Conference Blog 2010
Coordinated by Lisa Marika Jokivirta <lisa.m.jokivirta[at]jyu.fi> and Henri Onodera <henri.onodera[at]helsinki.fi>
Conference Overview
The Finnish Society for Development Research (FSDR), Crisis Management Center (CMC Finland), Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID) and Department of Political and Economic Studies/ Development Studies (University of Helsinki) joined forces to convene an international conference dedicated to the theme of “Conflicts, Crises and Development: Multifaceted Perspectives to Security” from 11-12 February 2010 at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The conference brought together over 170 researchers, students, ministry officials and development practitioners from 15 countries. The general aim of the conference was to critically explore the multiple dimensions of security as it is understood, and at times promoted, by various actors in the global South.
Key messages emerging from conference deliberations include the following:
- The concepts of crisis, conflict and development need to be revisited. Security in particular has become a catchword in a wide range of contexts, with a diversification in the number and type of crises and human responses involved. As a multidimensional and multifaceted concept, security intertwines with development in various and often intangible ways, necessitating closer academic scrutiny and research.
- The link between environmental risks and security cannot be ignored. It seems that in the future climate change will increase the frequency and diversification of environmentally-induced conflicts types, calling for more action-oriented research to find ways to solve natural resource-related crises and prevent conflicts in the future.
- Gender mainstreaming should be discussed as a prerequisite for peacebuilding and sustainable development. The gendered aspects of security and the potentially differentiated roles and impacts of women in all phases of the conflict should be taken into consideration regardless of the types of conflict involved.
- Conflict prevention should be prioritized. The potential role of peace education, individual empowerment and, for example, alternative channels such as the Internet and the arts, should not be overlooked. Overall, there was a call to look beyond the state as the central locus of action and change, and to examine how individuals and networks of new actors contribute to peacebuilding efforts.
- Finland’s role in international crisis management should be discussed further between academics, practitioners and policymakers. One of the key questions that emerged was how academia in general, and Finnish universities in particular, might best contribute to crisis management and peacebuilding efforts.
It is the sincere hope of the conference organizers that this blog may highlight the key issues and findings emerging from our conference discussions and debates, and that it may also serve as the basis for further dialogue between academics, policymakers and practitioners about the key challenges and opportunities in the fields of development, crisis management and peacebuilding.
Reflections: What Does Peace and Conflict Resolution Mean to You?
Natalie Rojas (University of Jyväskylä): “Having grown up in Colombia, from an early age I began to ask myself: how can an individual contribute to peacebuilding through his/ her everyday life?”
For Natali Rojas, a student in the Master’s Programme in Development and International Cooperation at the University of Jyväskylä, the concepts of conflict and crisis are far from abstract. Having spent the first eighteen years of her life in Colombia, Rojas spoke about the challenges of growing up in a society where murders, kidnappings and violence permeate the realities of everyday life. “From an early age, I began to ask myself: how can an individual contribute to peacebuilding through his/ her everyday life? This is how I came to develop an interest in peacebuilding through the arts,” explained Rojas.
Rojas been actively involved in community arts in her native Colombia, Spain, the United States, and most recently Finland. In Spain, she discovered the power of folk tales in promoting tolerance and positive relationships among and between immigrant and local children. Rojas gained experience with various arts-based methodologies such as theatre of the oppressed and psychodrama, which instilled in her a strong belief in the power of the arts to transform relationships and conflict between individuals from diverse backgrounds.
It is the culmination of her personal experiences as well as a strong belief in the peacebuilding potential of the arts that prompted Rojas to enroll in the Master’s Programme in Development and International Cooperation at the University of Jyväskylä. As part of her Master’s thesis and fieldwork, Rojas will return to her native Colombia to examine the role of community arts in general, and videography in particular, in building more peaceful relationships between troubled youth in a poorer barrio of Bogotá. Upon graduation, Rojas hopes to continue to be active in using and raising awareness about the power of the arts in preventing and transforming conflict in conflict-ridden countries like Colombia.
Rojas expressed very positive remarks about her participation in the ‘Crises, Conflicts and Development’ conference, but felt that the debate about conflict prevention rather than resolution constituted a major gap in the discussions. According to Rojas, “a common understanding of peace is a “lack of conflict”. However, I prefer thinking about peace in positive terms, such as a feeling of belonging to a supportive community. Peace represents values such as respect, tolerance, trust, cooperation and love.”
Having grown up in Colombia, Rojas claims to have always been conscious about the need for the positive transformation of conflict through the promotion of peace. Because the arts involve emotions, expression, reconciliation and interaction, she views this as an excellent mechanism to promote social cohesion and peace in conflict-ridden societies. “Although the arts are still marginalized from the development paradigm, conflict resolution and peacebuilding agendas, I am hopeful that they will be actively used in the future in the process of preventing and transforming conflicts,” concluded Rojas.
- Interviewed by Lisa Marika Jokivirta
David Korpela (UniPID): “In crisis situations like Haiti, interventions need to be well-informed and well-planned in order to simply deal with the now.”
Having recently returned from a humanitarian aid mission in Haiti, David Korpela, Senior Planning Officer of the Finnish University Partnership for International Development Network (UniPID) raised the issue of crisis management in relation to natural disasters. It was shocking to witness the extensive damage and widespread adverse effects of the earthquake, said Korpela. The recent earthquake destroyed the entire infrastructure in parts of the country, and now the process of nation re-building has begun with meetings between officials and aid organisations operating out of tents or gathering under a tree, Korpela added.
Korpela’s first experience with humanitarian aid was with a Finnish development cooperation organization, Fida International, when he served as an intern working at refugee camps in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. In Finland, Korpela has been coordinating the Finnish University Partnership for International Development (UniPID) network that increases collaboration between Finnish universities in development cooperation. Now, his plan is to return to Haiti to coordinate humanitarian aid efforts through Finn Church Aid (Kirkon Ulkomaanapu). He emphasized the urgent need to get children back to school to bring some normalcy back into their everyday lives and give them a safe environment to play and interact with each other.
“A big challenge for the development of the education sector is that before the crisis, only 15% of the schools were government-run public schools. Now we are faced with the question: should the emphasis be placed on the development of public schools, and what might be the current capabilities and capacity of the Ministry of Education to start to re-develop the education sector?” asked Korpela.
The aftermath of the crisis is likely to be extended with the upcoming rainy season and hurricanes later this year. People living in tents or temporary shelters are very vulnerable. Korpela admits that in crisis situations, one has to accept the idea that all interventions are not perfect long-term solutions but are necessary to deal with present circumstances. Rebuilding all the houses before the end of the year would be the ideal solution but is not feasible given the circumstances.
Korpela very much enjoyed the ‘Crises, Conflicts and Development’ conference, but noted that theoretical discussions of crises are naturally different from the lived experience of the field. He would like to see more value and appreciation given to non-academic practitioners whose knowledge and experience are also an essential part of better understanding the multifaceted perspectives to security surrounding crises, conflicts and development. “Stronger links between humanitarian practitioners and academia are important in better tackling the challenges of this field,” concluded Korpela.
- Interviewed by Leena Akatama
Prof. Elnour Abdalla Elsiddig: “Power inequalities must be addressed before community-based empowerment – and thus lasting peace – can be achieved.”
Professor Elnour Abdalla Elsiddig
Prof. Elnour Abdalla Elsiddig is Professor of Forest Management at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, and was invited to present a keynote lecture on the post-conflict management of natural resources in Darfur. Having worked both as an academic and as a practitioner in the field, Elsiddig spoke about the growing threat posed by environmental risks on human security, and discussed how community-based natural resource management could open up new possibilities for conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Darfur.
Community-based natural resource management is about community empowerment and capacity-building, explained Elsiddig, but this also often requires certain policies and support mechanisms to be in place on the ground. For example, there is a high level of awareness among the local people of Darfur about the benefits of tree planting. However, community members cannot practice tree planting on forest reserves or communal lands, as these are controlled by forest authorities who only grant access on a permit basis. Thus, Sudan’s forest policy might contain statements encouraging local participation in forest management, but local realities often restrict access or ownership to the land. Community empowerment in activities such as treeplanting, noted Elsiddig, can thus be hindered by as simple a question as: who actually owns the land?
Elsiddig particularly spoke about the lack of land rights amongst women in Darfur. Although more than 75% of women are engaged in agricultural activities, and are the main managers of natural resources in Darfur including the primary collectors of wood and non-wood forest products, they constitute the majority of those without access to land. According to Elsiddig, women need to be allowed to develop and empower themselves so that they can maximize their contributions to small-scale income-generating activities, for example as skilled workers of the cottage industry. Issues such as land rights must be addressed so that the potential contributions and roles of women can become fully explored, claimed Elsiddig.
Overall, Elsiddig argued that Sudan will be able to resolve its conflicts unless the issues of deforestation and diminishing natural resources are urgently solved. Neglecting these issues will only exacerbate social and political divides. “It is important to recognize that natural resources are involved in all phases of the conflict cycle”, noted Elsiddig, “all the way from outbreak to spoiling the longer-term prospects for peace.” “Solving the environmental issues of Darfur will require planned use of the land, reversing the declining trend in forest cover, and involving people in community-based natural resource management. That is our hope for recovery,” concluded Elsiddig.
For further reading, please refer to Elnour Abdalla Elsiddig’s book “Jebel Marra: The Potentials for Resources and Rural Development in Darfur” (available for 20€ from the Viikki Tropical Resources Institute, VITRI, via email from Professor Olavi Luukkanen at olavi.luukkanen[at]helsinki.fi)
- Interviewed by Lisa Marika Jokivirta and Emilie Coston