States, intergovernmental organizations and other partners need to step up efforts to better integrate natural resource management into post-conflict reintegration programmes, according to a new UN report.
The Role of Natural Resources in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration – Addressing Risks and Seizing Opportunities, launched in New York today, stresses that natural resources – which, in many conflict-affected countries, can be used to fuel and finance armed groups – can also play a major role in bringing about sustainable peace.
The report further suggests that incorporating natural resources into plans for reintegration and recovery can also help to mitigate potential conflicts, such as disputes over land or water.
The report also emphasizes that natural resources, such as minerals, oil, gas and timber, need to be properly managed in order to achieve these goals.
It notes that, despite the opportunities that they present, plans for the fair management and distribution of natural resources are usually excluded from peace negotiations and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes, which have become an integral part of the UN’s post-conflict peace consolidation over the last 20 years.
For example, in northern Uganda – where land is central to one’s economic security – lack of land access remains one of the main barriers to the reintegration of former combatants. [UNEP]
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