Healing Communities in Conflict: International Assistance in Complex Emergencies

Kimberly A. Maynard, "Healing Communities in Conflict: International Assistance in Complex Emergencies", Columbia University Press | ISBN 0231112793 | 2002 Year | PDF | ~1 Mb | 280 Pages “How do Tutsis and Hutus learn to coexist with one another after the killing has subsided? How can ethnic Albanians come home and live in harmony with Bosnian neighbours after months of slaughter by Serbian troops? From Rwanda to Bosnia-Herzegovina to Kosovo and beyond, devastating human tragedies have shredded the complex fabric of communities and nations - and too often, the international response has been ineffective. In the language of relief workers, these situations - much more evident in recent years that during the Cold War - are known as complex emergencies. This text addresses the communities that hang in the balance. Too often, Maynard explains, efforts are focused on "task" completion - food, medical assistance, refugee repatriation, and so on - and fail to take into account the long-term process of creating a sustainable peace. Maynard shows how policymakers' lack of knowledge about local realities - the coping mechanisms different cultural groups have to deal with their own tragedies - adversely affects their ability to respond effectively to specific incidents.” Healing Communities in Conflict: International Assistance in Complex Emergencies