights, fears and aspirations of minority groups and grants them self-determination, but it does so without endangering the territorial integrity of the state.</p>
<p>In very intense conflicts, granting territorial autonomy can also help defuse violence by recognising control of battlefields. It also means enemies don’t end up having to coexist in factional and sometimes unstable power-sharing governments. </p>
<p>Understandable, then, that peace processes around the world keep reverting to this formula. But it doesn’t always go to plan. Far from it: in my <a href="http://www.polity.co.uk/book.asp?ref=9780745680262">analysis</a> of peace agreements signed since the end of the Cold War, I’ve identified a number of serious problems. Some of these are already presenting themselves in Ukraine as Minsk II is gradually implemented – and others may be lurking down the road.</p>
<h2>Promises, promises</h2>
<p>Central governments that promise autonomy to separatists generally aren’t very good at actually delivering it. This is often thanks to domestic opposition; critics of territorial autonomy will frequently decry such a settlement as a reward for violent rebels, and as a dangerous step towards the breakup of the state.</p>
<p>A version of this has happened with Minsk II. There are deep concerns in Kiev that autonomy for the Donetsk and Luhansk “republics” will either lead to secession, or that the Russian-backed territories will remain beyond Kiev’s control. Many are also reluctant to strengthen the breakaway territories and legitimise the separatist leaders.</p>
<p>Another common problem is the use of what Henry Kissinger called “<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/when-ambiguity-is-destructive/">constructive ambiguity</a>”, the use of deliberately ambiguous wording to create extra space for negotiating parties to advance their interests. This can help them reach an agreement, but it can also create problems when it turns out that the two sides don’t agree on what powers the autonomous region should enjoy, what resources it will control, or even what its borders will be.</p>
<p>Too much ambiguity can spell serious trouble for a settlement. If the central government doesn’t grant sufficient powers to the autonomous region, it can also lead to dangerous local instability. Without sufficient capacity to govern themselves – including the capacity to defeat radical forces opposed to peace – autonomous territories can all too easily become ungovernable altogether. </p>
<p>Broken promises, whether perceived or real, cause deep resentment, which can in turn beget renewed violence. If local violence crops up again, it can spread beyond the region and ultimately undermine the legitimacy and stability of the entire peace agreement. These sorts of problems have contributed to renewed violence in the Philippines’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/philippines-hopes-new-president-can-fashion-peace-from-a-war-of-many-sides-60606">Mindanao</a> region and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/31/israel-palestine-violence-knife-attacks-west-bank-gaza">Palestine</a>.</p>
<p>But local capacity isn’t just about devolved powers and adequate resources. Rebel forces come in all shapes and sizes, and some will be better placed to govern than others. Effective rule depends on legitimacy and requires reforms. International actors can help encourage and fund them – and a more inclusive settlement.</p>
<h2>Don’t forget human rights</h2>
<p>Most peace processes are fairly narrow; they typically only involve actors who have the power to wreck an agreement, and shut out everyone less powerful. The rationale is that the fewer parties are involved, the easier it is for international mediators to strike a deal. </p>
<p>The problem is that narrow negotiations often produce narrow settlements. Rights end up granted to a dominant minority group at the expense of less powerful groups – and indeed, of anyone who opposes the armed movement in control of the place where they live. Separatist leaders might present themselves as the true representatives of their community, but these sorts of claims are often backed up with coercion rather than genuine legitimacy.</p>
<p>Without effective human rights provisions, minorities in an autonomous territories can start to feel like they’re being treated as second-class citizens. This can entrench division and stir up new instability. It also increases the risk of an unreformed armed movement clinging onto power. Such movements are, as noted above, not very good at governing and this could lead to instability. </p>
<p>None of this is inevitable. No peace agreement is perfect, and Minsk II certainly isn’t. But it is possible to improve upon the model, if those negotiating it are aware of the potential pitfalls and dangers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63167/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nina Caspersen has received funding from the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council </span></em></p>Ukraine is implementing a deal to placate its restive separatists – but other countries have had trouble with similar strategies.Nina Caspersen, Professor, Department of Politics, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/654372016-11-25T13:02:14Z2016-11-25T13:02:14ZCan Colombia’s new peace agreement hold all parties to account?<p>After a first peace agreement was <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-colombia-voted-no-to-peace-with-farc-66416">rejected in a plebiscite</a>, the Colombian government has signed a <a href="https://www.mesadeconversaciones.com.co/sites/default/files/12-1479102292.11-1479102292.2016nuevoacuerdofinal-1479102292.pdf">revised agreement</a> with the FARC, a radical left-wing guerrilla group that has fought against the state for five decades. It is now for the Colombian parliament to decide whether to endorse it.</p>
