TOKYO: 11th May 2005 -- The Japan Times yesterday ran an article which is well-informed and possibly not syndicated elsewhere.  Readers of austraLasia may be interested in a very brief summary of its contents. 

    The immediate issue in East Timor has been the demand for repeal of a law which would have seen the teaching of religion made optional in the schools.  Another issue was lurking not far below - general dissatisfaction with the Government and its leadership and a call for dismissal or resignation of the Prime Minister.  The first of the issues appears to have found a resolution, but Ramesh Thakur, JT columnist, addresses the more general question of what role the UN might still play for a nation which it has only recently assisted to achieve initial stability.

    UN statistics show that half of the countries emerging from conflict slide back into armed violence within five years. East Timor has been a success story for the first part of postconflict relief but has barely begun the more arduous journey to recovery and development.

    In this respect East Timor joins Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq as an example of countries emerging from lengthy conflict with their peoples traumatised, communities divided, economies wrecked, infrastructure gutted and political institutiions stressed.

    In the light of this - and Thakur is senior vice rector of the UN University in Tokyo, so is speaking with knowledge of UN developments - Thakur says that Kofi Annan has endorsed the establishment of a UN Peace-Building Commission (PBC) to identify countries sliding toward collapse, to institute measures to halt the slide and assist in a transition to self-sustaining peace.

    The PBC would be a forum for many actors with the role of formulating and implementing case-specific plans and to monitor and adjust them as needs be.

    But the core work would be to ensure effective support to national authorities, propose priorities that reflect national realities, mobilise resources and consolidate best practice in issues like human rights, gender, demobilisation, disarmament, reintegration and rehabilitation.

    Thakur presented his view of UN peace-building at an April symposium on UN peace-keeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste.  PBC is not yet in place, but it is Thakur's view that conflict management in a situation such as East Timor's is an urgent issue, and that the UN has a role to play. "It would mark a milestone in recognising the importance of engaging with postconflict peace-building", he says "so that efforts at conflict management do not go to waste".