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198 8 Peace­ build­ ing, Com­ mu­ nity De­ vel­ op­ ment, and Rec­ on­ cil­ i­ a­ tion in North­ ern Ire­ land The Role of the Bel­ fast Agree­ ment and the Im­ pli­ ca­ tions for Ex­ ter­ nal Eco­ nomic Aid O lga Skar­ lato, Eyob Fis­ suh, Sean Byrne, Peter Ka­ rari, and Kaw­ ser Ahmed Peace­ build­ ing” is a term that in­ cor­ po­ rates a num­ ber of var­ i­ ous in­ itia­ tives and ap­ proaches, in­ clud­ ing re­ duc­ ing vi­ o­ lence, con­ duct­ ing peace­ keep­ ing op­ er­ a­ tions, and pro­ mot­ ing ca­ pac­ ity build­ ing and rec­ on­ cil­ i­ a­ tion, con­ flict trans­ for­ ma­ tion, and hu­ man­ i­ tar­ ian and eco­ nomic as­ sis­ tance.1 Peace trea­ ties and peace agree­ ments play an im­ por­ tant role when a ­ cease-fire or the end of hos­ til­ ities are de­ clared by intro­ duc­ ing meas­ ures (whether po­ lit­ i­ cal, in­ sti­ tu­ tional, legal, or other) that would fa­ cil­ i­ tate the tran­ si­ tion of a coun­ try or re­ gion from con­ flict to peace. Peace­ build­ ing, how­ ever, is a ­ long-term pro­ cess; it may com­ mence dur­ ing the con­ flict or after the con­ flict has ended and a peace ­ treaty is ­ signed.2 The peace­ build­ ing pro­ cess in­ volves a last­ ing com­ mit­ ment from the var­ i­ ous ac­ tors in­ volved in con­ flict trans­ for­ ma­ tion and in build­ ing a peace­ ful fu­ ture for all cit­ i­ zens.3 199 Peacebuilding, Community Development, and Reconciliation In this chap­ ter we an­ a­ lyze the ­ tracks of peace­ build­ ing that are both inter­ re­ lated and com­ ple­ men­ tary. First, we dis­ cuss the 1998 Good Fri­ day Agree­ ment, also known as the Bel­ fast Agree­ ment, which was ­ signed by the Brit­ ish and Irish govern­ ments and ­ endorsed by North­ ern ­ Ireland’s po­ lit­ i­ cal par­ ties. This Agree­ ment intro­ duced a ­ power-sharing govern­ ment in North­ ern Ire­ land and con­ trib­ uted to the de­ es­ ca­ la­ tion of vi­ o­ lence that af­ flicted North­ ern Irish so­ ci­ ety dur­ ing the Trou­ bles. Sec­ ond, we ­ present the quan­ ti­ ta­ tive data anal­ y­ sis of this Agree­ ment in re­ la­ tion to peace­ build­ ing and rec­ on­ cil­ i­ a­ tion in North­ ern Ire­ land. Third, we dis­ cuss the im­ pli­ ca­ tions for inter­ na­ tional eco­ nomic aid to North­ ern Ire­ land pro­ vided by the Eu­ ro­ pean Union (EU) Pro­ gram for Peace and Rec­ on­ cil­ i­ a­ tion in North­ ern Ire­ land and the Bor­ der ­ Counties of Ire­ land (Peace II) and the Inter­ na­ tional Fund for Ire­ land (IFI). The funds were set up to sup­ port eco­ nomic and so­ cial de­ vel­ op­ ment, ad­ dress the leg­ acy of vi­ o­ lent con­ flict, pro­ mote rec­ on­ cil­ i­ a­ tion ­ between the na­ tion­ al­ ist and un­ ion­ ist com­ mu­ nities, and shore up the in­ sti­ tu­ tions ­ created by the Agree­ ment.4 Our hypoth­ e­ sis is that ­ strong and ef­ fec­ tive po­ lit­ i­ cal in­ sti­ tu­ tions in a­ post-accord so­ ci­ ety sup­ ple­ mented by inter­ na­ tional eco­ nomic as­ sis­ tance to peace­ build­ ing and rec­ on­ cil­ i­ a­ tion ef­ forts can as­ sist in pro­ vid­ ing a solid foun­ da­ tion to a peace pro­ cess. By ex­ am­ in­ ing the role of the Agree­ ment in North­ ern ­ Ireland’s peace pro­ cess, along with iden­ tify­ ing the chief ben­ e­ fi­ ci­ ar­ ies of the peace pro­ cess and the ben­ e­ fi­ ci­ ar­ ies of vi­ o­ lence, we ex­ plore the con­ nec­ tions ­ between the Agree­ ment and the peace pro­ cess. This anal­ y­ sis can as­ sist in gain­ ing a ­ deeper under­ stand­ ing of peace­ build­ ing fac­ tors and ap­ proaches, which can po­ ten­ tially guide inter­ na­ tional eco­ nomic as­ sis­ tance pro­ grams in other ­ post-accord so­ ci­ eties. We...

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