Aid in Post-Conflict States: The Relief-Development Relationship by Evelyn Noy B.Eng and M.A. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Deakin University June 7, 2016 Acknowledgments I would like to thank everyone who took part in my research by participating in interviews or providing data; including all the NGO staff, UN agency representatives, donor agency staff, and Sierra Leonean national government officials. Without your participation, this study would not have been possible. I was extremely fortunate to have an excellent supervisory committee that provided very helpful and useful feedback and guidance. In particular, my primary supervisor, Dr. Max Kelly has been a key support and has provided valuable guidance that has kept me on track throughout this process. A big thank you also goes out to my friend and colleague, Ben Corrigan, for providing lots of valuable information and insight, facilitating logistics, helping make field contacts, and generally making my stay in Sierra Leone much more pleasant. During my stay in Sierra Leone, I was able to make two field trips to the Kono and Kailahun districts respectfully. My field visits would not have been possible without the support of Plan International and Coopi. Their generosity in providing transportation, lodging and logical support was greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank my local research assistance, Kaisamba, who helped facilitate access to national government officials and assisted in obtaining national policy documents, and my research assistant in Canada, Anastasia Chebakova, who was of great assistance with editing, referencing and formatting of the final thesis. Thanks also go out to my drivers, Donaldson, Sita and Ali, who between them, always ensured that I got where I needed to go. I would also like to thank Deakin University for providing the International Research Scholarship and Travel Grant in support of Field Research that financially enabled me to undertake this research in Sierra Leone. A big thank you goes out to all my family and friends, who supported me throughout this endeavour and encouraged me along the way. I would especially like to thank my son, Elliot Noy, who I love more than anything in the world, and who fills my heart with happiness. He has been both my biggest source of procrastination and motivation throughout this process, and I dedicate this piece of work to him. i Abstract Protracted civil wars have a profound effect on human development. These negative impacts affect various domains, including economy, health and disability, physical infrastructure, as well as human and social capital. Trends in global conflict data show that the number of intrastate wars has significantly increased over the last half century. Similarly, the data also show that the official development assistance (ODA) allocated to humanitarian aid and post-conflict peace building has risen exponentially since the 1970s, and at an accelerated pace since the 1980s. These factors combined raise the question of how aid can be most effectively implemented in the post-conflict transition from emergency to development assistance. This thesis explores this question in the context of Sierra Leone, a country that suffered from a decade long, brutal civil war, which formally concluded in 2002. Moreover, this thesis explores aid in the post- conflict transition phase across three sectors, namely: water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, and nutrition and food security. In the early 1980s, academic discourse began to explore the idea that relief and development should be mutually reinforcing. Prior to that, the two concepts were considered distinct and unrelated phases of responding to emergencies. Debate on linking relief and development, from diverse perspectives continued until the end of the 1990s. However, in response to increased global concerns with security, academic discourse shifted strongly to a dialogue on aid and security. Relatively little research has continued beyond this timeframe on the links between relief and development, despite a lack of maturation on the discourses surrounding the issues raised. While a significant body of literature exists regarding best practices in aid implementation at each end of the spectrum, namely humanitarian interventions and development work, there is still no existing theory or literature that might guide the delivery of aid in the transition period. Findings from this study show a lack of coherence in the understanding and use of the term transition amongst fieldworkers, which undermines effective discourse and thus reduces understanding of best practices during this timeframe. Several crosscutting definitions of transition did emerge, including: simultaneous relief and development assistance; resettlement activities; activities aimed at overcoming the dependency mentality; specific post-conflict activities, such as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, family reunification, and skills training; and internal shift in the programming of NGOs. Sector-specific analyses showed similarities between the urban WASH sector, health, and the treatment side of nutrition activities. In these sectors, the key transition activity identified involved institution building. Likewise, there were also some similarities found in the usage and characterization of the term development in the rural WASH and the agricultural components of the food security sector. Specifically, in both of these components, the only sector-specific activity that was identified for the transition was that of rehabilitation. Most rehabilitation efforts occur simultaneously with resettlement activities, in an effort to both meet basic needs and allow people to return to productive activities as quickly as possible. A key difference between the sectors lies in their role and reliance on government for service delivery. The urban WASH sector and the health sector, as well as the treatment-side of malnutrition, requires some level of government leadership, oversight, regulation, service provision or coordination. In the post-conflict context, until such time as the government has begun to function and assume these responsibilities, most participants considered the sector to be in a period of transition. In ii contrast, development programming in the fields of rural WASH and small-scale agricultural programming, does not rely on an active or functional government. In fact, interventions in these areas are specifically designed to be sustainable using community- based approaches, regardless of whether they are implemented in a post-conflict environment or not. As a result, these sectors can move towards a development approach to programming much quicker, following resettlement activities. Finally, the findings from this study must be considered as a first step in re- opening the discourse and examining the critical area of transition from relief to development. It is therefore recommended that further research, broadening the scale to diverse contexts and other sectors, be conducted. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... i Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... x Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1. Introduction and Context ........................................................................... 1 1.1. Framing the Research Question .................................................................................... 1 1.2. Civil Conflict and Human Development ...................................................................... 4 Economic Impacts .................................................................................................................. 6 Social Impacts .......................................................................................................................... 7 1.3. Trends in Global Wars and Humanitarian Aid ...................................................... 12 1.2.1 Trends in Humanitarian Aid ...................................................................................................... 15 1.3.1 Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 17 1.4. Background on Case Study: Sierra Leone .............................................................. 18 Overview of a Decade Long Civil War ......................................................................... 21 1.5. Structure of Thesis .......................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 2. Literature Review: The Relief and Development Relationship . 27 2.1. Overview of Chapter ....................................................................................................... 27 2.2. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 27