Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 4, No. 4 | Peace in Our Time?, page 5

Success Has 1000 Fathers…
But failure is an orphan, the expression goes. In this case, dozens of Carnegie grantees and other organizations have, over time, contributed to the nascent Peacebuilding Commission, and many could rightfully claim credit at the first signs of good results. While hopes remain high, Del Rosso and other observers offer serious caveats about the relatively untested process. As he explains, “After the High Level Panel and the launching phase, the third phase, which we are now in, involves building the Commission’s competence and capacity. In these early days many questions remain: How will the Commission get things done with so many representatives at the table—each with his own agenda? When local voices are included, who are they? Elites? Warlords? Legitimate representatives of civil society? How do you keep collaboration from turning into the lowest common denominator?

“The Commission is facing a host of challenges internally,” he continues, “some budgetary but most political. And during this phase, Corporation grantees continue to provide essential support.” On several occasions, for instance, members of the Peacebuilding Commission and other representatives of the UN and of post-conflict countries have come together for strategy-building seminars with scholars and other experts in the field, organized by long-time grantees the International Peace Academy and the Center on International Cooperation. Attendees reflected on past experiences, highlighted challenges and shared lessons learned in the field about how to best integrate the development, political and security elements of peacebuilding into a common strategy while plotting next steps.

As a result of these convenings, consensus was reached on a number of key objectives, which may someday serve as a measure of how successful the Commission has been, for example:

Tangible delivery is what counts. It’s vital to make a difference in the lives of the populations in question rather than acting as a “Peace Debating Commission.”

Benchmarks for success need to be clarified in order to track progress, and strategies should be judged by results on the ground.

The Commission must “learn by doing,” taking on a small number of cases at first to maximize chances of success and establish credibility. (This is the rationale behind the limiting of initial projects to Sierra Leone and Burundi.)

Implementation is a two-way street: the Commission should rally participants around an agreed-upon strategy in cooperation with local authorities.

Clear individualized priorities must be set, not laundry-list approaches and one-size-fits-all solutions.

Regular reviews must be conducted to be sure that all participants live up to their obligations.

Given such hurdles, what, realistically, are the chances for eventual success? The Peacebuilding Commission, created in response to a problem, has yet to offer a cohesive long-term solution. Yet it’s important to remember that in the context of the United Nations, reforms typically take years rather than months to progress from the proposal and debate stage to implementation and evaluation. According to that timeframe, it’s too early to say the latest attempt at peacebuilding won’t work…but it’s also too soon to call it a success. Still, Stephen Stedman, an insider who has been outspoken about his doubts regarding the process, says, “it seems to be getting better…this is no time to give up!”

“Peacebuilding is not just about ‘bricks and mortar’—it is a transformative process involving changing attitudes about how to manage conflict,” Secretary-General, Ban-Ki Moon has said. “While we haven’t yet determined how to measure the Commission’s accomplishments, I am confident that the people of Burundi and Sierra Leone will soon affirm its positive impact on their lives.” The creation of the Peace-building Commission has taken place amid high expectations and international good will but, ultimately, must be judged on the quality of the results it delivers over the long haul. Whether it will turn out to be an orphan, or the child of many fathers, remains to be seen.

Karen Theroux is an editor/writer in the Corporation’s Public Affairs department with many years’ experience in educational publishing.