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Key Text Strengthening the Indigenous Drivers of Post-Conflict Economic Recovery

Author: United Nations Development Programme
Date: 2008
Size: 58 pages (13.4 MB)

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Summary

How can the international community best support economic recovery after conflict? This book chapter from the United Nations Development Programme examines a community-based approach to stimulating economic activities in countries emerging from conflict. It contends that economic recovery is quicker and more sustainable when it is built on 'indigenous drivers'; local actors have the strongest long-term incentive to engage in activities conducive to sustained economic recovery. The indigenous drivers approach allows people and communities, as well as national institutions, to establish the priorities for post-conflict recovery and for reforming institutions.

War-afflicted populations display a remarkable degree of resourcefulness and ingenuity in responding to adverse circumstances, both during conflict and afterwards. When conflict ends, local communities are eager to recover their livelihoods or find new ones. While the economic activities they pursue will depend on their particular circumstances and location, a common factor across all settings is that the end of conflict sees people unleashing considerable energy and resilience.

The notion of ‘indigenous drivers of economic recovery’ highlights the initiatives of local communities, individuals, households and enterprises to stimulate economic activity after war. It locates these efforts within their socio-historical context and emphasises them as the most viable platform on which to base post-war recovery and international support. While this approach places local actors, institutions and resources at its centre, it also recognises the crucial role of external aid.

At the community level, spontaneous efforts are often not sufficient, given the magnitude of needs and the limited capacities available. At the national level, the considerable resources required after war are usually beyond the means of governments. Development assistance is needed, but it must be implemented with two key objectives and one overriding principle in mind.

First objective: To support and complement ongoing indigenous efforts, while addressing their limitations
Second objective: To lay the ground for further ‘locally grown’ initiatives, paying particular attention to the obstacles and unmet needs that may constrain future development
Overriding principle: 'Do no harm' —any action that could stir up social tensions or otherwise increase the likelihood of a relapse into conflict must be avoided.

Conceptually, the indigenous drivers approach includes, but goes beyond, participation and local ownership. It allows people and communities, as well as national institutions, to establish the priorities for post-conflict recovery and for reforming institutions. Nurturing indigenous drivers involves explicitly identifying the capacities and tensions inherent in systems and processes and in the community and national dynamics observed following conflict. Policies that harness local capacities and build on existing social processes and interactions may require more preparation time, but they are more likely to be successful and self-sustaining in the long-term. Three overarching considerations emerge for nurturing indigenous drivers of economic recovery:

Conflict sensitivity: In supporting recovery, external assistance must avoid aggravating tension points—indeed, it should seek to significantly reduce them
Gender equity: Women and girls are key economic and socio-political assets in the recovery process—ensuring that women and girls have equal access to employment opportunities, education, health and finance is a moral imperative and is central to the notion of human development
Context appropriateness: A ‘good’ programme is one that is optimally adapted to the local context by taking full account of local and national capacities and seeking to build creatively on existing practices.

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Source: UNDP, 2008, 'Strengthening the Indigenous Drivers of Post-Conflict Economic Recovery', Chapter 3 in Post-Conflict Economic Recovery: Enabling Local Ingenuity, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR), United Nations Development Programme, New York, pp. 48-105
Organisation: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), http://www.undp.org/