<p>Many issues were fiercely debated in the run-up to the referendum and then again in the negotiations between the government and the leaders of the no campaign in its aftermath. But one aspect of the agreement has received quite a bit of (<a href="http://colombiareports.com/coca-cola-facing-terrorism-support-charges-colombia/">sometimes somewhat misguided</a>) attention: the way it would affect so-called “third party actors”.</p>
<p>These include <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Corporate-Accountability-in-the-Context-of-Transitional-Justice/Michalowski/p/book/9780415524902">corporations</a>, landowners, and politicians who did not take up arms, but who nonetheless participated in international crimes during the conflict – funding armed groups, for example, or providing them with other support to carry out massacres or <a href="http://www.verdadabierta.com/lucha-por-la-tierra/5543-a-la-carcel-16-empresarios-de-palma-de-choco">forcibly displace people</a>.</p>
<p>The question of how to deal with third party actors has been an issue since 2005, when Colombia began a process of transition with the <a href="http://www.fiscalia.gov.co/jyp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ley_975_de_2005.pdf">Justice and Peace Law</a>, a process that mainly benefited paramilitary groups. Under this system, <a href="http://www.verdadabierta.com/otros-negocios-criminales/6265-asi-investigan-a-financiadores-del-paramilitarismo">important information</a> has come to light showing that these third party actors were heavily involved in the armed conflict. Under the peace agreement, third party actors, like CEOs (but not corporations) or politicians, can be brought to justice. In Colombia it is not possible to prosecute legal entities as such.</p>
<h2>Learning from the past</h2>
<p>The measures adopted under the 2005 law were only extended to paramilitaries who demobilised and fully confessed their crimes. <a href="http://www.anuariocdh.uchile.cl/index.php/ADH/article/viewFile/37498/39175">Third parties</a> whose involvement they mentioned were not under the jurisdiction of the Justice and Peace System, but that of Colombia’s ordinary criminal courts. </p>
<p>On paper, that means corporate and other actors who have participated in crimes committed by paramilitaries could receive much harsher punishments than those received by paramilitaries under the jurisdiction of the Justice and Peace System. But in reality, impunity has prevailed, given the lack of effective prosecutions under the ordinary criminal justice system.</p>
<p>This could be about to change. Assuming it is implemented, the agreement creates transitional justice mechanisms that apply to everybody who directly or indirectly took part in the conflict, not just armed combatants. The new <a href="http://www.essex.ac.uk/tjn/documents/Leafleft%20ETJN%20Dejusticia.pdf">Special Jurisdiction for Peace</a> will have jurisdiction also over third party actors, though only if their involvement reaches the threshold of “active or determinative participation” in the most serious international crimes. </p>
<p>If these actors fully engage with the process, admitting their involvement and contributing to reparations, they will receive diminished punishment. The agreement proposes five to eight years of “effective deprivation of liberty”, which can take different forms – helping to remove landmines, for example, or building infrastructure. They will not be imprisoned. </p>
<p>But if they disclose the truth late in the process, they could face five to eight years in prison; if they do not contribute to justice and are found guilty, they could be imprisoned for up to 20 years.</p>
<h2>Accountability for all</h2>
<p>What makes this possible is that under the agreement, third party actors will fall under the remit of the new transitional justice mechanisms, rather than being dealt with by the ordinary criminal justice system. This provides an incentive to engage with the new process, and avoids the problems of the <a href="http://cja.org/where-we-work/colombia/related-resources/colombia-the-justice-and-peace-law/">Justice and Peace process</a>, that did not include them within its jurisdiction.</p>
<p>Getting third parties involved in the work of transitional justice mechanisms is hugely important. Victims deserve to know the full truth of what happened during the conflict, including who was involved in international crimes and how. They are also entitled to reparations from all those who were responsible for the harm they suffered. Holding third parties to account increases the likelihood that they will contribute to redressing the harm they have caused.</p>
<p>Some in Colombia, including some of those behind the no campaign, have called this a <a href="http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/fiscal-nestor-humberto-martinez-explica-situacion-de-empresarios-involucrados-conflicto-armado-y-la-lista/492266">witch-hunt</a>, but that’s wide of the mark. The whole point is to encourage them to engage and secure <a href="http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/acuerdos-de-paz-con-las-farc-alcance-del-punto-de-justicia-en-el-sector-privado/491996">accountability</a>. That is a major step in the right direction. At the centre of the agreement is the imperative to hold those responsible for the most serious crimes to account – and that will apply to third party actors, too. </p>
