The economic implications of conflict and peace-keeping will be one of the key themes of Making Peace Work, a conference being organised by UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in Helsinki June 4-5.

No region of the world is immune from the economic and emotional effects of violent conflict. Post-conflict reconstruction is undertaken with mixed results while many societies are still far from peace.

Delegates to the WIDER conference will discuss the the economic dimensions of conflict and peace-keeping, whether economic development contributes to conflict reduction and the lessons of post-conflict reconstruction. The conference aims to increase the focus of economists on conflict issues and to facilitate interaction between economists and other social scientists working on conflict and post-conflict reconstruction.

Conference topics include:

• Violent conflict and its causes
• Conflict prevention and peace-keeping
• Post-conflict reconstruction
• Foreign Aid to conflict and post-conflict countries
• Poverty and human development effects of conflict

Applications to participate must be received by February 29. More information is available on the UNU-WIDER website.