EU missions on the fields will benefit from the non-armed intervention of teams composed by civilian experts (mostly with NGO experience).

These "peace teams" (or "civilian peace corps" or "peace services") will help to fill the existing gaps in crisis management and conflict transformation EU policies. The conflict transformation cycle can be segmented into different phases, approximately: the acute violent conflict phase (where military intervention is the only possible one) to the post-acute phase (when humanitarian help is the most needed intervention) to the rehabilitation phase (when DDR and HR work is needed) to the peacebulding-development phase (when HR work has to be sided by development policies). All through this cycle there are several delicate tasks (empowerment of local NGOs, mediation among the different stakeholders, linkage between the different functions of international intervention - humanitarian aid, HR monitoring and security forces) which are not often adequately accomplished, except at the high level or in a scattered way. For sure there is a great need to conduct them coherently and giving responsibility to a coordinating body all through the different phases.

Beside the linkage through the chronological phases, there is a need for a linkage between the different levels of intervention. Some of the conflict transformation activities are common at a very high level (mediation) or at a middle level (e.g. building consensus for peace processes and agreements), but there is definitely a lack at the grassroots level.

In a third dimension, the linkage between military-led activities and civilian-led ones, the empowerment and the involvement of local actors in a professional and planned manner is particularly needed, especially in interventions during the post-acute-conflict phase and the whole rehabilitation spectrum.

Moreover, in post-armed-conflict situations, generally with the danger of a new escalation, an early-warning activity has to be implemented by people properly trained to this purpose, without burdening humanitarian and development NGOs with other tasks.

Civilian Peace Corps would act as confidence-builders among the local population, the different local actors and the external actors at the community- and middle leadership-level, thus assuring coherence and effectiveness to EU interventions through the collaboration and empowerment of local actors. The European Peacebuilding Agency could be the reference body for this kind of intervention or the support for this kind of activity by the future European Civilian Peace Corps.


Contribution to paragraph 3.2.1 of the Full Policy Document
At pag.22, under "Develop a UN-civil society mediation capacity" add:
- bringing the White Helmets Concept to real life, taking full advantage of that concept also in peacebuilding related activities.

By Alessandro Rossi,arossi@nonviolentpeaceforce.org
Brussels, 13/2/2004

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