GPPi fellow contributes to expert hearing on peace building at German parliament
On 25 June 2012, GPPi Fellow Philipp Rotmann contributed to a public expert hearing in the German Bundestag’s Subcommittee on Civilian Crisis Prevention and Networked Security. The hearing was held to discuss “German activities in the UN Security Council with particular emphasis on peace building and capacity building, including UN activities on children in armed conflict.”
Rotmann focused his remarks on a preliminary assessment of Germany’s current term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, which began on 1 January 2011 and ends on 31 December 2012. He characterized the current policy debate on peacebuilding as a period of critical reflection about the effectiveness of the peacebuilding toolkit, but also as a time of important conceptual debates, as indicated by the World Development Report 2011 and the UN’s ongoing strategizing on “early peacebuilding.” He argued that effectively strengthening peacebuilding at the UN level requires strategic initiative, not just following the mainstream.
He went on to assess the German contribution after 18 months of its 24-month term with regard to this benchmark. Some of Germany’s self-identified priorities for its Security Council membership relate directly to crucial peacebuilding processes in particular countries, such as the government’s successful public and behind-the-scenes engagement on Afghanistan and the Al Qaeda/Taliban sanctions regimes. At the same time, he observed that the broader conceptual or practical promotion of peacebuilding, peacekeeping or conflict prevention has not been a German priority so far. With the notable and important exception of the government’s systematic engagement in support of professionalizing civilian capacities for peacebuilding, including through the Center for International Peace Operations (Zentrum für Internationale Friedenseinsätze, ZIF), most of the government’s contributions have been piecemeal rather than strategic, even though every small project and every little contribution to peacekeeping operations is worthwhile in itself.
Rotmann proposed an in-depth, independent evaluation of German contributions to UN peacebuilding as a basis for a strategic decision on which instruments may benefit most from increased engagement and support. The field of police, justice and security sector reform may be one of the most promising candidates for such engagement. UN policing, in particular, is a field in which the government is currently pursuing a more active and very promising role, he observed.
The committee also heard from Ina Lepel (from the federal government) as well as Wibke Hansen (ZIF), Paul Mikov (World Vision International) and Frank Mischko (Kindernothilfe). After the presentations, a lively discussion ensued that covered a wide range of issues, among them the relationship between the Responsibility to Protect and the UN’s mandates to protect civilians; the effectiveness of sanctions; the role of the Peacebuilding Commission; and the state of practice in institution building.