The EU's Response to Conflict Affected Countries: Operational Guidance for the Implementation of the Cotonou Agreement

Over the past decade, political instability, crisis and protracted conflicts have been on the rise among the ACP countries and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The human cost of these conflicts has been extremely high. Several countries seem trapped in a vicious circle of war, chronic instability, insecurity, human rights violations, economic and social collapse, and rising poverty. Most of the conflicts have had major regional dimensions, thus amplifying the effects of the crisis situations to a substantial part of the continent.

The proliferation of conflicts is facing the international donor community with major political and development challenges. Yet traditional cooperation strategies, approaches and instruments are ill-suited to effectively addressing the wide range of needs in crisis-ridden and conflict-affected countries, including:

• eliminating pervasive poverty;
• peace-building and stability;
• demobilisation;
• reconstructing the legitimacy of the state;
• capacity-strengthening;
• local economic development, etc.