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Youth and
Peace Education (YPE) |
CIVIL
SOCIETY POLICY AND ADVOCACY PROGRAM
WANEP
reconceptualized its Civil Society Program (CSP) based on key findings
and lessons learned in the two years. The CSP, working with the
Capacity-building Program I and the Global Partnership for Armed
Conflict Prevention (GPPAC) Projects, contributed to three general
areas: linking Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the region along
the defined thematic area of peacebuilding; understanding the
capacity-building needs of CSOs at all levels in the region; and
ensuring that the West Africa agenda for peacebuilding and conflict
prevention is part of a wider Africa/global strategy.
Experiences of the pilot phase corroborate WANEP’s growing role as the
leading peacebuilding organization in the region; a role which requires
it to strategically target policy makers, other than existing partners
such as ECOWAS, on a regular and formal basis. Therefore, the CSP was
reconceptualized into Civil Society Policy and Advocacy Program (CSPA).
The aim of CSPA is to become a filtering ground for emerging policy
issues and an advocacy mechanism for Civil Society’s engagement with
policy makers, linking practice to policy.
Objectives
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Coordinate emerging policy issues from WANEP programmatic areas
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Collaborate with policy makers to input WANEP’s perspective into
human security policies
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Mobilize
NGOs, CSOs, CBOs, sub-regional networks, practitioners and academics
to research into human security threats and advocate for policies
that will address the human security needs of the sub-region.
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Collaborate with relevant national and regional civil society actors
to develop an integrated and cohesive framework for promoting human
security
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Enhance
partnerships between CSOs and policy makers at the national level
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Enhance
national and cross-border collaboration among peacebuilding
organizations and other relevant actors in conflict prevention, good
governance and human security.
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Build
capacity of local civil society groups for advocacy and lobby
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HIGHLIGHTS
West Africa
Regional Steering Group Consultation Meeting
The 14-member West Africa Regional Steering Group (RSG) which was set up
during the CSOs regional conference in 2004, held its first consultation
meeting in Accra from February 18-19 2005. The RSG members reviewed the
regional Action Agenda and developed a framework to localize and
galvanize support for its working document for conflict prevention. The
framework is also built to assist in the formation of national peace and
security forums, and ensure networking among various groups across
borders. WANEP intends to use these fora to build a bridge between CSOs
and policymakers.
Common Africa Agenda for conflict prevention
As part of the process towards developing a common Africa action agenda
for conflict prevention to contribute to the global action agenda, four
delegates represented the West Africa region at an “All Africa Expert
Consultation in Nairobi”. The delegates included WANEP Liaison Officer
at ECOWAS, the Policy and Advocacy coordinator, and representatives from
Togo and Burkina Faso. The input from the West Africa team contributed
enormously to developing a comprehensive and consolidated document for
conflict prevention and human security in Africa.
Global Conference for the Prevention of Armed Conflict
WANEP, under the CSPA, led a 20-member delegation of CSOs and policy
makers to represent West Africa at the Global Conference: “From Reaction
to Prevention: Civil Society Forging Partnerships to Prevent Violent
Conflict and Build Peace”. Members of the WANEP delegation played key
roles as resource persons in various thematic group discussions: Early
Warning and Early Response, Women in Peacebuilding, and Civilian
Peacekeeping. For the West Africa delegation, the highlight of the
Conference was when the first Regional Coordinator of the Women in
Peacebuilding Program (WIPNET) was presented with one of the first two
copies of the book “People Building Peace”, in which she contributed a
chapter. She was honored for her contribution toward the advancement of
women’s involvement in peacebuilding process in West Africa. The Global
Action Agenda (GAA) for the prevention of Violent Conflict was presented
to the UN Secretary-General. The GAA is a consolidation of regional
action agendas from the 14 regions that participated in the global
process under the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed
Conflict. For further information on this conference, please visit GPPAC
online at
www.conflict-prevention.net and WANEP at
www.wanep.org
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ADVOCACY & LOBBYING
Popularizing the Global Action Agenda
Members of the West Africa delegation initiated various activities to
create awareness on the Global Action Agenda in their respective
countries. Radio and television talk shows were held to popularize the
document and the GPPAC process. The GAA was also discussed in civil
society forums to inform and encourage CSOs to adopt the GAA as a human
security advocacy and lobby tool.