<p>To be sure, there are powerful third parties who would rather not be involved, and a lot will depend on whether the government can sustain the political will to enforce the terms of the agreement against all relevant third party actors. But the negotiators have found a nuanced approach. Once parliament approves the agreement, the victims of some of the war’s most heinous crimes will be able to seek the justice, truth and reparation they have been denied for decades.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65437/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clara Sandoval and Sabine Michalowski have bee providing advice to the Ministry of Justice (Transitional Justice Unit) on various issues related to justice and reparation within the peace process.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sabine Michalowski receives funding from the International Organisation for Migration and ESRC. </span></em></p>Colombia’s deal with the FARC means third parties implicated in international crimes could at last face justice.Clara Sandoval, Senior Lecturer, School of Law and Director of the Essex Transitional Justice Network, University of EssexSabine Michalowski, Professor of Law, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/677062016-11-21T03:08:59Z2016-11-21T03:08:59ZCreativity and resilience: how do war survivors make international justice work for them?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143978/original/image-20161031-27102-727lmu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A disempowering judgment by the Special Court for Sierra Leone should not blind us to how local activists still made use of its symbolic power.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/64749744@N00/7595942598">Steve Evans/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/democracy-futures">Democracy Futures</a> series, a <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/democracy-futures/">joint global initiative</a> with the <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/">Sydney Democracy Network</a>. The project aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the many challenges facing democracies in the 21st century.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>“<a href="https://www.ictj.org/about/transitional-justice">Transitional justice</a>” for societies emerging from periods of war, dictatorship or atrocity has become something of a buzz term within international law and policy circles. </p>
<p>Since the 1990s countless experiments, from Latin America to Eastern Europe, Africa to Asia, have been designed to deliver justice and help with peace-building and democratisation. The international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia are the most famous (and costly) examples. But what do we hope to achieve with these institutions? </p>
<p>According to their advocates, they are a means of ensuring accountability and redress to populations ravaged by conflict and violence. This, they assert, also promotes peace (recall the adage, “no peace without justice”). </p>
<p>Not only does a legal process allow marginalised groups the possibility of being heard – thus empowering them – it also provides a model for the development of local institutions that are better capable of promoting democracy and the rule of law. </p>
<p>These benefits appear to have convinced many within the non-governmental world, the United Nations system and government aid agencies. Ever-greater resources are being invested in transitional justice processes.</p>
<p>Criticisms also abound. These focus largely on the realities of past and present geopolitical inequality (colonialism in the past, neocolonialism in the present), the inability of legal institutions to respond to widespread structural problems (particularly economic) and the violence of the law, which all too often relies on silencing and exclusion. </p>
<p>How, critics argue, can “top-down” legal institutions genuinely deliver empowerment? Don’t they just create new reliance on elite “experts” and replace politics with models of bureaucratic governance?</p>
<p>After a decade working in the field of transitional justice, in four post-conflict sites – Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Nepal and Sri Lanka – I am sympathetic to these critiques. I am also struck by the highly abstract ways in which both advocates and critics of transitional justice make their arguments. Few have delved into how people in such places actually feel about and experience transitional justice.</p>
<p>How are we to understand why people in different parts of the world continue to demand and participate in transitional justice institutions and processes in spite of the shortcomings? </p>
<p>Extremely marginalised sections of the population have mobilised in a variety of settings to demand recognition and accountability and to participate. Examples range from survivors of sexual violence in Bosnia who attended the <a href="http://www.icty.org/">International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia</a> in The Hague back in the 1990s through to women’s collectives in northeastern Sri Lanka who presented submissions to the national <a href="http://www.slguardian.org/2016/06/final-report-by-the-public-representations-committee-on-constitutional-reforms/">Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reform</a> in 2016.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143981/original/image-20161031-15816-1p5sy9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143981/original/image-20161031-15816-1p5sy9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143981/original/image-20161031-15816-1p5sy9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143981/original/image-20161031-15816-1p5sy9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143981/original/image-20161031-15816-1p5sy9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143981/original/image-20161031-15816-1p5sy9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143981/original/image-20161031-15816-1p5sy9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Peace Palace or a place for misplaced hopes? The International Court of Justice at The Hague in the Netherlands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">United Nations Photo/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This can be (and has often been) interpreted as evidence of their desperation. Otherwise, it is argued that perhaps their naivety or a sort of false consciousness allows for their co-option and continued domination. </p>
