What are you looking for?

PUBLICATION

Looking back and moving forward. The nexus between development and transitional justice

The sense of integrity and fairness must be restored in post-conflict contexts. This requires both transitional justice processes and development policies to be adapted to address the past and overcome injustice and to build the future based on inclusive justice and fairness.

The award-winning author, Frances Moore Lappe eloquently states, “Fairness is inherent to human nature. It is at the core of human values. When people are treated unfairly, this goes against the grain of their very humanness. It violates their integrity. They become willing to take up violence as a way of regaining their humanity.’’ When war ends and violence ceases, this lost sense of integrity and fairness must be restored. In the aftermath of conflict, in order for peace to be more than merely symbolic, national stakeholders and their international supporters have to tackle the social inequities that were causes of the war just as much as they have to redress the gross human rights violations and war crimes that were consequences of war, and the rule of law whose absence or manipulation permitted the recourse to violence. This requires both transitional justice processes and development policies to be adapted to address the past and overcome injustice and to build the future based on inclusive justice and fairness.

Authors
Rama Mani
Share
Download
Size: 147KB
File type: PDF
Get in touch
Do you have questions about this article, or would you like to contact the FriEnt team?

Related articles

[tag_names_card]

New FriEnt Website: Peace and development at a glance

The Working Group on Peace and Development (FriEnt) has completely revamped its website. With a clear thematic structure, simplified navigation and a modern, accessible design, the network’s work is now even more visible and easier to explore – for experts and anyone interested in peace and development alike. As before, the website is available in both German and English.
[tag_names_card]

New to the FriEnt team: Peer Krumrey

Since September 2026, Peer Krumrey has been part of the FriEnt team. He joins FriEnt on secondment from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), where he works as a programme officer for peace and security in the Division for International Cooperation, Global and European Policy. At FriEnt, he focuses in particular on peace and security as well as peace and development.
[tag_names_card]

“A conflict is not forgotten, because the headlines move on”

At FriEnt’s latest Forgotten Conflicts series discussion, held on 26 August in Berlin, experts and practitioners from Nigeria and Germany explored the drivers and consequences of violence in the country’s Northwest and Middle Belt. The discussion challenged narratives that portray the violence primarily as a religious conflict and highlighted the need to address climate stress, land scarcity, governance gaps and the erosion of livelihoods, while strengthening locally rooted approaches to peacebuilding.
[tag_names_card]

“Security is more than just military strength”: Catholic Responses to Armament and Crisis

The Katholikentag in Würzburg has shown that peace, security and development go hand in hand. In this interview, Dorothee Klüppel, a member of FriEnt’s Steering Committee and Head of the Africa/Middle East Department at Misereor, explains why security is more than just military strength, why justice, democracy and international cooperation are key prerequisites for sustainable peace and what special role church actors play in this – particularly in times of rearmament and geopolitical tensions.

Related articles