In Niger, the RSG members organized a meeting for civil society groups
to discuss the GAA and identify local priority areas. The GAA was also
introduced and discussed at the Fourth Annual Regional Conference of
WIPNET in Benin and the West Africa Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) meeting
in Accra, which committed to adopting the GAA as a working document.
Copies of the document have also been circulated to development
agencies, embassies and donor partners.
Reaching out to Policymakers
As part of WANEP’s strategy to link experiences in peacebuilding
practice to policy formulation and influence, the CSPA paid courtesy
visits to the Ghana Minister of Interior and the Minister for Foreign
Affairs. The purpose of the meeting was, among others, to officially
congratulate Ghana for being elected to the Security Council as a non
permanent member; create awareness on the CSPA, the GPPAC process and
the GAA; and explore opportunities that will inform how CSOs could
support the work of the Government of Ghana to the UN Resolution 1625
which endorses civil society groups’ participation in conflict
prevention. The Minister of Interior and the Chief Director of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs commended WANEP for its constructive
contribution to peace and security in Ghana and West Africa at large and
called for closer collaboration with the organization.
National Conflict Prevention Forum in Togo
As part of its efforts to mainstream inclusive and democratic
dialogue to prevent violent conflicts, CSPAP organized a consultation
from the 5th to 8th December for over forty Social and Political actors
in Togo. Held under the theme “Togolese socio-political actors in the
development of a shared vision for the prevention of violent conflict in
Togo,” the consultation created space for civil society actors and
political parties to discuss and reflect on the content, form and
process for inclusive national dialogue and reconciliation. The
consultation was facilitated by WANEP in partnership with the Institute
of Democratic Governance (IDEG).
The four day consultation was attended by representatives from CSOs,
government and international agencies. It enabled an open and
constructive dialogue about challenges confronting peace and stability
in Togo and the strategies to move forward. At the end of the four days
the participants, formed a Civil Society Platform to engage themselves
actively in the process of National Dialogue as well as promote human
security and sustainable peace. They made a declaration of their
commitment to engage socio-political actors and the government in the
construction of lasting peace in the country.
The first phase of the consultation resulting in a Civil Society
Platform was funded by the French Foreign Ministry under the Global
Partnership for Armed Conflict Prevention (GPPAC) while the Dutch
Government through its Embassy in Ghana is supporting WANEP efforts at
contributing to the process of National Dialogue and building peace.
WANEP at UN
Expert Group Meeting on Social Integration
WANEP participated in an Expert Group Meeting on “Dialogue in
the Social Integration Process: building peaceful social relations by,
for and with people” at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from
the 21 to 23 November 2005. It was organized by the Division for Social
Policy and Development (DSPD) of the United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
Peacebuilding practice experiences recognize dialogue as an important
tool to facilitate change in social relations, which is key to social
integration/transformation, as well as to conflict prevention and
peacebuilding. However, dialogue is not a panacea, and may not provide
the solution at a specific time. Other tools are sometimes more
effective, or needed to complement dialogue. In this sense, dialogue
should be seen as part of a comprehensive process.
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Financial Support
During the year under
review, the CSPA received support from GPPAC for participation in the
West Africa’s Global Conference in New York. The program also won a
grant from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a joint
proposal presented by WANEP and ECCP. The grant is to support civil
society platforms at the national level to influence policy in the area
of human security.
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Outputs
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Increased global
political leverage of WANEP as a major regional actor in
peacebuilding and human security.
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Participation of
West Africa in the Global Civil Society Conference.
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West Africa
regional agenda from foundation for GAA.
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Established formal
links with national policy makers.
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Development of a
framework for localizing and implementing the West Africa Action
Agenda for the Prevention of Violent Conflicts at the national
level.
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Increased awareness
of the Global Action Agenda at the national level.
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Strengthening of
WANEP-Togo as CSOs Platform for advocacy on human security and
engaging policy makers.
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Enhanced
collaboration and networking with CSOs at continental level
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CSPAP QUICK LINKS
Objectives
Highlights
Advocacy & Lobbying
Financial Support
Outputs
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