"Whole of Government" Meets "Whole of Society"

April 30, 2012

Where does "Whole of Government" meet "Whole of Society"?

Challenges in Afghanistan and Iraq, Somalia and Colombia lead top US military and political leaders to call for a "whole of government" approach to security including strengthened civilian capacities and civil-military cooperation. But civil society perspectives on what is driving and mitigating conflict are often left out of important policy discussions. A "whole of society" approach would include the interests and perspectives of diverse and independent sectors of civil society.

3P Human Security regularly teaches at West Point Military Academy, Quantico Marine Center, US Army War College and elsewhere to train military personnel on how to relate to an independent civil society that can best contribute to long-term human security when not forced or pressured to integrate with short-term national interests or counterinsurgency plans.In a new US army book Conflict Management and Whole of Government, 3P's chapter From Whole of Government to Whole of Society takes a look at how to walk the line of communicating with governments and military forces while maintaining independence to ensure civil society safety and access in challenging conflict-affected regions.

Aid Effectivness in Fragile States - Civil Society

April 20, 2012

World Bank Discusses Aid Effectiveness in Fragile States with Civil Society 

3P Human Security, the Alliance for Peacebuilding, and other members of an InterAction sub-working group on issues of aid effectiveness in conflict-affected and fragile states helped organize a panel discussion about the implementation of New Deal principles at the three-day Civil Society Policy Forum, part of the World Bank and IMF 2012 Spring Meetings. The meeting follows the global buzz generated when 35 donor and recipient countries (including the United States) signed the New Deal in Busan at the end of 2011.  The panel included government representatives from self-described "fragile states" (called the g7+), civil society representatives from the global South, and the coordinator of the North-South inter-governmental dialogue process (called the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding which produced the New Deal).

The New Deal and the long-term global dialogue that made it become a reality is significant because it signals the broadest consensus ever reached between donor and recipient nations about how international aid to conflict-affected and fragile states must be done in a way that fosters more sustainable and inclusive development outcomes and inclusive state-society relations in parts of the world where cycles of war and poverty are most severe. 3P Human Security and peacebuilders around the world hope the principles of the New Deal will become a core pillar of whatever global development framework emerges after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015.