Policies towards Horizontal Inequalities in Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Abstract

The design of policies towards countries where major conflicts have ended is becoming a major issue in the development agenda, partly because of the numbers of countries where such policy is relevant and partly because their situation tends to be among the most desperate. Today, for example, we have the Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Congo (DRC) nearing the post-conflict stage, adding to the conflicts that ceased with the end of the cold war — such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mozambique, and Angola. As is apparent from this list not all the conflicts have ended completely, and there is always a danger of recurrence.¹ In designing policy, therefore, it is essential to address the main factors that led to the conflict in the first place, as well as the more obvious requirements of demobilization, reconstructing the infrastructure, and re-establishing conditions for economic growth.