An International Expert Workshop on the Ecowas Conflict Prevention Framework, scheduled from 25th to 28th June 2007, yesterday kicked-off at Paradise Suites Hotel, Kololi.

Organised by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the meeting aims to map advances, reversals and challenges in conflict prevention in the sub-region, as well as identify priority areas for possible intervention. A wide range of countries are represented, including government officials, research practitioners with relevant experience and expertise on the issues.

In his keynote address, Hon. Abdou Kolley, Secretary of State for Trade, Industry and Employment, indicated importance the Republic of The Gambia attaches to regional institutions like Ecowas. “The principle of solidarity has found tangible expression in the way Ecowas member states have stood by our neighbours who have found themselves in crisis in the last two decades,’’ he said.

In the light of this, he outlined the prominent role The Gambia has played in the collective efforts to stabilise the political, socio-economic and security problems that countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone were confronted with.  “The Ecowas Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was borne here in Banjul in the aftermath of the outbreak of civil war in Liberia in 1989. The Gambia deployed the first contingent for the ECOMOG intervention in Liberia,’’ he added.

Considering that there is no active war in the West African sub-region, the SoS for Trade, Industry and Employment alerted that Ecowas member states cannot afford to rest on their laurels. In other words, there is a need to anticipate problems by taking concrete steps to resolve simmering discontents and conflicts before they metamorphose into violence. “However, durable and sustainable peace can only be forged where the processes are internalised and owned by the people themselves based on voluntary political will and inclusiveness,’’ he hinted.

For his part, Colonel Mahamane Touré, Ecowas Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, elaborated on the concrete measures that have been taken by the regional body in a bid to promote conflict prevention and crisis management. ‘‘The evolving conflict dynamics in the sub-region convinced Ecowas leaders to adopt the 1999 Protocol on the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Resolution, Management, Peacekeeping and Security as a comprehensive framework for confronting the new threats to peace and security on a more permanent basis’’, he noted.

Taking into consideration the firm commitment demonstrated by West African leaders in terms of promoting democratic practices, through a necessary framework for sound political and economic governance, he underlined the ratification in 2001 of the Ecowas Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, as it is a supplementary tool to the mechanism on conflict prevention.
He went on to say that the Strategic Ecowas Conflict Prevention Framework, is set to create a space and the right environment within the Ecowas system, member states and the sub-region so as to promote and consolidate human security. “It should, for instance, be able to facilitate the emergence of effective collaboration on the ground between the decentralised Ecowas structures and community actors to intervene in seemingly internal hot-spots, such as in the Niger Delta, Casamance, Northern Niger and Northern Ghana, to diffuse tensions, ensure social justice and promote reconcialition,’’ he stated.

In a similar vein, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, former President of the Republic of The Gambia, who is the chairperson of the workshop, stated that ‘the assurance of peace and security in the sub-region has become a sine qua  non for sustainable development and human security.’ He concluded by indicating that ‘the Ecowas’ strategic framework for conflict prevention constitutes another important step in the efforts to erect permanent people-oriented structures for the consolidation of democracy, peace and security in the sub-region.’