2006, Reiner Forster, Mark Mattner / The World Bank
This report develops a new analytical framework to better understand the functions of civil society in peacebuilding. Civil society contributions to development and peacebuilding can be categorized in a variety of ways, but donors largely employ actor-oriented perspectives. This report proposes to move toward a functional perspective, centered on the roles that different actors can play in conflict situations. Such a functional perspective would enable donors to better analyze existing and potential forms of civil society engagement in peacebuilding. In particular, it would help clarify policy and programming objectives, select civil society partners, and help to set outcome indicators to improve monitoring and evaluation.
The analysis shows that civil society has a unique potential and can make many positive contributions to peacebuilding and conflict mitigation. It can do so independently, as an actor in its own right, or in relation to peacebuilding processes and programs led by governments or the international community. Despite many successful initiatives, and as civil society actors readily acknowledge, civil society is not a panacea. The mere existence of civil society cannot be equated with the existence of peacebuilding actors. Similarly, strengthening civil society does not automatically contribute to peacebuilding. Although civil society organizations (CSOs) are frequently actors for peace, they can also be actors of violence. So far, outcomes and impacts of different civil society peace interventions have not been sufficiently evaluated. Civil society and donors need to more strategically identify the objectives and demonstrate the relevance of the approaches to different phases of conflict/peacebuilding. Without greater clarity on objectives and intended impacts, and without addressing institutional constraints and distortions, activities run the risk of being well-intentioned but unlikely to achieve sustainable results.
