Africa Project News
Nearly Hundred Liberian Women Participated in CMI’s Consultations
To gain field-based knowledge on how gender-based violence (GBV) should be taken into account in future peace processes, CMI and its partner WANEP (West Africa Network for Peacebuilding) organised consultations at the end of February in three Liberian counties (Lofa, Bong, Nimba). These workshops were attended by over ninety women who shared their stories and views on gender-based violence in peace- and wartime Liberia. Among the themes discussed during the consultations were the particularities of GBV during the Liberian civil wars, the effects of wartime GBV on Liberian women, and the dynamics of GBV in today’s Liberia. The knowledge gained through these consultations adds to CMI’s thorough research on other West African peace processes and serves as the basis for forthcoming recommendations on how peace mediators should address GBV more effectively.
In addition to the consultations, CMI’s project team, headed by senior adviser Minister Elisabeth Rehn, met with several authorities in Monrovia. These meetings included visits to five government ministries, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and the office of H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The meetings focused on the theme of gender-based violence, providing valuable information on some of the challenges that the Liberian government has faced in combating GBV.
The consultations and meetings were organised in the framework of CMI’s project “Gender-Based Violence and Peace Mediation in West Africa” and will directly contribute to the project’s final recommendations on peace mediation and GBV. The project was launched in early 2011 when CMI and WANEP joined forces to promote professional practice and expertise on gender-based violence in peace processes. The joint project targets West African mediation experts working on violent conflicts around the continent. Through the collection and comparative analysis of experiences from West African conflicts and peace mediation processes, the project develops recommendations on how to address these questions more effectively. Along with Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire will be one of the project’s thorough case studies that will serve as the basis for the final recommendations. To learn more about the project, please visit the project’s website.
Above: Women Meet in Gbarnga, Bong County
Below: H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Minister Elisabeth Rehn in Monrovia.
Photos: Saila Huusko/CMI.
Training films to accompany the ‘Mediation and Conflict Analysis’ training program
As part of the Enhancing Mediation Capacities in West Africa, CMI and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre are producing training films to accompany the ‘Mediation and Conflict Analysis Training Package’ being developed. Films will include a case study on the conflict in Sierra Leone as well as five shorter thematic films. Production of the films began in the region in November 2011. Interviews with key mediators and negotiators in the region’s conflicts such as Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, Niger, Guinea, Senegal and Ghana have been conducted. Editing of the films is currently underway.
The West African sub-region has been, for the last two decades, one of the most conflict-prone areas of the world. It unfortunately also lays claim to three of the most violent civil wars in contemporary African political history; Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.
There is an identified need in West Africa to develop capacities of actors of all levels in the areas of conflict prevention, management and resolution. The Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) has also identified certain capacity needs among which are training/capacity building in conflict analysis and mediation skills at various levels. This is the basis of the development of the ‘Mediation and Conflict Analysis’ training course being developed by Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) and the Kofi Anan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in collaboration with ECOWAS. Between July 2011 and December 2012 CMI and KAIPTC are developing a training program in mediation and conflict prevention for key actors involved in West Africa’s peace processes. The training films will form a critical component of the training modules and materials for this program.
Increasingly, using media such as film during training has been found to make the learning experience more enjoyable and increase learning capacity. These training films will have the ability to bring to the participants real life views and images from across the region. Using the films also adds depth by providing multiple viewpoints as well as additional information.
In October 2011 mediators at track 1 and track 2 levels were interviewed for the films. Countries represented included; Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, Niger, Guinea, Senegal and Ghana. As well as sharing their experiences of mediation in respective countries mediators also addressed specific thematic issues that related to mediation such as; women and mediation, the role of civil society, the role of ECOWAS and justice and reconciliation.
From January 27th to February 3rd filming was conducted in Sierra Leone for the production of the case study on the country’s ten year conflict. Interviews took place in the different regions of the country to provide a more national reflection. Those interviewed included the lead negotiators from the rebel forces and government as well as civil society members involved in the peace process. In order to get a deeper understanding of the impact of the war former combatants and general members of the population also shared their experiences of the war.
As well as describing the chronology of the war and peace process, interviewees addressed some key challenges relating to final peace agreements, issues of justice and reconciliation and post-war reconstruction. Overall the case study and 5 shorter thematic films that will be developed will illustrate ideas and experiences that will allow those being trained to grapple with the complexities and realities of mediating conflicts in West Africa.
Additional interviews with international thematic experts will be filmed in Ghana in late March to complement existing footage. Editing of the films is currently ongoing in Dakar, Senegal. The films should be completed in early July and ready for the first pilot training in the last quarter of 2012.
Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) organized a workshop in Abuja, Nigeria
On November 29-30, Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) organized a workshop in Abuja, Nigeria, to bring together regional experts on gender-based violence. In addition to representatives from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), civil society experts working in the field of GBV in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, and Côte D’Ivoire participated in the workshop. The two-day workshop also benefitted from the presence and insights of Elisabeth Rehn, Finnish Minister of State and former UN Under-Secretary-General, and the Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, Riitta Korpivaara.
