Guide to rebuilding public sector services in stability operations

Abstract

The Army’s stability operations manual, Field Manual (FM) 3-07, identifies five sectors as components of an integrated approach to stability and reconstruction (S&R): security, justice and reconciliation, humanitarian assistance and social well-being, participatory governance, and economic recovery and stabilization.
FM 3-07 describes two categories of the range of activities in stability operations for achieving these end state conditions: reconstruction and stabilization.
Reconstruction is the process of rebuilding degraded, damaged, or destroyed political, socioeconomic, and physical infrastructure to create the foundation for long-term development. Stabilization is the process by which underlying tensions that might lead to resurgence in violence and a breakdown in law and order are managed and reduced, while efforts are made to support preconditions for successful long-term development.
This guide examines the role of restoration of public services within the broader context of stability operations. The extent to which public service reconstruction takes place depends on the mission, the level of resources, and the host country context.
This paper provides guidance helpful to U.S. peacekeeping personnel in planning and executing stability operations tasks related to restoration of public sector services and infrastructure. It is designed to supplement existing and emerging guidance, and is specifically relevant to addressing the needs of public sector rebuilding in a post-conflict situation by peacekeeping forces. The material presented here draws both from theory and analytic frameworks and from on-the-ground experience of practitioners.