Post-conflict rehabilitation includes and covers a series of measures targeted at reconstructing societies that have been deconstructed by conflicts, disputes, clashes and skirmishes. Whether it is war, civil unrest, or any other form of violence it will have negative impacts on the lives of the Ethiopian people who are forced to suffer from it. These people need support for their post-conflict revival. There are several aspects that are related to the survival of Ethiopians who are affected by conflicts to which they are not a party.
The major issue of survival is the termination of unnecessary conflicts. These include reconciliation, reconstruction and reintegration among people affected by conflicts. Reconciliation presupposes rebuilding trust and fostering dialogue among conflicting parties. Trust relies on positive expectations, reliance and confidence which are crucial and essential for long-term peace and stability. Trust is the basis of developing positive relationship among disputants or even armed contenders. Once trust is rooted among conflicting parties, it bears fruits for all groups and individuals.
Fostering, promoting and encouraging dialogue among conflicting parties in Ethiopia involves addressing the real grievances. It is necessary to identify the root-cause of grievance that led to conflicts in order to arrive at relevant and realistic solutions. One of the first measures in addressing conflicts is promoting forgiveness. Forgiveness, pardon and clemency create several opportunities for peaceful coexistence among individuals, communities or societies that had been engaged in clashes and collisions. These clashes might have been petty but not resolved in good time to continue with peace.
Usually, unresolved petty individual disputes develop into widespread social divergence and disagreement. These also end-up in social conflicts involving larger communities and regions in Ethiopia. To resolve these disputes it is absolutely necessary to create opportunities for adversaries to work together. It is also advisable to avoid, as much as possible, foreign elements from getting involved in the domestic affairs of Ethiopians. These elements might create hurdles that prevent peaceful resolution of disputes for achieving common development goals.
Rehabilitation of local people affected by conflicts requires rebuilding of physical infrastructures. These include the building of roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals. Infrastructural development demands huge investment, skilled personnel, machineries, building materials and other inputs. Some of these are imported materials that require foreign exchange.
Conflicts also lead to the destruction of roads and bridges. Similarly, schools and hospitals require imported inputs which could not be produced domestically. Apart from these social services, construction of homes is crucial for restoring normal conditions and for providing essential services to communities affected by conflict. These services are discontinued in communities negatively affected by conflicts and clashes. The rehabilitation of social services required huge investment, mainly in foreign exchange. In other words, the rehabilitation efforts involve local and external assistance.
Demobilization and reintegration of disarmed combatants involved in conflicts and wars is crucial for preventing the recurrence of violence. It is possible to have demobilized combatants that are not disarmed. If they are not treated carefully and peacefully, they may refuse to reintegrate into the society. They may be engaged in armed robbery and other violent acts. There is the possibility of maltreating them by members of the society who had suffered from internal conflicts.
It is possible that some people may not be targeted during conflict, yet they suffer from its effects. These may be physical harm or mental disorders affecting the non-combatants. Also relatives of combatants feel the danger of being exposed at the end of the social conflict. These and others who suffered from the effect of the conflict become disturbed until the clash and its social divergence come to an end. The ending of the conflict is a turning point toward reintegration, which becomes the Task of Tantalus, difficult to perform. If those people affected by conflicts are optimistic and confident of achieving peace, law and order, they are bound to reintegrate into civilian life.
Reintegration is an essential precondition for preventing a return to violence. It may include providing job training, education and psychological support. Those who have participated in armed violence may need training in skills that help them easily engage in productive employment. Some may want to continue with their education at a level they had achieved before they engaged in violent combat, warfare or fighting.
Some combatants may be mentally disturbed, needing professional support to comfortably participate in their society. Former combatants may need other services to help them transition to peaceful participation in society. Once they are accepted by the society, they feel some sense of equal participation in their own community. They also feel that they enjoy justice and rule of law in their community. In this regard, it is absolutely necessary to establish mechanisms for accountability not to repeat past mistakes in committing violence within the society. Of course, justice is vital for addressing past atrocities committed against society by violent actors.
