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Tswalu Protocol
This Protocol articulates a consensus derived from the experience of a
select group of civilian and military professionals, academics, individual
organisations, concerned government departments and heads of state who have
been at the epicentre of peacekeeping and peace-building missions. Recognising
the ad hoc nature of international responses to armed conflict and state
failure, the Protocol proposes a pragmatic and realistic approach to improving
co-ordination of the international community in such missions. Instead of
simply calling for more co-ordination, it offers a set of principles and
practical guidelines for future peace-builders.
The Protocol is a result of a series of meetings and wider
consultations, evaluating the successes and failure of past peace-building
missions from Afghanistan to the Balkans, Somalia to Sierra Leone. It was
convened by the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation in collaboration with
Danida.
The co-chairs and participants in the Tswalu Process that resulted in
this Protocol have noted:
- President Paul Kagame (Rwanda): ‘This Protocol outlines a
strategy for greater success in peace-building which deserves to be read,
debated and hopefully adopted by all interested parties.’
- Vice-President Francisco Santos Calderon (Colombia):
‘Only in this way [through the Tswalu Process] can new light be shed on
the sometimes dark road towards a lasting and sustainable peace.’
- General Carlton W Fulford (USMC rtd): ‘This Protocol will
intensify dialogue, highlight enduring lessons for future efforts, and make way
for more effective and sustainable peace-building activities in the 21st
Century. I commend it to thoughtful leaders and committed peace advocates
around the globe.’
- State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ib Petersen (Denmark):
‘By its comprehensive coverage of past missions, this Protocol clearly
identifies obstacles and pitfalls to be avoided and successes to be replicated.
The Tswalu Process’ recommendations are highly relevant for all those
embarking on peace-building missions.’
- HE Patrick Mazimhaka (African Union): 'The Tswalu Protocol is
the distillation of experiences world-wide in peace-building, bringing peace to
fragile states. It offers a best practice guide in plain language to future
operations, and as such will help future peace-builders avoid the mistakes of
the past. It is essential reading for Africans, the African Union's Peace and
Security Department and others engaged in such operations.’
- General Sir David Richards (British Army): ‘I wish this
excellent piece of work had been available before I deployed to Afghanistan. I
commend it to anyone involved in the leadership of complex peace-building
missions.’
And from others:
- President Dahir Rayale Kahin (Somaliland):
‘Peace-building is a difficult and often a long, home-grown process. The
Tswalu Protocol greatly simplifies this process for both the host governments
and the international community. It offers clear strategic thinking and
operational good sense in proposing a series of guidelines for such
international missions and should be adopted by those interested in peace
through stability and prosperity.'
- Lord Paddy Ashdown (fmr. High Representative for Bosnia and
Herzegovina): ‘I found this Protocol a most useful distillation of what
succeeds which, given our track record of repeated failures in intervention,
will I hope be read by policy makers.’
- Sir Malcolm Rifkind (fmr. UK Foreign Secretary): ‘The
Tswalu Protocol is a splendid initiative which should remind governments as
well as the public that peace and security in Afghanistan and elsewhere will
require a coherent and agreed strategy by all involved as well as cash,
military might and high ideals.’
- Professor Barry Desker (RSIS, Singapore): ‘The Tswalu
Protocol offers a comprehensive overview of what it takes for successful
international responses to peace-building in failed states. It details
realistic steps for states and aid-agencies to improve peace-building
interventions. A must-read for all scholars and practitioners interested in
international peacekeeping and peace-building missions.’
- Dr Tapani Vaahtoranta (Finnish Institute of International
Affairs): ‘Hundreds of years of combined peace-building experience from
throughout the world has been distilled to its essence by the authors of The
Tswalu Protocol - if practitioners and political decision makers take its
wisdom to heart, we will see more successful attempts at peace-building.
Nordics, too, should read it.’
- Professor Mike Clarke (RUSI, London): ‘There are many
weighty volumes on ‘lessons learned’ in peace-building, but only the
Tswalu Protocol offers a concise synthesis of all the most relevant lessons. It
is a distillation of the thinking of some of the world’s most experienced
practitioners in real life, peace-building operations. As such, it represents
the most concise and accessible guide to best practice that has so far been
written.’
- Abdulaziz Sager (Gulf Research Centre): ‘Peace-building
continues to be a subject that is too often neglected but the Tswalu Protocol
offers clear and practical suggestions that should be considered by
policy-makers and specialists world-wide.’
- Professor Hugh White (SDSC, Australian National University):
‘The Tswalu Protocol provides a very sober, balanced and well-informed
guide to the difficult choices required to make peace-building operations work.
It will provide a most valuable guide to action, and a wonderful stimulus for
further research and debate.’
- Dr Shireen M Mazari (Institute for Strategic Studies,
Islamabad): ‘The Tswalu Protocol provides a definitive step forward in
building an international consensual approach towards peace-building and
thereby conflict termination.'
- Lt.-General (Ret) Gebretsadkan Gebretensae (CPRD, Ethiopia):
‘Building peace in countries emerging from conflict is not easy. Often it
is linked with building state capacity; which usually is shattered by the
conflict. It is also not for the faint-hearted. It is time taking and costly,
sometimes dangerous, and fraught with problems, sensitivities and unresolved
agendas. The Tswalu Protocol makes the job of peace-builders easier by
identifying where international action should stop and domestic responsibility
should begin. It should be closely studied by every would-be
peace-builder.’
The Tswalu Protocol is available in:
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