Institute of Development Studies

Targeting non-conflict armed violence

30 July 2010 - Frieda M'Cormack

Mexico's escalating 'drug war' provides a stark illustration of the scope of non-conflict armed violence (NCAV) which is responsible for the deaths of more than half of the 740,000-plus people who die every year as a result of violence. The total global cost of NCAV is estimated at an annual US$163 billion. Such data vividly illustrates the scale of non-war violence and the importance of developing effective strategies to address the problem.

Non-conflict armed violence: rethinking models of conflict and conflict resolution (pdf) is the latest issue of Horizon, a policy briefing highlighting research on emerging development trends and synthesises policy lessons, produced by IDS Knowledge Services.

This policy briefing looks at:

• What is non-conflict armed violence and what are its drivers?
• What are the implications for development?
• Do traditional approaches, such as security sector reform work?
• Devising more tailored approaches
• Some responses to non-conflict armed violence

Key issues surrounding non-conflict armed violence

In addition to the devastating personal effects related to loss of life, NCAV also significantly affects development outcomes:

• It destroys livelihoods, infrastructure and property. For instance, the violence that erupted in Kenya after the 2007 elections resulted in widespread destruction of infrastructure and property, and affected thousands of tourism-based livelihoods.
• It hampers prospects for human development, undermining investment in human, social and economic capital. Investment in security in Rio de Janeiro is twice that of education, five times that of health and fifty times that of housing.
• It drains government resources by contributing to unproductive expenditures on security services. On average, 10 to 15 percent of developing country Gross Domestic Product is consumed by law enforcement activities.
• Gender-based violence in particular destroys social relations. Urban gangs in Haiti, for example, see violence against women as a main means of terrorisation.
• It endangers political stability: ungoverned spaces breed insecurity (such as pirate activity off the Somali coast) and provide havens for terrorist activity (the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan, for example).

What can be done?

The private, social and economic costs of NCAV demand a response. In this issue of Horizon, Jeremy Lind, a Research Fellow at IDS, highlights the importance of moving away from simplistic notions of the relationship between underdevelopment and violence, and of improving our understanding of how power is claimed and exercised. He also advocates the adoption of a social justice perspective, as well as the need for policy to prioritise violence reduction. Other recommendations include abandoning formulaic donor responses which are frequently criticised for their lack of sustainability; improving disaggregated data on the scale and impact of NCAV; and pursuing a multi-dimensional approach that recognises the cross-cutting impact of armed violence.

Frieda M'Cormack is a thematic convenor with IDS Knowledge Services

Image credit: Teun Voeten / Panos