New Report
“Conflicts and humanitarian
emergencies can be handled more effectively, if five parties
intensify their co-operation – governments, humanitarian
organizations, civil society organizations, area experts and
conflict-resolution experts. The types of conflicts we face
now and in the foreseeable future require of us that we
think, act and organise ourselves in new ways,” say Morten
Kjarum, director of the Danish Centre for Human Rights in
Copenhagen and TFF director Jan Oberg in
this report.
Early analysis, early listening and
early action reduce human suffering and save resources.
Comprehensive information about a conflict area, the
conflict itself and the actors are essential for the
succesful handling of complex conflicts and humanitarian
emergencies.
Humanitarian workers represent a great
reservoir of knowledge and experience that must be utilised
better. Furthermore, basic knowledge of
conflict-understanding, conflict-resolution and negotiation
as well as human rights ought to be central components in
education and training of new staff.
While diplomats and intelligence
services may collect some types of information, civil
society organizations, or NGOs, in a broad sense can “fly
under the radar” and get access to local communities and
citizens on all sides – a resource that is absolutely
essential in order to build peace from the ground up, not
only from the top down. An adequate “diagnosis” built on
many different types of information, will improve the
quality of the policies and programs of international
organizations.
What government representatives do in
conflict areas are frequently reported in the media. Not so
with the thousands of non-governmental humanitarian and
peace workers – locals and internationals – and what they do
to alleviate suffering and promote reconciliation,
reconstruction and new development after the violence. The
authors describe how, in many instances, civil society
organisations have promoted conflict-mitigation and
reconciliation in these difficult situations.
Their point is that the
above-mentioned five parties should come together and form a
“conflict consortium” in each country or region, such as the
Nordic, to increase their overall preparedness of
governments and civil organizations and assist media – so
important for the public will to help – in conveying more
holistic and positive images from troubled lands.
Morten Kjarum & Jan Øberg
“The Conflict Consortium. On Conflict Management and Humanitarian Organizations,” TFF 1997, 45 pp, 10 US$ plus postage
or in Danish:
“Konfliktkonsortiet. Om
konflikthåndtering og humanitære
organisationer,” TFF 1996, 39 pp, 60 Swedish kronor, or
equivalent.
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