Contribution by Alessandro Rossi EPLO vicepresident, Nonviolent Peaceforce

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Contribution by Alessandro Rossi EPLO
vice-president, Nonviolent Peaceforce

• Symposium Peace, Conflict Development
• Brussels, 21 June 2005

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Link between peace and development / 1

• Development and security, a chicken and egg
  question?
• Overlapping, competition or collaboration?
• Are we ready for practising the link beyond
  rhetoric?

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Link between peace and development / 2

• Do we agree with nowadays DAC definition of "ODA
  acceptable security-related activities"?
• 1. Management of security expenditure through
  improved civilian oversight and democratic
  control of budgeting, management, accountability
  and auditing of security expenditure.
• 2. Enhancing civil societys role in the security
  system to help ensure that it is managed in
  accordance with democratic norms and principles
  of accountability, transparency and good
  governance.
• 3. Supporting legislation for preventing the
  recruitment of child soldiers.
• 4. Security system reform to improve democratic
  governance and civilian control.
• 5. Civilian activities for peace-building,
  conflict prevention and conflict resolution.
• 6. Controlling, preventing and reducing the
  proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

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Mainstreaming conflict prevention

• Everywhere (Development, Humanitarian, Trade,
  Environmental, etc.)? Only do-no-harm or
  proactive?
• Are we ready to do it in reality or we are asking
  it ideologically (missing enough conflict
  impact objective tools or other resources)?
  Better done in-house (peace officers in
  development agencies) or in partnership (call
  specialised NGOs in to look at those aspects)?

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Conflict prevention (transformation) and
peacebuilding / 1

• Is there a role for civilians in
  peacekeeping/crisis management/conflict
  transformation NOT just as aid workers? EPLO says
  yes, and Concord and Voice?
• If yes, do we agree thats better done by
  specialised NGOs? And/or deserving a specific EU
  budget line?

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Steps forward?

• Would Concord and Voice and Eplo better influence
  public policies if more frequently (or even
  systematically) associated ?
• Which are, off the record, the REAL problems we
  face in making this collaboration work?
• Anything to do with the "monopolistic profile"
  Eplo, Concord and Voice need when in policy
  dialogue with some EC bodies? Can we brainstorm
  on this to find a fair solution for everybody and
  still have a more powerful influence on EU
  policies from an NGO perspective?