Quaker Network for the Prevention of Violent Conflict
Le Réseau de quaker pour l'Empêchment de Conflit Violent
Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)
PRIORITY CHALLENGES AND AGENDA FOR CONFLICT PREVENTION AND PEACEBUILDING IN AFRICA
All-Africa Civil Society Action Recommendations
I. Introduction
This All-Africa Agenda document presents the views and recommendations of representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from Eastern and Central Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa involved in conflict prevention and peacebuilding work. It is issued in the context of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a world-wide civil society-led initiative dedicated to drawing attention to and facilitating a shift to the prevention of violent conflict. Prior to the preparation of this document, 3 regional conferences were convened by CSOs in Africa, one each in East and Central Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa. Each of these conferences developed region-specific Action Agendas; however, the three African regions saw it necessary to convene in Nairobi, Kenya, from February 23-25, 2005 to synthesize their views into a single continental voice, in readiness for the UN-CSO Global Conference on Conflict Prevention to be held in New York from 19-22 July, 2005. This common document compliments, rather than replaces, the respective Regional Action Agendas.
II. Background and Context
Africa has for long been viewed as synonymous with violent conflict and political turmoil. Years of instability have left many countries devastated and lagging behind on all indicators of human development. We believe that Africa’s underdevelopment can largely be attributed to, among other things, the numerous violent conflicts. Africa’s peculiar historical circumstances, including its colonial past and subsequent subordination in global politics and economy, have continued to inhibit its ability to organise its affairs and manage critical processes and tensions. Domestic and international resources have been committed to the execution of wars, provision of relief, and to peacekeeping and rehabilitation. These are resources that could be used to improve the quality of the lives of people, thus contributing to the prevention of violent conflict.
Given the above, we are convinced that:
• A conflict-ridden and underdeveloped Africa will continue to be a drain on resources and a constraint to the achievement of any development goals.
• The cost of proactive prevention of violent conflict, in the long run, is by far lower than that of managing conflicts and their consequences
• Investing in concerted conflict prevention through dealing with the root causes of conflict is more likely to ensure sustainable peace than short-term relief to deep-rooted problems
• A shift from reactive to proactive approaches to dealing with conflict, and from state- to human-centred security, is desirable and possible
• Resources need to be committed to support ongoing peacemaking and democratic reform efforts in Africa, and to support nation-building, reconstruction and reconciliation after signing of peace agreements.III. Our Understanding of Conflict Prevention
We do not suggest that conflict can be eliminated. We understand the prevention of conflict to refer to measures and actions aimed at ensuring that conflict does not degenerate into violence and, once violence occurs, measures aimed to ensure it does not intensify or recur. At one level, effective prevention of violent conflict requires the entrenchment of processes, mechanisms, institutions and attitudes that promote proactive responses, management and transformation of conflict at all levels. This calls for the development of capacities of governmental, intergovernmental and civil society institutions in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. At a more fundamental level, conflict prevention calls for measures to radically transform the underlying conditions that give rise to violent conflict. This will require decisive measures to address poverty and restore Africa on the path to human-centered development, and the development of legitimate democratic institutions and the rule of law. At all levels, conflict prevention will require a major re-orientation in gender relations, with particular attention to the inclusion of women.
IV A Six-Point Agenda for Action
We propose that the following 6 Action Points be prioritized as the basis for sustained conflict prevention and peacebuilding in Africa.
1. Addressing structural and exacerbating causes of conflict such as abject poverty, unsustainable debt, global trade injustice and poor management and governance
2. Long term support for the ongoing peacemaking and reconstruction efforts in Africa in order to prevent a relapse to conflict
3. Backing Africa’s democratic reforms and economic development initiatives with the necessary institutional, technical, financial and moral support
4. Supporting the development of the capacity for operational prevention within Africa through capacity building of regional intergovernmental bodies and the African Union
5. Promoting multilateral and holistic approaches to global security threats
6. Recognising and promoting the role of CSOs, including grassroots and faith communities and women movements, in promoting a culture of peace, building capacity and skills in conflict resolution and promoting dialogue and reconciliation in conflict settings.V. Key Challenges and Changes Required
1. Addressing Structural and Exacerbating Causes of Violent Conflict
There are key structural conditions that underlie conflicts in Africa. In the face of inadequate or weak institutions, these conditions combine with numerous other exacerbating factors.
Poverty. We believe that abject poverty and violent conflict are mutually reinforcing and that abject poverty, anywhere, is inconsistent with the universal ideals of justice and peace.
Imbalanced trade rules. There is a strong focus on the roles played by “corruption” and “bad governance” in perpetuating poverty. This attention is proper. However, with the exception of a few international aid NGOs, there is hardly any mention of the role played by unfair trade and global structures in perpetuating poverty in Africa. One ongoing anti-poverty campaign estimates that unfair trade rules rob poor countries of 14 times what they receive in aid” (see “Make Poverty History”, www.cafod.org.uk). The protracted WTO negotiations have revealed the unwillingness of powerful nations to make concessions that could alter the playing field in Africa’s favour. In a world marked by fair trade, Africa’s mineral, agricultural and oil wealth could go a long way in ensuring its development.
External debt. The accumulating external debt owed by African countries ensures that many countries will remain impoverished, undermining their ability to set their own agenda for meeting the basic needs of their people. We laud the efforts of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa. However, the proposals for dealing with debt have to be more radical. Modeling debt relief on the contentious Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is tantamount to perpetuating flawed logic. Rather, debt relief should balance between uplifting the poor countries that are unable to repay their debts, on the one hand, while encouraging and assisting those that have shown commitment to reform but whose social spending is hampered by big debt portfolios, on the other. Otherwise debt relief in Africa will become a divisive tool.
