Overview
REFLECTIONS FROM ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS: 2011 WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT F E AT U R E 3
Country experiences of confidence-building and transforming institutions for citizen security, justice, and jobs (continued)
Colombia’s restoration of confidence in safe transit Marta Lucía Ramirez de Rincón, Director, Fundación Ciudadanía en Acción; former Senator and Chair of Security Commission, Colombia; former Defense Minister and former Foreign Trade Minister, Colombia; WDR Advisory Council Member (Abbreviated from WDR 2011, chapter 5) The challenge we faced in 2002 was preventing Colombia from becoming a failed state. This meant shielding our citizens from kidnapping and terrorism. It also meant protecting our infrastructure, roads, and democratic institutions against attacks by the guerrillas, the paramilitaries, and drug traffickers. These groups hijacked cars and kidnapped people as they travelled across the country. Since this problem had worsened in the years ahead of the 2002 elections, the government set the restoration of security in roads and highways as a key priority on their agenda. It devised the Meteoro program widely known as, “Live Colombia, travel across it” (“Vive Colombia, Viaja por ella”).
Meteoro aimed at restoring control of the roads and highways across the country back from the illegitimate hand of armed groups that inflicted fear in the population. The government invited the Colombian population to drive their cars and travel across the country without intimidation, while at the same time launching a major military, intelligence, and police operation to protect the roads and ensure the safety of the population. Through this plan, the government sought to give people back their country and to reactivate trade and tourism. Above all, this plan, implemented at the very early stage of the new government, brought about a breakthrough in the restoration of trust and hope in the Colombian society.
Do not confuse speed with haste in political processes Lakhdar Brahimi, former UN Special Representative of the Secretary General to Iraq and Afghanistan; WDR Advisory Council Member (Abbreviated from WDR 2011, chapter 5) It is important not to confuse speed with haste in political processes: too hasty approaches can precipitate the opposite effect from the one we seek to support. The international community’s high hopes for Iraq’s 2005 experiment in proportional electoral democracy produced a contest for power which increased rather than allayed sectarian violence and the constitution hastily produced later is proving difficult to implement. Similarly, the 2009 election in Afghanistan proved to challenge rather than bolster perceptions of institutional legitimacy in the immediate aftermath.
Addressing external stresses and mobilizing international support External stresses, such as the infiltration of organized crime and trafficking networks, spillovers from neighboring conflicts, and economic shocks, are important factors in increasing the risk of violence. In fragile situations, many of these external pressures will
The options are not mutually exclusive—there is great worldwide demand for more inclusive and responsive governance, and elections can be a crucial means to provide this. But their timing requires careful attention. Democratic traditions have developed in most countries over a considerable period. Democratization efforts today, similarly, require attention to historical heritages and existing political cleavages, and must be seen as an ongoing process of social transformation and the development of a broad range of institutions that provide checks and balances rather than an identifiable “event.” Democratization does not start or end with elections.
already be present and the institutions to respond to them are generally weak. If they are not addressed, or if they increase, they can derail efforts at violence prevention and recovery. Far more so than in stable development environments, addressing external stresses therefore needs to be a core part of national strategies and international supporting efforts for violence prevention and recovery.
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