Reconciliation Lessons from Sierra Leone and Timor L’Este

A new IDEA report entitled Reconciliation Lessons Learned From United Nations Peacekeeping Missions Case Studies - Sierra Leone and Timor L’Este looks at recent efforts to promote reconciliation in Sierra Leone and Timor L’Este, both countries that are attempting to address the legacy of a violent past in the broader context of ‘nation building’.

The two papers presented in this report are the outcome of an IDEA-sponsored study: in early 2004, International IDEA was asked by OHCHR to undertake a study of ‘reconciliation lessons learned’ from the recent experience of UN missions in two particular countries, Sierra Leone and Timor L’Este.

The insights they offer into issues surrounding the design and implementation of national reconciliation processes have a potential relevance and applicability that goes considerably beyond the role played by UN peace-keeping missions in contemporary post-conflict settings.

The report give insights on:

• The primacy of local ownership, local design and management in the delivery of authentic and sustainable reconciliation processes.
• The need for national and international actors to be have a clear understanding of the specifics of the context in order to promote sustainable reconciliation processes.
• The importance to design a strategy for attempting to achieve both reconciliation and justice – that requires that careful attention be given to questions of sequencing and complimentarity.

The report is intended for international actors working to promote and support national processes of reconciliation in post-conflict countries.