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The Conflict Pool is a tri-departmental fund of the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (FCO), the Department for International Development (DFID) and the
Ministry of Defence (MOD) that supports the UK¶s efforts to prevent and
resolve conflict and build stability. It brings together expertise and
management from the three departments to ensure that the resources are
managed as effectively as possible. The Pool comprise s five programmes,
four of which are geographical in scope ± Africa, Middle East and North
Africa, South Asia and Afghanistan, and Wider Europe ± and one is focused
on international organisations. In 2010 the Pool funded a wide range of
projects that promote human rights.


 
In 2010, the Africa Programme disbursed £42.2 million on projects fo cused
around three broad objectives: to support African conflict -prevention
measures at the continental and regional level; to address the underlying
causes of conflict in a number of priority sub -regions and countries; and to
improve security sector reform. Examples of such activity in 2010 included:

y funding the NGO Conciliation Resources to produce a film, ³Talking

Borders´, which looks at how petty corruption and routine
harassment and bureaucracy blight the daily lives of local people
living in the border area of     ,   and  and
which will hopefully contribute to reducing border tensions;
y supporting peace-building efforts which have consequently
improved the supply of, and access to, water in 
, including in
some of the most remote areas;
y supporting the African Union Mission in    , whose presence
in south central Somaliais vital in ensuring the Transitional Federal
Government¶s survival, and providing support to the Somaliland
presidential elections;.
 y providing technical assistance to the police reform task force in
ï  , which has resulted in draft legislation on an agreed process
of reform;
y supporting the Liberian National Police in their efforts to reduce
armed robberies and other crimes in   ;
y providing funding to the EU advisory and assistance mission for
security reform in the r   c 
   , which
is supporting the reform of the army's procurement systems. These
reforms will ensure the payment of regular salaries, and thereby
help reduce the predatory and abusive behaviour of the soldiers
against the local population; and
y supporting a peaceful democratic transition in ·  through
funding civil society groups to hold the government to account .



   
! 
 
In 2010 the Middle East Programme continued to focus its resources on four
priority countries in the region: Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian
Territories, Lebanon, and Yemen. The programme provided £13.8 million to
various projects.

In " # the Pool supported the development of an effective, just and non -
discriminatory police and criminal justice system $ by training the police,
including more than 100 women officers, in the investigation of crimes and the
gathering and analysis of forensic evidenc e and training judges in the use of
scientific evidence. This led to an increase in the number of evidence -based
criminal convictions and a decrease in the number of cases based on
extracted confessions.

In"  
 
    , the Pool funded an NGO, the
International Peace and Cooperation Centre, to assist Palestinians legalise
their rights to land and property in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and to
gain planning permission for new housing developments. This has resulted in
those Palestinian houses with planning permission not being subject to
demolition and also more access for Palestinian farmers to their land. We
also funded various Israeli and Palestinian legal support NGOs which has
enhanced access to justice and fair trials for Palestinian juveniles detained by
the Israeli Defence Forces; and improvements to the juvenile military courts.
We fund the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights to
monitor and investigate allegations of arbitr ary detention, violations of t he
criminal code and torture by Palestinian security officials. Other initiatives
funded by the Pool have focused on building greater trust between groups of
Jewish and Arab Israelis and Palestinian citizens, and on improving the
authorities¶ treatment of minority groups .

In   , the Poolprovided funding to train security personnel to develop

and implement a human rights policy and code of conduct for police. It also
provided funding to Palestinian NGOs to monitor, investigate and develop
joint mechanisms for redress for alleged violations experienced by Pales tinian
refugees, especially those in camps. Successes included a reduction in
checkpoints country-wide and improved official behaviour at the checkpoints;
psychosocial support and trauma counselling for refugees, especially children;
and the building of a human rights community centre where Palestinians can
air their grievances and discuss allegations of v ictimisation and other abuses
with Lebanese officials. We also supported the Palestinian Human Rights
Organisation to prepare a submission to the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation of the
Palestinian community for consideration at Lebanon¶s Universal Periodic
Review at the UN Human Rights Council.

