Description
The will and the capacity of the United Nations (UN) and Member States to deal with natural resourcefuelled conflicts is weak.
In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), civilians die on a daily basis because of a war that is stoked by the international trade in minerals. The conflict’s economic dimension and the identity of those fuelling it have been known for many years; yet increased awareness of the problem has not triggered effective action.
Global Witness believes that these failings on the DRC reflect the lack of a coherent and committed international approach to tackling natural resourcefuelled conflicts. Different policies have been tried, with varying degrees of success, but no serious attempt has been made to distil from these experiences a common understanding of the problem and a strategy for dealing with it.
Reviewing these cases, this report finds that the international peace and security system is poorly equipped to deal with the challenges they pose. When considered together, the four key entry points for international action – sanctions, peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding – should offer the basis for effective action.
Global Witness calls on the UN to establish a High Level Panel to draw up a comprehensive strategy for tackling self-financing wars.
They are also making a series of recommendations on how to improve the operational effectiveness of UN bodies and Member States with respect to sanctions,peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.
Information
- Author(s)
- Global Witness
- Date / journal vol no.
- January 2010
