Post-War Reconstruction in Failed States - Abdul Rahman Kamara

Bosnia, Angola, Cambodia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and other conflicts have posed challenges to peacemaking and policymaking agents alike, seeking to end such violent conflicts: How can the opposing warring factions be brought to a settlement? How has a peace agreement to be formulated to enhance a successful implementation thereof? How can the prospects of a stable peace be enhanced? One of the most challenging problems is the reassurance of the warring factions that the opposing party or parties will not renege the agreement. The security situation is most precarious immediately after the signing of a peace agreement, and there is a high risk of renewed hostilities. The successful implementation of a peace agreement lays the groundwork for a long-term peace-consolidating process to set in. A comprehensive peace agreement is a first step towards peace consolidation but it does not guarantee lasting stability as long as no mid- and long-term peace-consolidating measures have been put in place, which take into account and/or remove the underlying causes of the armed conflict. The purpose of this study is to understand the causes of the Sierra Leonean conflict and to analyse the reconstruction programmes that followed it. Post-war reconstruction programmes must not be limited to the re-joining of families or reintegration of communities. It must also go a long way in providing an improved situation for all those affected by the war. Notably, where post-war reconstruction programmes fail to focus on the original causes of the conflict, it may result in reinforcement of the original social structures and prejudices and in continued marginalisation of certain groups. Using post-conflict Sierra Leone as a case study, the study attempts to examine the notion that "post-war reconstruction programmes tend to reinforce earlier social structures and prejudices rather than create opportunities for the previously marginalised." The work focuses on the role of the Department for International Development (DfID)-funded Community Reintegration Programme (CRP). Considering the Sierra Leone post-war scenarios, the causes and political resolution of the conflict and the situation in 2001 when the conflict officially came to an end, the study reviews the philosophy, planning, policies, practices and activities of donor agencies in general and CRP in particular before assessing impact on the process of rebuilding communities in Sierra Leone.