A Peace of Timbuktu: Democratic Governance, Development And
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UNIDIR/98/2 UNIDIR United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Geneva A Peace of Timbuktu Democratic Governance, Development and African Peacemaking by Robin-Edward Poulton and Ibrahim ag Youssouf UNITED NATIONS New York and Geneva, 1998 NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. * * * The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Secretariat. UNIDIR/98/2 UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. GV.E.98.0.3 ISBN 92-9045-125-4 UNIDIR United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research UNIDIR is an autonomous institution within the framework of the United Nations. It was established in 1980 by the General Assembly for the purpose of undertaking independent research on disarmament and related problems, particularly international security issues. The work of the Institute aims at: 1. Providing the international community with more diversified and complete data on problems relating to international security, the armaments race, and disarmament in all fields, particularly in the nuclear field, so as to facilitate progress, through negotiations, towards greater security for all States and towards the economic and social development of all peoples; 2. Promoting informed participation by all States in disarmament efforts; 3. Assisting ongoing negotiations in disarmament and continuing efforts to ensure greater international security at a progressively lower level of armaments, particularly nuclear armaments, by means of objective and factual studies and analyses; 4. Carrying out more in-depth, forward-looking, and long-term research on disarmament, so as to provide a general insight into the problems involved, and stimulating new initiatives for new negotiations. The contents of UNIDIR publications are the responsibility of the authors and not of UNIDIR. Although UNIDIR takes no position on the views and conclusions expressed by the authors of its research reports, it does assume responsibility for determining whether they merit publication. UNIDIR Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10 Tel. (41.22) 917.31.86/42.92 Fax (41.22) 917.01.76 http://www.unog.ch/unidir iii iv About the authors Robin-Edward Poulton received his history MA at St Andrews, economics MSc at Oxford (via Freetown) and his doctorate at the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. After 17 years working with civil society in West Africa, he is currently Senior Research Fellow at UNIDIR. Ibrahim ag Youssouf is a leading member of Malian civil society and a consultant with UNDP, Bamako. His doctoral studies in African linguistics and history were carried out in Indiana, and he is adviser to a number of NGOs and bilateral agencies working in West Africa. Table of Contents Page Preface by the Secretary-General .............................. vii Acknowledgements ...........................................ix Executive Summary ..........................................xi Chapter 1 Mali’s History and Natural Environment ................. 1 1.1 The Peoples of Mali and Their History .................. 1 1.2 The Natural Environment............................. 8 1.3 The Republic of Mali and the Crisis in the North ......... 11 1.4 Social Capital and the Value of Women ................ 15 Chapter 2 The Buildup to the Crisis in Northern Mali .............. 23 2.1 How Centralized Government Marginalized the North..... 23 2.2 Drought Hits the Sahel: 1965-1990 .................... 32 2.3 Social and Political Consequences of Drought ........... 39 2.4 Economic and Environmental Consequences of Drought . 44 Chapter 3 The Armed Revolt 1990-1997 ............................ 55 3.1 1990: The Revolt of Young ishumar Against the nomenklatura ........................... 55 3.2 1991: The End of Dictatorship and Mali’s National Conference.......................... 59 3.3 1992: Transition, Elections and Negotiations ............ 64 3.4 1993: Hopes of Lasting Peace ........................ 68 3.5 1994: Violence Breeds Violence, and Ganda Koy ......... 69 3.6 1995: Peacemaking through Civil Society ............... 75 3.7 1996-1997: Peace-building Begins .................... 77 v vi A Peace of Timbuktu Chapter 4 Peacemaking and the Process of Disarmament ........... 85 4.1 Building Civilian-military Bridges in a Democracy ....... 86 4.2 Mediators Official and Unofficial ..................... 93 4.3 The Commissariat au Nord and the Decentralization of Governance ...................... 101 4.4 Making Space for Civil Society ...................... 104 4.5 Half a Hundred Community Meetings ................. 