By Edrissa Jallow
Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in partnership with West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) conducted its second stakeholder dialogue series with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) at SeneGambia Beach Hotel on 5th April 2022. The first engagement was conducted in Senegal Dakar.
The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre was established as an institution of the Ghana Armed Forces in 1998 and commissioned in 2004 by the government of Ghana.
The dialogue focused on promoting peace and security in West Africa through the implementation of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) in an attempt to promote partnerships between Society organizations on Peace and Security in West Africa. The day long dialogue was funded by Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
KAIPTC Working Towards Implementation
KAIPTC’s Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Ms Sylvia Horname Noagbesenu, noted that the atmosphere of security in West Africa has become a mixture of political gains and challenges. However, various institutions “such as KAIPTC have been working progressively to contribute to peace and security in the region”.
According to Sylvia over the years KAIPTC has been ramping up its efforts to engage and collaborate with other institutions so as to maximize the impact of peace and security within ECOWAS.
Ms Noagbesenu revealed that since the formation of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) in 2008, her organisation has been working with WANEP to promote peace and security in the region.
She recalled that KAIPTC has “worked with ECOWAS in the areas of research, training, capacity building and policy support to ECOWAS, the Member States and other international partners to promote peace and stability in West Africa”.
WANEP Has Engaged ECOWAS on ECPF
WANEP’s Regional Coordinator of Research & Capacity Building Dr Festus Kofi Aubyn highlights that for the past years WANEP has vastly contributed to the implementation of both “regional and continental normative and policy frameworks”. This he believes will address the root causes of conflict and the multitude of security challenges facing the region.
According to Dr Aubyn, their organisation has engaged ECOWAS both on a strategic and operational level. Their efforts have been reviewed by various ECOWAS departments to progress the implementation of the ECPF.
He also noted that WANEP has “provided the structure through which CSOs regularly exchange experiences and information on critical issues with State and regional actors to influence policy on peacebuilding and conflict transformation”. Dr Aubyn reaffirmed his belief that conflict prevention “requires effective multi-stakeholder collaboration”.
“This event is therefore designed to provide a platform for broad stakeholder dialogue to agree on innovative strategies to support and complement ECOWAS’s conflict prevention and management efforts to strengthen human security in the region,” said Dr Aubyn.
Towards the end of his statement, Dr Aubyn urged all stakeholders to facilitate strong proposals which can add value to the aims and objectives of ECOWAS for a standard and secured West Africa that guarantees strong and democratic institutions.
Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
GIZ Technical Advisor Ms Aseye Nani highlighted that the rise of military coups and unconstitutional changes in West Africa since 2019 has caused a significant challenge to the democratic order and the peaceful development in the sub-region.
Ms Nani believes that the ignorance of security in West Africa and the Sahel Region remains “a source of concern for regional good governance and external intervention”. To address this, she urged CSOs to perform their duty in confronting security challenges.
“GIZ believes that mutually beneficial engagements between KAIPTC and CSOs across the region will yield the requisite capacities and cooperation that are needed to support peace and security endeavours in the framework of the ECOWAS Peace and Security architecture,” she said.