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Strengthening Peace-Building Through Health Promotion
Development of a Framework
A
NNEW. B
UNDE-B
IROUSTE ANDJ
ANE. R
ITCHIEThe concept of health itself has been considered an entry point for working to improve the determinants of well-being in a society, and decrease areas of vulnerability in pre-conflict states.
(The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, 2000).
In September 2003, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) provided support to a team based at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine (SPHCM) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia to explore how health sector and health promotion action might effectively contribute to peace building. This chapter will provide the rationale for this work and describe how a tool was developed that would assist those working in fragile settings to consider their work in relation to promoting peace, such that they could incorporate peace-building principles into their efforts (Zwi, Bunde-Birouste, Grove, Waller & Ritche, 2006). It will conclude with a short discussion on the results of the tool’s field pilot testing in regards to the effectiveness debate in health promotion.
Setting the Scene for Health Promotion and Peace-Building
The Ottawa Charter clearly recognizes the link between health promotion and peace building in recognizing peace as a determinant to health (Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986). At the same time, in the realm of peace-building work, optimising health is considered a means to contribute to peace building (MacQueen, & Santa Barbara, 2000). In the sense of reciprocal determinism, health then becomes a determinant for peace building or, in other words, peace ultimately becomes an outcome of health promotion action.
But what does this mean exactly, and how can we know if indeed our work is effective in contributing to building a peaceful environment? How can we design and implement our programs in fragile and vulnerable communities so that they will have a maximum chance of contributing to building peace rather than risking exacerbation of tensions?
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These questions provided the basis for the UNSW Health and Conflict team’s work as we undertook to design a framework that could provide a foundation to guide health sector contributions to peace building through health initiatives in fragile settings (UNSW Health and Conflict Project, 2004).
Attempting to Measure Peace-Building Impact
It is quite clear that the challenge of measuring the impact of health promotion on peace-building will be as difficult and nebulous as that experienced in measuring any worthwhile health promotion practice. This challenge results primarily because worthwhile health promotion should meet the complexity of criteria as succinctly compiled by IUHPE (1999) and reiterated and reinforced by McQueen (2001), with measurement of this complexity therefore needing to be drawn from multiple sources of evidence (McQueen, 2002, 2003; McQueen & Anderson, 2001).
This complexity means that it is virtually impossible to identify any one factor as the direct cause or determinant of peace. Rather, we propose that it can be feasible to determine indicators of peace-building by identifying factors which act as markers towards a peace-building outcome. These indicators will more likely demonstrate a trend in the favored direction rather than a definitive causal pathway, yet this demonstrated change can be highly indicative of desired results (Zwi, Bunde-Birouste, Grove, Waller & Ritchie, 2006).
Health in Fragile Settings: From Exploration to a Framework
Health development work in fragile settings involves different approaches from that provided in more stable situations. Fragile communities or states are those where resources are strained or lacking, services are sporadic or failing, and communities have become fragmented (Bunde-Birouste, Zwi et al., 2004). The overall result of these weaknesses is that society tends to break down. Conflicts often result during this societal breakdown, which can occur at multiple levels – political, economic, social, cultural, ethnic, religious, resource-based etc – and can often involve multi- ple actors with different agendas. Although conflict is not necessarily negative or destructive, problems can arise when non-violent conflict becomes violent. Violent conflicts and war are often the results of social breakdown that may have been building over time (Darvill, 2004; Gutlove & Thompson, 2003; Human Security Center, 2005; Zwi & Grove, 2006).
Our research supports previous studies suggesting that impacts of violence can
be addressed through health sector action generally and health promotion prac-
tice specifically, with some positive effects. Our research also strongly supports
the caution that the best intentioned actions can harm or make things worse rather
than better when attention has not been given to a series of criteria that we found
needed to be considered. Care here must be the very essence of our actions
(Anderson, 1999; The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, 2000).
The learning on health and peace-building that has occurred in the past two decades has drawn in particular from a critical analysis of the human security, emergency and health, and peace building literature. In reviewing the context of relief and development work in post-conflict settings, we discovered numerous frameworks of assessment proposed as integral steps for effective aid interventions in conflict-prone societies (Anderson, 1999; Bush, 1998 & 2003; Gaigals &
Leonhardt, 2001; MacQueen & Santa Barbara, 2000; Silove, 2000a). Conflict- impact assessments and conflict sensitivity tools of various sorts have become increasingly popular with international donor agencies; conflict vulnerability assess- ments have aimed to identify the risks and drivers of violence. We found that few of these explicitly addressed health or health sector work as part of their analysis (Bunde-Birouste, Eisenbruch, Grove, Humphrey, Silove, Waller, Zwi, 2004; UNSW Health and Conflict Project, 2004). As such, the extent to which health initiatives consistently and consciously include the necessary elements which facilitate a poten- tial contribution to preventing violent conflict or promoting peace-building in post- conflict settings, remained elusive. Our hypothesis was that combining a conflict impact analysis assessment with a health assessment could generate a more informed understanding of how health initiatives could be designed and/or monitored to enhance their input to contribute effectively to peace-building. This learning has provided the basis for the development of the tool which we have termed the Health and Peace-building Filter.
Development of the Framework
Fundamental Concepts
The team’s objective was “to develop an innovative tool that would provide for rapid assessment of the peace-building/conflict prevention components of health initiatives in precarious, unstable settings.” An ideal Filter would be multi-purpose allowing:
i. monitoring/assessment of the conflict prevention/peace building potential of existing health service and health promotion activities;
ii. program conception guidance to ensure that new programs are developed with peace-building elements included.
