English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

Reconstruction and developmentit indirectly serves as a source of conflict and if development createsfurther inequality then social conflict becomes eminent. Development istherefore both the means of peace and source of conflict. Incidence andfrequencies of violent conflicts in the least developed countries are someof the instances. African conflict cases have demonstrated that povertyand extreme inequalities are closely linked to the real or perceivedoppression of certain groups (Upreti 2009). Therefore, addressing unequaland discriminatory root causes both horizontally and vertically is vital toensure both development goals and conflict sensitivity. However, nonviolentconflict is an inherent and often essential part of developmentprocess, as it strengthens capacity of a society to manage differences anddisputes by providing creativity for social change. Hence, developmentinterventions should not suppress non-violent conflict but should allowdeveloping and fostering its expression in a constructive, non-violent andcreative manner.2. Framework of post-conflict developmentDevelopment related experiences and lessons from war-torn countriessuch as Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Somaliareveal that post-conflict development is sensitive, complicated andespecial. It has to mitigate impacts/effects of violent conflict but it is agradual process taking time. Large number of aid agencies such as bilateraldonors, multi-lateral agencies like banks, INGOs, UN agencies and charityorganisations support post-conflict development in war-torn countries.Their interests, priorities, aims, working procedures and approachesare often contradictory and different. Therefore, proper coordination,monitoring and coherence in the development priority of the concernednation are extremely important. Post-conflict development needs tomove beyond conventional areas of development programmes and has todeal with new issues such as environmental security, combating rural andurban crimes, dealing with small arms control, community security etc.The existing development policy and regulatory frameworks, institutionalarrangements and mind-set of key decision makers are not conducivewith the delivery of development that meets public expectations. Hence,new vision, strategies and operational modalities are needed to meet thechallenges. Therefore, fundamental restructuring of the developmentsector is essential to meet the people’s expectation at the time of postconflictsituation.130