The Impact of Conflict on the Right to Development of the Peoples of the Gambella Regional State
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Date
2011
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abstract
Violent conflict has killed and displaced more people in Africa than in any other continent in
recent decades according to the Commission for Africa. This severely challenges the realization
of the right to development of the peoples of Africa.
Development and security are intimately related — one cannot be achieved without the other.
By the same token, conflict has been erupting in Gambella region since 1990s. This becomes an
impediment on the realization of the right to development of the peoples of Gambella region.
This paper establishes the relationship between conflict and the right to development in
analyzing the impact of conflict on the right to development of the Gambella people. In its
analysis, the paper examines several variable factors that can help in the explanations of the
relationship between Conflict and the right to development of the Gambella people. These
variable factors includes: economic, political, environment and socio-cultural dimensions of the
right to development. None of these varying factors can unilaterally explain the relationship
between conflict and the right to development as issues behind Gambella’s instability.
The paper argues that the relationship between conflict in Gambella and failures in realization of
the right to development by the Gambella people is strong and goes in both directions: conflict
powerfully retards realization of the right to development; and equally, failures in realization of
the right to development substantially increase proneness to conflict. The paper concludes that
unless the incidence of conflict is sharply reduced by community, national and international
efforts a substantial Gambella people are likely to be stuck in a conflict trap resulting into failure
in realization of the right to development. It’s also suggested that incidence of conflict can be
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brought down by intelligent and vigorous deployment of development, economic, social, military
and political assistance.
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The Impact of Conflict on the Right