Our activities must be part of larger peace-building efforts in the transition from war to peace. There is a need for quick rehabilitation efforts on behalf of return communities, but on a much larger scale there is a need for the physical and social reconstruction of societies. Too often, humanitarian action has taken off at its own speed with little regard for larger development goals. And too often, development activities have started too late with little regard for the importance of consolidating a fragile return to peace. Humanitarian rehabilitation action, recovery and reconstruction activities must be subject to joint planning and take place in a joint operational framework with mutually reinforcing interventions.
Return can serve as a catalyst for change.
In particular, attention should be paid to the importance of reconciliation when return takes place to societies where forcible displacement of persons from other groups has been the very objective of war. My fourth point in an integrated approach must be the respect for human rights. Indeed, human security in its widest sense requires a full respect for the totality of human rights - be they political, economic or social. It is the violation of human rights that leads to conflicts and displacement. It is the restoration of human rights that is the beginning of the return to a life in safety and dignity.