What factors facilitate or hinder peace initiatives? How best can post-war reconciliation and reconstruction be achieved? This issue of ‘Accord: An International Review of Peace Initiatives’ brings together various articles recounting the history of Mozambique’s anti-colonial and civil wars and the subsequent 1992 peace settlement.
Mozambique’s war was driven by both internal and external interests due to its links to the Cold War and conflicts with and among neighbouring states. Despite often unco-ordinated and incompatible agendas, the diverse initiatives by a wide range of state and non-state actors ensured the impetus of the peace process, resulting in the Rome talks and the 1992 General Peace Agreement (GPA). Future stability and reconciliation will depend on how successfully Mozambique’s reconstruction process addresses both the poverty and political divisions that drove the war and the new tensions and trauma resulting from it.
International backing of the GPA has been critical for overcoming the agreement’s flaws, including various practical elements and both sides’ incapacity to establish and run the complex structures needed for its implementation.
- Negotiations between the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) and the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo) became inevitable as outside military support was withdrawn and both the Cold War and apartheid came to an end
- The churches and key personalities, including businessman ‘Tiny’ Rowland and Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe, played a key role in facilitating direct negotiations between Frelimo and Renamo and hastening the peace process
- Aid packages and financial incentives, largely provided by the Italian government and the UK-based company Lonrho, were required to encourage the parties into a final settlement
- The urge for peace and reconciliation cannot be fulfilled until the individual traumas and communal rifts stemming from the war are addressed
- Political and economic reforms imposed by international institutions have not all been suitably tailored to Mozambique’s special circumstances, often creating further vulnerability among ordinary citizens
- Regional voting patterns have shown that the traditional divide between Renamo and Frelimo will continue to play an important role in post-war politics.
Whilst Mozambique can provide some useful lessons, its unique history means it does not offer a blueprint for peace-building in other war-torn countries. Mozambique is greatly dependent on foreign aid and expertise and must develop the means to guarantee political stability and social reconstruction should this aid dry up.
- Key forces favouring peace exist at many levels in society and can and should be harnessed to drive a peace settlement
- The choice of third-party mediators is critical in building a climate of trust and confidence between warring parties
- Peace consolidation depends on extending its benefits to all parts of society, especially the rural populations and certain social groupings including youth, ex-combatants and women
- The rehabilitation of Mozambique’s society will largely depend on cultural and institutional resourcefulness at the local level and an understanding of the limits of local processes following the disruptions of the past three decades
- Recognition and accommodation of local understandings of health, trauma and healing are crucial for future reconciliation and reconstruction since Mozambican traditions view these in a more ‘spiritual’ and communal way than in the West
- Consideration must be given to whether the Mozambican economy can absorb such high levels of aid and whether the intervention styles of international donors are undermining the legitimacy and authority of the government.