Our early research also resulted in identifying impacts of violence specifically related to health, and how they could be addressed by health sector and health pro- motion action. These preliminary findings highlighted recurring “human rights”
concepts that figure as essential underlying principles to peace-building and conflict resolution (UNSW Health and Conflict Project, 2004). We initially classified these into thirteen points, however for the tool to be effective, it needed to be manageable.
These 13 elements were thus consolidated into a more succinct grouping of five
broad categories which included sub-components that reflected the thirteen original
principles. See Box 15.1 for a list of the 13 original principles.
The next step in the framework development process required validation of these concepts (Zheng, 2000).
A questionnaire for this purpose was developed with support from qualitative research experts in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.
Respondents were asked to provide their own definition of the five concepts, to rank them in order of importance, and to reflect on a variety of sub-components that they considered essential and related to each concept. The questionnaire was distributed to a reference group of 66 recommended experts in April 2005.
Responses were consolidated into a form that could allow those planning, imple- menting, overseeing or evaluating programs or projects in fragile societies to check and reflect on the extent to which they had considered the peace-building concepts in their work. This became the first version of the Filter.
Preliminary Trials of Draft Tool and Further Validation of Concepts
The early version of the Filter contained a number of indicators for each guiding principle. The indicators were designed to provide specific health-related points of action for the principles which are generic in the sense that they can be interpreted across a number of disciplines. In essence they are fundamental principles of humanitarian behaviour.
The validation and refinement of the actual draft Filter was carried out in a variety of settings:
a) an international workshop b) two key informant interviews c) international field research.
B
OX15.1. Original 13 peace-building principles 1. Conflict Management
2. Trust 3. Non-violence 4. Cultural competence 5. Equity
6. Non-discrimination 7. Human rights 8. Social justice 9. Social cohesion 10. Psycho-social 11. Transparency 12. Good governance
13. Capacity building and community empowerment
The consolidation and validation process resulted in a framework with the fol- lowing five focused areas: cultural sensitivity, conflict sensitivity, social justice, social cohesion and good governance. The essential meanings of these five domains, as they could be applied in fragile and vulnerable situations, are sum- marized in the words of the Filter’s Companion Manual, as follows:
Cultural Sensitivity
A culturally sensitive approach recognises and respects cultural diversity, and demonstrates awareness of the range of beliefs, customs, rituals, and religious practices of groups and communities. Cultural sensitivity is particularly important in areas where conflict has been about political independence, self-determination, the maintenance of particular cultures and traditions.
Conflict Sensitivity
A number of factors may influence the occurrence of violent confrontation: these include ethnic, religious or other disputes over resources and their distribution in society. Knowing different reasons for tensions and understanding how they play out in the community is important when considering intervention options, and the implications of acting, or not acting, in a particular way, with particular partners, at a particular point in time.
Social Justice
In the context of this work, social justice includes promoting human rights, respond- ing to inequalities in the determinants of health and in access to services, and oppos- ing discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, political affiliation and other social or economic characteristics. Health promotion programs have the oppor- tunity to promote social justice, human rights, and dignity by respecting community members, responding to inequalities and discrimination. This issue is perhaps one of the trickiest due to its complexity.
Social Cohesion
Social cohesion reflects the quality of social relationships, mutual obligations and respect within communities and the wider society. At a societal level, violent conflict disrupts social networks and destabilises the political, social and economic life of a community. Considering how the tensions might have harmed relationships and understanding what could help repair them will contribute to the development of more responsive community and health services.
Good Governance
Governance refers to the processes and means through which groups and organ-
izations manage their resources and run their programs. Good governance in the
health and social sector involves ensuring sound approaches to project design
and implementation. Good governance includes a number of characteristics such as transparency, accountability, opportunities for community participation, contributing to building capacity, and ensuring cooperation and coordination with other stakeholders, with other sectors, equitable distribution of services and information, and effective mechanisms of accountability (Zwi, Bunde-Birouste, Grove, Waller & Ritchie, 2006). An example of each indicator in a health-related context is presented in Table 15.1.
The tool gained the name “Health and Peace-building Filter” (Filter) as the original scope requested by the funding agency was to design a framework to mon- itor and assess the peace-building potential or elements of a program. Although the trials of the Filter has indicated a much wider potential application for the tool, the name has been retained, given that it provides as its initial emphasis that it is not a recipe for a way of functioning, but more a screen through which to view one’s proposed or actual work.
Learning from the Field
The final phase of the Filter’s development entailed application of the framework in three countries which have recently experienced severe conflict situations:
Sri Lanka, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. The field trials provided the oppor- tunity to validate the pertinence of the concepts upon which the Filter was founded, and provided important learning about its use as a tool. Some illustrations follow.
Assessing Cultural Sensitivity
Cultural sensitivity includes sensitivity to context-specific concepts, even when they may clash with alternative viewpoints. In order to contribute to peace building and minimize harm, decisions about language and importing “foreign T
ABLE15.1. Examples of indicators within Health and Peace-Building Filter core concepts
Cultural sensitivity • integrate traditional, local and western interventions for health andcommunity development;
• modifying clinic hours to respect local needs and practices
Conflict sensitivity • training to assist staff to deal with issues related to the armed conflict
• building trust is important when attempting to bring communities together for service delivery
Social justice • assuring equity of access to services with particular attention to the most vulnerable in the community;
• particular attention to engaging women in all phases of project activity Social cohesion • health programs offer an avenue to repair fractured social relations
and build new ones by proposing mechanisms for dialogue and joint activities
Good governance • purposeful involvement of range of community members
• base action on agreed priorities to avoid suspicion concerning collusion or corruption