Building peace, building states? Examining the Humanitarian – Development – Peace Nexus in Colombia’s PDET regions
Peacebuilding by statebuilding has been a long-standing purpose of countries seeking to overcome armed conflict. In this article we examine the Development Programs with a Territorial Focus (Programas de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial – PDET), resulting from the 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement, which seek to overcome institutional weakness, the effects of illegal crop-growing, violence, and poverty in 170 municipalities. The paper asks to what extent these municipalities have been able to progress toward the goals of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Triple Nexus: reducing violence, alleviate human suffering, and promoting development. We find that, as individuals perceive improvements in security and are less at risk of human rights violations, they are more likely to support the implementation of peace agreements. Conversely, people’s skepticism increases when they feel economically and physically insecure. Our findings confirm the relevance of the Triple Nexus as an analytical framework to understand the ongoing challenges faced by the PDETs.
