Document Library

Crisis Prevention: Tackling Horizontal Inequalities

Author: F Stewart
Date: 2000
Size: 17 pages (57 KB)

Access full text: available online

Summary

alf of all low-income countries have suffered civil wars, and those that have had recent conflicts are the poorest performers in terms of economic and human indicators. Civil wars occur when groups mobilise against each other, their leaders using ethnicity, or some other characteristic like religion, to unite and mobilise their forces. However, these characteristics alone are not sufficient to fuel violence. There are generally also parallel inequalities between groups in terms of political participation, economic assets, incomes and employment, and social aspects.

These horizontal inequalities are an important underlying determinant of conflict. They are distinct from vertical inequalities, often assessed solely by income, which measure individual rather than group inequality, and mostly do not capture social and political factors. Evidence

from conflicts shows that:

• Political inequalities between groups are almost invariably present, and such political exclusion mobilises leaders of rebellions.
• Unequal access to economic and social resources are also often
  

  present economic and social inequalities permeate political power.

• In addition to horizontal inequalities, four other elements play a role; perceptions, private costs and benefits, constraints (such as a strong state which can suppress violence), and finance
  

  and opportunities.

• Deprivation is not the only driver of civil war. Privileged
  

  groups may instigate violence to suppress opposition or maintain power.

• While internal, policy, and/or international events may trigger conflict eruption or escalation, such events do not bring about violence in the absence of horizontal inequalities.
• Conflict prevention to date has not been part of poverty reduction
  

  or human development agendas. For example the World Banks Poverty Reduction Strategy documents do not deal centrally with the issue, and the UNDPs Human Development Report does not treat it as central to improving human development. Policy makers need to recognise the prevention of conflict as central to anti-poverty and wider development strategies, and alter the design of development interventions accordingly. This approach should be adopted for all low-income and some vulnerable middle-income countries.
  

  Policy shift will not be easy because Governments of conflict prone countries normally represent a subset of the groups involved, and may be hostile in practice to proposed policies. Key policy requirements are:

  • Analysing the overlapping but distinct issues of horizontal inequality between groups, and the private incentives of leaders
    

    and followers.

  • Designing policies to build political inclusivity. Donor focus
    

    is usually on building democracy, but democratic institutions are not sufficient on their own to prevent political inequalities.

  • Ensuring a balance in group benefits from government expenditure and aid, including the distribution of investment and jobs.
  • Ensuring equality of access to education, health services, water and sanitation, and where relevant housing and consumer subsidies.
  • Avoiding providing aid which is likely to help finance conflict.

Access full text: available online

Source: Stewart, F., 2000, ‘Crisis Prevention: Tackling Horizontal Inequalities’, Working Paper no. 33, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, Oxford
Author: Queen Elizabeth House, (QEH), http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/
Organisation: Queen Elizabeth House, (QEH), http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/