HUMA ITARIA AID A D PEACE BUILDI G: CA THEY BE COMBI ED? A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE O HUMA ITARIA ORGA IZATIO S I THE FIELD

Transcription

1 MA THESIS HUMA ITARIA AID A D PEACE BUILDI G: CA THEY BE COMBI ED? A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE O HUMA ITARIA ORGA IZATIO S I THE FIELD A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at the European University Center for Peace Studies (EPU), Stadtschlaining, Austria By Julia Unger European University Center for Peace Studies Supervised by Prof. Jorgen Johansen and Farai Maguwu, MA Summer Semester 2008 European University Center for Peace Studies (EPU) Stadtschlaining, Austria Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc \h The Field of Humanitarian Action PAGEREF _Toc \h Definitions PAGEREF _Toc \h Humanitarian Aid PAGEREF _Toc \h Peace-building PAGEREF _Toc \h Theoretical approach to Organizations delivering Humanitarian Aid PAGEREF _Toc \h 9 2.3Examples of Humanitarian Actors PAGEREF _Toc \h Médecins sans Frontières PAGEREF _Toc \h 13

2 2.3.2 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) PAGEREF _Toc \h International Committee of the Red Cross PAGEREF _Toc \h Catholic Relief Services (CRS) PAGEREF _Toc \h Perceptions of aid in science PAGEREF _Toc \h Aid in contemporary literature PAGEREF _Toc \h The Concept of Liberal Peace in Relation to Humanitarian Aid PAGEREF _Toc \h Médecins sans Frontierès an analysis PAGEREF _Toc \h Nobel Peace Prize Award PAGEREF _Toc \h Evaluation of Interviews PAGEREF _Toc \h Questions and Methodology PAGEREF _Toc \h Analysis of Answers by Topic PAGEREF _Toc \h Summarizing Interview Outcomes PAGEREF _Toc \h MSF and trauma healing PAGEREF _Toc \h Main Findings PAGEREF _Toc \h Peace Building Approaches PAGEREF _Toc \h Practical Approaches to Peace Building PAGEREF _Toc \h Theories combining Humanitarian Aid and Peace Building PAGEREF _Toc \h Do No Harm PAGEREF _Toc \h PCIA Aid for Peace approach PAGEREF _Toc \h Peace building filter PAGEREF _Toc \h Conflict Sensitivity PAGEREF _Toc \h Comparison PAGEREF _Toc \h Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc \h Recommendations for MSF and likeminded organizations PAGEREF _Toc \h Recommendations for maximalist organizations PAGEREF _Toc \h General Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc \h Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc \h Bibliography PAGEREF _Toc \h Annexes PAGEREF _Toc \h 90 Annex 1 PAGEREF _Toc \h 90 Annex 2: PAGEREF _Toc \h 92 Annex 3 PAGEREF _Toc \h 96

3 1.0 Introduction Two-thirds of the countries of the world are either suffering from political tensions and violent conflict or find themselves in the aftermath of destructive conflict or war CITATION Paf05 \p 1 \t \l 1031 (Paffenholz, 2005, S. 1). This statement is a good reason to be concerned with building peace. The practical relevance of this topic in humanitarian action became apparent to me while working in assignments with a humanitarian organization, Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), in conflict zones. The proximity to all sorts of actors in conflict suggested a potential for peace work alongside the humanitarian work. The result of this first assumption is this thesis that aims to shed some light on the particularities of both humanitarian action and peace building and possible ways of combining them. The assumptions underlying this research are: Currently, the situation in the world is such that we need humanitarian intervention; Humanitarian actors need to portray themselves in a way that guarantees access to populations in distress; Therefore humanitarian intervention values such as independence, impartiality and neutrality, need to be upheld; The present design of relief operations has an impact on peace and conflict situations; There are entry points for improving this impact in terms of peace building in current program design. It is necessary to bear in mind these assumptions in order to understand the origin of this research. The aim is to connect praxis and theory on the implementation of peace work into humanitarian operations. One crucial point of observation in this will be the analysis of existing projects and their effective contributions to peace as they are, using the example of MSF. The subject of the work in its entirety will be to analyze the impacts on a situation that actually contribute to peace and how this contribution can be enhanced by humanitarian actors, be they governmental, intergovernmental or non-governmental. In the past 15 years, the action and presence of NGOs on the ground and in the media have increased considerably, utilizing funds that are increasing proportionately. Most organizations were founded in an effort to alleviate suffering and save lives in the face of inhuman conditions. Slowly, some incorporated ideas of sustainability and also of peace. Those however seem to be mostly development-oriented organizations and not purely emergencyoriented ones. The issue that seems to be most pressing for aid agencies that are trying to adopt a political stand on crimes they witness is their neutrality which they might be compromising. Access to the victims remains a crucial argument to avoid any advocacy or peace-related actions. In the face of immense human suffering, this is of course a valid argument. The organization Médecins sans Frontières has been chosen as an example due to its strong humanitarian reputation and my personal experience. Firsthand information has been included in the form of three interviews with high-ranking officials of MSF, one of the biggest humanitarian agencies. Additionally speeches, online articles and material from public reports have been used to complete the analyses. The organization defines itself in a nutshell by the following principle: MSF is an independent humanitarian medical aid agency committed to two objectives:

4 providing medical aid wherever needed, regardless of race, religion, politics or sex and raising awareness of the plight of the people we help. CITATIO Med082 \l 1031 (Medecins Sans Frontieres 4, 2008) This definition clearly states the connection of the medical and awareness raising component of MSF s work. One of the leading questions is: Do current MSF humanitarian operations inherently contribute to peace? If so, in what way? Investigating possible space for peace building efforts, the second main question is: Can present humanitarian operations be improved in order to contribute more to peace building efforts? The broader aim is to find out whether and how the adoption of a peace perspective can make sense for humanitarian organizations and how it can be incorporated in a way that it does not negatively affect their ongoing work, compromise their integrity or access to victims. The question as to why there is resistance to incorporating peace building will be investigated also to determine where this reluctance is appropriate and where it makes sense to adopt a conflict sensitive program outline. Strategies that aim to enhance their effectiveness and to increase the positive impact of humanitarian interventions shall be explored. It is the aim of this thesis to explore such strategies and investigate how they can be implemented avoiding negative impacts on organizations and their work. In the end it remains the responsibility and willingness of the organizations themselves whether they find the implementation of such strategies necessary and feasible. Apart from introducing approaches that exist in literature, recommendations are given that are based on the previous research and analysis tailored to fit the context of humanitarian aid. Chapter 2 gives an introduction into the topic from different theoretical angles. After introducing working definitions for the two main areas of research, a theoretical framework is presented that will facilitate the discussion throughout this thesis. Four international organizations working in the humanitarian field are briefly introduced and categorized in the framework in order to set the stage and give a field-related overview of actors. The last sub-chapter introduces a view on humanitarian actors from an academic perspective. A general literature review is given as well as an insight into the liberal peace discourse regarding humanitarian aid and peace building. In Chapter 3, MSF is analyzed by the means previously introduced. Qualitative research methods have been chosen to give and insight in the inside views of the organization and are thus most appropriate to deliver an accurate picture of its functioning and reasoning. After establishing the field of research, Chapter 4 introduces theoretical approaches to combining humanitarian aid and peace building and also elaborates upon lessons drawn from practical experiences. These are assessed as to their relevance for the special case of MSF or similar organizations. Recommendations for different types of organizations and particularly for MSF are provided in Chapter 5 bearing in mind the specific characteristics of the organization. Chapter 6 concludes this work by linking all the different methods and actors introduced in it and how they contributed to the final recommendations and conclusions. The annex displays the entire interviews that were taken and also an abbreviated version in a table as well as the open questionnaire used. This research was done and intended with a practical focus, so hopefully some of it may be used or implemented in order to further peaceful coexistence between all peoples, especially those at the grassroots who suffer most from the effects of violent conflict on a daily basis. 2.0 The Field of Humanitarian Action 2.1 Definitions In order to clarify the areas of concern in this research, this chapter delves into some definitions of two of the most relevant terms in this work, humanitarian aid and peace building. Both are

