CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute) Development Studies and Human Rights
 
 

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CMI Report

Learning to build a sustainable peace: Ownership and everyday peacebuilding

Keywords:
Peace building Afghanistan Haiti Liberia Sudan

Geographical keywords:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Southern and Central Asia
The Middle East and Northern Africa
Afghanistan Haiti Liberia Sudan

Ole Jacob Sending (ed.) (2010)

Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI Report R 2010:4)

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Lack of local ownership is seen as a central explanation for why peacebuilding efforts often fail to yield sustainable peace dividends. But how is local ownership understood and acted upon by those who are engaged in peacebuilding efforts at the country level? Based on research in four countries – Afghanistan, Haiti, Liberia and Sudan – this study finds that the way ownership is operationalized by external actors at the country level is quite different from how it is defined in policy documents. The most prevalent operationalization is ownership as a conditional right with external actors seeing ownership as theirs to give to local actors when certain conditions (such as capacity or responsibility) are met. The result is often that reform efforts are unsustainable. This report suggests some concrete steps that can be taken to render ownership an operational principle.

 

[pdf] Learning to build a sustainable peace: Ownership and everyday peacebuilding

Project/programme:

Sub-Saharan Africa
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