PressInfo #220 – Fredsbistand til efterkrigsområder – Burundi som eksempel

Udviklingshjælp gives for at hjælpe til at højne de fattiges levestandard. Krigsførende kan være sikre på at få, hvad man kunne kalde “krigshjælp” eller militærbistand, i form af våben, ammunition og træning fra både regeringer og våbenhandlere.

Lande der har været i krig, kan regne med at modtage fredsbevarere samt genopbygnings- og humanitær hjælp.

Hvad der mangler er “fredshjælp”. Fredshjælp er en indsats, der kunne øge chanserne for at de andre hjælpeinsatser vil lede til normalisering.

Hvad er fredshjælp?

Fredshjælp fokuserer på den menneskelige dimension af vold og had og på de sårede sjæle. Den lader de lokale civile samfund få magt til at overvåge en fredsproces og den uddanner mennesker til forsoning og ikke-volds konfliktløsning – med andre ord, fremtidig voldsforebyggelse.

Den støtter udvikling af nye skolebøger, en retfærdig og helende historiefortælling og, fremfor alt, en ny fredskultur. Fredshjælp findes i dag i NGO’ers arbejdsformer, men den forbliver det allersvageste led, fordi regeringer oftest ikke værdsætter dens vitale betydning.

Det handler om at lære at sige “undskyld”, at opgive hadet og gengældelsestrangen. Det handler om at indbygge retfærdighed i genopbygningen og den fremtidige udvikling, noget der ikke opnås ved blot at starte endnu et menneskerettighedsprogram.

At genopbygge huse og veje tager kort tid; at hele et lands sårede sjæle kan tage generationer. Steder som Kosovo, Bosnien-Herzegovina, Makedonien, Afghanistan og Irak giver tragiske beviser for hvor nødvendig fredshjælp er. Efter at der ét sted er opnået våbenstilstand og mulig fredsforhandling, styrter det internationale samfund og medierne afsted til andre krige eller humanitære katastrofer. Vi glemmer let hvor dybe sårene er.

Realisme versus idealisme

Hårdkogte realister kan synes at det er naivt at beskæftige sig med de dybt menneskelige aspekter af helbredelse efter skade og overlast. Imidlertid er mange idéer til healing og ikkevold op genem historien blevet usynliggjort, gjort til grin eller stemlet som urealistiske af magteliterne.

Tag f.eks. ikke-voldskampe for at fremme et regimeskifte. Det virkede imod Shahen af Iran, imod Marcos’ regime i Filippinerne, for Solidaritet i Polen, i Fløjlsrevolutionen i Tjekoslovakiet; det bragte Serbiens Milosevic og Georgiens Shevardnaze til fald og gav for nylig Ukraine en ny præsident. Og det er hævet over enhver tvivl at menneskers ikke-voldelige mobilisering var et helt centralt instrument i opløsningen af den gamle kolde krigs struktur.

Problemet er at ikke-vold bliver overset og usynliggjort. Medierne og politikerne lægger ikke engang mærke til når den ændrer historiens gang. (Den interesserede læser henvises venligst til Jonathan Schells storartede bog om disse og mange andre sager, “The Unconquerable World” – “Den uovervindelige verden”.) Principet “forbered fred hvis det er fred du ønsker” – “si vis pacem para pacem” – er ikke spor naivt. Det skaber overensstemmelse i forholdet mellem middel og mål, i modsætning til principet om at forberede til krig for at få fred.

Det internationale samfund savner hære af veltrænede, erfarne fredshjælpere: Psykologer, socialarbejdere, områdeseksperter, religiøse frivillige, børnepsykologer, solidaritetsarbejdere osv, – modsvarende hærene af fredsbevarende soldater. I Irak er der nu mindst 300 000 traumatiserede børn og unge. Men forstår vi udfordringen?

Burundi

Se på Burundi der i disse år kæmper bravt for at lægge krig og folkedrab bag sig og komme frem til fred og bæredygtig udvikling (1). Siden 1993, efter mordet på landets første demokratisk valgte præsident, Melchior Ndadaye, har Burundi oplevet massive overtrædelser af menneskerettighederne. Over 300 000 mennesker er blevet dræbt, og hundredetusinder fordrevne længes efter at vende tilbage til deres landsbyer.

Siden august 2002, da de politiske modparter underskrev Arusha-fredstraktaten, har burundierne heldigvis fået nyt håb. Den gode vilje blev yderligere styrket da den største oprørsgruppe og regeringen, i november 2002, indgik varige aftaler. Nu er mere end 90% af landet sikkert.