5 kept simple and are aimed at covering only the range of this research Humanitarian Aid Humanitarian Emergency according to Toole: Emergencies are sudden events that may be due to epidemics, natural or technical hazards, civil strife, and other man-made causes demanding immediate measures to minimize their adverse consequences. Emergencies become disasters when their human, material, and environmental impact on the affected population exceeds the local response capacity and requires external assistance CITATION Lee98 \p 153 \l 1031 (Lee, 1998, S. 153). The idea behind humanitarianism is generally that in extreme cases, outside agents may be needed to offer assistance to people in need, and in doing so, they should be receiving respect and even national rights in order to carry out their functions. Humanitarian actors have traditionally described themselves as non-political CITATION Ton06 \p 240 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 240). For the purpose of this thesis, only civilian humanitarian aid shall be taken into consideration. Whenever humanitarian aid is mentioned here, it means the provisions of assistance for meeting the basic needs of a population. These needs include food, clean water, health care, shelter and safety from harm. Many humanitarian organizations work to ensure the fulfillment of these needs and specialize in particular areas. The area of Médecins sans Frontières is health and provision of health care according to different needs, but due to the close relation to other basic needs, the organization may find itself in a position where it provides other basic services as well Peace-building The term peace building was first used in Boutros-Ghali s Agenda for Peace, 1992, which signified a milestone for peace strategies. Peace here means justice and the absence of violence whereby Justice implies a participatory and inclusive system of governance CITATION Hei97 \l 1031 (Heinrich, 1997). Peace building involves post-conflict reconstruction in sustaining peace. Its main output are successful sustainable peaceful relationships and it is a dynamic process CITATION Hei97 \l 1031 (Heinrich, 1997). According to Heinrich, humanitarian actors and other NGOs have increasingly come to realize that their action has a political dimension. NGO peace building activities mostly aim at empowering civilians, trying to change perceptions and attitudes and are educational. Another widely used definition includes different levels of peace building: A generic term to cover all activities intended to encourage and promote peaceful relations and overcoming violence. (It is) a long-term process that seeks to positively alter structural contradictions, improve relations between the conflict parties and encourage overall constructive changes in attitudes. It may also refer to activities connected with economic development, social justice, reconciliation, empowerment of disadvantaged/strategic groups and humanitarian support. It applies to all stages and levels of conflict, though mainly operates at Tracks II and III levels. Track I: Activities with high level leaders, primarily conflict settlement. Track II: Activities in parallel with formal processes of negotiation that are designed to open up dialogue and understanding between parties in conflict and encourage new thinking about future relationships after the conflict. ( )Track III: Activities directed towards conflict transformation and peace-building normally at the grass roots level CITATION Aus04 \p \l 1031 (Austin, 2004, S ). Dr. Murithi has a slightly different approach. By his definition, positive peace means the promotion of reconciliation and coexistence on the basis of human rights, social, economic and political justice. The main goal is to strengthen the social solidarity fabric, to recognize the necessity for common welfare and well-being of human beings CITATION Mur06 \l 1033 (Murithi, 2006). Murithi s idea of peace building is more closely involved with the personal and societal level.

6 Peace building is the effort to strengthen the prospects for internal peace and decrease the likelihood of violent conflict. The overarching goal of peace building is to enhance the indigenous capacity of a society to manage conflict without violence. Ultimately peace building aims at building human security, a concept that includes democratic governance, human rights, rule of law, sustainable development, equitable access to resources and environmental security CITATION Goo06 \p 12 \t \l 1033 (Goodhand, 2006, p. 12). All these three attempts to define peace building apply to the scope of the subject matter of this research. The classification into different tracks of action is just as relevant as the need for the incorporation of individual needs and elements of human security. 2.2 Theoretical approach to Organizations delivering Humanitarian Aid When looking at contemporary wars and the international response as a whole, NGO-action seems to be a relatively small part of it. Yet, NGOs command considerable resources and their popularity to carry out donor policies in the place of states seems to be increasing. Six to seven international NGOs manage % of global humanitarian assistance CITATION Goo06 \p 89 \t \l 1033 (Goodhand, 2006, p. 89). This said, it becomes a more pressing issue to consider the make-up of their programs and the purpose they serve in the larger context of peace and humanitarian assistance. Part of this work will be looking into that. The concept of Goodhand (2006) as indicated above, categorizes peace building efforts into the three track model in extension of the concept of Lederach CITATION Led \l 1031 (Lederach, 2005) that will be described later in this paper; track one being official negotiations between political and military elites, track two being non-official mediation between civil society actors and behind the scenes, and track three meaning humanitarian and development assistance which may have an effect on the context in which peace negotiations occur. This research mainly concentrates on track three, the grassroots level, in which humanitarian agencies mostly operate. In general, two schools of thought are to be identified when approaching the phenomenon of international humanitarian NGOs working in conflict situations: One believes NGOs should stick to their role as providers of relief and protection and stay out of peace efforts. The second school of thought stresses that NGOs should assume more responsibilities, including peace building and development work. It emphasizes the point that good intentions are no longer sufficient. The so-called humanitarian crisis has invoked these different approaches from NGOs and scholars, the extremes of which can be characterized as the minimalist and the maximalist approach. The minimalists advocate for going back to the basics of reaffirming humanitarian values, the humanitarian imperative of saving lives comes first, importance of neutrality, impartiality and International Humanitarian Law and rejecting peace building as not being part of their mandate. Humanitarian neutrality in essence involves a morally justified suspension of judgment, CITATION Goo06 \p 94 \t \l 1033 (Goodhand, 2006, p. 94). Apart from not wanting to include peace approaches, aid should also not become developmental in the view of the minimalists. Development assistance depends on bilateral relations with a recognized and legitimate state, something that is usually absent in today s wars CITATION Goo06 \p \t \l 1033 (Goodhand, 2006, pp ). Though many organizations have taken steps to minimize the negative impacts of their interventions, moving further and positively contributing to peace building is a significant change for many. Some people regard peace building as undermining the core humanitarian principles and believe this could affect humanitarian access negatively CITATION Lan03 \l 1031 (Lange M. a., 2003). The fact that in conflicts or humanitarian disasters states and governments are often the perpetrators of human rights abuses and parties to the conflict, reinforces the argument of minimalist action. When aiming at anything more political than purely humanitarian purposes, organizations feel