<p>In the case of the Bosnian survivors, studies have documented their disappointment following their experiences in The Hague. This may support a reading of (misplaced) optimism. </p>
<p>However, I want to suggest some other explanations. To do this I offer two examples.</p>
<h2>Sierra Leone</h2>
<p>In 2006, fresh from working on the global <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Violence_Against_Women">Stop Violence Against Women</a> campaign at Amnesty International, I went to work as a trial monitor at the <a href="http://www.rscsl.org/">Special Court for Sierra Leone</a>. International feminists and human rights lawyers lauded the court for the serious stand it was taking on prosecuting crimes committed against women during the nation’s civil war. </p>
<p>I was particularly interested in the prosecutions for forced marriage. On the one hand, these were said to reflect a commitment by the court to respond to victims’ experiences of violation. On the other, as a feminist, I was curious to see how the court would define “marriage”.</p>
<p>As it turns out, the court adopted an extremely conservative definition. In trying to explain the difference between forced marriage in war and arranged marriage in times of peace, the court basically reinforced the rights of parents – in particular fathers – to determine suitable husbands and to demand a bride price in exchange for their daughters. </p>
<p>Many members of the local women’s rights and human rights community were horrified. They had lobbied the court hoping it would help their campaign to end forced and early arranged marriages. The court did the opposite, giving authority back to conservative local elites. I left Sierra Leone early, disgusted and thoroughly disillusioned with the project of transitional justice.</p>
<p>In 2011 I returned to Sierra Leone to explore the legacy of the Special Court for women’s human rights. I was prepared for the worst. But then I was faced with a surprise.</p>
<p>In an interview, the chairwoman of the <a href="http://www.womensforumsl.org/">Women’s Forum</a> (a nationwide coalition of women’s rights activists) told me the court had been very helpful in their campaigning against forced early marriage. She explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We tell them this is against international law, the Special Court says it is wrong.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When I tried to explain that this was not what the judgment said, she gave me a long, patient and pitying look. It became clear that she and other activists had not read it, nor they did not feel it was necessary to read it. </p>
<p>This was not due to ignorance. Rather, it was a strategic choice not to waste their time and energy. The power was in the message that there had even been an international court that had looked at “gender issues” and convicted people. This was sufficient symbolic backing for women in their communities.</p>
<p>As I spoke to more women in different parts of the country, I saw the various ways in which the existence of the court and its prosecutions for gender-based violence opened up a new space that simply did not otherwise exist for women’s rights activists. </p>
<p>The disempowering nature of the court’s internal processes did not diminish the creative and strategic ways in which local actors drew on the court’s symbolic power to add weight and legitimacy to their own cause.</p>
<p>I began to realise the bias that many of us working on transitional justice had. We assumed the only places that mattered in terms of assessing transitional justice were the formal institutions, and that the only voices that mattered were the legal experts. In the process, we were feeding the very issues we criticised: the elite-driven, institution-focused, exclusionary practices of transitional justice.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WodVLq8YRv8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Given their under-representation in parliament, women in Sierra Leone are fighting for access to justice and institutional backing in strategic ways.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What would happen if we started to explore the impact of transitional justice outside courtrooms, parliaments and bureaucratic institutions? Might transitional justice lead another life, be contributing to struggles for social justice in another way? </p>
<p>I was struck by how the Sierra Leonean activists had managed to turn the court and its message into a tool that could be used in their struggle. They subverted its original, intended or actual message in an act of resistance and empowerment that, to my mind, requires our recognition even as we demand better from institutions.</p>
<h2>Sri Lanka</h2>
<p>In May 2009, Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war ended with the destruction of Tamil separatist movement, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Since then, international and domestic initiatives have aimed to assist Sri Lanka’s “transition” towards a peaceful, more democratic society that can come to terms with its violent past and manage the realities of its multi-ethnic population in the future. </p>
