Prospects and Challenges of Peace-building

Abstract

This article is an attempt to understand and analyse the strategies of peace-building by international actors in Sri Lanka. The peace-building approach to conflict resolution was proposed and later developed by the UN to expand the activities of international actors even in ongoing internal conflicts and not merely in post-conflict situations. It looks at the reasons for the rise of internal conflicts in multi-ethnic states. It bases itself on the premise that such conflicts should be resolved by addressing not just the issues of identity and security but also issues such as socio-economic discrimination, scarce resources and denial of equal opportunities for all ethnic groups by the state as these issues have equal potential to prolong internal conflict. However, applying this approach to the Sri Lankan context particularly during the period from 1999 to 2004 has produced mixed results. Domestic politics and economy, the consequences of prolonged internal conflict on the society, the State’s economic and foreign policy, position of donors and interests of different players in the conflict had a bearing on the implementation of this approach.