To help experts and practitioners working to tackle the problem of armed violence, three Programming Notes build on the 2009 publication entitled Armed Violence Reduction: Enabling Development. These three notes cover: Armed violence in urban areas ...

These three Programming Notes build on the 2009 publication entitled Armed Violence Reduction: Enabling Development and cover urban armed violence, youth and armed violence, and the links between violence reduction and security system reform.

This book examines the dynamics of security provision in international interventions in post-conflict states. It focuses on how international security interventions – such as Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes, Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Armed Violence Reduction (AVR) – play out in the post-civil war context in which they are implemented. The underlying assumptions of such interventions are that the state is the best placed to organise violence, that the ideal state has to function as an organisation with the legitimate monopoly on the use of violence, and that the primary task of the state is the provision of security. Post-civil war contexts, however, are characterised by hybridity, in which various authority structures are overlapping, cooperating and competing. The interactions between different security actors (both state and non-state) create struggles in society about whose security interests are promoted, which actions to provide security are considered legitimate, and about who is considered a legitimate security actor. This book investigates the interactions between international actors organising and supporting security interventions and the local security dynamics created by the interactions between both state and non-state actors involved in security. It draws on extensive field research in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and South Sudan. This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding, peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, security studies and IR.

These three Programming Notes build on the 2009 publication entitled Armed Violence Reduction: Enabling Development. These three notes cover: armed violence in urban areas, youth and armed violence, and linkages between armed violence reduction and security system reform.

This book makes seven recommendations to improve the quality of support that states and international organizations provide to peace processes.

Violent conflicts today are complex and increasingly protracted, involving more nonstate groups and regional and international actors. It is estimated that by 2030—the horizon set by the international community for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals—more than half of the world’s poor will be living in countries affected by high levels of violence. Information and communication technology, population movements, and climate change are also creating shared risks that must be managed at both national and international levels. Pathways for Peace is a joint United Nations†“World Bank Group study that originates from the conviction that the international community’s attention must urgently be refocused on prevention. A scaled-up system for preventive action would save between US$5 billion and US$70 billion per year, which could be reinvested in reducing poverty and improving the well-being of populations. The study aims to improve the way in which domestic development processes interact with security, diplomacy, mediation, and other efforts to prevent conflicts from becoming violent. It stresses the importance of grievances related to exclusion—from access to power, natural resources, security and justice, for example—that are at the root of many violent conflicts today. Based on a review of cases in which prevention has been successful, the study makes recommendations for countries facing emerging risks of violent conflict as well as for the international community. Development policies and programs must be a core part of preventive efforts; when risks are high or building up, inclusive solutions through dialogue, adapted macroeconomic policies, institutional reform, and redistributive policies are required. Inclusion is key, and preventive action needs to adopt a more people-centered approach that includes mainstreaming citizen engagement. Enhancing the participation of women and youth in decision making is fundamental to sustaining peace, as well as long-term policies to address the aspirations of women and young people.

How can conflict-prone countries ensure better delivery of security and justice services? How can they establish structures and mechanisms which will ensure effective and accountable security and justice institutions? Although there has been ...