<p>After repeated commissions of inquiry and human rights investigations dating back to the 1990s, one could understand a degree of scepticism about the latest round of transitional justice initiatives.</p>
<p>And yet, when visiting a women’s collective in the war-ravaged town of Mullaitivu in north-eastern Sri Lanka, I was told its members had participated in recent public consultations on reforming the constitution. It had been a long day in a very hot room, so people were eager to head home. But, when I asked, casually as I was leaving, why they had chosen to participate and how, a new energy entered the room. </p>
<p>Suddenly, I was surrounded by multiple women speaking at once. Eyes shining, they were keen to share their experiences while my slightly harried interpreter translated. They told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s always men. [There is] no-one to talk about our issues, so we thought we should go and talk about our issues. And when a lot of women came to speak about their issues it added pressure.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They were realistic about what they expected from the process: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whether the government accepts our submissions or not we don’t know, but we wanted to prove that we women went and made a submission. So it is there in the history.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143990/original/image-20161101-15783-6uteid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143990/original/image-20161101-15783-6uteid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143990/original/image-20161101-15783-6uteid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143990/original/image-20161101-15783-6uteid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143990/original/image-20161101-15783-6uteid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143990/original/image-20161101-15783-6uteid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143990/original/image-20161101-15783-6uteid.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘We wanted to prove that we women went and made a submission. So it is there in the history.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vikalpasl/14676108142/">Vikalpa|CPA/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their responses offered an array of rationales for participating: they wanted to contribute to the emergent official discourse, to overcome the limits of their local (patriarchal) community and of the elitist civil society that too often spoke for them in disempowering and inaccurate ways. </p>
<p>Their actions were not free of risk: one of the women who spoke for the group faced an extremely difficult time with her husband afterwards. And yet all expressed great satisfaction at having done it. It gave them confidence and a feeling of political power. All of them told me they would do it again.</p>
<p>While many of us may doubt the effectiveness of these processes in improving democracy and justice, these women certainly felt that this was an important opportunity for them to be heard.</p>
<h2>Pay heed to how survivors use transitional justice</h2>
<p>For this reason I think we need to revisit the question of what transitional justice offers to survivors of war, authoritarianism and atrocity.</p>
<p>We are right to be sceptical of some of the claims made by advocates sitting in Geneva or New York. However, we should not allow our critiques of the macro political situation to overshadow our ability to see what marginalised populations around the world actually do with transitional justice mechanisms and processes.</p>
<p>In Sierra Leone, regardless of the effectiveness of formal legal measures, there has undoubtedly been a shift in local consciousness and public debate. This was achieved not through the outreach activities of formal actors but through the appropriation of legal norms – albeit in a strategic and sometimes subversive way – by local social actors.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, despite a highly restrictive and authoritarian environment, individuals flock to the quasi-judicial bodies of commissions of inquiry to voice their grievances and make claims for justice.</p>
<p>To treat these actions as merely the pathetic acts of desperate individuals is, I think, to do a disservice to their courage and agency. Given Sri Lanka’s modern history and the lack of tangible outcomes from earlier commissions, I do not see these individual actions as simply reflecting a naïve belief in the system.</p>
<p>Instead, I think we need to focus on how we might approach these engagements by oppressed and marginalised peoples with transitional justice institutions. </p>
<p>While we cannot ignore the hierarchical and often highly exclusionary and oppressive ways in which such institutions are structured, we must also be attentive to the strategic (and sometimes subversive) acts of agency by these oppressed and so-called desperate groups.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kiran Grewal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How are we to understand why people in different parts of the world continue to demand and participate in transitional justice institutions and processes in spite of the shortcomings?Kiran Grewal, Senior Research Fellow in Human Rights, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/673472016-10-21T14:46:46Z2016-10-21T14:46:46ZCambodia has come a long way in 25 years of peace – but it’s far from perfect<p>After decades of tragic conflict and bloodshed, Cambodia finally found a measure of peace in 1991, when 19 governments met in Paris to sign the <a href="http://peacemaker.un.org/cambodiaparisagreement91">Paris Peace Agreements</a>. This was a pivotal moment in the country’s history and it opened the door to what turned out to be a remarkable period of recovery and relative peace.</p>
