A WORLD Bank Development report has revealed that cycles of violence are preventing many developing countries from improving the livelihoods of their citizenS. The World Development Report 2011 was titled: Conflict, Security and Development. It was released on April 10. It said unemployment and other economic tensions created a cycle of violence in many countries in the region with weak institutions. If we are to break the cycles of violence and lessen the stresses that drive them, countries must develop more legitimate, accountable and capable national institutions that provide for citizen security, justice and jobs, said the World Banks President, Robert Zoellick.The report noted that while the civil conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of people across Central America in the second half of the 20th century have ended, they have left legacies of violence and weak institutions that hitherto failed to curb organised crime on which much of the rise in violence is blamed.Zoellick, in his foreword to the report noted, if we are to break the cycles of violence and lessen the stresses that drive them, countries must develop more legitimate, accountable, and capable national institutions that provide for citizen security, justice, and jobs.Where states, markets, and social institutions fail to provide basic security, justice, and economic opportunities for citizens, conflict can escalate. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice, or when communities have lost social cohesion, when security, justice, and employment stresses meet weak institutions, the result is the likelihood of violent conflict increases, which has enormous impact on national development, he pointed out.Indirect costs, associated with stress and trauma, time off work due to violent incidents and lower productivity from injury or mental illness, far overshadow direct costs, said the report. When other indirect costs are added, such as those for policing, health care, private security, and reduced investment, the figures are even more staggering.Other recommendations included job creation schemes, access to finance to bring producers and markets together; and expansion of access to assets, skills, work experience and finance, women empowerment, and focused anti-corruption actions that draw on external and community capacity for monitoring.The report also recommended support for community-based programmes to prevent violence, creation of employment and service delivery, providing access to local justice and dispute resolution systems in insecure areas, transformation of security and justice institutions to focus on basic functions, as well as, recognition of the linkages among policing, civilian justice, and public finances.
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