Does Foreign Aid Foster Reconciliation? Evidence from Colombia

Reconciliation is a phenomenon explored in the recent literature on conflict and post-conflict and in public policies in several ways. However, there is no agreement about the factors that create better conditions for reconciliation. Therefore, this research seeks to explore how different state and non-state actors affect the subnational dynamics that allow the creation of conditions for reconciliation, providing evidence from Colombia. In this post-conflict country, the analysis of those conditions is very relevant. The dissertation contains three chapters analysing the factors and conditions that shape reconciliation, providing quantitative and qualitative evidence. The first chapter analyses the relations between foreign aid and the creation of conditions for reconciliation by exploring the European Union interventions and their effect on the local conditions for reconciliation at the subnational level in Colombia, observing differences in the victimisation levels behaviour between the municipalities intervened and not intervened by the European Union. This chapter concludes by finding that municipalities intervened by the European Union show lower levels of victimisation than municipalities that did not intervene, creating better conditions for reconciliation when fostering community capacity building. The second chapter analyses the relations between armed actors’ repertoires and the likelihood of victim mobilisation for reconciliation, finding that victims are more likely to mobilise for reconciliation when armed actors attack civilians rather than official targets. This is because the first repertoire has a positive effect on social cohesion. The third and final chapter assesses beneficiaries’ satisfaction with foreign aid interventions for peacebuilding and reconciliation, finding that top-down approaches perform better long-term results and the highest level of satisfaction because it promotes recognition and community integration. The research concludes by stating the main findings, the discussion of the research and its methodological implications, the respective policy implications, as well as the limitations and suggestions for future research derived from the research findings and limitations.