<p>The agreements covered four major priorities: national reconciliation, the right of self-determination through free and fair elections, a ceasefire and cessation of outside military assistance (including the withdrawal of foreign forces), and the protection of human rights (including the voluntary return of refugees and displaced persons). </p>
<p>An experimental <a href="http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unamicbackgr.html">United Nations Transitional Authority</a> was set up to take charge of implementing the agreements. Its mandate ended in September 1993, when the new Constitution of Cambodia was adopted and a general election successfully held.</p>
<p>The Cambodia of today is very different from that quarter of a century ago. Although it took several years for the armed conflict to end, peace and stability has brought dividends. The peace agreements paved the way for states to lift embargoes against Cambodia and a period of dramatic economic growth duly ensued, with a GDP growth rate <a href="http://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/cambodia-is-now-a-lower-middle-income-economy-what-does-this-mean">averaging 7.6% a year</a>. Once one of the world’s very poorest countries, Cambodia is classified by UNDP as a lower middle-income country. </p>
<p>Billions of dollars have been invested in aid, rebuilding and restructuring, as well as in development and investment opportunities. During a recent visit by the Chinese premier, Xi Jinping, Cambodia and China <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-cambodia-idUKKBN12H0SK">signed 31 agreements</a> covering everything from debt cancellation to help modernising the Cambodian armed forces. </p>
<p>The economic benefits of peace, stability and foreign investment are not shared equally among all Cambodians. To transition from a rural subsistence economy to an industrialised one is a huge challenge for any country – and especially for one where land ownership is not well documented. Sugar, cashews, rubber, tourism, even the garment industry all encroach on land once occupied by villages and families who often have little, if any, legal entitlement to their land. Indigenous peoples are especially badly affected on this front.</p>
<p>Cambodia has had a period of relative political stability. Elections have been held periodically since 1993, though they’ve often been marred by disputes and tensions. With local elections scheduled for June 2017 and national elections for 2018, Cambodia seems to have successfully embedded the practice of regularly going to the polls. With the support of foreign states, a National Election Committee is working to roll out electronic voter registration. </p>
<p>All round, the country is making good progress towards ensuring the “universal and equal suffrage” that the agreements demand. But once we look beyond the technical and legal advances, the situation leaves plenty to be desired.</p>
<h2>Room for improvement</h2>
<p>Cambodia’s two main political parties deeply distrust each other. The main opposition party, the <a href="http://www.nationalrescueparty.org/">Cambodian National Rescue Party</a>, has repeatedly <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/boycotts-10072016165300.html">boycotted the National Assembly</a>, most recently for several months following the slew of arrests earlier this year. Its leader, Sam Rainsy, took himself into <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/sam-rainsy-considers-return-to-cambodia-09282016143721.html">exile</a> in November 2015, and its deputy leader has been in self-imposed <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodia-national-rescue-party-leader-kem-10052016141346.html">house arrest in the party’s HQ</a> since May 2016, both avoiding various charges and prison sentences for a variety of offences. </p>
<p>The law, meanwhile, on paper adequately protects most human rights and fundamental freedoms. The post-1991 constitution obliges the state to respect the rule of law and human rights – it has been augmented by a wide range of laws, many of them drafted with the help of international experts. </p>
<p>However, in reality, many of the country’s laws are open to broad judicial interpretation and although they can be be applied in a manner which protects human rights, that is not necessarily the case. Not all Cambodians enjoy genuine equality before the law without discrimination. </p>
<p>Two-and-a-half decades since the Paris Peace Agreements were struck, it’s time Cambodia proves its independent sovereignty by revising and clarifying these laws to give better effect to the human rights treaties which it has accepted. </p>
<p>Pessimism about progress is not justified: to go from a near-failed state to a full sovereign independent member of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/asean-1956">ASEAN</a>, the UN and various other organisations is a major achievement, and it deserves to be celebrated. </p>
