Prevention is better than subsequent care – preventing potential violence

Big parts of Kabul are destroyed. © WHHMilitary interventions for improving the humanitarian situation are becoming increasingly frequent throughout the world. This particularly applies to so-called "complex disasters" where, for instance, armed conflicts go hand in hand with hunger disasters and acute violations of human rights. "Statebuilding" or "nationbuilding" processes are frequently combined with military intervention. Accompanying the military intervention an attempt is made to use civilian approaches to restore a functioning state, food security and socioeconomic security for the population.

UN soldiers in the streets of
Bunia, eastern Congo.
© WHHHow successful is military intervention?

However, the success of these statebuilding processes is very ambivalent. For instance, in 1995 the intervention of the United Nations in Somalia ended in a disaster. Not only did the troops fail to secure peace – the intervention triggered new trouble spots which left the country in a worse state than before after troops withdrew. In Afghanistan, too, the attempt to build a stable, safe state through military efforts is currently facing possible failure. 

Vehicle of the ISAF in Kabul.
© KropkeSuccesses and failures of military interventions

At least three out of four missions manage to subdue violence to such an extent that there is no more violence five years after the intervention. However, it is far more seldom that other objectives are achieved through military intervention: the rule of law can only be established in one out of two cases. And an improvement of democratic structures, higher economic growth or better governance services can only be detected after one in three missions.

Preventing violence as a better alternative

A better alternative is to already intervene with civilian means before the outbreak of violent conflicts. In this approach the emphasis is on prevention, because there is a real danger that civilian measures to counter conflicts are only used after military intervention. This instrumentalisation of development aid is particularly critical, because intervention frequently occurs with a doubtful mandate or with no mandate at all, as proved by the examples of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Afghan women working in a
vegetable garden. © KropkeThe concept of "human security"

Back in 1994 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) already pointed out that the striving for security must be based on development not weapons. The term "human security" was coined to describe this interconnection. Human security describes the freedom from fear and want. It refers to individual persons, similarly to the term "human rights". It is based on the premise that all people should be secure from threats, such as hunger, diseases, unemployment, environmental damage, political violence and crime. There are interactions between many of these threats. Accordingly, dealing with one problem without dealing with the other is scarcely possible.

Welthungerhilfe's contribution towards conflict prevention

In this sense the contribution made by Welthungerhilfe in many countries can also be understood as civilian crisis prevention. In particular the commitment for food security, and also for socioeconomic security and the commitment in other areas of human security contribute towards sustainably securing peace, because hunger and poverty are closely related to conflicts and wars. Welthungerhilfe provides help for self-help and hence enables people to deal with the most varied of threats. For this purpose Welthungerhilfe not only implements development measures. It also implements measures at the structural level. In its political work in Germany and Europe it works toward a fundamental change in the global economic system and campaigns for a more just world order.