Changing Nature of Violence

With more than 1.5 billion people living in countries affected by conflict, the World Development Report 2011 (WDR) looks into the changing nature of violence in the 21st century. Inter-state and civil wars characterized violent conflict in the last century; more pronounced today is violence linked to local disputes, political repression, and organized crime.

Desperate to Sustain Life

The World Development Report 2011 underlines the negative impact of persistent conflict on a countrys or a regions development prospects, and notes that no low-income, conflict-affected state has yet achieved a single Millennium Development Goal

The Risk
The risk of major violence is greatest when high levels of stress combine with weak and national institutions Societies are vulnerable when their institutions are unable to protect citizens from abuse, or to provide equitable access to justice and to economic opportunity

The Drivers
These vulnerabilities are exacerbated in countries with high youth unemployment, growing income inequality, and perceptible injustice. Externally driven events such as infiltration by foreign combatants, the presence of trafficking networks, or economic shocks add to the stresses that can provoke violence

The Promising Practices

The WDR 2011 draws on the experiences of countries that have successfully managed to transition away from repetitive violence, pointing to a specific need to prioritize actions that build confidence between states and citizens, and develop institutions that can provide security, justice, and jobs. Government capacity is central, but technical competence alone is insufficient: institutions and programs must be accountable to their citizens if they are to acquire legitimacy.

Organized Criminal Violence Threatens Peace Processes

Homicides have increased in every country in Central America since 1999, including those that had made great progress in addressing political conflictand this is not unique; countries such as South Africa face similar second generation challenges.

How Violence Disrupts Development

New poverty data reveal that poverty is declining for much of the world, but countries affected by violence are lagging behind. For every three years a country is affected by major violence (battle deaths or excess deaths from homicides equivalent to a major war), poverty reduction lags behind by 2.7 percentage points.

Security, Economic, and Political stresses

Vicious cycles of conflict: When security, justice, and employment stresses meet weak institutions

A ROADMAP FOR BREAKING CYCLES OF VIOLENCE AT THE COUNTRY LEVEL

Restoring confidence and transforming the institutions that provide citizen security, justice, and jobs

Citizens Views on the Drivers of Conflict?

In surveys conducted in six countries and territories affected by violence, involving a mix of nationally representative samples and sub-regions, citizens raised the following issues as the primary drivers of conflict :
individual economic welfare (poverty, unemployment) and injustice (including inequality and corruption)

Citizens views on the Drivers of Conflict?

What drives people to join rebel movement and gangs?

The same surveys found that the main reasons cited for why young people become rebels or gang members are very similarunemployment predominates for both. This is not necessarily the case for militant ideological recruitment

What drives people to join rebel movement and gangs?

Potential risk factors for crime victimization encompass conditions at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels.
Another channel through which crime exacts costs is through its effects on businesses, which can be particularly damaging because they can involve both short-run costs and long-run consequences for development, by diverting resources to crime prevention measures and otherwise discouraging investment. In Jamaica, 39 percent of business managers in a World Bank survey responded that they were less likely to expand their business because of crime, and 37 percent reported that crime discourages investments that would improve productivity. Because of the key role that tourism plays in many Caribbean countries, the effects of crime on tourism are of particular concern. Alleyne and Boxil (2003) examined the relationship over time between tourist arrivals and crime in Jamaica and concluded that crime has discouraged tourists.

Cost of Armed Violence

The economic impacts of armed violence are vast and farreaching. The cost of lost productivity from criminal violence alone is roughly USD 95 billion and could reach as high as USD 163 billion per year. Violence due to armed conflict can decrease the annual growth of a typical economy by approximately two per cent.

Human and Economic Cost of Armed Violence

The negative effects of armed violence extend well beyond human and economic costs: Armed violence trigger forced displacement, erode social capital, and destroy infrastructure. It impede investment in reconstruction and reconciliation. Armed violence undermine public institutions, facilitate corruption, and be conducive to a climate of impunity. It contributes to and is sustained by transnational crime, including the trafficking of persons, drugs, and arms. When associated with interpersonal and gender-based violence, it unravels the fabric of families and communities and leaves lasting psychological and physical scars on survivors.

The UN Secretary-General
The UN Secretary-General and the UN General Assembly have acknowledged the destructive impacts of armed violence on development. The problem of armed violence is today recognized as one of the biggest obstacles to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. UN General Assembly resolution entitled Promoting Development through the Reduction and Prevention of Armed Violence (A/RES/63/23).

The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development

The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development is a high-level diplomatic initiative that recognizes that armed violence is cause and consequence of underdevelopment. It aims at effectively addressing the interrelations between armed violence and development and generating innovative solutions to prevent and reduce insecurity worldwide. T o date, the Geneva Declaration is the strongest political statement that addresses the impact of armed violence within a development context.

The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development

The initiative is a joint action Swiss Government and UNDP The Bangladesh program is supported by Swiss Embassy in Dhaka

The Geneva Declaration and ChangeMaker

ChangeMaker works closely as core member with the Secretariat of the Declaration.

We learned from our experience

Poverty and Conflict are not Unrelated; they often Reinforce each other.

Poverty is a Potent Catalyst for Conflict and Violence within and among Communities and States

We also learned that

1. There is a close link between development and security. 2. Policies on trade and commerce, natural resources, employment, health services, justice system, poverty reduction have a fundamental impact on conflicts and violence. 3. Conflicts plunge individuals into poverty and deal a severe blow to a country's long-term development efforts. Even where there is no active conflict, military spending absorbs resources that could be used to attack poverty. 4. Consolidating community capacity and assuring community ownership of conflict prevention and resolution is important

Experience . Continued
1. On-going dialogue with civil society, and in particular the involvement of women and youth is essential 2. Specific structures should be protected in the Strategy particularly with regard to early warning and early action. 3. Control of arms trading and mercenary pursuit should be addressed. 4. Impunity should be addressed and countrys legal and judiciary system strengthened

The Experience of ChangeMaker demonstrates that

Policy Advocacy alone is not Sufficient to Help the Distressed Community to Effectively Work their Way out of the Poverty Spiral and Act as a Productive Development Agent and Improved Livelihood

Field Realities
The Community Requires:
Access to Justice and Law: Easy access to law and justice and quick and fair settlement Opportunities to employment and income: job, business, trade, etc. Skills and Knowledge: for decent and safe income opportunities. Information on service providers: Where and who to go to when in problem Leadership: Capacity to initiate and manage programs on their own. A common platform: to share issues, concerns and differences.

Physical

Lack of Peace and Security and Prevalence of Violence

Economic
Lack of Appropriate Social Safety Net

Social

Conclusions
Security is fundamental to peoples livelihoods, reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. It relates to person and state safety, access to social services and political processes. It is a core government responsibility, necessary for economic and social development and vital for the protection of human rights. Converting general commitments into specific tools to guide actions Security matters to the poor and other vulnerable groups, especially women and children, because poor policing, weak justice and penal systems and corrupt administration mean that they suffer disproportionately from crime, insecurity and fear. They are consequently less likely to be able to access government services, invest in improving their own futures and escape from poverty.

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