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austraLasia 1128
 
East Timor - a view from Japan: time for peace-building?
 
TOKYO: 11th May 2005 -- The Japan Times yesterday ran an article which is well-informed and possibly not syndicated elsewhere.  Readers of austraLasia may be interested in a very brief summary of its contents. 
    The immediate issue in East Timor has been the demand for repeal of a law which would have seen the teaching of religion made optional in the schools.  Another issue was lurking not far below - general dissatisfaction with the Government and its leadership and a call for dismissal or resignation of the Prime Minister.  The first of the issues appears to have found a resolution, but Ramesh Thakur, JT columnist, addresses the more general question of what role the UN might still play for a nation which it has only recently assisted to achieve initial stability.
    UN statistics show that half of the countries emerging from conflict slide back into armed violence within five years. East Timor has been a success story for the first part of postconflict relief but has barely begun the more arduous journey to recovery and development.
    In this respect East Timor joins Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq as an example of countries emerging from lengthy conflict with their peoples traumatised, communities divided, economies wrecked, infrastructure gutted and political institutiions stressed.
    In the light of this - and Thakur is senior vice rector of the UN University in Tokyo, so is speaking with knowledge of UN developments - Thakur says that Kofi Annan has endorsed the establishment of a UN Peace-Building Commission (PBC) to identify countries sliding toward collapse, to institute measures to halt the slide and assist in a transition to self-sustaining peace.
    The PBC would be a forum for many actors with the role of formulating and implementing case-specific plans and to monitor and adjust them as needs be.
    But the core work would be to ensure effective support to national authorities, propose priorities that reflect national realities, mobilise resources and consolidate best practice in issues like human rights, gender, demobilisation, disarmament, reintegration and rehabilitation.
    Thakur presented his view of UN peace-building at an April symposium on UN peace-keeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste.  PBC is not yet in place, but it is Thakur's view that conflict management in a situation such as East Timor's is an urgent issue, and that the UN has a role to play. "It would mark a milestone in recognising the importance of engaging with postconflict peace-building", he says "so that efforts at conflict management do not go to waste".
    Recent events in East Timor would suggest that as a UN member state, it has some call on assistance of this kind.
____________________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific.  It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome.  For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml  If you subscribe, email this information and your name will come off the regular email list.
   

List of Articles
No. Category Subject Views
36 ITM 0226_MISSIONARIIES SAFE AND ACTIVE 498
35 ITM 3261_Official launch of Tétun Memoirs of the Oratory 508
34 ITM 0662_ITM: BROTHERS MEET IN SDB COMMUNITY OF TIGARAKSA 508
33 ITM 3168_ITM: Four new priests for Timor 516
32 ITM 1566_Hundreds brave threats of rain, bullets to celebrate the feast of Mary Help of Christians 522
31 ITM 0919_Timor: Several thousand Salesian youth gather round RM for Mission Sunday 523
30 ITM 2671_Changing the baton in EAO: ITM and MYM 524
29 ITM 3023_Dili stands up for peace and prays for forthcoming Elections 527
28 ITM 3178_ITM Provincial Day Comoro, Dili 557
27 ITM 3359_ITM Brothers Encounter 577
26 ITM 3111_ITM Missionary to Ecuador makes perpetual profession, Bogotá 580
25 ITM 1245_ITM clerics' unexpected gift for profession 582
24 ITM 3115_Laga parish conclusion to National Youth Day, Timor Leste 585
23 ITM 3194_Fatumaca, East Timor ITM 587
22 ITM 2810_Don Bosco in Timor Leste 587
21 ITM 0718_EAST TIMOR, INDONESIA CONFRERES IN ROME FOR FINAL VOWS 588
20 ITM 9142_Loke ita neon hare ba futuro: Open your minds to the future! 593
19 ITM 2914_A gift from Our Lady - ITM-Timor-Leste 600
18 ITM 1589_East Timor Watch: one small island helps another 603
17 ITM 3258_A Deacon in Argentina and Two Priests of East Timor 667
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