Rethinking Sustainable Peacebuilding

…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 1863

Of the People, By the People

In the world of international peace and security, decision-making is in the hands of powerful governmental and inter-governmental bodies. We can all picture the table at which peace deals are hammered out and signed off on: a room full of men in suits, the occasional token woman providing a spot of colour; the dubious ceremonial handshake. The people who are most deeply involved, most traumatically affected, by conflicts are seldom anywhere near the positions of power that determine their fate and that of their country. At the end of a bloody civil war that has torn a country apart and left deep wounds in the shredded fabric of society, the Head of State quoted above in his Gettysburg Address pointed to a most obvious fact that is all but ignored today by peacemakers. It is all about the people, sovereign peoples, and no agreement reached without their inclusive involvement and consent has any chance of lasting success.

In recent decades the international donor community has grappled with the seemingly insoluble problems of failed, failing and fragile states, of post-conflict development aid being used as pre-conflict investments in the next bloody round of escalation, and of compromised rule of law in unrepresentative ruling structures. The New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, agreed by major international partners in 2011, and since evaluated with mixed results, clearly states that: “externally-imposed solutions do not work”. Some 1.5 billion people are living in fragile situations lacking inclusive and accountable institutions. These are the voiceless victims of conflict, whose rights and opinions must be respected for lasting peace and justice, yet whose engagement is often not even considered as an afterthought in elite-managed ‘country-owned’ processes. Solutions imposed from outside sow the seeds of the next inevitable round of conflict.

A truly multi-stakeholder dialogue is impossible when managed by the national elites. Experience shows that time and again the best ideas of those so-called experts in the international community, and those so-called leaders with their national and personal interests, fail to take into account the views of those people at the very heart of the conflict. Mediators Beyond Borders International has initiated a debate on how change things around: to put these people in charge of the peace process, to prevent that decisions are made ‘for’ them and not ‘by’ them. This timely event will take place on October 5-6, 2017, in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, site of the International Court of Justice, and is designed to bring voice to the voiceless and provide a listening ear from among key practitioners, both official and unofficial, governmental and non-governmental. The results will launch new perspectives and peace prospects.

MBBI Peace Enclave (www.mbbinternational.org)