Towards Sustainable Post-Conflict Development in Africa: The Promise of Human Security

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War, rebuildinginfrastructure, political and social institutions, and generally creating conditions that sustain peace and development in post conflict countries have become a staple in the business of the international community. The recent Arab Springs in North Africa and ongoing challenges in Syria have generated even more post-conflict and peace-consolidating concerns for the international community. At the center of these conflicts are human beings. Any meaningful plan for post-conflict development must therefore protect and empower individuals affected by violent conflict. This is in accordance with human security which generically advocates for the individual as the referent object of security. This notwithstanding, the current practice is dominated by the liberal democratic paradigm and traditional notions of security that stress the security of the state often above the security of the individuals living in the state. Consequently,the focus has tended to be on improving macro-economic indices, organizing democratic elections and building democratic institutions in a manner that make these institutions look like ends rather than means to an end. The implication has often been the inability to restore confidence in post-conflicts governments timely enough to garner support from war-affected population for sustained post conflict development. It is therefore not surprising that a number of post-conflict countries are challenged by the threat of relapse. In interrogating the context of post-conflict development, this paper argues that a holistic application of the human security framework is the lynchpin to preventing relapse in post-conflict countries. It further notes that in its application, human security should remain at the core of strategy rather than ancillary to other strategies.