How successful has the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) been in its first year of activity? What challenges confront the PBC? This report from ActionAid, CAFOD and Care International UK assesses the first year of the PBC’s work in Sierra Leone and Burundi. It finds that the PBC’s impact has been largely positive and well received, but that important challenges remain.
In Sierra Leone and Burundi the PBC has made significant progress in overcoming stakeholders’ initial reservations and the problems of establishing its work. The PBC has also experienced a number of challenges in delivering on its mandate and objectives. The PBC should emphasise the Strategic Peacebuilding Framework (SPBF) as a political instrument to facilitate commitment, consensus and action on confronting governance-related challenges. To complement the political process, the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) should tackle gaps and challenges in peacebuilding efforts, rather than just provide funds for existing strategies.
Conclusions on the PBC’s work in Sierra Leone and Burundi include that:
- The PBC has made an important contribution to Sierra Leone in terms of international attention and financial support. Additional resources may be mobilised due to PBC engagement, which is encouraging given the country’s chronic poverty.
- The PBC and PBF have missed opportunities to maximise their effectiveness in Sierra Leone. For example, the immediate focus on PBF money detracted from the more important role of the SPBF.
- Much of the PBC process in Burundi has focused on PBF funding, with dialogue and strategic and political issues coming second. While this is understandable, it is important that the PBC is involved in political processes taking place in the country.
- The PBC/PBF process has generally been useful in Burundi, with the international community successfully implementing a shared vision of progress. It was limited, however, in that it excluded Burundian civil society and the political opposition.
- The PBC focus on Burundi has the potential to provide an international spotlight on the positive peacebuilding processes taking place. This could lead to more donor funding, due to greater confidence, and the potential of foreign direct investment.
The lessons learned from the PBC’s experience in Sierra Leone and Burundi should inform future PBC policies and operations there, and in future focus countries. The PBC should:
- sequence the SPBF and the PBF appropriately. In late post-conflict/early development phases, greater emphasis should be placed on political strategy, with PBF funding as an incentive to encourage political consensus;
- give greater attention to accountability, monitoring and follow-up. Mechanisms and processes should be developed to assess genuine contributions to peace, rather than project outputs, across programme and political levels;
- focus on the critical gaps and political challenges in peacebuilding processes. The PBC’s greatest potential to provide added value to peacebuilding efforts lies in promoting political consensus and commitment to addressing difficult issues;
- identify criteria for ‘PBF only’ scenarios. Criteria should be developed to ensure that the use of PBF funding in early post-conflict stabilisation adds real value and does no harm; and
- rethink the PBF timeframe. The one- to two-year period for PBF implementation should be reviewed, since sustainable peace cannot be achieved, nor impact evaluated, within this timeframe.
