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Violent conflict has killed and displaced more people in Africa than in any other continent in recent decades according to the Commission for Africa. This severely challenges the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in these countries.
Conflicts are also costly. It is estimated that the cost of each conflict almost equals the value of annual development aid world wide. New aid commitments made in 2005 could be cancelled out by an increase in conflict and insecurity in the developing countries. Development and security are intimately related — one cannot be achieved without the other. DFID's approach must be guided by this.
DFID has announced its intention to develop a conflict policy to guide its efforts toward addressing conflict and achieving a more coherent approach. We welcome this initiative as an important step in ensuring that the work DFID does in conflict-prone or conflict-affected countries adds value.
DFID's work in such countries has increased in recent years. This poses new challenges for the way in which DFID delivers development assistance in difficult environments. It is important that DFID has the right tools and that is uses these tools, such as its Strategic Conflict Assessment, systematically and comprehensively. DFID must also ensure it is working coherently with other departments, and in coordination with other donors as well as the state concerned, and its civil society. Because of the high cost of conflict, and because the impacts of conflict continue after the cessation of hostilities, it is important that sufficient resources are directed towards conflict-prone and conflict-affected states. This is a necessary strategy but there are no guarantees of universal success.
The Government has developed ways of working across departments with the Conflict Prevention Pools and the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit. These are positive initiatives. Ways must be found to involve, in a meaningful way, the Department of Trade and Industry. This is especially the case where UK companies are trading in goods in conflict-affected countries. The current system of safeguards has been shown not to work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Government should also, as a matter of urgency, work towards obtaining an internationally agreed definition of conflict resources in the United Nations.
The Committee visited Sierra Leone, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of the lessons common to all three is that conflicts are not always contained within state boundaries. If this fact is ignored, aid given to one country may end up fuelling conflict in a neighbouring country. How a country deals with its neighbours and its role in regional tensions must form part of DFID's consideration about how much and what type of aid is suitable. Such decisions need to be reviewed regularly.
While the link between conflict and development is a relatively new field, the Government must prioritise it in order to improve development outcomes among the poorest. Preventing and ending conflicts will do more to create a climate for poverty reduction than any amount of costly aid programmes.
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