<p>There is undoubtedly room for improvement and development – and lessons still to learn. But this international nation-building experiment, and the progress Cambodia has made since 1991, is in many ways quite remarkable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67347/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rhona Smith is currently the independent UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia. This article is written in her private, academic capacity and does not necessarily reflect views of the United Nations. She declined to provide a profile picture.</span></em></p>Once one of the world’s very poorest countries, Cambodia has been through a remarkable two and a half decades of growth and development.Rhona Smith, Head of School, Newcastle Law School, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/666892016-10-07T20:22:14Z2016-10-07T20:22:14ZSantos got the Nobel Prize for not giving up on peace – here’s why all Colombians won<p>Only days after the people of Colombia voted to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/10/03/colombia-just-voted-no-on-its-referendum-for-peace-heres-why-and-what-it-means/">reject</a> a historic peace deal he spent years negotiating, the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-37585188">received the Nobel Peace Prize</a> for his efforts to end the country’s decades-long war with the FARC guerrilla movement. </p>
<p>The no vote came a week after the government and the FARC had signed a peace deal, and after they had declared a bilateral ceasefire and the end of all hostilities at the end of August. Nevertheless, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has given Santos and his fellow negotiators a vote of confidence – one that they have earned through years of dogged and determined work.</p>
<p>Santos became president in 2010 after serving as defence minister under his presidential predecessor Alvaro Uribe. Those years were marked by a hardline military approach against the FARC, whom Uribe labelled as “narco-terrorists” that had to be defeated militarily. Previous peace talks had <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1752015.stm">failed</a> and had left many Colombians feeling betrayed by the FARC. </p>
<p>Uribe’s hawkish policy weakened the FARC considerably, including by killing some of the group’s leadership figures, and it made urban areas safer. But it also pushed the conflict towards the country’s peripheries and <a href="http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2014/02/the-margins-at-the-centre-of-the-farcs-future.html">across its borders</a>, contributing to huge refugee flows and a humanitarian crisis that went largely unnoticed in many of Bogota’s comfortable government offices. </p>
<p>This era was also overshadowed by severe human rights abuses committed by members of the armed forces, including the “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-32280039">false positives</a>” scandal, in which peasants were killed and then dressed up as guerrilla fighters to artificially inflate the body count.</p>
<p>The Uribe administration had stuck to the line that the FARC were narco-terrorists, not insurgents, and that they therefore should never be talked to. At some points they had <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2011/05/armed_conflict_colombia">denied the existence of an armed conflict</a> altogether. But when Santos was elected president in 2010, the government changed course, accepting that it <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Researching-Terrorism-Peace-and-Conflict-Studies-Interaction-Synthesis/Tellidis-Toros/p/book/9781138018174">needed to engage the FARC in dialogue</a>. </p>
<p>In 2012, I was <a href="https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/centre-criminology/centreborder-criminologies/blog/2015/06/field-intuitive">carrying out fieldwork</a> at the Colombia-Venezuela border, one of the country’s most war-torn regions, when peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC were publicly announced. At that time, the displaced people, ex-combatants, military officials, indigenous leaders and other local people I spoke to greeted the news with deep scepticism. </p>
<p>On the ground, it was easy to see why. While the world applauded the start of formal talks, the FARC actually intensified its armed attacks, perhaps to ensure that it would enter the negotiations in a position of strength. The upshot was that even as the talks began, some of Colombia’s marginalised communities were even more vulnerable to violence than before. </p>
<h2>Balancing act</h2>
<p>When the peace accord was rejected in the October 2 plebiscite, Santos accepted the result and reached out to the opposition – in particular to Uribe – to bring them to the negotiating table and discuss how the accord can be made tolerable for all Colombians. He affirmed that he would remain committed to peace until his last day in office. </p>
<p>Already steps have been taken to try and preserve order. The government and the FARC have now agreed to <a href="http://europe.newsweek.com/colombia-president-santos-extends-farc-ceasefire-resurrect-peace-deal-506231?rm=eu">extend the ceasefire</a> until at least October 31. Together with the UN, they are currently discussing how the FARC’s planned demobilisation process and the <a href="http://colombiapeace.org/">mechanisms to verify it</a> can be adjusted to the situation after the no vote.</p>
<p>One of the no campaign’s principal arguments was that the deal as signed offers FARC members legal impunity. However, it does include <a href="http://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/herramientas/Documents/summary-of-colombias-peace-agreement.pdf">sophisticated transitional justice mechanisms</a>, according to which those involved in atrocious crimes will be held accountable for their deeds, including through prison sentences. Finding new terms with which the FARC’s leadership agree will be tricky to say the least. </p>
<p>Then there are the country’s other armed groups. Colombia’s armed forces support the government’s efforts for peace. Contrary to previous years, today’s Colombian Head of the Army described his troops as <a href="https://twitter.com/COMANDANTE_EJC/status/784404340475854848">“architects of peace”</a>. Yet while guaranteeing the ceasefire with the FARC, they have to continue military operations against other violent groups such as the ELN. As long as the FARC’s fighters aren’t concentrated in what were supposed to be demobilisation zones, this is a difficult task. A minor mistake could <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-momentous-peace-deal-with-the-farc-so-what-next-for-colombia-64452">easily spark an escalation</a>. </p>