In %  , the Pool focused primarily on two issues: relations between and

treatment of Somali refugees by settled Yemeni communities; and access to
land and water resources. There has been a marked reduction in conflicts
between camp-based refugees and local communities in 2010 through greater
integration between incomers and the host population; improved awareness
of and attitudes towards refugee issues and rights; and improved living
conditions for local communities. We also supported a pilot study to provide
water to one city, for the first time delivering water to urban slum areas, whilst
protecting water supplies in the rural hinterland. This pilot, which involv ed all
interested parties, is intended to provide a model for the provision of water
across the country.

   

   
In 2010, the South Asia and Afghanistan Programme disbursed £68.5 million
to support civilian-led stabilisation efforts in Afghanistan and £16.3 million to:

y increase the capacity of  & and 

   to govern in the
border areas, reducing popular support for the insurgencies and
encouraging better relations between the two countries;
y support confidence-building between "
 and Pakistan;
y support peace in !  , including by promoting security sector reform,
respect for human rights and an inclusive constitutional process; and
y consolidate the peace in  & by encouraging political dialogue,
security sector reform and improved human security.

One of the key unresolved issues of the !   peace process is the fate of
the former Maoist combatants who have been living in cantonments since
2006. At the request of all the major parties, the Pool funded a project to
assist the multi-party Technical Committee to develop key documents
outlining how demobilisation and integration of the combatants into the
Nepalese security forces could be managed. This project should help pave
the way for an agreement on this critical issue.

In  & , the Pool has helped build the foundations for sustainable peace
by encouraging public debate over constitutional reforms; supporting
moderate, pragmatic voices within the Sri Lankan diaspora; and supporting
the police to engage better with l ocal communities. The Pool also supported
a UNICEF project to reintegrate suspected child soldiers from the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam back into society.
Reports of human rights abuses on both sides of the Line of Control in
ï  continued in 2010. Some of the human rights concerns in Pakistan
also exist in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In Indian -administered Kashmir
there were violent protests during the summer of 2010. More than 100
civilians were killed and a number of security forces perso nnel were injured
during clashes from June to September. There were allegations of excessive
use of force by security forces against protesters and that protesters
themselves had used violence. In response, Indian Prime Minister Singh said
that violations of human rights abuses by security forces in Kashmir would not
be tolerated and he instructed security forces to respect human rights. The
Indian government sent a cross-party delegation to Indian -administered
Kashmir in September, and in October it app ointed three interlocutors to
engage with a wide range of interested parties to help resolve the situation in
Indian-administered Kashmir. These interlocutors have made a number of
recommendations to the Indian government including releasing prisoners hel d
without charge; allowing peaceful protest; and exercising proper crowd
control.

Officials in our high commissions in Islamabad and New Delhi regularly

discuss the situation in Kashmir with the Indian and Pakistani governments
and with our contacts in Indian and Pakistan administered Kashmir. We
continue to encourage India and Pakistan to seek a lasting resolution which
takes into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. We also call for an end
to all external support for violence in Kashmir and for an improvement in the
human rights situation. We continue to urge the government of Pakistan to
take action against the presence and activities of militant groups in Pakistan -
administered Kashmir. Levels of reported militant violence in Indian -
administered Kashmir have been declining since 2008 but Indian authorities
report continued infiltration across the Line of Control.

Pool funding supports human rights, conflict prevention and peace -building
efforts on both sides of the Line of Control. This include s efforts by
academics and opinion-formers to build trust and confidence between India
and Pakistan; educational programmes in schools vulnerable to militant
influence and the strengthening of civil society networks in Pakistan -
administered Kashmir; media development programmes in Indian -
administered Kashmir; and civil society exchanges across the Line of Control .

