Post-conflict economic recovery aims to establish sustainable economic growth and human development while addressing the factors that could lead to a recurrence of conflict.  Post-conflict recovery is not about restoring pre-war economic or institutional arrangements.  It is about transformation — requiring a mix of far-reaching economic, institutional, legal, and policy reforms that allow war-torn countries to re-establish the foundations for self-sustaining development.

This report provides ideas for how post-conflict countries can build on their existing capacities to assume primary responsibility for their own recovery.  It seeks to deepen our understanding of the pivotal role that economic recovery plays in consolidating peace in the fragile aftermath of violent conflict, and reaffirms the critical importance of fostering national capacities and promoting indigenous processes.

Highlights

• This report focuses on how countries can rebuild the foundations and establish the conditions for self-sustaining, inclusive growth in the immediate aftermath of violent conflict. It asks three basic questions: What kinds of policies are needed to get the development process restarted? What must the national authorities strive for and what actions must they take? How can the international community be most helpful?
• It focuses on economic recovery because a sound economy is a fundamental requirement for human development, and because, in the post-conflict context, broad-based economic recovery is critical for avoiding the recurrence of violence.
• The report looks at indigenous drivers of economic recovery.
• It examines the macroeconomic policies that post-conflict countries can deploy in pursuit of recovery.
• It analyses the role of the state in the economic recovery process.