109 4.6 The Cantonment Policy............................ 115 4.7 The Flame of Peace ............................... 120 4.8 The Re-integration of Ex-combatants ................. 123 Chapter 5 The International Community as a Catalyzer for Peace . 135 5.1 United Nations Projects and Non-governmental Actions . 135 5.2 UNHCR and Refugees............................. 144 5.3 United Nations Missions on Micro-disarmament ........ 151 5.4 A Political Adviser Arrives within UNDP .............. 155 5.5 Coordinating Donor Responses: United Nations, Swiss, US and NGO Efforts ............ 157 5.6 The United Nations Trust Fund for the North ........... 161 5.7 Leading the United Nations Family................... 165 Chapter 6 Ensuring Continued Peace and Development in Mali ... 175 6.1 Democratic Governance: Limiting Abuse and Empowering Civil Society ...................... 175 6.2 Democratic Governance and a Fundamental Rethinking of Education ................. 179 6.3 Rewriting Africa’s History and Its Traditions of Conflict Resolution.................. 182 6.4 Water and Land: Winning the Peace by Avoiding Conflict 188 6.5 Strengthening the Forces of Order .................... 191 6.6 Donors, NGOs and Civil Society ..................... 196 6.7 Getting Northern Mali Back to Work ................. 200 Table of Contents vii Chapter 7 The Flame of Peace Burns New Paths for the United Nations .................................. 209 7.1 The United Nations as a Partner for the Malian Government 209 7.2 The Tricky Issue of Sovereignty and United Nations Interference ..................... 211 7.3 Uniting the United Nations Family and Civil Society in the Field........................ 216 7.4 UNDP Partnership with the Political Secretariat ......... 220 7.5 United Nations Development Leadership and “Security First”............................... 222 7.6 Regional Integration Means Managing Shared Frontiers . 225 7.7 A Moratorium on Small Arms: Towards a Shared Democratic Space.................. 227 7.8 United Nations Support for African Democratic Traditions and the Media........................... 230 7.9 UNHCR and UNICEF in Relief and Reconciliation ...... 237 7.10 Creating a United Nations Development Partnership with Civil Society....................... 239 ANNEXES ............................................... 245 1. Map of Community Meetings.............................. 247 2. Key Texts............................................. 251 2.1 National Pact .................................... 251 2.2 A Code of Conduct for Civil-Military Relations ......... 273 2.3 Text of the Certificate at the Timbuktu Flame of Peace . 279 2.4 Speech of the Representative of MFUA and MPMGK .... 281 2.5 Amnesty Law.................................... 285 2.6 Note on a Regional Moratorium on Small Arms......... 287 3. List of Projects Which are Supposed to Contribute to Peace and Development in Northern Mali ......................... 293 viii A Peace of Timbuktu 4. Civil Society and the Social Economy: How to Make Them Stronger303 4.1 Creating a New Partnership between UNDP and Civil Society: Letter From CAPSDH to UNDP Administrator, Mr James Gustave Speth ........................... 305 4.2 Community Capital Funds, and the Creation of Self-sustaining Development Institutions .............. 310 4.3 Alternative Mechanisms for Funding the Organs of the Social Economy: The RAFAD Model .............. 313 4.4 Building Human Capacity and Developing Professional Training Throughout the Economy: The Philanthra Model . 317 5. Succinct Bibliography ................................... 321 6. Index of Special Terms, Abbreviations and Institutions .......... 343 with photographs by the authors and peace drawings by the children of Mali UNIDIR Publications........................................ 361 List of Illustrations Tables Chapter 1 1.1 Key Dates in Malian History.......................... 5 1.2 12 Key Dates since Mali’s Independence ............... 14 Chapter 2 2.1 Precipitation in Northern Mali for Selected Years......... 38 2.2 Livestock Distribution: Estimates for Mali 1990 .......... 47 Chapter 4 4.1 Numbers in the Cantonments at 5 January 1996 ......... 118 4.2 Numbers Integrated into the Public Services............ 119 PAREM Overview of the Programme ........................ 127 Breakdown of Projects by Sector of Activity (20.09.97) . 127 Chapter 5 5.1 United Nations Ongoing Projects in Northern Mali ...... 137 5.2 The Refugees still in Exile .......................... 146 5.3 Income to the UN Trust Fund to Support the Peace Process in North Mali ........................ 163 5.4 Expenditures from the UN Trust Fund................. 164 Maps