In 
   the Pool funded the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights
Commission¶s work on human rights education and advocacy as well as thei r
monitoring and investigation of allegations of human rights abuses. In
Helmand Province in south Afghanistan, the Pool funded initiatives by
provincial and district government officials and community elders to promote
non-Taliban informal justice system s in the province. One notable success is
the Gereshk Justice Sub-Committee of the District Community Council, which
has female members who deal with disputes affecting women, such as forced
marriage. The Pool also supported the Independent Commission fo r Women
and Children¶s Rights which is now equipped to support local communities
and justice institutions and is Helmand¶s only paralegal institution run by
women.

'
   
In 2010, the Wider Europe Programme disbursed £30.6 million with £18.3
million of this supporting the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus. The
remaining funds were split between the Western Balkans and the Caucasus
and central Asia.

In the Western Balkans, the Pool focused on three countries which are key for
ensuring enduring stability, cooperation and growth in the region: Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia.

In    
( )   , the Conflict Pool funded a project to increase

the democratic accountability of the Ministry of Justice and Security through
the signing of an agreement between the ministry and civil society. In south-
west   , a severely underdeveloped region which has seen clashes with
and between rival Islamic communities, the Pool funded activities to reduce
community tensions by encouraging dialogue between Serbia¶s central
government and Albanian and Bosniak minorities, with the aim of improving
ethnic minority representation in Serbia.

In the Caucasus and central Asia regio n, the Pool supported a variety of
organisations and activities, including international and local NGOs working
with civil society and government, and Ministry of Defence -led work on
security sector reform. In   we funded several crisis management an d
security sector reform projects with local civil society and media groups,
international peace missions, and the government. In the Nagorno Karabakh
region, funding supported the capacity - building of civil society, young people,
business and the media. In the Ferghana Valley, our projects focused on
education, access to legal assistance and building awareness of human
rights.

    "        
Under this programme, £6.5 million was disbursed to support the international
community's conflict prevention and responseefforts.This included training for
military, police and civilian personnel, including through the work of the British
Military Advisory and Training Team in the ) c  , which has
trained around 350 instruct ors from 30 potential and current troop contributing
countries for UN mandated missions, as well as through direct training
assistance to some 1,400 personnel in formed units. We also provided
support to the UN's Rule of Law Unit, the Office of the UN Spec ial
Representative on the Prevention of Genocide and the UN'swork to
developoperational guidance for peacekeeping mission personnel on
theprotection of civilians.

 c      
At the UN 2005 World Summit, governments recognised that each state has
a³Responsibility to Protect´ their own population from genocide, war crimes,
ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and that the international
community has a responsibility to help implement this agenda .
Implementing the Responsibility to Protect remains a challenge, but we are
committed to encouraging and assisting states to meet their responsibilities.
For example, our support for police reform initiatives in ï  in 2010 helped
strengthen the government of Kenya¶s capacity to prevent violence around the
constitutional referendum in August.

In 2010 the EU reiterated its commitment to promoting the Responsibility to

Protect at regional levels by providing financial and political support to the
African Union¶s Continental Early Warning S ystem and the African-led peace
support operations such as that in the   
 c  . A UK-
hosted Wilton Park conference of UN, AU and EU participants in June
considered how the EU could better implement theprinciples of the
Responsibility to Protect into its broader work on crisis management and
conflict prevention.

Early warning is a crucial element in the international community¶s ability to

prevent the conditions in which the worst atrocities can take place. At the UN
we participated in the General Assembly dialogue on the Responsibility to
Protect and early warning, at which we joined the majority of member states in
reaffirming our support for the Secretary -General¶s proposal for a joint office
to improve collaboration between the UN Secre tary-General¶s Special Adviser
for the Prevention of Genocide and the Secretary -General¶s Special Adviser
on the Responsibility to Protect. We also provided funding from the Conflict
Pool to the Office of the Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide to
help enhance their early warning tracking system .

In November, during our presidency of the UN Security Council , we organised

a briefing for the Security Council by the Department of Political Affairs on
emerging or growing conflicts. We are encouragin g future Security Council
presidents to make these briefings a regular monthly event to ensure that the
Council is able to focus on preventing as well as resolving conflict .

