Development assistance: guidelines for mediators

Development assistance is usually associated with post-conflict recovery and not necessarily with peace negotiations.However, with its increasing involvement in fragile and conflictaffected countries after the Cold War, the management of war-to-peace transitions has become one of the tasks of development agencies.This recent trend has been illustrated by ongoing development engagement during armed conflict or instability, the delivery of humanitarian assistance, or the drafting of post-conflict needs assessments.While the involvement of development agencies in peace processes is highly context-specific, so far, there is no unified view in the mediation community as to what their role should be.This issue brief suggests that development agencies and assistance can provide important benefits for peace mediation.Even though mediators often attempt to limit the number of intermediaries to keep a peace process manageable, reaching out to the development community can be important for the following reasons:Development agencies can play a supportive role in peace processes.They can have a W useful context-sensitive understanding of the situation and knowledge of the main local stakeholders due to their long-term presence on the ground.Foreign mediation teams should draw from this knowledge base in the preparation and implementation of their assignments.Development assistance and the early engagement of development agencies are crucial W for future-oriented peace negotiations.Development assistance can provide important incentives for a better life after the conflict, especially if parties craft a new vision for future political, economic, or security arrangements.In order to be an effective incentive, development assistance must be tangible, offer W higher rewards than conflict economies, and be embedded in broader political processes and security guarantees.The tangibility of aid increases if the selected aid instrument -for example project support, trust funds or technical assistance -faces few bureaucratic delays, is delivered in a coordinated fashion, and benefits targeted stakeholders and populations in the short-term.Mediators and development agencies could benefit from a joint understanding of W the process supporting the exit out of conflict.In recent years, mediation practice has shifted towards the provision of a professionalised, permanent service that supports mediation efforts throughout the transition from war to peace.Peace mediation is, therefore, not just an ad hoc response to a crisis, but a long-term engagement in which many development and peacebuilding objectives converge.For example, development agencies' good governance programmes have a lot in common with mediators' efforts to create lasting dispute management mechanisms that assist local stakeholders to implement peace accords through negotiations and compromise.This Issue Brief is one of a series of guidelines for mediators.Part of a multi-year research project, it aims to introduce development assistance as an economic instrument in peace processes, identify opportunities and risks for mediation practice, and propose questions for mediators.