Arusha-traktaten fastslog at valg skulle gennemføres inden november 2004 som afslutning på en overgangsperiode. Dette valg er blevet udskudt til 2005, og der blev gennemført en folkeafstemning for den nye forfatning d. 28.februar 2005; cirka 90% stemte, og 90% stemte for. Det er et meget bemærkelsesværdigt resultat!

Aftalen foreskrev også at en sandheds- og forsoningskomite (TRC) og en international komite for retslige undersøgelser (ICJ) oprettes inden et valg kan afholdes.

Burundierne ønsker retfærd og fred. Et studie gjort af “Observatoire de l’Action Gouvernementale” (OAG), viser at 83% af befolkningen ønske at en TRC skal oprettes, og 82% ønsker en specialdomstol til behandling af forbrydelser mod menneskeheden.

Burundi har demobiliseret hovedparten af sine krigere, og tidligere børnesoldater bliver hjulpet til et civilt liv. Mange flygtninge er kommet hjem og ledere i eksil vender også tilbage. Tidligere rebeller opretter partier. Man har besluttet at oprette en sandheds- og forsoningskomite. Disse og andre skridt hen imod fred er enorme, hvis man tager landets historie og situation i betragtning. (2)

Men desværre, selve fredsprocessen koster penge og kræver megen forskellig og uafhængig ekspertice. Ja, den kræver fredshjælp udefra. Man får det ikke.

Hvorfor lader det internationale samfund hånt om Burundi?

Folk der vandrer vejen mod fred burde jo belønnes. Men hvor i al verden skal Burundis regering kunne finde midler til at opfylde Arusha-målede i tide?

Den samlede FN-appel for humanitær hjælp til Burundi, blev sat til 119 millioner dollars, modsvarende 17 dollar pr.indbygger, hvilket ikke er en stor sum når man sammenligner med det internationale samfunds andre satsninger. Og så kom der kun magre 46% af det beløb i sidste ende. Dette forhold sammen med negative klimatiske vilkår har ført til at sult nu hærger vidt omkring i de nordlige provinser; donorlandene har reageret meget langsomt, især efter Tsunamikatastrofen.

Det er hårde betingelser. Burundi er nr. 171 af 175 lande på UNDP’s register over de fattigste udviklingslande. Bruttonationalproduktet (BNP) per capita er på 145 dollars om året. Der er én læge pr. 100 000 borgere og én eneste psykiater i hele landet. Og 40 000 dør årligt af AIDS.

Det er 13 gange ofrene i New York den11.september 2001!

At sige til en døende patient at han, hvis han af egen kraft kan blive bedre, kan få en smule medicin til hjælp, er direkte grusomt. Men udenfor mediernes strålekastere er det sådan vi behandler mange efterkrigsområder. Som Burundi.

I virkeligheden investerer ingen i at skabe fred, heller ikke de nordiske lande (3). Men man kan spørge sig selv: “Hvad ville et nyt afrikansk folkemord koste? Hvad ville være prisen for ikke at give freds- og anden hjælp i tide? Og hvem betaler den pris?”

Lad os få verdens prioriteringer på plads!

Her har vi et afrikansk land som burde komme på alle forsider for dets stræben efter normalisering – udvikling, sikkerhed og fred. Det er en historie om håb, det er gode nyheder. Hvad er det for menneskelig dumhed og fejlagtig prioritering i vores verden, der ignorerer steder hvor fred er dybt ønsket og absolut gennemførbart?! Hvilken grusom uretfærdighed mod 7 millioner burundier, samtidig med at Bush-regeringen spenderer 1 milliard (1 000 000 000) dollar – 8,5 x Burundis samlede humanitære behov i 2004 – om ugen i Irak, hvor de er uønsket.

Fredshjælp bidrager til holdbare løsninger af konflikter. Det er voldsforebyggelse, tillidsskabelse og forsoning i én pakke. Den mindsker lidelserne inden i, og mellem mennesker. Hvilket sted, end netop Burundi, kunne være bedre til at begynde med fredshjælp? Hvis ikke nu, hvornår så?

Hvis Burundis stræben efter fred ikke er værd at støtte i disse år, hvilken fredsproces er det så? Og gives der bedre måder at vise andre at fred kan betale sig?

Noter

1) For at læse mere om Burundi, se TFF’s Burundi Forum.

2) TFF har for nylig udsendt en serie links om Burundi, hvor man kan få mere at vide om situationen i Burundi lige nu.

3) TFF har spurgt udenrigsministerierne i Norge, Sverige og Danmark om de kunne tænke sig at give økonomisk støtte til vores projekt med 11 frivillige organisationer der arbejder hårdt med fredsprocessen. Med forskellige begrundelser var ingen af dem villige til at overveje et møde, endsige se på et forslag af denne art.