<p>One might think that the Nobel committee’s decision to award Santos the prize makes this situation more explosive by fueling resentments among those who rejected the peace deal. The country had already become deeply polarised during the run-up to the plebiscite; in the aftermath of the no vote, it’s only getting worse. However, the committee decided not to extend the prize to the FARC’s leader, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-36610281">Timoschenko</a>, which many had speculated they might; a wise decision in such a tense context.</p>
<p>Overall, the prize could serve as a catalyst for a more unifying peace process. In what could be considered a conciliatory gesture, even Uribe congratulated Santos and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/nobel-peace-prize-colombian-president-juan-manuel-santos-says-award-should-inspire-people-to-cement-a7350626.html">expressed his hope</a> that it might provide an impetus to find a new accord that all parties can accept. </p>
<p>For those who voted for the deal – now mired in frustration, anger and despair – the Nobel committee’s gesture offers sorely needed encouragement. As a friend from crisis-ridden Norte de Santander said to me, people might now be re-energised to continue to “sow peace”.</p>
<p>The prize might also encourage FARC members to adhere to the peace process instead of abandoning it. Amid the uncertainty around whether the deal’s provisions were really coming into effect, there was a heightened risk for them to cut and run, joining criminal groups, forming their own new gangs, or joining up with dissident elements such as the FARC’s <a href="https://www.stratfor.com/situation-report/colombia-farc-section-says-it-will-not-demobilize?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article">Front 1</a>. These risks remain, but that the peace efforts have now been internationally recognised may give them new hope for a better life as civilians.</p>
<h2>The work goes on</h2>
<p>The prize will embolden the Colombian government to continue efforts not only with the FARC, which remains committed to achieving peace through dialogue instead of weapons, but also with the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-37505149">ELN</a>. </p>
<p>The ELN and the government have announced the beginning of formal peace talks too, but as of now this group still controls vast areas of Colombian territory where the state is barely present, if at all. When I asked locals in the war-torn department of Arauca earlier this year what they thought about the peace process, they replied that nothing would really change for them since they live under the ELN’s rule.</p>
<p>The award might also help reduce the impact of many other armed groups that operate in Colombia. Before the plebiscite, violent right-wing and criminal groups had already started to fill the <a href="https://theconversation.com/colombias-deal-with-the-farc-could-bring-peace-or-create-a-power-vacuum-48130">power vacuums</a> left by the FARC, and they were taking advantage of the uncertainty to impose their own rules. They may be less able to intimidate vulnerable communities with violent threats and instead face more <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pech.12184/abstract">non-violent resistance</a> from a civil society reassured by the prize’s moral significance. </p>
<p>But above all, the prize puts Colombia and its leaders under more external moral pressure than ever before. The world will be watching Santos and his successors closely, making it even more important that a peace deal is not only achieved on paper but actually implemented. This includes not only demobilising the FARC, but bringing <a href="http://www.stabilityjournal.org/articles/10.5334/sta.er/">basic services, education and economic opportunities</a> to <a href="http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/materials/publications/15409/securing-peace-in-the-borderlands-colombia.pdf">Colombia’s marginalised regions</a>. Otherwise, new grievances will draw the country back into war. </p>
<p>Through this Nobel Peace Prize award, not only Santos, but all Colombians have won a place in history. After all, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15423166.2015.1082437?journalCode=rjpd20">peacebuilders across the country</a> have been fighting for the end of war for decades – long before Santos took up his presidency. And hopefully, the weight of history will be a constant reminder to strive for truly sustainable peace. </p>
<p>Future generations should not remember the award as a cynical comment on a failed peace. As the Nobel Committee pointed out and as Santos accepted, the prize should indeed be a tribute to the struggle to end the modern world’s longest civil war – and an encouragement to those who hope for a lasting consensus among Colombia’s divided people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66689/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annette Idler receives funding from the University of Oxford’s ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA)
Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) 2016 top-up scheme.</span></em></p>The voters may have said no to the deal struck with the FARC, but Juan Manuel Santos and his fellow negotiators intend to keep going.Annette Idler, Director of Studies, Changing Character of War Programme, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.