Slow Steps Towards Peace

There's an interesting story in this morning's Washington Post about why some Hutus are returning to Rwanda after long years in Congo fighting or just trying to survive. The current government is promoting this re-integration process and has, in addition, undertaken a host of efforts to prompt reconciliation between the former enemies.

There are many strategies that countries can adopt to try to reconcile people in the aftermath of a conflict: war crimes tribunals, peace and reconciliation commissions, and local court proceedings are just a few ways.

There is another reconciliation strategy that is less legalistic but may be quite effective. Whether in craft cooperatives like those that Indego Africa works with or in coffee cooperatives around Rwanda, it seems that when former enemies work together to accomplish a shared goal (making a better living), the emotional and psychological distance between them shrinks. People who experience more economic satisfaction may feel a greater willingness to interact with, share with, be with others. In other words, they may have a greater willingness to reconcile. Here's some work I've done on this topic in the past. 

Last summer (2008) Jutta Tobias and I -- along with 10 students from the National University of Rwanda in Butare -- conducted a survey of over 200 coffee farmers to see if we could better understand if and how working together was helping Hutu and Tutsi farmers experience some informal reconciliation. The results were very encouraging AND suggestive for policy makers: in post-conflict environments, policies that make it as easy as possible for people to do business with each other should be an integral part of rebuilding, peace-making efforts.

The women at Indego Africa's partner Ntibizongere, a cooperative located in Kayonza, Rwanda, focus on unity and reconciliation through economic development.