7 that their presence will not be appreciated by the governments, whose approval they need if they want to intervene. This is a major reason for minimalist positions and the avoidance of outspoken peace approaches in connection to the legal basis of registration procedures in host countries under which NGOs operate. The reason for this is the need to ensure access to victims. The opposing maximalist position envisions a broadening of the humanitarian response, in order to include peace building as well as sustainability or development components into emergency relief in order to have a larger impact. NGOs should aim at a good mix of activities cross-cutting all of those areas. This change of paradigm is accompanied by a shift in work ethics, from simply attempting to do good duty-based ethics to considering consequences of interventions and a deeper analysis of doing good or harm, called consequentionalist ethics. Lange and Quinn in their essay for International Alert reaffirm this position: In the aid and conflict debate, so-called minimalists argue for a return to the basics, reaffirming core principles of humanitarianism and rejecting the corrupting principle of peace building as political involvement. Maximalists argue that humanitarian assistance should be used as a tool to promote conflict resolution CITATION Lan03 \p 12 \l 1031 (Lange M. a., 2003, S. 12). The following table, taken from Goodhand CITATION Goo06 \p 93 \n \t \l 1031 (2006, S. 93), clearly defines what is meant by minimalist and maximalist approaches and helps to fit the agencies analyzed into the framework of the ongoing humanitarian discourse: Maximalist Minimalist Strategic issues: NGOs should become more accountable for their direct or indirect impacts on conflict More reflective, conflict sensitive approaches are required, given aid s track record of exacerbating conflicts Developing coherence between relief, development and peace objectives, including building institutional and political links with non-aid actors Strategic issues: Peacebuilding is a fundamentally political task. Humanitarianism should be kept as a separate and distinct area of policy and intervention. The potential impact of aid on the dynamics of conflict and peace (positive and negative) should not be overstated. Politicization corrupts humanitarian principles. Return to the fundamentals of universality and the humanitarian imperative. Operational issues: Move beyond a palliative approach and seek to sustain livelihoods as well as sustain lives Develop synergies between relief, development and peace programming. A more explicit focus on peace so that opportunities can be grasped when they arise. Greater emphasis placed on building local capacities and supporting constituencies for peace Operational issues: Strictly maintain neutrality and impartiality. This will help maintain humanitarian space and staff safety. Keep a clear relief focus Improve the management, delivery and accountability of humanitarian assistance, e.g. SPHERE, Humanitarian Accountability Project, Code of Conduct Strengthen political analysis to ensure assistance does no harm. Goodhand points out that when NGOs manage to live up to the challenge of their comparative advantages, e.g. the ability to work in high-risk environments, working across conflict lines, flexibility, some have registered significant successes in peace building which they achieved only by engaging in political processes. Projects that integrate local needs and peace building are the most likely to have a lasting effect. In Alert s experience also, programs that focus on livelihoods, creating opportunities, are the most sustainable ones. In order to widen the impact of agencies providing humanitarian assistance in conflict, they must undertake conflict analysis, be willing to adapt to changes and strengthen their ability to learn lessons from partners and local

8 wider constituencies CITATION Lan03 \l 1031 (Lange M. a., 2003). NGOs and their activities make up for only a small part in dealing with conflict, but they can complement track I processes and thus ensure a lasting peace that is embedded in the communities and individuals. NGOs have an advantage in addressing local dimensions of peace, due to their proximity to the people they are working with and their neutral impartial role (Goodhand, 2006). In the following sub-chapters, we shall see how this categorization is reflected in the organizations researched. 2.3Examples of Humanitarian Actors To set the stage for the analyses, this chapter will introduce several players in the humanitarian field. They will be looked at in terms of their mandates, operations, funding and their selfproclaimed approach to peace building issues. On the basis of this information, they will be located in the scheme developed in the previous chapter on the basis of classification provided by Goodhand (2006). To ensure a comprehensive picture of organizations working in the humanitarian field, nongovernmental, governmental and intergovernmental organizations have been taken into account. The introduction of several players will allow for a more concrete understanding of the field and will thus facilitate an orientation in the field as well as provide probing ground for later theories. The organizations portrayed are Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Médecins sans Frontières Mandate Médecins Sans Frontières offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation. MSF observes neutrality and impartiality in the name of universal medical ethics and the right to humanitarian assistance and demands full and unhindered freedom in the exercise of its functions. MSF's volunteers promise to honor their professional code of ethics and to maintain complete independence from all political, economic and religious powers. As volunteers, members are aware of the risks and dangers of the missions they undertake and have no right to compensation for themselves or their beneficiaries other than that which MSF is able to afford them CITATION Med08 \l 1031 (Medecins sans frontieres 2, 2008). Operations Situations that often times lead to MSF s involvement are for example wars and conflicts, the emerging of refugees and displaced people, natural or man-made disasters and long-term assistance in some exceptional cases. The assistance they provide is diverse and very much adapted to the situation. MSF can support by setting up their own semi-permanent health structures, for example operating rooms, camps in the case of epidemics or facilities for primary health care. They may offer nutrition services when needed, immunizations, clean water and effective sanitation in refugee camps or they may dispatch disaster relief at very quick speed, for example mobile health equipment or water treatment equipment, each with its specialists. In countries where the health system has completely broken down, MSF may decide to work with local authorities to rebuild hospitals and train health staff. Funding In order to prevent compromise or manipulation of MSF's relief activities, MSF maintains neutrality and independence from governments or intergovernmental organizations. The

