Berlin, December 2004

Conflict prevention has long been a focus of foreign policy. Today, however, following the change in the nature of conflicts after the end of the Cold War, there is a new and more urgent need for it. The international community faces new challenges resulting from the increase in the number of regional conflicts and failing states, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the spread of transnational terrorism, organized crime, the privatization of violence, war economies, etc.

The Federal Government is focussing on crisis prevention as part of its broader concept of security. For conflict prevention policy to be effective, an integrative approach must be adopted, i.e. many individual policy areas must be bundled to form a coherent strategy – including not only the directly related fields of foreign, security and development policy, but also economic, financial and environmental policy. There has been a marked increase in the number of failed and failing states, and in the number of international state-building operations. In many Western countries, administrative structures are currently being re-examined with a view to more effectively and coherently responding to these challenges.

The Action Plan "Civilian Crisis Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding", which was adopted by the Federal Government on 12 May 2004, is based on all these factors. It describes the new nature of international conflicts, draws the necessary conclusions with respect to German crisis prevention infrastructure and identifies several fields of action and a total of 161 initiatives that the Federal Government plans to implement over the next five to ten years.

The Action Plan is an interministerial assessment that aims to enhance the Federal Government's capability to act in the field of civilian crisis prevention. It identifies strategic approaches, fields of action and actors at the global, national and regional level. Taking into account the relevant challenges, assessments and experiences, it adopts a broad, multi-layered approach. The Federal Government's capability to act is primarily to be enhanced by better coordinating crisis prevention policy and making it more coherent; and by making crisis prevention a guideline for, and a task that involves all fields of, national policy. Crisis prevention must play a part in all government policy areas.

On 20 September 2004, the Interministerial Steering Group for civilian crisis prevention was established and charged with implementing the various measures contained in the Action Plan. This committee, which is comprised of representatives from all Federal Ministries, is the Federal Government's institutional response to the new nature of international conflicts. The Commissioners for Civilian Crisis Prevention of all Federal Ministries attend its regular meetings, which are chaired by the Federal Foreign Office Commissioner for Civilian Crisis Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Post-Conflict Peace-Building.

Two years after its establishment, the Interministerial Steering Group will report to the German Bundestag on the progress that has been achieved in the field of civilian crisis prevention. The Interministerial Steering Group coordinates, and ensures the coherency of, Federal Government policy. Its task is to bundle all Federal Government policy in the field of crisis prevention, to create synergies and thereby to establish the basic conditions under which the Federal Government's capability to act in this policy field can be enhanced. The Interministerial Steering Group ensures continuity, transparency and consensus, and monitors the individual actions within each Federal Ministry's area of responsibility. The interministerial approach to implementing the Action Plan requires a high degree of flexibility, i.e. the willingness to try out new ideas and the ability to learn from current international experience. Crisis prevention is thereby always viewed as a dynamic process.

Because a comprehensive Federal Government approach to crisis prevention must be supplemented by – and coordinated with – non-governmental actors, the Interministerial Steering Group also functions as a point of contact between the Federal Government and civil society. An advisory board on crisis prevention matters is therefore to be established that will be composed of representatives from civil society and peace research institutes. This advisory board will be charged with providing expert advice to the Interministerial Steering Group, and it will link the activities of the Interministerial Steering Group with civil society. The Interministerial Steering Group will presumably appoint the members of the advisory board at the end of 2004.

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