FINANCING PEACE: ENABLING AN ELUSIVE SDGNorman Dytianquin1
1Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Maastricht, NetherlandsPAPER: 346/Economy/Invited (Oral) OL
SCHEDULED: 14:45/Tue. 18 Nov. 2025/Benjarong-Phuket
ABSTRACT:This paper will focus on the issue of financing for peace and the various initiatives of mostly multilateral institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help fund conflict-driven countries and territories that are obstacles to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study is mostly qualitative in approach and uses secondary data through internet searches and data mining of relevant sources.
Throughout world history, a huge treasury was needed to finance wars. This is mostly done through taxation, borrowing mostly through war bonds (or liberty bonds) and printing of money, which was not only inflationary but also led to the collapse of the gold standard. The latest Ukraine-Russia war showcases how new financing innovations like cryptocurrencies were used by both sides to not only finance the war for Ukraine but to bypass the economic sanctions as well imposed by the West on Russia. But if war is financed, so can peace. The first historically known initiative for peace financing was the Marshall Plan or European Recovery Program which was a $13.3 billion aid package instigated by the USA in 1947 to help reconstruct Europe from the ravages of the Second World War but also to establish American hegemony which was threatened by the spread of communism at that time.
The first part of this paper is devoted to a literature review of the case for peace by looking at the state of conflicts and war besetting the world to date to set the tone for the need for peace financing. The Geneva Academy lists about 114 armed conflicts on its website as of 2022 with about 45 in the Middle East and North Africa; 35 in Africa; 21 in Asia; 6 in Latin America; and 7 in Europe. The deteriorating trend of peacebuilding is confirmed by the Global Peace Index of 2023 with an average 0.42 percent decline and similar disturbing trends in the Fragile States Index and its component indicators like securities threat, group grievance, factionalized elite, state legitimacy, human rights and rule of law, demographic pressures, public services, refugee and displaced people, human flight and brain drain, uneven economic development and economic decline; and the progress of the nuclear arms build-up. Peace has thus been elusive as an SDG and therefore poses a threat to the attainment of the 16 other SDGs.
This is followed by a description of the Earth Charter and the SDGs. The fourth pillar of the Earth Charter is Democracy, Non-Violence, and Peace. The Earth Charter is the ethical foundation of the SDGs consisting of 16 principles around four pillars or cornerstones. Its fourth pillar is linked to SDG 16 on Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. SDG 16 has a transformative and an enabling role among all the SDGs. Its inclusion as a sustainability goal was aimed to bridge the gap in the previous millennial development goals (MDGs) which overlooked attention to peace, security, and institutions. The Earth Charter is a call for a change in worldview from an anthropocentric or egocentric mindset to an anthropocentric or eco-centric one. The predominance of the egocentric view explains why the attainment of peace has been elusive.
The literature review continues with the relationship between peace and development and the competing theoretical views about their interrelatedness and compatibility. The discussion revolves around the inclusivist and exclusivist approaches where peace and development are either symbiotically related in the former or are two separate tracks that explain the political opposition to the inclusion of SDG16 among the sustainable development goals.
The article proceeds with the major sources of peace financing and the various financing initiatives for peace by multilateral institutions, regional financial institutions and trading blocs and NGOs. The various instrumentalities for peace financing will be explained such as peace-building response funds, peace bonds and peace dividends evolving mostly from the NGOs. The analytical part of this paper will discuss the progress of how financing for peace has been implemented in a war or conflict zone and its effects and impact. Finally, a conclusion is made on lessons learned from peace financing and how international business can contribute pro-actively in the effort to finance and secure peace in the world that makes SDG16 not only an enabler but an enabled SDG.
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