9 organization also ensures that the majority of funds, more than 90 %, raised for its work comes directly from private donations from the general public. In this way, MSF guarantees equal access to its humanitarian assistance CITATION Med081 \l 1031 (Medecins sans frontieres, 2008). When involving big donors their contribution may never exceed 30 % of the projects budget and they cannot be involved in the conflict at any level. This way monetary independence is ensured for the projects. Peace Building Approach Since the peace building approach of Médecins sans Frontières is a major subject of this research, it will be elaborated upon in detail in the next chapter. Here only a superficial overview of their official website and the activities mentioned there will be given. The Charter of MSF is firmly based in humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence. It clearly states the purpose of MSF as a humanitarian organization in the field of medical emergency. As opposed to the ICRC, MSF does speak out and use its medical testimony as grounds for advocacy and campaigning on behalf of abused populations. Apart from immediate medical concerns, MSF also takes charge of provision of safe water and nutrition in extreme cases and for populations in need. No mention is made on the MSF website as to what their contribution or position towards the field of peace might be. Having reviewed the activities, it is evident that the organization is not concerned with active peace building or conflict sensitive programming. Yet, many of the many prizes that were awarded to MSF were peace prizes. The organization seems rather minimalist in their approach to peace building but at the same time does important work to uplift the quality of life of affected populations. Adhering to its principle of impartiality, it takes care of people of all sides and thus emphasizes on the common humanity of all parties by its action. This in itself is an indirect contribution to the acceptance of the common humanness and therefore may also be a contribution to peace CITATION MSF08 \l 1031 (Médecins sans frontières 3, 2008). This analysis will be explored further in the next chapter UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Mandate OCHA carries out its coordination function primarily through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), which is chaired by the Emergency Relief Coordinator. Participants include all humanitarian partners, from UN agencies to the Red Cross Movement and NGOs. The IASC ensures inter-agency decision-making in response to complex emergencies. These responses include needs assessments, consolidated appeals, field coordination arrangements and the development of humanitarian policies. The functions of the emergency relief coordination are focused in three main areas: policy development and coordination ensuring all humanitarian issues are addressed, advocacy of humanitarian issues with political organs, notably the Security Council and the coordination of humanitarian emergency response through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. Operations The Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) put in place by the UN has the responsibility of ensuring coherence in the relief efforts in the field. OCHA carries out needs assessments, contingency planning and the formulation of humanitarian programs for the HC. It also provides advocacy and information services. By developing common policies, guidelines and standards, the above mentioned IASC ensures coherent interagency response. OCHA works with stakeholders to develop policies and advocacy strategies to ensure the protection of civilians in armed conflict. OCHA seeks to draw attention to neglected crisis that are not in the media spotlight. Funding

10 Less than 10% OCHA's budget for both 2007 and 2008 came from the regular UN budget but more than 90% were provided by extra-budgetary resources donated by Member States and donor organizations. OCHA does solicit donor support for countries affected by crisis. On average, some 15 appeals are launched per year on behalf of 40 million people. In sudden-onset disasters OCHA issues flash appeals. In addition, OCHA manages the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), established by the United Nations to enable agencies to jump-start relief activities. The CERF is funded by voluntary contributions from around the globe from Member States of the United Nations, private businesses, foundations and individuals CITATION UNO08 \l 1031 (UN OCHA, 2008). Peace Building Approach, United Nations The United Nations itself has established a new body called the Peace Building Commission, PBC, after a General Assembly resolution in December 2005 in order to address the lack of coherence in the international approach to peace. The PBC entered in its first session in June A Peace Building Fund and Peace Building Support Office have also been created CITATION Uni08 \l 1031 (United Nations, 2008). The mandate of this commission is to bring together all relevant actors, resources and expertise to advise on the best possible post-conflict recovery strategy. The Commission s tasks among others are to ensure financing of early recovery activities and to develop best practices of collaboration with all actors involved. Civil society organizations are encouraged to take part in the Commission s meetings but keep an informal status. The Commission has formed a group that is collecting lessons learned and compiling them for later use. The two countries that first benefitted from the Commission s work in finding new tools for addressing integrated post-conflict recovery strategies are Sierra Leone and Burundi. It is an advisory body. The Commission fills an important gap in the UN system in the relief-todevelopment continuum. It brings the government of a specific country together with all the relevant international and national actors to discuss and decide on a long-term peace building strategy with the aim of preventing a relapse into conflict CITATION Uni08 \l 1031 (United Nations, 2008). The member states in the PBC are mostly chosen among those who already carry a lot of weight within the UN system, i.e. the five permanent members of the Security Council, the largest contributors to the UN budget and at the same time, the largest contributors to the UN in terms of military interventions. This composition is again very power-oriented and does not take into consideration the representation of countries that are directly affected by conflict or that have gone through a successful reconciliation process. It shows just another display of international power structures at work. The Commission is likely to deal only with countries emerging from conflict, once a peace accord has been concluded and a minimum degree of security exists. Countries would be expected to express an interest in appearing before the PBC. A referral against the wish of the Government is unlikely to take place CITATION Uni08 \l 1031 (United Nations, 2008). The commission is not focusing on preventative measures for addressing conflict, or on negotiations and mediations for peace. Its expertise is meant to come in when a peace agreement has been reached and when its help is sought by governments, as members of the United Nations, not civil society actors or spokespersons. This example shows that the UN has recognized the need for a special entity for peace building as a necessary addition to their scope of sub-organizations. Only, its operations do not quite fit the context as referred to here, which are peace building measures in humanitarian emergencies. Displaying UN with this initiative however has a relevance to this field since the UN is the most

11 powerful humanitarian actor. Its move to institutionalize peace building shows that peace is becoming an area of work that is recognized and established by powerful governments in the world. It is argued that many of the UN s sub-organizations, e.g. the UNHCR or UN OCHA, that are present in most of the world s humanitarian crises, have got peace building perspectives built into their normal procedures. Yet, the fact that the UN body has found it necessary to create a commission that is meant to deal with peace building only, however limited the scope may be, is an important step in acknowledging peace building efforts as an imperative measure. Peace Building Approach, UN OCHA UN OCHA is primarily a body that coordinates relief efforts in emergencies. Its areas of intervention include: protection of civilians in armed conflict, promotion of the humanitarian agenda, impact of sanctions and internally displaced persons, development of tools for rapid deployment of aid and coordination. In order to provide relevant information to humanitarian actors, OCHA has put in place the Early Warning and Contingency Planning Unit, the ReliefWeb project, the Field Information Support Project and IRIN, the Integrated Regional Information Networks CITATION UNO081 \l 1031 (UN OCHA 2, 2008). It also coordinates the humanitarian appeals for funding for certain regions or conflicts. When analyzing the actions and tools of OCHA, it becomes evident that they are much more involved in humanitarian response than in peace building. On their website, no peace building approach is mentioned, yet numerous topics that are related to peace work such as protection, information and early warning can be identified. The material at hand does not allow drawing any conclusions that peace building is taken into consideration in OCHA s operations. According to the minimalist-maximalist framework UN OCHA would be put between the two extremes. Not maximalist because it is not adopting an outright peace approach and not minimalist because it is not avoiding the topic either. It is an organization between the two extremes but with a special status, since many other UN activities of other sub-organizations can be clearly peace related International Committee of the Red Cross Mandate The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance. The ICRC has a legal mandate from the international community. That mandate has two sources: The Geneva Convention, a binding instrument of international law, which tasks the ICRC with visiting prisoners, organizing relief operations, re-uniting separated families and similar humanitarian activities during armed conflicts; The ICRC's Statutes, internationally recognized addition to the Geneva Convention, which encourage it to undertake similar work in situations of internal violence, where the Geneva Convention does not apply CITATION ICR08 \l 1031 (ICRC 2, 2008). Operations The actions ICRC takes in favor of victims of war is aid for civilians and prisoners, reuniting families, tracing missing persons and spreading knowledge of humanitarian law. The restoring family links initiative aims at rebuilding family ties lost through conflict. The ICRC ensures access to water, food, shelter and medical attention to people affected by conflict, provides training for security and military forces on international humanitarian law and advocates adhering to humanitarian standards in prisons. Funding The ICRC is funded by contributions from states party to the Geneva Conventions (governments); national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies; supranational organizations (such

