By: Christian Conteh
The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) an institution created to provide globally recognized capacity for international actors in the African Peace and Security landscape through training, education and research to foster peace and stability on the continent has on Tuesday 5th April 2022 held its Annual Stakeholder Dialogue Series at the Senegambia Beach Hotel.
The theme for the event was ‘Contributing to the Implementation of ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework: Promoting Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations on Peace and Security in West Africa.’
The Dialogue Series created a forum for relevant stakeholders such as civil society actors, KAIPTC, ECOWAS, government, national and international organisations to dialogue on their relevant roles towards implementing the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) whilst identifying, discussing and agreeing on innovative strategies to support and complement ECOWAS’s conflict prevention and management efforts.
Giving her opening remarks Sylvia Horname Noagbesenu, Director, Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation KAIPTC noted that the security climate of West Africa has seen a mix of political gains and scores of political challenges at the same time and in view of this, different institutions such as KAIPTC have been working progressively to contribute to peace and security in the region.
In doing this she said the Centre is specifically committed to strengthening collaborations with CSO’s, Think Tanks and the Private Sector to advance policy dialogues and contribute to improving peace and security in Africa.
“I am particularly excited about today’s programme as it offers the opportunity for us, as stakeholders to draw synergies between our various actions in our respective organisations with the aim of strengthening partnership among us towards peace in the region.
As we share our success stories, highlight our achievements and find innovative ways to harness each other’s strengths, it is also important that we discuss our challenges, the bottlenecks and learn from each other to advance this very important cause through a collaborative approach,” she said.
The workshop she hopes will help develop new strategies for developing partnerships toward ensuring the successful implementation of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework.
On her part Aseye Nani, Technical Advisor; GIZ- Support to KAIPTC noted that she was particularly happy to be back in The Gambia, not as an election observer this time around in Basse Santa Su, but in a different capacity to engage with an amazing and vibrant civil society community.
She however noted that amidst her excitement, the increase in the number of coup d’état has fundamentally challenged the democratic order in the region.
“The increasing number of military coups and unconstitutional changes in West Africa since 2019 pose a significant challenge to the democratic order and the peaceful development of the subregion. The salience of insecurity in West Africa and the Sahel Region, remains a source of concern for regional good governance and external intervention, and this is where civil society should play a role,” Aseye Nani said.
She emphasised that the Covid-19 pandemic and the most recent political crises across the region have taught us to work together, towards the common objectives of peace and stability in the region.
Reading a statement on behalf of the West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) Dr Festus Kofi Aubyn the organisation’s Regional Coordinator, Research & Capacity Building revealed that recent developments in the region have raised a lot of concerns about the long-term peace and stability of the region.
The combination of both old and new threats including violent extremism, terrorism, political violence, protracted ethnic conflicts, organized crimes, economic inequalities, food insecurity and climate change have compounded the failure of States to maintain optimism and live up to the expectations of their populations. Particularly, the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government through military coups in the region has raised concerns about the fragility of political institutions and undermined the democratic dividends achieved over the past decades,” She read.
She emphasised that WANEP has over the years contributed immensely to the implementation of regional and continental normative and policy frameworks to address the root causes of conflict and the multitude of security challenges facing the region.
She further stated that as an institution they believe that conflict prevention requires effective multi-stakeholder collaboration beyond ECOWAS and its Member States.
“Conflict prevention is the responsibility of all citizens, civil society activists, academics, the media, the Training Centres of Excellence like the KAIPTC, and the international community. All stakeholders have roles to play that may be different but complementary and mutually reinforcing.”
This Dialogue Series is an event designed to provide a platform for broad stakeholder engagement to agree on innovative strategies to support and complement ECOWAS’s conflict prevention and management efforts to strengthen human security in the region.
Presentations were mainly around getting everyone to understand what the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework is about and the various approaches used in its implementation, this includes the achievements, experiences and limitations from the perspective of the various partner organisations.
