Employment Promotion in Contexts of Conflict, Fragility and Violence
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Employment Promotion in Contexts of Conflict, Fragility and Violence Opportunities and Challenges for Peacebuilding Published by 02 Crisis areas worldwide Acronyms and Abbreviations AfDB African Development Bank 03 BMZ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development CFV Conflict, fragility and violence CHF Common Humanitarian Fund CIMIC Civil-Military Cooperation CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DCED Donor Committee for Enterprise Development DFID Department for International Development DRC Democratic Republic of Congo ELMA Employment and Labour Market Analysis GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH IDEA Integrated Development of Entrepreneurial Activities IDPs Internally Displaced Persons IEG Independent Evaluation Group IFC International Finance Corporation ILO International Labour Organization IRC International Rescue Committee LEAP Liberian Employment Action Plan M&E Monitoring and Evaluation NGO Non-Governmental Organisation ODA Official Development Assistance OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development PPD Public-Private Dialogue PPP Public-Private Partnership PSD Private Sector Development SEED Sustainable Employment and Economic Development SMEs Small and medium-sized Enterprises SNV Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization USAID United States Agency for International Development VTC Vocational Training Centre WB World Bank WDR World Development Report YOP Youth Opportunity Programme 04 The analysis, results and recommendations in this paper represent the opinion of the author(s) and are not necessarily representative of the position of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) or Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations 03 05 Executive Summary 06 Introduction Engaging in contexts of conflict, fragility and violence 13 1 Promoting employment in fragile contexts 17 1.1 International approach to economic foundations and conflict, fragility and violence 17 1.2 Employment, social cohesion and peacebuilding 17 1.3 Challenges for employment promotion in fragile contexts 18 1.4 German approach to engagement in fragile contexts 19 1.5 German approach to employment promotion in fragile contexts 20 2 Employment promotion in contexts of conflict, fragility and violence: Innovative approaches and findings for development cooperation 23 2.1 Employment promotion in contexts of fragility 23 2.1.1 Weak state legitimacy and capacity 23 2.1.2 Societal fragility, mistrust and structural discrimination 28 2.1.3 Extreme economic and social disparities 34 2.1.4 Youth unemployment and conflict dynamics 38 2.1.5 Organised crime 42 2.2 Employment promotion in contexts of high degrees of insecurity and violence 47 2.3 Employment promotion amidst the consequences of armed conflict and violence 50 2.3.1 Weak physical infrastructure 50 2.3.2 War-affected populations 54 3 Recommendations 61 3.1 Analysis and Project Design 61 3.2 Project Management 62 3.3 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) 63 References 64 Executive Summary 06 Engaging in contexts of conflict, fragility and Promoting employment in fragile contexts violence It is generally assumed that peace and security can Engaging in contexts of conflict, fragility and only be reached if the economic foundations of a violence is highly relevant to development cooper- country allow for a prosperous life of all groups. ation. Over 1.5 billion people live in countries that Employment and sustainable growth present are affected by the consequences of conflict, fragil- key components of economic foundations and, ity and violence. Fragile and conflict-affected states hence, a peaceful development. Unemployment lagged behind in achieving the United Nations Mil- and economic disparities, on the other hand, can lennium Development Goals and fragility is likely contribute to the perception of inequalities and to be the main obstacle to the implementation of injustice and lead to social segregation, frustration the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and marginalisation. The lack of opportunities and (Kaplan, 2015). Directing development cooperation prospects often presents a major driver of conflict, towards resolving conflict, fragility and violence as fragility and violence. Development cooperation well as working according to certain principles in therefore aims for employment promotion in these order not to aggravate the situation and to obtain contexts with both short- and long-term goals, envisaged development objectives are key for en- such as the reduction of acute conflict and violence gagement in fragile states. potential, the rehabilitation and improvement of livelihoods, the inclusion of marginalised groups, This paper presents evidence that links employ- and the reduction of disparities to contribute to ment promotion to conflict, fragility and violence, peaceful development. drawing on literature and practices in the field of employment promotion in these contexts. The Employment refers to all kinds of productive aim of the paper is to reveal the peacebuilding-po- income generating activities including both self- tential of employment promotion in overcoming and wage-employment, whether in the public or fragility and conflict on the one hand working( on private sector or the formal or informal economy. conflict, fragility and violence) and the particular German development cooperation applies an challenges for employment approaches in these integrated approach to employment promotion settings on the other hand (context-sensitivity / which rests on the assumption that the causes of working in conflict, fragility and violence). employment problems do not only stem from deficits in the labour market itself, but also from Fragile contexts can be distinguished by substantial external conditions that influence demand and shortcomings in one or more of the three classic supply. Therefore, employment measures have to dimensions of statehood: monopoly on the use of take into account the supply and demand sides of force, legitimacy, and the delivery of basic govern- the labour market as well as the matching between mental services. Conflict is conceptualised as the them. Unemployment is not considered a root relationship between two or more mutually depend- cause of conflict but rather a reinforcing factor that ent parties where at least one of the parties perceives can contribute to frustration and the marginalisa- this relationship in a negative sense or has interests tion of certain groups of people. German develop- and needs which conflict with those of the other ment cooperation therefore targets the permanent party(-ies). Violence in this paper is understood transformation of economic conditions as well as as the intentional use of physical force or power the creation of opportunities to build up capacity against an individual, a group or a community. and offer alternatives to violence. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Employment promotion in contexts of conflict, Moreover, employment promotion has the po- 07 fragility and violence: Innovative approaches tential to contribute to rebuilding government and findings for development cooperation legitimacy and capacity (working on fragility) by improving the enabling environment for private The following innovative ideas and approaches of sector development. This can be seen as a sign of international and German development cooperation the government’s growing ability to attract busi- have proved promising in generating long-term ness activity hence fostering state legitimacy in the economic opportunities under difficult circumstanc- eyes of entrepreneurs and citizens. Public-private es (working in) and/or in directly addressing the dialogue has proved to be a successful tool not only dimensions of conflict, fragility and violence at stake to develop effective laws and regulations for an en- (working on) . This was achieved by explicitly taking abling business environment, but also to strengthen into account the basic principle of “do no harm”. state legitimacy in the eyes of the private sector. Furthermore, employment promotion can include measures to encourage and guide tripartite dialogue Employment promotion in contexts of fragility between government, employers and employees. An emphasis on local content legislation has become a Weak state legitimacy and capacity means for fragile states’ governments to build their Weak state legitimacy and capacity is one of many own legitimacy. factors that are routinely found to cause, trigger or reinforce fragility. The lack of economic opportu- Societal fragility, mistrust and structural discrimi- nities for job creation is both a cause and a conse- nation quence of weak state legitimacy and capacity. Fragile societies are generally characterised by deep levels of mistrust and frustration. Inflicted losses, The perception of state institutions as illegiti- persistent insecurity, fear of new waves of violence mate seriously restricts the room for manoeuvre and the lack of prospects are likely to severely un- (working in fragility) on any employment promo- dermine people’s confidence in a stable future and tion effort. In the worst-case scenario, when an damage the social capital that is critical for rebuild- illegitimate government