12 as the European Commission); and public and private sources. All funding is voluntary. The ICRC does not wait to receive funds before it responds to urgent needs in the field but counts on the goodwill of its contributors to provide the funds as quickly as possible. At the end of each year the ICRC launches two budget appeals, for headquarters and field missions to cover the coming year CITATION Int08 \l 1031 (ICRC, 2008). Peace Building Approach The ICRC is best known for its impartial and neutral provision of humanitarian aid and the protection of humanitarian law since it was established. On its website, no direct relation to peace can be found. The activities as displayed on the webpage are: protection, promotion of IHL, mine action, assistance, humanitarian diplomacy, private sector alliances and cooperation with national societies of the Red Cross. All those involve Peace building components but do not explicitly address peace in the structure of their interventions. The nature of the ICRC s mandate is that it is a sole organization mandated by the international community to ensure compliance with the International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This law is applied at times of war and is there to protect civilians and those not - or no longer - taking part in hostilities. One of the ICRC activities - in both conflict and peace situations is promotion of International Humanitarian Law. The promotion of IHL cannot be promotion of peace per se, but is a privileged dialogue with the UN Peacekeeping CITATION Int08 \l 1031 (ICRC, 2008)with respect to the education of UN troops. Its intervention in protecting and assisting victims of violence by not taking sides (impartiality) and helping all affected on both (or all) sides promotes universality. Cooperation between the UN and the ICRC has developed considerably in order to promote respect for international humanitarian law. This is all the more important since, in some cases, UN operations are deployed in countries where conflicts are still raging on. UN troops have also been involved in armed confrontations in the past. In several cases the ICRC has acted as a neutral intermediary for humanitarian purposes. By placing an emphasis on the human condition and sharing it with all actors involved, the ICRC in the author s view helps an understanding of the common humanity and thus contributes to more people-oriented mindsets. Even though all of this is done on the basis of humanitarian law and with no expressed orientation towards peace, recognizing the humanity of the adversarial helps to create an attitude that is conducive to dialogue and eventual transformation of conflict. The ICRC s position in this is not clearly peace-oriented. It is using its mandate as best it can for the purpose of peace-related tasks. However, since the mandate is purely humanitarian, it cannot adopt an outright peace approach. In essence, it is doing what the Nobel Prize Committee attested MSF to be doing i.e. it is working on the prerequisites of peace. As a humanitarian organization with an inclination towards peace, the ICRC could be seen as an organization between the two extremes. Their effort towards peace building measures, though in a different scope than what has been discussed in this paper, must be recognized and in itself contribute to the fact that the ICRC is not a minimalist humanitarian organization. Yet, its mandate keeps it from going further in the direction of active peace building. It therefore cannot also be called maximalist. It would be safe to say that the ICRC is also between the two extremes, a humanitarian organization that does everything in the scope of its activities to foster peace and reduce suffering Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Mandate The action of CRS is based in religious catholic values of the sacredness and dignity of the human person, the rights and responsibilities of the human person to respect and work for the

13 common good. They believe in the social nature of the human being realizing its potential only in community with others and therefore helping the community, working for the common good.crs sees itself in solidarity with humanity and the poor and offers its stewardship to God`s creation. It sees itself as mandated by the actions of Jesus Christ in its capacity as the organization of the US Conference of Bishops. Catholic Relief Services assists persons on the basis of need, not creed, race or nationality responding to human needs in the following ways: disaster relief, alleviation of poverty, development by help to self-help, collaboration with civil society actors for social justice and education of US citizens to fulfill their moral responsibilities to alleviate human suffering and remove its causes. CRS is a religious organization with a multi-mandate approach. Operations Catholic Relief Services is a multi-mandate organization that combines humanitarian and development efforts with policy analysis and advocacy. The organization seeks to address the root causes of poverty, conflict and marginalization. CRS works through local partner organizations to implement agricultural and environmental programs addressing food security. It promotes the access to education for all and focuses on community driven health programs with the focus on child survival, maternal and child health and HIV/Aids. In the scope of development, CRS also provides access to microcredit schemes for small businesses. It provides humanitarian aid and has capacity for emergency preparedness and response, in the case of such events CRS works with local partners to strengthen their capacities of reacting to disasters. By working in conflict areas, the organization has found the need to include perspectives on preventing or transforming conflicts. They intend to analyze and tackle underlying causes of conflict, in order to avoid being a cause for its prolongation and help their partners build sustainable peace CITATION CRS082 \l 1031 (CRS 3, 2008). Funding As for 2006, the funding that CRS received came by about one third in cash grants by the US government, another third in donations of items and equipment or shipping fees, the last third came from private donations. This information is published very vaguely in the activity report for 2006.The outflow is well documented by tables, but the origin of the income is difficult to ascertain CITATION CRS06 \l 1031 (CRS, 2006). Peace Building Approach CRS has adopted peace as a clear component of its actions. It has provided very good reasoning on it s website: Over time we learned that the way we do our emergency and development programming helps prevent or transform conflicts. If we ignore conflicts and their underlying causes then our work prolongs the conflict by providing new resources to the warring parties (like food and supplies), or our programs are destroyed in the chaos and violence. If we help our partners address the injustices in their society that cause conflict and facilitate respectful relationships between conflicting parties then our work together builds sustainable peace CITATION CRS08 \l 1031 (CRS, 2008). CRS has realized the important contribution to peace that it can make when adjusting its programs towards an integrative peace perspective. The organization s intention is to make its intervention suit the need of the people involved. They do address peace building in a variety of areas, e.g. prevention, warning and dialoguing, and they design their programs according to context e.g. in post-conflict reconstruction and emergency response. CRS started introducing peace work as a main component in 2001 after realizing that all their

