| Civil Society's Role in Conflict Prevention |
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Andrés Serbin |
The possibility of war breaking out in Latin America has lessened as economies integrate and governments collaborate across issues of common concern. But violent conflict within countries continues to hinder the region’s development. Paz, Conflicto y Sociedad Civil en América Latina y el Caribe, co-published by IDRC, is a collection of studies into armed or violent conflict in Central America, the Andes, the Southern Cone, and the Caribbean, and civil society’s efforts to prevent them. The studies drew on IDRC-supported research that is the starting point of a long-term effort to involve civil society organizations in conflict prevention and in building a culture of dialogue, negotiation, and peace in the region. According to Andrés Serbin, the book’s editor, “We are used to intervening when a crisis has erupted. We do not prepare before with some kind of preventive strategy to stop conflicts from deteriorating. The challenge is to transition from reaction to prevention.” Louise Guénette: What are the book’s key messages? Andrés Serbin: In Latin America, it’s key to recognize that conflict is important: we need to change our society and conflict plays a role in this transformation. But even if we have conflicts, we can do a lot to prevent them from becoming violent or armed conflicts. To this end, we have to first of all address the structural causes of why conflicts emerge in the region; second, develop adequate policies regarding them; and third, create the institutional framework for joint action between civil society, governments, and intergovernmental organizations to prevent the emergence of violence. LG: Why is it important to know about the role civil society organizations can play in conflict prevention? AS: We have a very interesting phenomenon in Latin America. On the one hand, governments don’t care about what civil society thinks. On the other hand, a recent CIVICUS study (an international alliance for citizen participation based in South Africa) shows that society in general considers non-governmental and civil society organizations as institutions that can be trusted. So if we can strengthen these organizations, we can take action in areas such as peace, regional integration, prevention of natural disasters, the environment, and more. LG: How did CRIES first become interested in the participation of civil society organizations in conflict prevention? AS: CRIES’ mandate is to promote civil society participation in the Latin American and Caribbean region in general. One of the most important areas of participation is peacebuilding. We started by mapping conflicts in the region and afterwards we began to work with civil society to build up a Latin American and Caribbean platform for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. We have two priorities at the moment: one, to train organizations to deal with conflict; and two, to create an early warning system based on local and national observatories made up of civil society organizations. LG: When you speak to policymakers about civil society’s role in conflict prevention, what is their reaction? AS: Influencing policymakers is a very complex process. We are in contact with the Organization of American States (OAS) and other regional organizations. But if you want to have some impact in the OAS, you also have to work with national delegations and governments. Some of those governments are very reluctant to accept that civil society has something to say about conflict prevention. However, some decision-makers are participating in the policy network we have created. This is a very gradual process, but I think that in a couple of years we will be able to collaborate with some regional organizations on a conflict prevention strategy in the region. For example, the early warning system we are trying to set up needs an intergovernmental partner. We are following the experience of Western Africa, where the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) are working together. This is a very good example in terms of how civil society can collaborate with an intergovernmental organization, not only to alert but also to take action when conflict arises. LG: Have you succeeded in putting this issue on the agenda in Latin America? AS: Yes. Five years ago no one was talking about conflict prevention in Latin America, even if the United Nations had been developing a whole body of knowledge about it. The first time that the OAS acknowledged the term conflict prevention as such and related it to civil society was at the Hemispheric Conference on Security in Mexico City in 2003, and that was the result of the pressure we exerted through civil society organizations. Louise Guénette is a senior communications advisor with IDRC.
By Louise Guénette
2008-03
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