The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon established a 17 member High-Level Independent Panel in October 2014 to undertake an assessment of the state of UN peace operations, and the emerging operational needs of the future: ‘Understanding the relationship between the United Nations and Regional Organisations’. As part of the ongoing assessment, the Panel intends to engage widely with Regional Organisations, Member States, Academics, Think Tanks and Civil Society globally. In February 2015, the Panel’s focus was in Africa after completing the consultations with key relevant actors in Asia. To this end, the UN, with the support of partners including the Training for Peace in Africa (TfP) Programme, the British Government, working closely with the Panel Secretariat and the United Nations office to the Organisation of the African Union (UNOAU), hosted an African Regional Consultation Seminar.
The seminar was held from 11-13 February 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. TfP/ACCORD supported the consultations substantively by contributing to the discussions and also by chairing and facilitating the session on Conflict Prevention, Good Offices, Mediation and Peacemaking in Africa: Strengthening Cooperation and Effectiveness. TfP/ACCORD also facilitated the participation of African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to the consultations where they shared their experiences and recommendations on Africa’s peace operations issues.
The review came at a time when the nature of conflicts are changing and the tasks undertaken by UN as well as the African Union (AU) peace operations continue to evolve and cause significant concern among international peacekeeping stakeholders. The number of UN missions on the ground, i.e. peacekeeping operations and special political missions, have increased over time. In this light, the seminar aimed at enhancing the outcome of the African Consultation of the UN High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, by facilitating the participation of Civil Society, Think Tanks and selected experts.
The seminar brought together representatives from UN Member states and Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) in Africa, regional training centres, CSOs as well as experts in Africa’s Peace support operations. The seminar provided a platform for discussion on key issues which led to the development of practical recommendations for the way forward on the future and strategic direction of the African peace operations. Some of the key issues discussed include; Evolving Peace and Conflict Trends and Implications for Peace Operations in Africa; UN and African Peace Operation Partnerships: Progress to date on peace operations and evolving challenges and Recommendations for the Future; Conflict Prevention modalities, Good Offices, Mediation and Peacemaking in Africa.
Further, issues of Strengthening Cooperation and operational Effectiveness; African Troop Contributing Countries’ (TCC’s) Recommendations for Improving UN Peacekeeping Operations; Women Peace & Security: Progress to Date, Remaining Challenges, Recommendations for women inclusion in Peace Operations were discussed in the consultations. Other issues discussed include African Police Contributing Countries (PCC) Recommendations for Improving UN Peacekeeping Operations; Lessons Learned from UN-AU-RECs Transitions; and Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Peacebuilding: The Peace, Human Rights and Development Nexus in post conflict environments. The overall goal was to produce a report with recommendations that can serve as the basis for effective and efficient transformation of UN, AU, RECs/RMs peace operations in the African context.
ACCORD/TfP Programme was represented by Dr Cedric de Coning, Brig General. James Machakaire and Ms Irene Limo. It was also represented by Ms Florence Mpaayei who chaired and facilitated the session on ‘Conflict Prevention, Good Offices, Mediation and Peacemaking in Africa: Strengthening Cooperation and Effectiveness’.
This activity was in line with the TfP Programme’s strategic goal for contributing to improved and sustainable capacity for peace operations on the continent, and to ensure that functional organisational systems are in place in the UN, AU and RECs that are able to use relevant policy frameworks mandated by the UN, AU and RECs.
The Training for Peace Programme at ACCORD is an initiative funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