'  $   
  
The year 2010 marked the 10 -year anniversary of UN Security Council
Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. In October, we led
negotiations at the Security Council to agree a set of indicators that will, for
the first time, monitor the status of women in conflict -affected states and
measure the progress by the UN and member states to improve women¶s
protection and participation. In December we worked closely with our
partners in the Security Council to agree a strengthened accountability
mechanism to combat sexual violence in armed conflict. This will inform the
Security Council of those parties to con flict responsible for committing sexual
violence and allow the Council to take further action .

As part of our domestic commitment to protecting women during conflict and

promoting their participation in conflict resolution, the Parliamentary Under -
Secretary of State Henry Bellingham, along with colleagues from DFID and
MOD, launched the new UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and
Security in November. This plan sets out how the Government will adapt its
policies and programmes to empower and protect w omen in all of our conflict -
related work and is available on the FCO website. The plan, developed in
consultation with civil society and international partners, includes
measureable commitments to ensure gender considerations are incorporated
into our work, including conflict training delivered by the Stabilisation Unit of
the FCO, DFID and MOD and the deployment of female engagement officers
to 
  , so that the needs of Afghan women are better reflected in
our operations. The plan also includes th ree country strategies for Nepal,
Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo .

   
   
International efforts to protect civilians in conflict are often insufficient,
inconsistent or ineffective. In response, we launched a new national strategy
in March on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The strategy, which
was developed in collaboration with DFID and MOD, sets out how the
Government will keep the protection of civilians at the forefront of our political,
security and humanitarian work. For the first time the strategy draws together
all our work to help protect civilians caught up in conflict, and includes
commitments to strengthen the protection mandates of peacekeeping
operations; to provide support to tr ansitional and international justice
mechanisms; and to improve humanitarian access to populations. The
strategy covers the period 2010±2013. We will review our progress annually,
with the first review in 2011.

The UK takes the lead in coordinating Secu rity Council activity on the
protection of civilians in armed conflict. In November, as president of the UN
Security Council,weraised our concerns about the plight of civilians in Sudan ,
Burma and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We also continued to chair
an expert group, comprised of other Security Council members and the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which looks at how best to
deliver the protection of civilians in specific UN peacekeeping operations. We
also supported the continued inclusion of the protection of civilians and
relevant human rights issues in the mandates of the UN peacekeeping
missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Liberia, Kosovo,
Cote d¶Ivoire and East Timor.


  
 
 
 
Children are often among the most vulnerable to conflict. Children living in
war-torn countries are frequently denied even their most basic human rights,
are more likely to die as a result of disease and malnutrition, and stand much
less chance of becoming productive adult members of their communities. We
are committed to ending violations of children¶s rights in conflict -affected
countries and, in particular, to stopping the recruitment and use of child
soldiers. In 2010 we worked towards this goal by applying diplomatic
pressure on offending governments and armed groups, and by funding
projects to help protect and rehabilitate vulnerable children. We targeted our
financial support to those areas where we feel most progress is most likely .

In !   we provided £2 million to help discharge and rehabilitate members of

the Maoist Army; approximately 3,000 of those released had been recruited
as children. Following the end of the conflict in  & , we provided £1.5
million to UNICEF which enabled the release and reintegration of former child
soldiers.

Many of the projects we finance on security sector reform or disarmament,

demobilisation and reintegration contain child protection elements, as it is
important that the specific needs of children are re cognised and understood.
In ° 
, for example, we are providing £100 million over five years to the
government¶s Peace, Recovery and Development Plan, more than £16 million
of which will be directed towards helping vulnerable individuals and improving
young people¶s prospects.

We have also spoken out publicly against those governments and groups that
abuse children¶s rights. We worked closely with the International Labour
Organization to raise greater awareness of abuses in  , including forced
labour and military recruitment. In !  , our staff in Kathmandu participated
in a UN field visit, which resulted in commitments from the Nepalese army to
increase their child protection training, and from Nepalese political youth
wings to end the use of children under 18 in potentially violent political
activities.