14 efforts to attain justice and redistribute opportunities were futile unless they included a strong link to the understanding of peace CITATION CRS081 \l 1031 (CRS 2, 2008). Since then, the organization has focused in its work on rebuilding relationships in order to restore structures and avoid future injustices. The organization s commitment to peace starts off by constructing a strong link between trying to bring justice and peace together as underlying motives of their work. Its first peace programs were educational. It stresses that by supporting local capacities, it guarantees the cultural appropriateness and sustainability of its work. As opposed to MSF, CRS makes long term commitments to the communities they help. CRS main principles of peace building are: Responding to the root causes of violent conflict, including unjust relationships and structures, in addition to addressing its effects and symptoms; Making long-term commitment; Using a comprehensive approach that focuses on grassroots while strategically engaging actors at middle-range and top levels of leadership; Carrying out in-depth and participatory analyses; Providing a methodology to achieve right relationships that should be integrated into all programming; Strategically including advocacy at local, national and global levels to transform unjust structures and systems; Building upon indigenous non-violent approaches to conflict transformation and reconciliation; Being driven by community-defined needs and involving as many stakeholders as possible; Working through partners who represent the diversity of where they work and share common values; Strengthening and contributing to a vibrant civil society that promotes peace CITATION CRS082 \l 1031 (CRS 3, 2008). In the scope of the matrix between maximalist and minimalist aid approaches, CRS fits perfectly into the category of a maximalist NGO. It advocates for accountability of NGOs, their impacts on conflict and for conflict-sensitive program design. CRS tries to move beyond a palliative approach trying to save lives in a conflict sensitive way, and with its multi-mandate approach, develops synergies between relief, development and peace programming. From its project approach, it can be concluded that the organization places emphasis on building local capacities for peace. All of these arguments are proof of the maximalist approach of the organization. 2.4 Perceptions of aid in science Aid in contemporary literature The dilemma or chance of aid the current perception of humanitarian NGOs in social science is diverse and closely related to both topics in the focus of this work. Therefore it seems necessary to look at contemporary perception of NGOs in academic works. In the 1980s and 1990s, NGOs experienced a dramatic increase in both their funding and their fields of work. As they increased their operations in the so-called third world in the course of those two decades, criticisms arose on various aspects of their interventions. According to Kim Reimann, a set of critiques of NGOs have appeared in the past 20 years, focusing on their performance and effectiveness, accountability issues, issues of autonomy, commercialization and ideological interpretations of their rising influence CITATION Rei05 \p 37 \l 1031 (Reimann, 2005, S. 37). In the area of humanitarian crisis, a shift of aid privatization took place in the 1980s and 1990s, with NGOs being service providers of relief in war-torn countries. In this context, NGOs were promoted enthusiastically by powerful states and international organizations in order to jump in and work for their own interests. In the course of their existence, it was proven, e.g. by Edwards and Hulme, that NGOs were not performing as effectively as it had been predicted

15 CITATION Rei05 \p 39 \l 1031 (Reimann, 2005, S. 39). Work done by NGOs often falls short in terms of sustainability. Humanitarian relief NGOs have been facing intense criticism since the mid-90s, especially after the crisis in relief operations in Rwanda. A few major points of criticism that continuously come up in literature dealing with NGOs and humanitarian aid shall be discussed here to take a closer look at the field of humanitarian action. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that any literature found on the subject deals with criticisms of different types not with praise Tied aid, conditional aid The conditionality of aid is a long criticized fact in the debate about NGOs. The criticism of NGOs here lies in the fact that they accept funds from large agencies, states or inter-state actors that set conditions for aid and thereby influence politics in areas of the world where they have no grounds for intervening. Another equally hegemonic effect of such funding might be the wish by donors to spread mostly western values to other parts of the world. Obviously, organizations that accept such funding cannot be accepted by affected populations as being neutral and interested only in humanitarian values. This deteriorates the reputation of any emergency aid operation. It might imply that victims see aid as a political instrument and refuse to cooperate. The increase of funds brings with itself a greater sense of professionalism, but also problems of enemy perception by local partners and beneficiaries. As Vaux rightly argues, humanitarianism has now become a means to another end, the end of western security, rather than an end in itself, CITATION Ton06 \p 242 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 242) in the perception of western politicians. Thereby the distance from people in need seems to increase, due to the fact that western politicians instrumentalize aid for their personal and national gain. Vaux acknowledges that some NGOs have shown the tendency to base decisions on moral principles, not on funds. This, he claims, is the Dunantist type of aid organizations, like the Red Cross and MSF whom he sees have been behaving differently from the majority -, that abide by the principle of neutrality. There have been voices within the humanitarian realm who advocate for return to humanitarian detachment CITATION Ton06 \p 245 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 245). Humanitarian assistance is not apolitical; it provides states with a tool for negotiations. The humaneness of liberal peace and the implication from the inside of societies is what differentiates the peace-building consensus from past imperial orders. According to Richmond, the ideology of human security is used to justify international interventions. For example, NGOs sometimes do call for the use of force to clear the way for their action CITATION Ric05 \p 30 \l 1031 (Richmond O. P., 2005, S. 30). General cynicism and skepticism towards NGOs especially among populations in the developing world is due to the above corrupt, profit-seeking conditional behavior. As NGOs have begun to care more for official funds and related donor interests than for the needs of local communities they claim to serve, this skepticism seems justified. NGOs are said to have become donor driven and have shifted their activities to match the goals of donors. For the eager search of funds NGOs have been politically influenced and have shied away from real empowerment tasks that could lead to real change for the poor. This has led to the fact that local and international NGOs are considered to be less legitimate by the governments and counterparts because of the conditionality of their funding CITATION Rei05 \p 43 \l 1031 (Reimann, 2005, S. 43). Nonetheless, the work of some NGOs is widely appreciated by affected populations, who, in some cases, have more trust in them than in local authorities. Also, many governments are skeptical of the presence of NGOs because they may act as international witnesses to what is happening or expose their weaknesses and failures Negative systemic effects of aid in conflict settings

16 Another major criticism of the rather underlying effects of the presence, actions and values of NGOs is the impact they have on local systems in various respects. For example, NGOs create a different market or potential for employment on a personal level (see Economic effects of NGO presence in Chapter 4.3). On a larger scale, the intervention of NGOs can actually have detrimental effects even according to their own values. By funding national NGOs that suit their value profile, they ensure the proliferation of their priorities and worse still, help to create the impression that something is being done. In so doing, they hinder eventual upcoming protest movements and co-opt local leaders by buying them into working for them. Such action also fragments poor communities into divided groupings and undermines their ability to see the larger and more systemic causes of their poverty and under-development. All this is not created intentionally but it is a self-reproducing effect of NGO-action in the field. By acting in the ways described, NGOs have proven to be excellent partners for global capitalism CITATION Rei05 \p 47 \l 1031 (Reimann, 2005, S. 47) Economic effects of NGO presence As mentioned above another important point of criticism targets the market and economic distortions that aid operations can bring to a region. Food aid has been repeatedly criticized for its negative economic effect on the local food growing and farming activities. Aid has created the effect of dependency on outside help because farmers cannot sell their crops thus cannot continue their farming in the following year and remain dependent on outside food supplies for longer than the emergency actually lasts. At the same time, the contributions of aid organizations may enrich local elites and rebels who use food aid as an instrument of power. On a different but related level, NGO workers and the consumption of goods they cause are the reason for hiked prices in a region when they appear in large numbers ready to pay amounts high above the local market price for food, housing or work. In cases where the aid industry becomes an influential local employer, thus a source of income, it can unintentionally contribute to a prolongation of the conflict. Since, for the sake of keeping their jobs, some of the affected population may prefer the war to last. Another point of criticism of NGOs is their adversarial position to technical advancement especially when environmental matters are concerned. This position is said to have slowed down economic development and prevented capitalism from spreading gains from the science market CITATION Rei05 \p \l 1031 (Reimann, 2005, S ). Richmond argues that under the premise that peace lies in the exhaustion of the means of war, NGOs might fuel conflict by providing resources that enable the war to continue CITATION Ric05 \p 24 \l 1031 (Richmond O. P., 2005, S. 24) Projection of alien values Vaux considers humanitarianism as a western cultural phenomenon and aid workers as promoters of this system that have to be careful to accept the fact and to act accordingly if they do not want to be instrumentalized. It is crucial for any aid worker to understand the big picture of the system they are working in but also where they are coming from and how this relates to the perception in their duty station. Being open for completely different cultures and understanding the validity of different approaches than one s own are essential for respect-based aid. Another humanitarian approach in Islam for example is the principle of zakat, i.e. the requirement to give a proportion of one s income to the poor. A perfect example of this as Vaux says is the state of Somalia, which survives because of remittances from Somalis in the Diaspora - humanitarian action without political ties CITATION Ton06 \p 245 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 245). In his article Whose Human Rights, Kofi Buenor Hadjor argues that: the main consequence of the human rights agenda is to question the moral credibility of the South. This allows Western propaganda to ceaselessly cast the societies of the south as morally problematic CITATION

