Conflict Prevention
Prevención de Conflictos


Introduction Introducción

Since the process of transitions to democratic regimes in the late 70s, political crisis, social unrest and institutional instability have become increasingly frequent in the region. The nature of recent crisis and conflicts can be characterized as multidimensional. The combination of multiple and diverse issues such as rising levels of crime, inefficient judicial systems, economic growth without development, growing gap between rich and poor, institutional instability and diminished representativeness of the political system are some of the elements that may help us understand recent upheavals in the region.

Objective Objectivo

In the context of strengthening democratic governance in Latin America and the Caribbean, the objective of this section is to initiate and foster the analysis of the relationship between the nature and quality of democracy, violence and conflict. The multidimensional nature of recent crisis and conflicts transcends the traditional three-tiered approach based on three broad stages: open armed conflict, pre-conflict stages and post-conflict. Consequently, this section will provide a new methodology to facilitate the identification of forms of conflict that are protracted and corrosive to democratic institutions and processes. Concurrently, it will allow the assessment of the impact of democratic governance on violence, crime, conflict and social unrest. The methodology has been designed to be applied in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Ultimately, the use of this methodology could, by identifying and assessing key elements of instability, help prevent the eruption of full-blown crisis or find ways to ameliorate conflicts.

This methodology is part of Georgetown University and UNDP Project on Democratic Conflict Prevention and Early Warning directed by Marc Chernick .

Content Contenido

Initially, this section presents the methodology created by the Georgetown-UNDP Project to assess and understand the relationship between democratic governance and conflict. Furthermore it also offers the particular case study of Colombia.