© TFF and the author 2005

Related Posts

The agreement is catastrophic both because of what it says and what it doesn’t mention. It reduces further the major asset of security policies: Freedom of action. Jan Oberg TFF director September 25, 2026 A couple of hours before the agreement was signed on September 22, 2026, I published the following 13 hypotheses about what it would most likely contain on TFF Substack (in English). I was wrong on only the first point. Contrary to what Trump had written on his Truth Social platform, it does not appear to come into force immediately. In fact, it turned out to be worse than even I had anticipated. After these hypotheses now come a number of reflections in light of what the agreement actually contains, and does not contain, as well as the way in which it has generally been presented by major media outlets and by the public-service broadcaster DR. My...
Below are TFF-related media mentions, comments, videos and social media posts published elsewhere but not on this homepage. We happen to catch and list only a fraction. Regarding video comments and debates, we recommend that you go to the TFF Video Channel on Substack where many of them are reproduced. Jan Oberg is a contributor to China Daily – 52 million daily clicks – and Global Times, CGTN and CCTV (the national television), China Investment, Xinhua News Agency and several others. Articles and videos on these media very often multiply into countless Chinese (and Western media) that re-post them from these main media. Thanks to The China Academy, his analyses, interviews and comments are frequently posted on YouTube channels such as Thinkers Forum and Wave Media. These videos are often re-posted on Bilibili (China’s YouTube), the China Content Center on TikTok, and on the Chinese edition of TikTok, Douyin.com. This means reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide over a year. While there are too many to catch on all these...
Jan Oberg May 15, 2026 Go to this Fox News page and scroll the whole way down: President Donald Trump tells the world that his meeting with President Xi Jinping yielded a lot of very concrete political and economic results – of course, only where the Chinese side, according to him, agreed with him. He does not mention the Taiwan issue, but Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says that it did not feature prominently in their talks and that the US policy on Taiwan has not changed. Then go to China Daily – or Global Times – and you will see that for the Chinese it is framework, principles, structure of cooperation etc. that matters – all embedded in the overall idea of “constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability.” Nowhere is any concrete agreement or deal – all that Trump refers to – mentioned. At the general level, this gives you insights into the very different social...

Recent Articles

Tony Robinson October 4, 2026 Violence is easy to recognise when someone is being beaten, shot or killed. It becomes more difficult when nobody is holding a weapon. Poverty, discrimination, exploitation and repression can restrict a human life just as effectively, although they do so in very different ways and with very different consequences. Simply adding more categories to an ever-growing list of forms of violence does not really solve the problem. The more interesting question is what all these different situations have in common and why it makes sense to describe them using the same word. Human beings do not simply react to what happens around them. They remember the past, imagine things that do not yet exist, make plans and undertake projects. Workers organise because they imagine different working conditions; people migrate because they imagine another life somewhere else; social movements emerge because people refuse to accept the...
It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...
Johan Galtung 1930-2024October 2015 Published here on October 3, 2026 Let us focus on Civilization for conflict analysis and remedies. Major forms of disorder use violence; war is state organized violence. The most belligerent states are the United States of America and Israel, both with civilization roots. National Evangelism, the US Protestant Christian civilization– more national than evangelical–justifies US warfare as exceptionalism of a people chosen by God, with a manifest destiny to run the world. Orthodox Judaism justifies Israeli warfare to conquer and expand from Nile to Euphrates as a religious right and duty to the Eternal One. The third most belligerent country, the UK, no longer believes it is God-chosen but chosen by the USA; not quite the same but something. But the root cause of global disorder lies in the Occident–with Islam–seeing itself as the single, universal civilization valid for all at all times, all others being...