17 Had98 \p 366 \l 1031 (Hadjor, 1998, S. 366). According to him, humanitarian and human rights NGOs often conduct campaigns that convey messages as if the southern hemisphere would have to be saved from itself. The agenda behind these messages and the loyalties of such agencies are often obscure. Societies especially in Africa are often described in pathological terms. He points out that international agencies present themselves as arbiters of behavior in targeted societies and they feel they have the right to intervene in cultural affairs of sick and violent societies. By so doing, western powers have found a direct line into the intellectual heart and political core of the South CITATION Had98 \p \l 1031 (Hadjor, 1998, S ). The tactic of instrumentalizing the human rights discourse is extremely effective in its manipulation because it includes even usually critical people from the West. Because such critical people are also involved in the human rights discourse, they do not see the possibility that they might be serving a purpose other than that intended in their wish to do good for others. For example, Noam Chomsky argues that the human rights discourse is no more than a device to be manipulated by propagandists in order to gain popular support for counter revolutionary intervention CITATION Had98 \p 366 \l 1031 (Hadjor, 1998, S. 366) Participation of locals in aid operations Some experienced field workers and researchers argue that participation of victims in aid operations can greatly contribute to their success. Contrary to that, the lack of such participation can endanger operations or have detrimental effects. Kosek and Gizelis for example postulate that local populations are unlikely to feel a personal attachment to a solution externally imposed unless actively consulted or involved in the intervention strategy CITATION Giz05 \p 363 \l 1031 (Gizelis, 2005, S. 363). Furthermore, they argue that humanitarian interventions without some form of local participation are likely to create cognitive dissonance among the local population between the outcome and the means chosen to implement it CITATION Giz05 \p 363 \l 1031 (Gizelis, 2005, S. 363). The authors have found that projects with more local involvement are associated with low levels of conflict. Interventions that are seen to be legitimate by the local population as a result of their high level of participation are more likely to be successful. These findings can be supported by the two practical approaches to the inclusion of peace perspectives into humanitarian aid: the Do-No-Harm and the PCIA approach that will be introduced later on in this work. The emphasis of participation is also dealt with by Vaux who claims that local people should be consulted for program design. Those affected by crisis should be involved in decision making CITATION Ton06 \p 246 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 246) Humanitarian action - just another job? Some critics argue against the bureaucracy in NGOs saying that they have lost the idealism, spirit of volunteerism, their small scale, flexibility and their ability to engage with people at the grassroots level by becoming income driven. Yet it is obvious that they became the favorites of donors for people participatory aid, or at least for the appearance of it. It has also been observed that in contrast to the past, many NGO workers nowadays just view their work as any other career, lacking commitment that previous generations showed CITATION Rei05 \p 45 \l 1031 (Reimann, 2005, S. 45). It should however be mentioned at this juncture that there are still some positive examples. Renee C. Fox found out that the organization Médecins sans Frontières relies on the idealism of its volunteers, their courage and resiliency to cope with the unknown and the suffering they encounter in the field CITATION Fox95 \p 1316 \l 1031 (Fox, 1995, S. 1316) Justification of Intervention Humanitarian intervention has its different mandates as seen in the previous sub-chapter. Emergency relief agencies mostly consider a needs-based approach, like MSF and Oxfam that

18 look purely at the deprived individual and the suffering it faces. Bernard Kouchner, one of the founding fathers of MSF for example, claimed for his organization the right to interfere and later the duty to interfere. Interference is a mandatory ardent obligation to act, to alleviate suffering of people urgently in need of care. The principle of the organization act always, speak always, is the principle of témoignage, of bearing witness of atrocities observed CITATION Fox95 \p 1609 \l 1031 (Fox, 1995, S. 1609). In contrast to this humanitarian imperative, Hadjor argues that the relationship of the North and the South is dominated by the discourse of human rights and that every western intervention is rationalized through this discourse. Those who question the legitimacy of human rights are automatically placed on the side of injustice by this discourse CITATION Had98 \p \l 1031 (Hadjor, 1998, S ). In international politics, humanitarian issues and real politics are dealt with separately under the pretext that peace-keeping operations are detached from power interests. In this context, military intervention is not seen as an act of colonial aggression but a moral imperative. The main criticism of this approach lies in the fact that western nations which claim to respect human rights do not respect them and have not done so in the past. The prevalent discourse in the West that all human rights are an indisputable heritage of theirs does not reflect the truth. Rather, they are the result of a painful process and in many cases rights have been excluded due to national interests. It is a double standard to ask other countries to accept everything without doubt, which they have had trouble to accept themselves CITATION Had98 \p 362 \l 1031 (Hadjor, 1998, S. 362) Inadequacy of relief mechanisms and standards Often times the overall international humanitarian response to a disaster is criticized for many of the above reasons. However, aspects of standards applied during interventions and the intervention s sustainability after the humanitarian response has ceased is not usually taken into account. Kosek and Gizelis question the criticism by others that humanitarian interventions may follow motives that are not always altruistic. They do not see the immediate benefits for intervening countries. They want to offer a different explanation as to why humanitarian interventions often times fail and thereby affect the outcome of peace-building measures CITATION Giz05 \p 365 \l 1031 (Gizelis, 2005, S. 365). Short-term goals of humanitarian interventions such as the containment of direct violence or the securing of food supplies are met. However, the intervening powers face the greater challenge of long-term conflict resolution and sustainable rebuilding of the country and its peace. Policies including all parties to the conflict as legitimate are considered local participation by the authors. Time and resource constraints often prevent the intervening parties from developing long-term strategies for conflict settlement, and often give rise to short-term strategies that breed dependency among the local population and frequently are detrimental to a country s long-term recovery CITATION Giz05 \p 366 \l 1031 (Gizelis, 2005, S. 366). Vaux argues, that humanitarian aid should play a role not only in saving lives today, but also in saving lives tomorrow and that means contributing to a just society. Issues such as participation, consultation, gender equity, and respect for minorities are not just quality aspects of a humanitarian response. They may be its essence, if they contribute to peace CITATION Ton06 \p 249 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 249). After the much criticized disaster in provision of aid and protection in Rwanda, the lack of humanitarian standards was deplored and the necessity for coordination of aid stated. The Sphere Project aims at filling the gap caused by the lack of standards. Even though western aid workers could be content because they are now finally able to measure their effectiveness, the system had a negative effect on local organizations. The desire to exclude undesirable western organizations

