Role of International Institutions in Term Paper

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The education sector with all its capacities for delivering knowledge and training has an important role to play in the rebuilding process. Finally, because education intersects with almost every sector and theme in peace-building, it warrants its own examination of the competencies, skills and resources needed to make the kinds of contributions demanded of it." (Ibid)

Further stated is that "Formal education covers the knowledge, skills and training obtained through primary, secondary and tertiary institutions such as schools, colleges and universities. Non-formal education is generally of a short-term duration and is geared towards upgrading of skills and introducing new knowledge."(Ibid)

In the work entitled: "Overview of Post-Conflict Recovery and Reconstruction: Experiences and Lessons Learnt" it is related that in the early 1980', "Somalia could boast 'the lowest GNP, the lowest physical quality of life index, the lowest per capital public education expenditure, the higher infant mortality per;1,000 births, and the higher per capita military expenditure' (UNDP, 1998; as cited by: Visman, 1998) Somalia has suffered from dysfunction in the social, political and economic areas. European Aid prior to 1991 was provided or allotted but "there appeared to be little coherence in the response of EU Member States to the evolving situation in Somalia..." with the assistance being raised to the amount of $232.5 million in 1987. Increased political dialogue is cited as well as EU engagement because of the lack of a central government in Somalia. The EU then looked to development of new approaches including sustainable economic and social development for the purpose of "linking relief, rehabilitation and development where different types of aid are required simultaneously within the same country and even in the same district." (Visman, 1998)

The EC has learned in its experience that allocation of aid must be conducted within 'Country-specific Frameworks' (Visman, 1998) Mandates must be peaceably negotiated and rewards go to those who best allocate resources and show best performance. Annex 2: Code of Conduct for International Rehabilitation and Development Assistance eto Somalia, 1995 states that Somalia has, in Annex 3: Final Document, Fourth SACB Meeting, Rome 29-30 May 1997 'three main objectives' that service as guidelines for the strategy to be used by the international aid community relating to humanitarian, rehabilitation and development assistance which are those of:

1) Help prevent the re-occurrence of a massive humanitarian disaster;

2) Assist Somali-led initiatives for good governance and socio-economic recovery at local level; and 3) Contribute to peace and political stability at both local and national levels."

Visman (1998) writes in relation to Education in countries who are in the 'post-conflict' period and that are willing to invest in their own future through social, governance, and economic development should be targeted: "especially at post-primary education, aimed at building conditions for reform to succeed. The motivation for their recommendation is the empirical observation that countries with a higher proportion of their people having attained a secondary school education are more likely to sustain reforms." The statement of Visman (1998) that is most revealing is in the next sentence which states: They estimate that:

raising the proportion of secondary education graduates in a typical "fragile" country by 1 percentage point represents and expected benefits of the order of $10 billion."

This statement alone supports higher education support and development in 'fragile' countries. Visman goes on to state: "...the question then is how much does it cost to raise the proportion of the population with post-primary education.

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Visman (1998) next notes that Chauvet and Collier have highlighted "higher education as a factor conducive o successful implementation of reforms, other necessary sectors can be cited as well - notably, improving access to health care, including access to anti-retroviral drugs for long-term treatment of HIV-positive population; investment in basic public infrastructure linking rural areas to urban markets more efficiently; and strengthening law and order and the judiciary. Unfortunately, benchmarks are not available as to the expected benefits of investing in these areas. Ideally, the level of overall assistance preparatory to reforms should be fixed at a level where it is just equal to the expected aggregate benefits." (Visman, 1998)

Rose (2006) states that: "Organizational capacity relates to the ability of educational organizations to deliver on their mandates. This capacity may be constrained by inadequate human resources and financial systems, poor management, inadequate systems and processes for decision making and inadequate information gathering and analytical capacity, all of which are likely to be particularly week in fragile states." Rose states as well that: "the institutional context embodies the 'rules of the game' that shape the way individuals and organizations act and behave. Informal and formal institutions and the incentives they create can influence fragility, and possibilities to deliver education in such contexts. In the formal sphere, key institutional areas for ministries of education and schools include the state, market and community." (2006) Rose states that while the "focus of education provision might vary depending on the extent of local and national willingness and capacity" the different roles that education is needed to fill is in the contexts as follows:

1) Education as prevention;

2) Education as protection; and 3) Education for peace-building." (2006)

Rose (2006) states that the goals set by the MDG and EFA "place emphasis on basic education, attention to post-basic education is likely to be crucial in fragile states - both to mitigate risks of fragility through attention to disaffected youth, and to promote turnaround through support to higher levels of education for capacity development. Based on cross-country analysis, secondary education has been found to be associated with increased prospects of state willingness to adopt policy reforms." (Rose, 2006)

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

It is clear that the post-conflict development of the fragile countries such as Somalia and Somaliland must be addressed in ways that have the capacity to build the country's capacity to match its will. The roles of education in these countries must be prevention, protection and in support of the peace-building process. Education of tomorrow's professionals must be held as critically important by those in the rebuilding and rehabilitation process of the fragile country. It is noted in this research that the development of education might be different from one area or region to another but that it would still adhere to the principles of human rights. Educational initiatives are according to the state, market and community in terms of their development and implementation under the European Commissions guidelines. The statement of Visman: "...raising the proportion of secondary education graduates in a typical "fragile" country by 1 percentage point represents and expected benefits of the order of $10 billion." is very good evidence at the positive effect that education development has upon a country and particularly as compared to the 'lowest GNP' country that Somalia represented prior to the trouble in the.....

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