Relevance for Development and Poverty Reduction
STOPPING THE ENDLESS SPIRAL OF MISERY AND VIOLENCE
Disarmament of former fighters, painted by a participant at a reintegration camp in Burundi. Source: Jochen Brähmig
War and poverty are miserable bedfellows. Poverty and social inequality are often major factors in the onset or escalation of conflicts. If these conflicts degenerate into violence they in turn worsen poverty, creating the vicious circle in which an alarming number of developing countries are trapped.
According to the World Development Report released in 2011 by the World Bank, 1.5 billion people live in conflict-affected states or in countries with very high level of criminal violence. Many of these states are unable to break free from the fatal and endless spiral of poverty and violence without assistance. Even if they are able to put an end to hostilities, almost half of them are at risk of sliding back into conflict within five years because most of the governments in these post-war countries are impotent in the face of such immense devastation and improving the people's living conditions.
In developing countries wars and violent conflicts are among the biggest obstacles to development, claiming countless victims among the population and inflicting great suffering. In a very short space of time, they lay waste to many years of development: the economic and social infrastructure is destroyed, government institutions are weakened, and investments and growth decline. The poor and disadvantaged in particular are unable to protect themselves against the effects of war. It robs them of their last means of existence and, as the misery deepens, so the potential for fresh conflict grows.
Creating a Stable System
To reduce global poverty it is crucial to avert crises and establish a stable state system. Once a country’s resources are no longer tied up in the war economy, the state's capacities can be strengthened, public services organised and the investment climate improved as a result.
A great deal of wars can be laid at the door of dictatorships. Not least therefore, looking beyond the immediate post-war period, the peace-promoting measures undertaken by KfW Entwicklungsbank also include strengthening civil society and initiating processes of participation. The democratic legitimisation of state institutions and bodies bolsters states in their efforts to perform their inherent tasks. A nation's progress relies on public trust in the political system. People must have confidence that the representatives they have elected will solve their problems, and they must be able to call them to account over this.
Last updated: July 2011
