SUSTAINABILITY AND PEACE-BUILDING: A KEY

The overarching challenge facing the growing number of peace-building interventions undertaken by the international community is that of sustainability. This paper illustrates this proposition through a brief investigation of the situation in East Timor as the UN mission withdraws at the five-year state-building mark, and in Haiti as a ninth UN mission is established. The paper then seeks to formulate elements of a strategy that would better attain sustainability. Adopting the view that participatory democratic governance will best ensure long-term peace, it maintains that sustainable peace-building requires a triumvirate of transformation: Transformation of the society from one that resorts to violence to one that resorts to political means to resolve conflict, requiring elite negotiation, widespread societal dialogue and reconciliation; Reform of the governance framework to ensure that as far as possible a negotiated governance arrangement between parties prevents future conflict, and the adoption of basic democratic governance; And the associated creation of meaningful institutions that will be sustainable after the mission leaves. These institutions cannot be mere shells imposed from outside, but must be bodies that are able and committed to performing their core function. 1 I would like to thank Vanessa Hawkins for her editorial assistance on this paper