19 has led to exclusion of local ones that may lack the resources to respond at the level prescribed by Sphere but do have other valuable qualities CITATION Ton06 \p 247 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 247). Another problem is the applicability of those standards that were exclusively developed for refugee camps, which now are not applicable in different settings. It is only designed to apply to immediate situations of saving lives, not catering for organizations with more long-term mandates, including local NGOs that would like to emphasize on capacity-building and a longterm reduction of vulnerability CITATION Ton06 \p 247 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 247). As we have seen in the above mentioned points, the entire aid system has been the focus of attention and criticism. Interestingly, the little literature that exists about humanitarian work is critical. The author agrees with all of the topics mentioned as being critical points in humanitarian intervention that need care and focus to avoid the effects mentioned. These main criticisms give an insight into the challenges that humanitarian aid organizations face today. By identifying them we are more easily able to see what good practices in aid work must be paid attention to, where peace-building components are most beneficial and what factors determine a negative or positive impact on peace in an ongoing operation. Legitimacy of aid and its effects is a crucial point in the debate. The clash of opinions on one hand by Bernard Kouchner, defending the humanitarian principle and on the other by Kofi Buenor Hajor asking whose rights are even considered at the moment of intervention, and who sees the human rights discourse as a means of oppression demonstrates very well the diversity in the field. The organizations introduced in Chapter 2.3 must allow for the public to ask critical questions like the ones mentioned in this chapter. They are well advised to act even before questions and doubts regarding their practices arise. In order to avoid a bad reputation for being corrupt or secretly trying to implement hidden agendas of donors, organizations of all types should be as transparent as possible to all sides. Only when finances are clear, the organizational structure is democratic and when local people are invited to participate in project decision making is an organization credible and many of the above criticisms can be avoided. With regard to conflict situations, care must be taken so that all conflict parties benefit equally and that any side effects of the project that encourage a prolongation of the conflict are avoided. Critics wish for agencies to take into consideration not only their work and their success but the success of the aid operation as a whole. Attention needs to be given to those who are not already in the focus of the media; agencies should assume more responsibilities in their work as it affects the peace process, and not shy away from responsibility due to past failures like Rwanda. Agencies should be courageous and independent in addressing topics that might not be popular with their donors but that are important to address CITATION Ton06 \p 252 \l 1031 (Vaux, 2006, S. 252). NGOs were believed to be the magic solution to all problems in dealing with conflict and disaster. Unfortunately, they have proved to be faulty. And even though they well deserve criticism, they have also helped millions of people and provided relief. To make the debate more constructive, Reimann suggests setting it within a larger framework taking into consideration structural challenges but acknowledging their positive impact as well CITATION Ric05 \p 50 \l 1031 (Richmond O. P., 2005, S. 50) The Concept of Liberal Peace in Relation to Humanitarian Aid A practical example for the failure of liberal peace policies is well explained by Richmond and Franks for the case of Timor Leste CITATIO Ric08 \l 1033 (Richmond O. a., April 2008). The failure of liberal peace means in brief: Failure to construct a social contract between society and government or to respond to peoples experiences of every day life and their welfare requirements. Liberal peace is mainly institutionally oriented, neo-liberally aimed, and

20 constructed around the elite governance of conflict zones, leading to virtual peace, a liberal hubris and the problems of local co-option. Individuals and their relationship with state are defined by the institutions of governance, leading to a lack of attention to the indigenous, to welfare and culture. The objective of liberal peace is to create a self-sustaining peace within domestic, regional and international frameworks of liberal governance, in which both overt and structural forms of violence are removed and social, economic and political models conform to a mixture of liberal and neoliberal international expectations in a globalized transnational setting. Richmond and Franks introduce four conceptual roots of liberal peace: Victor s peace based on military victory and domination is more likely to survive; Institutional peace rest on idealist liberal attempts to anchor states within a normative and legal context in which they multilaterally agree on their behavior; Constitutional peace goes back to the liberal Kantian argument that peace rests upon democracy, free trade and individualistic values; Civil peace, resides in civilian mobilization and action and defense of basic human rights and values CITATION Ric08 \l 1031 (Richmond O. a., April 2008). The two scholars identify different schools of thought concerning the four roots: Conservative model applying top-down approaches in peace and development; Orthodox model asking actors to include local ownership and culture but is still determined to transfer their methodologies, e.g. UN family; the emancipatory model is concerned with local consent with ownership and resists internationally propagated conditionality and coerciveness, it is in favor of a bottom-up approach and focuses on needs based activity and a concern with social justice CITATION Ric08 \l 1031 (Richmond O. a., April 2008). The two scholars show that in East Timor, even though a liberal peace model was adopted there has been little or no socio-economic improvement, UN agencies have acted in an authoritarian style, did not want to share power, this generated mistrust, also, no recognized local counterpart was chosen. A failure by UN agencies to connect to Timorese institutions shows the failure of liberal peace as a concept. Richmond and Franks prove by analyzing the situation in East Timor that liberal peace building is not a recipe for success. The East Timor case shows the dangers of early elections before the effective political institutions are created. A democratic process needs to be allowed first in order not to legitimize elites. Criticism: liberal peace is used to keep local elites in power. The process of liberal state-building has created empty institutions that citizens do not perceive as legitimate. Liberalism has created an illiberal inefficient state with empty institutions. The assumption by development agencies was to break the traditional cultural system and replace it with a new, liberal system i.e. people should work in a formal economy instead of sharing, bartering and subsistence living. Local people did not get the capacity building they would have needed, and were told they were not capable, yet the state building process was in the hands of internationals, meaning the process is over when they start to leave. Since no relationship was built between the Timorese and the Internationals within the process of constructing a new state, there is little sense of ownership. As an effect to all the above, Timorese lost confidence in civil society and their institutions, their leaders and themselves. Liberal Peace is a concept that has been surfacing in the humanitarian and development discourse since the late nineties. One of its founders is Mark Duffield who has connected the liberal peace idea to contemporary relief and peace building efforts. It relates to the implementation of peace approaches in the way that it analyzes the outcome of such interventions and their attachment to liberal western economic ideals. Duffield talks about new or principled humanitarianism i.e. humanitarianism at the service of