On 11 July 2011, when South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his 8.3 million
compatriots celebrated the new country's first independence, he was careful
to remind everyone of the harsh realities on the horizon.
"All the indices of human welfare put us at the bottom of all humanity," he
said, adding: "All citizens of this nation must therefore fully dedicate
their energies and resources to the construction of a vibrant economy." Not
surprisingly, President Kiir's note of caution was easily drowned in a sea
of high expectations and hopes for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous
nation.
No quick fixes
Two years later, South Sudanese people realize that there are no shortcuts
to building a nation. Peace is still elusive as fighting continues on many
fronts, corruption is creeping into public offices and unemployment is still
high. Even with abundant oil and a fertile land, the pace of development is
slow, albeit steady. Barely a month after independence, the Lou Nuer and
Murle people in the Jonglei and Warrap states in the eastern part of South
Sudan fought over cattle, leaving about 600 people dead. Already an
estimated 2.5 million people have lost their lives over the two decades of
war between Sudan and South Sudan, according to Human Rights Watch, a New
York-based advocacy group. Yet both countries still squabble over oil
proceeds. South Sudan shut down oil production in January 2012, accusing
Sudan of confiscating oil flowing through its pipelines and of overcharging
on handling fees. Since oil accounts for 80% of South Sudan's gross domestic
product (GDP), that move virtually cut off its economy's arteries. The
frosty relationship between the two countries, caused largely by disputes
over oil, threatens "the very foundation on which South Sudan's future will
be built," says The Telegraph, a British newspaper. Following the oil
shutdown, South Sudan's economy contracted by 11% by the end of 2012,
according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
No doubt the South Sudanese government must rebuild its financial, social
and security institutions from the ground up, while also keeping an eye on
reconciling the feuding ethnic groups and tackling corruption. In May 2012,
angered by the alleged looting of a staggering $4 billion from state
coffers, President Kiir warned government officials, "We fought for freedom,
justice and equality, yet once we got to power, we forgot what we fought for
and began to enrich ourselves at the expense of the people." Nonetheless,
the socioeconomic and security conditions in South Sudan are now better than
they were at independence. There is the $718 million multi-donor trust fund
in addition to a $130 million loan from the World Bank's International
Development Association that have helped build 87 hospitals and clinics and
336 primary classrooms, among other things. "Over 108 women's groups have
been provided with funds for economic activities like tailoring, food
processing and running retail stores," says Mary Jervas Yak, South Sudan's
deputy minister for finance.
Peacekeeping to peacebuilding
Peacebuilding is the last but most critical stage in a conflict resolution
process, according to a 1992 United Nations Secretary-General's report
titled Agenda for Peace, Preventive Diplomacy and Peacemaking. That process
begins when preventive diplomacy fails and peacemaking is needed to get
warring factions to agree to a negotiated settlement. This leads to
peacekeeping, which includes disarming combatants and monitoring how the
peace agreement is implemented. The last stage involves peacebuilding
activities, which build and support institutions intended to solidify peace,
states the UN report. Given the high expectations and many challenges in
post-conflict countries, the transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding
can be difficult, notes Michael von der Schulenburg. He is one of the UN
mission chiefs whose successful management of peacebuilding operations in
Sierra Leone following the end of a brutal conflict in 2002 is hailed as a
shining example. In that country, the UN peacebuilding assistance programme
supported the integration into society of some 45,000 former combatants,
collected remnants of small arms through a community-based programme and
strengthened the capacity of the government and civil society. The programme
also provided assistance with holding elections in 2007 and 2012. In a
nutshell, adds Mr. von der Schulenburg, "Peacebuilding is access to water,
to education, to basic health care--access to opportunities" (see Africa
Renewal, August 2011). Although Sierra Leone still grapples with youth
unemployment, corruption and other governance issues, economic growth is
currently a massive 17%, according to the IMF, and agricultural production
is on an upswing, notes the World Bank.
The Sierra Leonean model
To a large extent, neighbouring Liberia has followed the Sierra Leonean
peacebuilding model. But Sierra Leone had to deal with only 45,000
ex-combatants, while Liberia has more than 100,000. Providing sustainable
jobs to the ex-combatants has been more difficult in Liberia than it was in
Sierra Leone, as Liberian former fighters appear to be more restive. In
2010, for example, the UN mission in Liberia announced that about 2,000
mostly jobless Liberian fighters had moved over to western Côte d'Ivoire to
fight alongside anti-government forces in that country.
The UN is convinced that reconciliation is an important part of
post-conflict peacebuilding. Sierra Leone's reconciliation efforts were
based on "peace with justice," which, as part of the healing process,
encouraged the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
Here people could voluntarily reveal wrongdoings they had committed during
the war and seek forgiveness. The TRC was bolstered by a UN-supported
Special Court to try those who had committed serious crimes. Key figures
such as Foday Sankoh, the leader of the rebel Revolutionary United Front,
and Hinga Norman, who led a pro-government militia, were indicted but the
two died in custody during trials.
