UNV Kosovo: News Releases

Try to Do no Harm!
By Angela Griep

Years of experiences with development or humanitarian assistance in violent inter-group conflicts show that aid has become part of the conflict situation itself and therefore has its own influence on the tensions between the groups involved. For UN Volunteers to become aware of the impact their work might have on local communities, UN Volunteers in Kosovo organized two workshops on conflict resolution. Two groups of 25 UN Volunteers each from UNMIK and UNDP/UNHCR attended the seminars on 1-2 and 4-5 October 2003 in Ohrid, FYROM.

The “Do no Harm Approach” as it is called, was the basis for the workshops. It originated in 1994 when a group of organizations commissioned the consultancy company ‘Collaborative for Development Action (CDA)’ to do a survey on how development assistance interacts with the conflict itself. Over a period of 6 years CDA conducted 15 field studies involving more than 1000 practitioners of humanitarian and development assistance. A series of feedback workshops followed this first survey in order to put the lessons learned into practice. “’Do no Harm’ is a good tool to help us look at our work in a new way with the aim to improve it”, UNV Florence Karera, Human Resources Officer in the Ministry of Education, commented on the seminar.

The workshop taught the volunteers how to analyze a conflict situation and how to be aware of the detailed impact of assistance projects on local communities. Basis of the lectures is the understanding, that violent conflict is characterized by a number of factors that link people and therefore reduce tensions while others divide them and increase tensions. Participants learn how to identify these so-called connectors and dividers and how to support the first and avoid the latter. “My job involves giving training and services to local staff from different ethnic groups, which is culturally very delicate’, UN Volunteer Jane Muya, Psychiatric Nurse in the Lipjan Correctional Centre explained the importance of the workshop. “The seminar helped me to be more sensitive towards my environment.”

Organizations giving development assistance in a conflict area are dealing with the different parties involved in the situation, so their help can never be neutral. Different factors send implicit messages and thereby evoke an increase or a reduction of tension. These factors can be the way the staff of an organization deals with the local population, the decision where and how to distribute resources, the privileges international staff members might have compared to local staff members etc.. “Doing harm is often the result of pour planning or ignorance towards the effects of aid on communities and individuals”, explained UNV Marsha Lake, Field Program Officer in Gjilane Region after the workshop.

Currently the ‘Do no Harm’ workshops focus on raising the awareness towards the factors, which may have an impact on the conflict itself and on how to plan accordingly. Further survey is under way now on how to actively ease the conflict with development or humanitarian assistance. Violent activities like fighting easily ‘spread’ and ‘escalate’, but up to now nobody knows how to make peace doing the same. The aim is to develop effective incentives to stop fighting or prevent violence.

All participants of the workshops stated that the workshops were of great interest and help for their work. Being the part of the UN that usually works directly with the local communities, UN Volunteers could also be of substantial support to further develop the ‘Do no Harm’ approach by sharing their experience and knowledge about the impact of aid on people’s life.

For more information about this News Release, contact:
Angela Griep, UNV Public Information Officer, Email griep@un.org