WB: Phl among countries that suffer new forms of conflict, violence

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has been cited by a World Bank report as among the countries in Southeast Asia that suffer not just from “conventional” form of violent conflict but also new forms of conflict and violence, such as organized crime and trafficking, civil unrest due to global shocks, and terrorism.

The global report also encouraged the foreign of peace agreements as to neutralize or stall increased violence.

It likewise said that violent conflicts had a direct correlation to lagging development in emerging markets such as the Philippines.

However, World Bank Country Director Bert Hofman said that a peace agreement was not enough to neutralize violence and conflict.

“It will take more than that (peace accord) to get conflict-affected regions back on track. A political settlement must be backed by stability, security and justice, more inclusive and transparent local governance, job creation and greater engagement of communities in local development processes,” he said.

The World Bank report, known as “World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security and Development,” said that while civil wars are declining in number, new forms of conflict and violence have emerged.

“Organized violence today appears to be spurred by a range of domestic and international stresses, such as youth unemployment, income shocks, tensions among ethnic, religious or social groups, and trafficking networks,” it said.

Unemployment was the most important factor cited for recruitment into gangs and rebel movements. Risks of violence are greater when high stresses combine with weak capacity or lack of legitimacy in key national institutions, as shown by the recent turbulence in the Middle East and North Africa.

In the Philippines, the World Bank report lists the Muslim separatists groups (Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front) as examples of a conventional political conflict within a country, and the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah links with Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao as “local conflicts with transnational ideological connections.”

Other forms of violence noted in the Philippines are: local clan conflicts (local inter-group conflict) and kidnap for ransom, human trafficking, methamphetamine source for East and Southeast Asia (organized crime or trafficking with accompanying violence).

The report adds that “capable, legitimate institutions are crucial” because they are able to mediate the stresses that otherwise lead to repeated waves of violence and instability: more than 90 percent of civil wars in the 2000s occurred in countries that already had a civil war in the previous 30 years.  

The global report also said more than 1.5 billion people in many countries across the globe suffer from various economic, political, and security problems caused by these cycles of violence.

While much of the world has made rapid progress in reducing poverty in the past 60 years, areas characterized by repeated cycles of political and criminal violence are being left far behind, their economic growth compromised and their  human indicators stagnant.

“No low-income fragile or conflict-affected country has yet to achieve a single Millennium Development Goal (MDG),” it pointed out.

In a separate statement, World Bank president Robert Zoellick said that “a civil conflict costs the average developing country roughly 30 years of gross domestic product (GDP) growth, and countries in protracted crisis can fall over 20 percentage points behind in overcoming poverty.”

“Finding effective ways to help societies escape new outbursts or repeated cycles of violence is critical for global security and global development — but doing so requires a fundamental rethinking, including how we manage risk,” Zoellick added.

He further added that developing countries with high levels of conflict and violence must develop “more legitimate, accountable and capable national institutions that provide for citizen security, justice and jobs.”