Development and Cooperation


	Contributions from the Column Monitor USA undermining generic pharma production Germa-Russian President’s Programme extended KfW Bank Group promotes good governance Oil: World Bank and Chad reach agreement Dispute over World Bank malaria programme United Nations: Stalled reforms International peacebuilding efforts inadequate Liberia: UN negotiates timber embargo Aid for more trade 06/2006		Inadequate peacebuilding efforts The international community’s willingness and ability to intervene in armed conflicts and put an end to them has increased in recent years. However, the international community is less successful in – and less committed to – stabilising peace and rebuilding destroyed communities once the fighting has ended. This is the conclusion reached by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) in its recent annual report, which it published in mid-May. The BICC criticised that international efforts to consolidate peace focussed too much on military aspects and neglected civilian tasks. With regard to the scheduled European Union mission in the Congo, the report calls for a comprehensive strategy for the country and its neighbours which, apart from providing for the long-term deployment of troops, should also include civilian components. The BICC hopes that the new UN Commission for Peacebuilding will pay more attention to the critical period directly after a war and help coordinate the engagement of countries and organisations in a crisis region. However, one should not expect too much from the Commission because they have limited funds. More research on the sources of conflict and successes and failures in stabilising post conflict situations is also needed, according to the BICC. (ell)