The workshop consisted of four roundtable discussions on specific themes pertaining to the overall topic of gender-based violence. While the first day of the workshop focused on GBV during conflicts and the immediate time after conflicts, the roundtable discussions on the second day dealt with the reconstruction and stabilization phase of peace processes. Furthermore, the last session on the second day was devoted to brainstorming how regional organizations like ECOWAS could take advantage of the expertise on gender-based violence among civil society organizations and how to include these issues in the agendas of peace mediators. Special attention was also given to thinking about the formats and methodologies for conducting research on GBV and presenting the results of such research.
The workshop was organized as a part of CMI’s project “Gender-Based Violence and Peace Mediation in West Africa.” As the absence of women from peace negotiations and insufficient expertise on gender-based violence in peace mediation teams limit the suc
cess of peace processes, CMI and WANEP joined forces in January, 2011, in order to promote professional practice in these areas. The joint project targets West African mediation experts working on violent conflicts around Africa. Through collection and comparative analysis of experiences from West African conflicts and peace mediation processes, the project develops recommendations on how to address these questions effectively. The project aims to: deepen expertise on gender-based violence in peace mediation by producing “best practices” based on two case studies (Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire) and bringing these into discussion with ECOWAS (Economic Community of West Africa States); identify strengths, gaps and shortcomings of existing initiatives and policies on gender-based violence and the needs in combating gender-based violence with regards to peace mediation processes; and offer technical guidance and assistance to existing structures and processes of peace building and mediation in West Africa.
Improving West African Capacities in Mediation and Peace Processes Project Organised a ‘Learning and Experience Sharing Workshop on Mediation and Peace Processes in West Africa at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Accra, October 19th and 20th Click here for more
Governance out of a Box – “High Level Seminar on Civil Registries in the Context of Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Peace & Development in West Africa” held in Accra from 13th to 14th September 2011
CMI’s Governance out of a Box project team organized a high level seminar themed ‘High Level Seminar on Civil Registries in the Context of Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Peace & Development in West Africa’ in Accra, Ghana from 13th to 14th September 2011.
As a corollary to the GooB project in Liberia on Civil Registration (which focuses currently on Birth Registration), the seminar brought together relevant influential policy level experts and technical experts from Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria to share experiences of civil registration processes in the region, discuss issues of identity and citizen’s rights, and the benefits and risks of civil registry implementation and integration both domestically and regionally. The goal of the seminar was to begin discussions which would 1) aid the Liberian participants as they began implementation of a recently passed act to establish a National Registry Office, as well as 2) produce concrete civil registration/national identity policy recommendations for consideration at a regional (ECOWAS / Mano River Union) level.
Speakers at the event included Dr. M.J. Kuna from the Independent National Elections Commission (INEC) of Nigeria, Dr. Ibrahima Ba from the Institute of National Statistics in Ivory Coast, Dr. T. Edward Liberty from the Liberia Institute for Spatial and Geo Information Statistics (LISGIS), Dr. William Ahadzie from the National Identification Authority (NIA) in Ghana as well as Mr. Aliyu Aziz Abubakar from the National Identification Management Commission (NIMC) of Nigeria. Other organizations represented were the Liberian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Liberian Ministry of Health, the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) of Ghana, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, the Organization for National Identity (ONI) in Ivory Coast, and the African Union (AU). Private sector technical experts present included Ghanaian software firm SOFTribe represented by its CEO Mr. Herman Chinery Hesse, as well as Ivorian firm SNEDAI, and Ghanaian firm Margins Group.
See the project page for more information on Governance out of a Box.
CMI convened an expert workshop to discuss the role of the AU Panel of the Wise in the upcoming elections of DRC and Cameroon
To support the African Union’s Panel of the Wise in mitigation of election-related disputes, CMI convened a closed-door expert workshop in Addis Ababa on September 15th, 2011. The meeting focused on discussing the upcoming elections in DRC and Cameroon and suggesting different preventative diplomacy activities that the AU Panel of the Wise could engage in prior to the elections in these two countries.
In addition to the African Union, the workshop was attended by experts well versed in the African electoral landscape from both DRC and Cameroon, as well as experts on election processes in general.
The meeting was arranged in the framework of CMI’s AU Mediation Support Capacity Project. This project is implemented together with ACCORD and the AU’s Conflict Management Division. The meeting was a follow-up on CMI’s work with the Panel of the Wise and for a seminar “Towards Implementing the Recommendations of the Report of the AU Panel of the Wise on Election-Related Disputes and Political Violence” arranged in Addis Ababa in March 2011. In this seminar, the experts highlighted the importance of mapping future potential cases of election violence in Africa to inform the preventive diplomacy-related activities of the AU Panel of the Wise.
Participants of CMI election workshop
AU Mediation Support Capacity Project’s Steering Committee meeting, held in Addis Ababa on November 8, 2010
The AU Mediation Support Capacity Project’s Steering Committee meeting was held in Addis Ababa on November 8, 2010. The meeting brought together the partners to discuss the project activities so far, as well as review the 2011 work plan and budget.
Present at the meeting were representatives of the African Union Conflict Management Division (AU CMD), Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) and ACCORD, as well as the representatives of the project funder, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.The project aims to strengthen the mediation support capacity of the African Union. It is undertaken in support of a larger AU initiative serving this goal, involving the UN Mediation Support Unit and several other partners. More information on the project can be found here.