Socio-Economic Hurdles to Peacebuilding in Conflict Affected Areas of Pakistan: A Post Conflict Study of District Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

It is relatively easy to stop conflict but difficult to achieve peace. Peace or peacebuilding is not merely to abate conflict rather it is an activity that aims to resolve the practices of injustice in peaceful ways and transform the socio-economic and structural conditions that cause conflicts. Societies in post conflict transitions pose the challenges of uncertainty and insecurity that are if not addressed properly with a holistic, and durable peacebuilding strategy can revert to violence and conflict. Most of these challenges are the result of social and economic imbalances that are deeply embedded in the societal structure and cultural setup which do not allow peacebuilding to be sustainable. This paper as part of PhD study aimed to investigate the factors as hurdles affecting peacebuilding in conflict affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in general and specifically district Swat. In this study, qualitative research methods especially grounded theory approach and theoretical sampling are used for identification of research participants, and the data is also collected through interviews and analysis. This study aims to find the social and economic hurdles that affect peacebuilding in the conflict affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in general and specifically district Swat. The study shows that peacebuilding activities are suffered in target areas because of delay in justice, inadequate access of pubic to social services, trust deficit, and incompatibility of peacebuilding to local culture. The provision of social services to people and making national institutions trustworthy can build durable peace in the society.