The role of the international community

Many post-conflict or transitional societies would like to see the international community involved, primarily in the role of donor. Yet the international community rarely provides significant resources to finance reparations initiatives. The reason for this reluctance is twofold. First, given that reparations should always include an acknowledgement of responsibility, the international community has often argued that they should be primarily a local initiative. This is reasonable if responsibility for the conflict is indeed solely local, but more questionable otherwise. Second, given that implementing reparations plans always means taking sensitive political decisions, the international community has little incentive to get involved.

Related Subject(s): International Law and Justice