Those persons who willingly and willfully caused destabilization of the community or society through armed conflicts should pledge to defend law and order in their place of residence and other areas. These measures help in preventing future conflicts. This may, however, involve prosecuting war crimes, establishing truth and reconciliation commissions. These commissions are instrumental in digging out the truth that would help in creating peace in the society.
If the truth is difficult to dig out, the society continues to suffer from rounds of crimes that destabilize the political, economic and social linkages and ties of the society. This would create a fertile ground for the germination of crimes against innocent people. Unchecked crimes cause rounds of violence that bleed the members of the society who have not participated in it. The innocent people are forced to shed their blood for which there would be no accountability. In a society that suffers from the absence of accountability and responsibility it is, therefore, absolutely essential to reform the legal systems to ensure equal protection under the law.
People residing in war affected areas need humanitarian assistance. Providing humanitarian aid such as food, water, shelter, and medical care to displaced people is critical for their survival. It is crucial to address the immediate needs of the Ethiopian people who are displaced due to conflicts.
It is necessary to prepare for the prevention of further suffering in the aftermath of clashes. These humanitarian activities may need the support of agencies concerned with provision of aid to those who are in need of it. These agencies may be in contact with external institutions that are involved in gathering actual humanitarian support at the global level. They usually operate in the rich countries of the world where humanitarian assistance may be acquired. In these countries, individuals are willing to provide financial and material assistance to the people of war trodden countries. Their support flows to countries that have been negatively affected by conflicts. The aid agencies operating in these countries ensure that the aid is reaching those people who are negatively affected by wars, skirmishes and conflicts. Such aid is useful for rehabilitating people affected by conflicts.
The rehabilitation of people that are negatively affected by war and conflicts need economic development for their future survival. Creating opportunities for sustainable economic development and growth requires tremendous efforts by all concerned. They have to begin with poverty reduction among people who suffered from conflicts. During conflicts, innocent people could not work productively to provide means of survival for their families.
Poverty reduction presupposes the promotion of stability in which war affected people may engage in productive employment. These actions demand identification of the root causes of conflicts that help in reaching relevant solutions. Productive engagement in economic sectors would help people earn income for maintaining enjoyable standard of living. This may involve the development of sectors of the economy including agriculture, industry, and services sectors. The development of these sectors promotes individuals dedicated for the rehabilitation of people who are affected by conflicts.
Social scientists are of the opinion that political reform is a useful instrument for resolving social conflicts. In this regard, building “inclusive and democratic” institutions is essential. It promotes stability and prevents the reemergence of conflicts. This may call for the reform of relevant governance arrangements and organizations. These institutions are important for the promotion of political participation of all citizens of Ethiopia without any form of differentiation. Such arrangement may ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law. These rights should not remain on paper only, but they should be practiced by all Ethiopians irrespective of age, sex, ethnic and regional affiliations. These measures may help in ensuring inclusiveness and promoting democratic aspirations. In this regard, the three branches of government such as the Legislative, Executive and the Judiciary should be in a better position to execute their duties and responsibilities as provided in the Constitution. These institutions should preserve law and order and control conflicts for the rehabilitation and survival of people.
In post-conflict situations, it is absolutely essential to empower Ethiopian communities through the instrumentality of elders and religions persons. Engaging local communities in the decision-making process on issues that affect the lives of the people in their locality is of the essence. Empowerment is nothing but authority or power of the people to decide on matters that affect their lives. It is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their lives and claiming rights as Ethiopian citizens. Empowering them to take ownership of their own development is critical.
It is absolutely essential for building resilience and promoting sustainable peace within communities. These developments also ensure peace, law and order in the country, enabling people to be confident, showing certainty about anything. They are sure of themselves and their abilities to perform anything. They have inner knowledge of their capability and they feel secure rather than insecure.
In post-conflict situations, Ethiopians will, therefore, live in peace and prosperity. They will also be engaged in the reconstruction and development of peaceful and prosperous future for all, irrespective of vicious identification and differentiation imposed on them by aliens. These will surely contribute to the rehabilitation of the Ethiopian people affected by conflicts.
BY GETACHEW MINAS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 20 APRIL 2024