We also worked multilaterally, including at the UN where we encouraged the

development of action plans to halt abuses against children. These plans will
be drawn up and implemented jointly by the UN and by the parties to conflict
identified by the UN as responsible for recruiting children or engaging in
patterns of killing, maiming or sexual violence against them .
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When fighting ceases and negotiations for political settle ments or peace
agreements start, it does not necessarily mean the end of a conflict. Security
needs to be established and the underlying causes of the conflict need to be
addressed to create lasting stability and peace. Restoring respect for human
rights in post-conflict situations is vital in re-establishing a well functioning
society.
The UK¶s Stabilisation Unit is specifically tasked to help rebuild fragile states .
Its main roles are to source, manage and deploy civilian experts to conflict -
affected countries to help re-establish peace and security; to support cross -
government planning for stabilisation; and to draw lessons from our
involvement in conflict affected countries. At the end of 2010, the unit had
more than160 people deployed ove rseas, in places such as Kosovo and
Pakistan.

During 2010 we worked to improve our approach to stabilisation. The unit now
has an expanded remit to support conflict prevention, as well as to respond to
post-conflict scenarios. We have also strengthened the coopera tion between
our civilian and military efforts in order to improve the cohesiveness of our
stabilisation response. In 2011 we will launch new stabilisation response
teams, which will aim to integrate defence, development and diplomacy still
further in stabilisation missions.

When providing security and justice advice and expertise, the unit attempts to
ensure that a country¶s police and security forces are accountable and
encourage human rights compliance. For example, in   the unit funded
a police leadership programme, which briefs police trainees on the human
rights implications of their actions. The unit has also assisted countries such
as  ) in developing their own civilian response to conflict and has worked
to build the capacity of international organisations, including the UN, EU, AU
and NATO, to deploy civilian expertise for stabilisation missions.

  

A key focus for our work has been the implementation of the
recommendations of the UN Secretary -General¶s 2009 report on
peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict, particularly by
encouraging greater coordination between the UN secretariat, UN agencies,
donors and bilateral actors. We have also supported the UN -led review of
international civilian capacity, which is due to report in March 2011, in order to
improve the availability of civilian experts to deliver peacebuilding in post -
conflict states.

We support the work of the UN¶s Peacebuilding Commission, the

Peacebuilding Support Office and the P eacebuilding Fund to promote stability
in countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Burundi, the Central African
Republic and Guinea Bissau. The Peacebuilding Commission has a key role
in encouraging these countries to address issues including the rule of law;
impunity; access to justice; the provision of basic services; and respect for
human rights. The Peacebuilding Commission has made a good start since
its foundation in 2005, but we would like to see it demonstrate greater impact
at the country level.

The Peacebuilding Fund has contributed to a wide range of national

peacebuilding and human rights activity in -country, for example by supporting
diplomatic activities in 
 which enabled the start of the disarmament,
demobilisation and reintegration process of former soldiers; and in the
  
 c  , where nearly 96,000 children have improved
access to formal and informal education, training, support and health care .
?
    
    
The private military and security company industry provides essential security
services for governments, private companies and humanitarian actors in
difficult and dangerous environments. Their services, in particular armed
services, also carry serious human rights risks. On 16 Septem ber, the
Government announced it would promote high standards of private security
worldwide to minimise these risks. It also committed to introducing robust
regulation in the UK through a trade association based on a voluntary industry
code of conduct agreed with and monitored by the Government; using our
position as a key buyer of private military and security companies¶ services to
promote compliance with the code; and supporting the agreement of
international standards, consistent with the UK code, that would cover all
aspects of private security company organisation and operation worldwide.
In November, 60 private military and security companies from across the
globe signed a code of conduct. By signing this code, the private military and
security companies will signal to potential clients, host governments and civil
society that their companies intend to operate to the highest standards. We
are now incorporating this code into our contracts and will only award
contracts to those companies that can show they are meeting the code¶s
standards. In 2011 we will work with the industry, civil society and other
states to establish an international and independent governance and
compliance mechanism to enforce the code.
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