CONFLICT SENSITIVITY APPROACH

Definition of conflict Wasmuth (1996, ): A social fact in which two parties (individuals, groups, states) are involved and who:  strive for incompatible goals to begin with;  strive for the same goal which can only be reached by one party; and or  Want to employ incompatible means to achieve a certain goal.

Working definition  A relationship between two or more parties (individuals or groups), who have or think they have, incompatible goals.  The result of conflict may not be always negative.

Conflict sensitivity  Conflict Sensitivity is defined as the capacity to:  Understand the context in which a project operates;  Understand the interactions between project operations and the context; and  Act upon the understanding of this interaction in order to avoid negative impacts and maximize positive impacts on the context and intervention.

Conflict Sensitivity Development and Conflict Sensitivity Development Dark side/ Negative risk Conflict “Development is not only affected by conflict – it often has an effect on conflict too.”

Humanitarian Assistance Development Poverty and inequality reduction Investment in shared security Investment in shared prosperity Peace and security Human development Achieving MDGs/P2015DA Enlarging people's choices Enhancing human capabilities and freedoms thereby enabling them to  Long and healthy life  Access to knowledge  Decent standard of living  Participation in the life of community Promote peace Sustain development Attain prosperity Multidimensional Intended towards something positive

Dead Aid: Dambisa Moyo  “… in a seemingly never-ending corruption, disease, poverty, and aid-dependency”.  Western belief - the rich should help the poor  “… the reality is that aid has helped make the poor poorer, and the growth slower”.  “.. It’s a kind of curse because it encourages corruption and conflict…”.

Post 2015 Development Agenda Vision: The future we want… for all * Equity * Sustainability * Human rights Environmental Sustainability Peace and Security Inclusive Social Development Inclusive Economic Develop ment Protecting biodiversity Stable climate Universal access to clean water and sanitation Adequate nutrition for all Quality education for all Reduced mortality and morbidity Gender equality Adequate social protection Freedom from violence, conflict and abuse Resillence to natural hazards Conflict- free access to natural resources Source: Ebong, 2013 Eradicating income poverty and hunger Reducing inequalities Ensuring decent work and productive employment

Why CS in Nepal?  Three Year Plan (2013/ /16)  Peace, reconstruction, rehabilitation, aid effectiveness  Peace and Development Strategy ( )  High level forum on Aid Effectiveness, Accra, 2008  South and south triangular cooperation  Focus on Development Effectiveness, Busan, 2011  Inclusive global partnership

Conflict Sensitivity Analysis Tools  Do No Harm (DNH)  Peace and Conflict Impact Assessment  Peace-building Tool  Strategic Conflict Assessment  Conflict Analysis Framework

Do No Harm  A simple and widely accepted instrument of CS.  It was developed from the experience of development and humanitarian workers.  Developed by Mary B. Anderson and Collaborative for Development Action (CDA).

Do No Harm  It is possible – and useful – to apply DNH in conflict-prone, active conflict and post-conflict situations.  It can be used to plan/design, monitor and evaluate public service, humanitarian and development assistance programs.  It helps us see how decisions we make affect intergroup relations.

Seven steps of DNH Framework 1. Understanding the context 2. Analyzing dividers or sources of tension 3. Analyzing connectors or local capacities for peace 4. Analyzing the assistance program/project/intervention 5. Analyzing the assistance program’s impact on dividers & connectors (using RT and IEM) 6. Considering (and generating) programming options 7. Test programming options and redesign project

Step I: Understanding the context  Societies have groups with different interests and identities that contend with other groups.  Profile analysis, causes analysis, actors analysis and dynamics analysis  There are many tools to analyze the context. The three most useful are timeline, actor mapping and conflict tree

Step II: Analyzing dividers or sources of tension Factors that people are fighting about or cause tension among individuals or groups.

Step III: Analyzing connectors or local capacities for peace Factors that bring people together and/or tend to reduce tension among individuals/ groups.

Step IV: Analyzing the assistance programme  Why?  Where?  What?  When?  With whom?  By whom?  How?

Step V: Analyzing the Assistance Program’s Impact on D & C (using RT and IEM)  Assistance is a vehicle for providing resources to people who need them.

Resource transfers  The transfers of resources (i.e. money, goods, and services) from one entity to another.  Resources in a conflict environment represent wealth and power and thus may become part of the conflict.

Implicit Ethical Messages (IEM)  Assistance may carry IEMs determined by the way resources have been generated and distributed.  IEMs are often unrecognized by the providers but could easily be misinterpreted by the recipients.  These are the effects of institutional and individual behaviours, actions and attitudes on the context.

Step VI: Considering (and generating) programming options  We must think about how to provide the same program in a way that eliminates or minimizes its negative (conflict-worsening) impacts.  If we realize that we have overlooked the local peace capacities or connectors then we should redesign our program in order to strengthen the connectors.

Step VII: Test programming options and redesign project  Once we have selected better programming options based on the previously discussed issues, it is crucial to re-check the impacts of our new approach on the dividers and connectors.

Necessary Action Development assistance Development Conflict sensitive programme design Too many slices Too many donors High transaction costs Ownership Alignment Harmonization Result based monitoring Mutual accountability Produce more value per NPR Transparent Understanding Context Interaction between intervention and context Action to avoid negative impacts and maximize positive one Conflict sensitive development

Conclusion Let’s act conflict sensitively.