Forging Peace after a Brutal Era is Proving Hard for Ivorians

A decade ago the Ivoirian government, with the help of the United Nations, started programmes to build peace after nine years of war. The success rate of these post-conflict programmes has been mixed. Some countries, like Angola and Spain, have avoided a thorough engagement with past human rights abuses and war-era crimes. They also managed to maintain peace long after the conflict ended. South Africa claims its truth and reconciliation commission and transitional justice programmes helped prevent a recurrence of conflict. Demobilising programmes have often been viewed with scepticism for failing to reintegrate combatants into society – the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and Liberia are examples. Cote d’Ivoire implemented both the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration and the transitional justice types of programmes. Past research indicated that these types might be more effective if they worked more closely together rather than always being isolated. But Cote d’Ivoire opted to keep them apart.

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION