When Kumar Anuraj Jha returned home to Nepal with an in 2007, he was hired as a child protection advisor by the United Nations Mission in Nepal. The decade-long armed conflict between government forces and Maoist fighters had officially ended a year earlier, while Jha was midway through his graduate studies as a Fulbright Scholar at .
But the tough part of returning Nepal to some semblance of normality had just begun. Jha found himself responsible for the social re-integration of the Maoists鈥� 3,000 child soldiers (i.e., those under age 18) slated for release under the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Accord.
To Jha鈥檚 surprise, many of these youthful soldiers didn鈥檛 want to be freed. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 see it the way the international community did 鈥� they wanted to stay with the Maoists; it was a source of identity and pride for them,鈥� said Jha.
In hindsight, Jha wishes the UN had been able to have access to the child soldiers long before the Maoists released them into civilian life. With more time, he and his colleagues might have been able to address their concerns.
As it was, Jha’s team was under pressure 鈥� other aspects of the peace process hinged on the release of the child soldiers 鈥� so they had to push the young people into deciding among 40 UN-sponsored options, including training in a healthcare profession, starting small businesses with micro-loans, and vocational training (to be, for example, electricians or cooks).
Jha thinks the reintegration package was one of the most comprehensive that the UN has ever put together, but the years of child soldiering had not prepared these young people to be receptive to what they were being offered.
Every action has unintended consequences
Six years later, sitting in a spacious waterfront room used for informal conversations at UN headquarters in New York City, Jha ponders the gap between the ideal application of peacebuilding principles and the realities that peace practitioners often face.
鈥淭here is no action that does not have unintended consequences, no matter what you do and how well intentioned you are,鈥� says Jha, who moved in 2010 from Nepal to NYC, where he now works on issues related to children and armed conflict, with a focus on Africa.* 鈥淭he UN鈥檚 efforts to free and rehabilitate child soldiers in Nepal were perceived as coercive by many of the聽soldiers 鈥� causing them to feel unsettled and full of anxiety.鈥�
Jha looks burdened by this memory, adding: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a struggle to聽put theories into practice. You try to make the best choice at that time, at that moment. The peace process will never be perfect.鈥� Jha derives satisfaction from interactions with his colleagues, whom he describes as highly intelligent, multilingual people from around the world, who often bring special expertise to their UN work. But he adds that the overall system tends to be characterized by a 鈥渃ulture of competitiveness,鈥� based on jostling for funding, authority and responsibilities.
Reflecting on his CJP years, Jha says he values the theoretical frameworks he gained, giving him an ability to analyze conflicts and to identify what part of a theory is useful and applicable in a given situation. 鈥淚鈥檓 better able to look at a situation and make sense of it.鈥�
Jha says CJP鈥檚 emphasis on building and bridging relationships in any situation is one of his biggest take-aways; he credits 鈥渢he culture and values of Mennonites鈥� for inculcating a particular style of leadership in himself and other graduates.
Likes Mennonite way of empowering others
鈥淐JP taught us to be self-reflective and to recognize that it鈥檚 never one person who has transformed something 鈥� hundreds of people contribute. And the more you acknowledge that and expand the聽circle, the better the outcome will be.鈥�
In the Mennonite tradition, he says, 鈥渢he emphasis is on enabling others, empowering others, encouraging others.鈥� He adds that students sense Mennonites promote and teach peacebuilding because of their long-standing values, not just for professional reasons. (Jha, a Hindu, is married to a 2010 CJP graduate, Jill Landis, a Mennonite. They have two daughters.)
鈥淚t鈥檚 distressing for me to see people who act as if they have all the answers. It鈥檚 harmful. It鈥檚 very difficult to do this peacebuilding work in a way that isn鈥檛 damaging. The need to be humble, that鈥檚 one of the most important lessons I got at CJP.鈥�
Article originally published in magazine, Fall/Winter 2013.