Peace and security are essential preconditions for poverty reduction, preventing the outbreak of armed conflicts, and for lasting and sustainable development. They are inseparably linked and interact with each other. Armed conflicts and fragile states and situations, which affect about 20 per cent of the world population largely in the poorest countries in the world, are major reasons for the slow progress in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. There is general agreement that strengthening fragile or conflict affected situations calls for an effective prevention of armed conflicts and simultaneous peacebuilding, peace consolidation and statebuilding efforts. This constitutes a new challenge for the international donor community.

Safeguarding peace and human security is also a main objective of Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC).

Preventing conflict, promoting peace

Austria is committed to a positive vision of peace that not only seeks to remove both direct and structural violence, but also to address the root causes.

Austria promotes a culture of conflict prevention that enables the early identification of tensions, the correct assessment of one's own role in conflict situations, and to take timely, appropriate measures for conflict transformation and peaceful solutions.

Specific priorities of Austrian Development Cooperation are:

• Supporting conflict-sensitive approaches in fragile and conflict affected countries and regions with the aim of avoiding escalation of conflict ("do-no-harm approach") and strengthening peacebuilding effects.
• Strengthening the role of women in armed conflicts: in order to support and promote the role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts as well as in peace-building processes, in 2007 the Austrian Federal Government adopted a national action plan for implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This Resolution, together with the follow-up Resolutions 1820, 1888 and 1889, is taken into account in its programmes and projects by ADC.
• Supporting regional, subregional and local civil society organisations engaged in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, with a special focus on conflict prevention.
• Effective and democratically legitimate and controlled security systems as a major prerequisite for the prevention and transformation of conflicts. ADC is particularly engaged in Security System Reform (e.g.rule of law, capacity development in the police force, penal system, human rights) and the judiciary.
• Building effective, legitimate and resilient state institutions and stable democratic processes, as well as supporting non-violent and constructive conflict resolution approaches. These are based on the principles developed by OECD.
• Taking a holistic, and supporting a, coherent, coordinated and complementary approach and procedure in implementing development and peace goals (3C approach).
• Aligning its peacebuilding measures with those of OECD (INCAF), the UN, the European Union, and the international donor community at large.