Liberia took a different approach and its reconciliation efforts have
stumbled a few times. Despite agitation by some citizens, the country saw no
need for a special court. In 2005, however, it set up a TRC, which in 2009
submitted a report in which it blacklisted current president Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf and 49 others, saying they were to be "specifically barred
from holding public offices; elected or appointed for a period of 30 years."
The Supreme Court declared that recommendation unconstitutional. Liberia's
reconciliation challenge
After acrimonious elections in October 2011, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
appointed fellow Nobel laureate Leyman Gbowee to lead reconciliation
efforts. Ms. Gbowee resigned after less than a year in office, claiming the
president wasn't serious enough about reconciliation. George Opong Weah, a
former soccer star who has lost two presidential elections to
Johnson-Sirleaf, succeeded Ms. Gbowee. Since his appointment, Mr. Weah has
been relatively quiet, many say.
Even with these challenges, at a 7.5% growth rate, the Liberian economy is
scoring impressive gains. The UN has a huge peace operation in the country,
training up to 4,000 police personnel, supporting the judicial system and
extending government's presence to far-flung towns and villages. And
recently, for the first time in decades, a contingent of Liberian soldiers
joined the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, a fellow West African country
now mired in conflict.
Peacebuilding is necessary to "reduce a country's risk of lapsing or
relapsing into conflict," says Charles Dambach, the former chief executive
officer of Alliance for Peacebuilding, a Washington DC-based organization
that promotes peacebuilding. He agrees that "the ultimate objective of
peacebuilding is to reduce and eliminate the frequency and severity of
violent conflicts."
Jobs problems in Côte d'Ivoire
Similar peacebuilding projects are also under way in many other African
countries, such as Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) and Guinea-Bissau, all aimed at dealing with the root causes of
conflict. Adama Bamba, coordinator of Côte d'Ivoire's Emergency Youth
Employment and Skills Development Project, says that jobless youths were the
most active group in his country during the war. Up to 60% of those between
the ages of 14 and 35 have no jobs, according to Côte d'Ivoire's National
Institute of Statistics. Despite this, the country is still the world's
largest cocoa producer.
With help from the World Bank, Côte d'Ivoire is now moving aggressively to
create jobs. For example, it has enlisted the private sector to train more
than 3,000 youths, many of whom are employed by these companies. In 2008, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that Côte d'Ivoire was eligible to
receive money from the global body's Peacebuilding Fund, which was set up in
2006 to support countries emerging from conflict. The fund doled out $18
million to assist Côte d'Ivoire in land reforms, security and activities
designed to extend state authority to areas where it had ceased to exist.
The litmus test
The Great Lakes region--made up of Burundi, the DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania
and Uganda--presents a litmus test on peacebuilding. Last May, both Mr. Ban
and Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank president, visited the region. Earlier, Mr.
Ban had been in Mozambique, where he had touted the country's development
efforts. "Mozambique, Rwanda and Uganda have all shown that it is possible
to recover from conflict and progress towards the MDGs [Millennium
Development Goals]," he said while in Mozambique. "It is now time for the
DRC to follow their example."
The DRC's development indicators are not stellar, which is why both Mr. Ban
and Mr. Kim want changes immediately. Up to 70% of its people live on less
than $1.25 per day. Among other woes facing the country, are a crumbling
infrastructure and 2.4 million severely malnourished children. Burundi's
struggles
Since 2003, when the UN stepped up its peacekeeping mission in Burundi, the
guns have mostly fallen silent. However, 10 years later, Burundi is still
one of the world's poorest countries, ranking 178 out of 186 in the 2013 UN
Development Programme's human development index, which rates countries based
on life expectancy, education and incomes. Burundi's peacebuilding efforts
haven't quite been on the same level as those of Liberia and Sierra Leone.
But this landlocked country has stabilised politically, while increased
investments in agriculture--particularly coffee, its mainstay--are expected
to improve living conditions.
Already, massive road projects have created thousands of jobs and life
expectancy has risen from 43 years in 2000 to 50 years in 2011, says the
World Bank. While Burundi will likely not meet the MDG targets, it has moved
in the right direction by reforming state institutions and providing social
services for its people, notes the bank.
Overall, post-conflict African countries are trying hard to deliver peace
dividends--jobs, peace, freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Mr. Ban's
assessment is upbeat: "Throughout Africa, we see growth. Economies are
growing. Freedom and good governance are growing. Confidence is growing."
With peacebuilding, Africa may have found the right formula for rooting out
conflicts. The challenge is to make it last.