Building Peace around Water, Land and Food: Policy and Practice for Preventing Conflict
Publisher: Quaker United Nations Office, Geneva
Author(s): Ellie Roberts and Lynn Finnegan
Date: 2013
Topics: Conflict Prevention, Cooperation, Gender, Governance, Land, Livelihoods
Countries: Cambodia, Mozambique, Vietnam
This paper looks at the need to take a conflict prevention approach to natural resource management, outlining relevant international law and considering useful examples of policy and practice that support equitable and peaceful management of water, land and food. It recognises that the development of appropriate policy is an increasingly challenging task due to a multitude of factors – such as resource degradation, changing climates, population growth and violent conflict – that can fuel tensions and exacerbate vulnerabilities around natural resources. This paper highlights the importance of both rights based approaches and peacebuilding approaches in preventing destructive conflict and building peace around natural resources.