TFF on Substack

Discover and subscribe to more peace materials on TFF Substack

Most Popular

Tony Robinson October 4, 2026 Violence is easy to recognise when someone is being beaten, shot or killed. It becomes more difficult when nobody is holding a weapon. Poverty, discrimination, exploitation and repression can restrict a human life just as effectively, although they do so in very different ways and with very different consequences. Simply adding more categories to an ever-growing list of forms of violence does not really solve the problem. The more interesting question is what all these different situations have in common and why it makes sense to describe them using the same word. Human beings do not simply react to what happens around them. They remember the past, imagine things that do not yet exist, make plans and undertake projects. Workers organise because they imagine different working conditions; people migrate because they imagine another life somewhere else; social movements emerge because people refuse to accept the...
It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...
Johan Galtung 1930-2024October 2015 Published here on October 3, 2026 Let us focus on Civilization for conflict analysis and remedies. Major forms of disorder use violence; war is state organized violence. The most belligerent states are the United States of America and Israel, both with civilization roots. National Evangelism, the US Protestant Christian civilization– more national than evangelical–justifies US warfare as exceptionalism of a people chosen by God, with a manifest destiny to run the world. Orthodox Judaism justifies Israeli warfare to conquer and expand from Nile to Euphrates as a religious right and duty to the Eternal One. The third most belligerent country, the UK, no longer believes it is God-chosen but chosen by the USA; not quite the same but something. But the root cause of global disorder lies in the Occident–with Islam–seeing itself as the single, universal civilization valid for all at all times, all others being...
Read More
Living-Peace-Sign-Budapest-copy
Tony Robinson October 4, 2026 Violence is easy to recognise when someone is being beaten, shot or killed. It becomes more difficult when nobody is holding a weapon. Poverty, discrimination, exploitation and repression can restrict a human life just as effectively, although they do so in very different ways and with very different consequences. Simply adding more categories to an ever-growing list of forms of violence does not really solve the problem. The more interesting question is what all these different situations have in common and why it makes sense to describe them using the same word. Human beings do not simply react to what happens around them. They remember the past, imagine things that do not yet exist, make plans and undertake projects. Workers organise because they imagine different working conditions; people migrate because they imagine another life somewhere else; social movements emerge because people refuse to accept the...
b54a1f10-8c65-4f0b-9dd5-4abc0a7d04cc_2659x2659
It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...
010
Johan Galtung 1930-2024October 2015 Published here on October 3, 2026 Let us focus on Civilization for conflict analysis and remedies. Major forms of disorder use violence; war is state organized violence. The most belligerent states are the United States of America and Israel, both with civilization roots. National Evangelism, the US Protestant Christian civilization– more national than evangelical–justifies US warfare as exceptionalism of a people chosen by God, with a manifest destiny to run the world. Orthodox Judaism justifies Israeli warfare to conquer and expand from Nile to Euphrates as a religious right and duty to the Eternal One. The third most belligerent country, the UK, no longer believes it is God-chosen but chosen by the USA; not quite the same but something. But the root cause of global disorder lies in the Occident–with Islam–seeing itself as the single, universal civilization valid for all at all times, all others being...
Screenshot 2026-10-02 011738
Jan ObergPhD, director, The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFFLund, Sweden October 2, 2026 This is my full original manuscript. The Chinese Academy of Social Science, CASS, makes two publications out if it. 1. China’s Five-year plan emphasized the capabilities of basic research and original innovation. It is regarded as the goal of the future social development, which, as required, should be significantly enhanced. Can you comment on the importance of original innovation in research and academic study? I believe it is easier to define “original innovation” in the natural sciences than in social sciences. The breaking points of what constitutes something new, or innovative, are not quite as sharp in the latter. But in both fields it is about opening up something that was closed, unseen, unexplored before – making manifest what was earlier latent. Innovations come in many forms and shapes – naming something that was not...
arctic-circle-map
The agreement is catastrophic both because of what it says and what it doesn’t mention. It reduces further the major asset of security policies: Freedom of action. Jan Oberg TFF director September 25, 2026 A couple of hours before the agreement was signed on September 22, 2026, I published the following 13 hypotheses about what it would most likely contain on TFF Substack (in English). I was wrong on only the first point. Contrary to what Trump had written on his Truth Social platform, it does not appear to come into force immediately. In fact, it turned out to be worse than even I had anticipated. After these hypotheses now come a number of reflections in light of what the agreement actually contains, and does not contain, as well as the way in which it has generally been presented by major media outlets and by the public-service broadcaster DR. My...
girl-5894831_1280
Below are TFF-related media mentions, comments, videos and social media posts published elsewhere but not on this homepage. We happen to catch and list only a fraction. Regarding video comments and debates, we recommend that you go to the TFF Video Channel on Substack where many of them are reproduced. Jan Oberg is a contributor to China Daily – 52 million daily clicks – and Global Times, CGTN and CCTV (the national television), China Investment, Xinhua News Agency and several others. Articles and videos on these media very often multiply into countless Chinese (and Western media) that re-post them from these main media. Thanks to The China Academy, his analyses, interviews and comments are frequently posted on YouTube channels such as Thinkers Forum and Wave Media. These videos are often re-posted on Bilibili (China’s YouTube), the China Content Center on TikTok, and on the Chinese edition of TikTok, Douyin.com. This means reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide over a year. While there are too many to catch on all these...