M. Taufiqurrahman
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
A senior United Nations official in Jakarta said on Monday that
\neconomic hardships contributed greatly to the outbreak of a spate
\nof sectarian conflicts in the country, and that the world body
\nhad committed itself to improving the livelihood of those people
\naffected by the conflicts.<\/p>\n
Head of the Office for the Coordination of the Humanitarian
\nAffairs (OCHA) Michael Elmquist said despite a myriad of problems
\nthat had ignited sectarian conflicts in Poso, Central Sulawesi,
\nSambas, West Kalimantan and Maluku, in the end, most of them
\nboiled down to economic problems.<\/p>\n
\"Saying that ethnic or religious affinity is the primary cause
\nof the conflicts is too simplistic an explanation, because the
\nunderlying cause builds up when a certain group are marginalized
\nby the presence of other groups that pose challenges towards its
\ndomination,\" he told a seminar to commemorate the International
\nDay of Peace here.<\/p>\n
Consequently, most of the projects undertaken by the UN and
\nconcerned non-governmental organizations in support of peace-
\nbuilding efforts were aimed at improving the livelihood of the
\nvictims of the conflict, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Simply put, when a village population is busily engaged in a
\nfood-for-work project, they do not have the time nor inclination
\nto start fighting the neighboring village,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Currently, several UN agencies are making efforts to build
\npeace in a number of regions that were ravaged by sectarian
\nconflicts.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is conducting a
\nlarge-scale recovery program for Maluku and North Maluku, which
\ninvolves over 50 individual projects totaling US$12.5 million.<\/p>\n
The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is presently
\nproviding livelihood support to resettle internally displaced
\npersons in North Maluku province, while OCHA is ensuring
\neffective coordination among agencies involved in the peace-
\nbuilding campaign.<\/p>\n
The UN official made a note, however, that building peace in
\nsuch a volatile environment could not be accomplished overnight.<\/p>\n
For example, he said sectarian clashes in Ambon recurred even
\nafter both sides agreed to sign a peace accord, and that this
\npointed to a need to involve the grass roots in the peace
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
After the fall of the Soeharto regime, bloody sectarian
\nconflicts broke out in a number of areas where religious or
\nethnic groups were evenly distributed within the population.<\/p>\n
The sectarian conflict in Maluku has taken its toll with the
\ndeaths of up to 6,000 people and displacing more than 350,000
\nothers. In neighboring Poso, the conflict between Muslims and
\nChristians has killed some 2,000 people.<\/p>\n
\"It is more efficient to start at grassroots level, but be
\npersistent and let the process take the time it needs,\" Elmquist
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/m-taufiqurrahman-1447893297",
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