Peacekeeping: the day after

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What happens when the peacekeepers go home? That’s the question Brenthurst Foundation deputy director Rear Admiral (Retd) Steve Stead hopes to answer in his presentation to defenceWeb‘s Peacekeeping Africa 2009 conference on Thursday afternoon.

The conference, to be held at Gallagher Estate, starts Wednesday.      

Stead says the international response to armed conflict and state failure is ad hoc. “Instead of simply calling for better execution, I would argue for a set of principles, guidelines and choices that future peace-builders should use to help offset the inherent limitations of any multi-lateral operation,” he says of his presentation.

“These principles would be developed and contributed to with time and ensuing operations, to eventually provide a framework within which to plan and execute future missions – overcoming a continuation of the present apparent ‘loss of corporate knowledge` every time a new operation is mounted.           

The message his audience should take with them is that international or external intervention represents a failure to prevent conflict. Solving conflict requires a long term view “and violence along with modest and slow results should be expected and accepted.” 

“Given the spectrum of interests represented by the external actors, an added complex dimension will be experienced, further complicating the search for long a term peace,” he says.

Professor Heidi Hudson of the University of the Free State will separately aver that case studies of the political inclusion of women after the genocide in Rwanda versus the exclusion of women from the peace agreement in the Côte d`Ivoire suggest a general pattern that “women`s involvement in peace processes is beneficial to sustainable peace.”

She will argue a culturally sensitive gender mainstreaming strategy makes peacebuilding more inclusive, authentic and credible. “In contrast, neglect of gender issues runs the risk of perpetuating violent discourses which sustained the conflict in the first place.

“I therefore warn against ‘adding women` without recognising their agency in conflict and violence; advocate for a gender-responsive and integrated post-conflict reconstruction; emphasise the need for an organised and autonomous women`s movement; and suggest directions for the implementation of international laws in a contextualised, culturally sensitive manner at the local level.”