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culture of war. The Report underlines that harnessing the resources presently expended for military spending is the only way that the sustainable human development can be financed and the new threats to security can be effectively addressed. The 1992 world military spending of $815 billion is the equivalent of the combined income of half of the people in the world. Although there has been some reduction in military spending since the end of the Cold War, it has not been used to increase development aid. Therefore, there is need for a new and firm commitment that the military spending should be reduced and that the savings should be devoted to world sustainable and equitable development.
The peace dividend depends upon both conversion from military to civilian production in the industrial countries and reduced military spending by the developing countries. To obtain conversion it is necessary to provide alternatives to the arms producers, to the employees of defense plants, and to the military itself. To reassure the developing countries it is necessary to increase their security through guarantees of their territorial integrity and through sustainable equitable development and democracy which increases their internal political security.
A new design for development co-operation is proposed which would encompasses not only development aid but all international flows including private investment and labour and international trade and finance, including debt payments. If aid is to genuinely benefit the poor, it must be more participatory and people-centred. An open public debate on aid can allow people to decide whether their country needs aid and who should benefit in order to reduce disparities rather than reinforce them. Negotiation, planning and implementation should include opposition groups, the media and other elements of civil society.
Increasingly, in its development projects, UNDP is recognizing one of the basic principles of a culture of peace that development projects can be made more sustainable by involving together those who have been in conflict.
This includes:
* the participation of parties on all sides of a conflict in
the planning and implementation of development
programmes - with the assistance of trained peace promoters;
* the evaluation of development programmes on the basis of the participatory process as well as the product achieved in traditional terms.
A good example of participatory development has been the Development Programme for Refugees, Returnee and Displaced Populations in Central America (PRODERE). PRODERE was established by UNDP within the framework of the Special Plan of Economic Co-operation for Central America designated by the United Nations General Assembly to express its support for peace agreements in Central America. The Government of Italy provided the necessary financial backing.
PRODERE has operated in conflict-affected areas of Central America to facilitate the reinsertion of uprooted populations into their communities of origin, or their long term integration into host communities. This involves various state institutions and non-governmental organizations in each of the Central American countries concerned, as well as other agencies of the UN system, such as the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, the ILO, the UNHCR, the World Food Programme and UNICEF.
PRODERE has stressed local mechanisms to combat social exclusion and establish the basis for socio-economic recovery. It has supported the develop-
To genuinely benefit the poor, development aid must be participatory and people-centred, including an open public debate allowing people to decide who should benefit in order to reduce disparities rather than reinforce them.