Infrastructures for Peace as a Path to Resilient Societies: An Institutional Perspective

Abstract

To prevent conflict and move away from fragility towards resilient societies, states increasingly adopt systematic efforts and institutionalised mechanisms to build the necessary capacities to manage conflict and promote peace. One such approach, ‘infrastructures for peace’, offers an inclusive and respectful response. This reflective essay describes the central features of infrastructures for peace and examines how they strengthen resilience within societies. It provides examples of such structures that are being supported by the United Nations Development Programme and its national partners, and examines how they have contributed to national governance and transformed conflict situations.

Keywords:

• fragility
• resilience
• conflict transformation
• conflict prevention
• conflict management
• infrastructures for peace

Notes

¹ In Kenya during the 2010 referendum, the cost of preventing violence was $500,000 compared to the $2 million that had been spent by the humanitarian agencies in preparing for emergency responses to potential violence. In Kyrgyzstan, the UN Flash Appeal estimated the recovery costs from inter-ethnic violence in mid-2010 at $71 million. In contrast, regional and UN efforts to restore political and inter-ethnic confidence cost about $6 million. The subsequent constitutional referendum and parliamentary elections in 2010, both expected to be plagued by significant turbulence, transpired peacefully (UN OCHA 2010).

² The definition was agreed during a UNDP-facilitated meeting in Naivasha, Kenya, in February 2010, of representatives of governments, political parties, civil society and UN country teams from 14 African countries.