Resource Exploitation. Africa’s resources (land, water, minerals, oil, forests, etc.) and their management, exploitation and distribution, are a potential source of internal strife and political instability. At the local level, governments need to exercise the highest degree of probity, sensitivity and justice in managing and distributing resources. In a world where some of these resources are in high demand, their control by external actors has become a high stakes game. Africa’s local abundance in resources and weak state institutions leaves it vulnerable to manipulation and plunder by powerful global actors. We call for stringent measures to govern the extraction of resources especially in at-risk areas.
Youth. Often the youth in Africa are unemployed and marginalized and as such become vulnerable to manipulation, including recruitment into private armies, militias, terror gangs and mercenary groups. Typically, the youth do not participate in governance processes because of exclusion, disaffection and apathy, despite years of rhetorical promises that they are “leaders of tomorrow.”
Proliferation of illicit weapons. Most of the arms (large and small) circulating in Africa are produced and sold by developed countries, primarily the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. These arms have become Africa’s weapons of mass destruction. The inability and/or lack of willingness of producers to control production or regulate their transfer has led to the illegal proliferation of arms that have fuelled deadly conflicts in Africa. The lack of functioning systems inhibits states’ capacity to ensure security and this in many cases results in citizens buying illegal arms for protection. Control of illicit arms is a necessary step in the prevention of violent conflict in Africa.
Spending on Arms and Militaries. The last 5-10 years have witnessed heightened awareness on the dangers of uncontrolled ‘small arms and light weapons’ (SALW). Commendably, the knowledge and policy options regarding this category have increased. There is, however, a danger that a focus only on SALW masks the fact that African governments, with the complicity of developed countries, continue to spend huge amounts of money on arms and maintaining militaries. Budgetary allocations are often lop-sided in favour of military spending, thus denying funding to crucial social sectors.
Porous border and fragile states. Conflicts in Africa in general and the flow of illicit weapons in particular, are greatly aided by the porosity of borders and the fragility of state institutions. Armed refugees and pastoralists move freely across borders. Cattle rustling, grazing or watering conflicts have become cross-border in nature and magnets for illicit weapons. Africa’s weak states are unable to dispense their roles as guarantors of citizens’ security or as regulators of the tools of violence. Timely and effective responses to conflict have been undermined by a lack of political will and institutional incapacity.
The role of traditional institutions and mechanisms. Africa’s capacity for conflict prevention and peacebuilding could be greatly boosted by paying attention to the contributions of traditional institutions and mechanisms. We recognise the tension between the role of these institutions and those of the “modern sector.” In some instances, traditional institutions are themselves in need of reform regarding democratic practice, cross-ethnic and gender sensitivity, and inclusion of the youth. Nevertheless, in many countries where these institutions have remained intact they can and do play an intermediate role between the communities and the state in early warning and response and the management of tensions before they escalate. These institutions are often the custodians of traditions and rituals, including those pertinent to conflict and its resolution.
Cultures of discrimination and violence against women: As noted in the 2003 UN Secretary General’s Report on Women, Peace and Security, cultures of violence and discrimination against women and girls that exist prior to conflict are exacerbated during conflict. In times of peace and war, women and girls are vulnerable to all forms of violence, in particular sexual violence and exploitation, enforced prostitution and trafficking. In spite of their great numbers and contribution to society, women are largely excluded from official peace negotiations and from decision-making on key matters of development. We call for concrete measures to end the culture of impunity and enforce punitive action against perpetrators of gender-based violence, and for ensuring that every woman is guaranteed the right of peace and security.
2. Long-term commitment to post-agreement
peacebuilding, reconciliation and reconstructionWe are encouraged by the ongoing efforts to resolve some of Africa’s most significant and oldest conflicts, yet concerned about the peacebuilding efforts needed to secure dividends from those efforts. The signing of agreements is not the end of conflict; rather, it signals the opportunity and beginning of a new conflict prevention cycle.
Inability to sustain agreements. Many peace agreements have been signed and hailed across Africa. However, the attention of the international community is rarely ever sustained beyond the signing of agreements or, at most, the holding of transitional elections. Sustaining peace in Africa and preventing relapse to violence will require the commitment of resources and various fields of expertise over a long period of time.
Justice and reconciliation efforts ignored. Post-agreement peacebuilding, reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation processes have received little attention. With adequate resources, physical reconstruction can be achieved. But without adequate and long-term attention to ‘social reconstruction’, focusing on such issues as justice, restoration of relationships and reconciliation, psycho-social accompaniment of traumatised peoples, in particular women and girls that have suffered sexual violence, creating platforms for sustaining dialogue, resuscitating and empowering civil society, among others, physical reconstruction could be in vain.
Focus on belligerents. Peacemaking processes, peace agreements and follow-up processes such as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR), tend, by definition, to focus more on the belligerents, thereby appearing to reward the perpetrators for stopping their violence, while marginalising non-armed actors and the victims of violence. This model is also detrimental to nurturing civilian political opposition. Armed rebel leaders appear to be more respected, are protected by international troops, while unarmed civilian leaders are disregarded. This focus on the war-makers could send the message that ‘violence pays’ and encourage armed rebellion by legitimizing the use of force over dialogue and rule of law.
Financing post-conflict peacebuilding. We support Recommendation 65 of the UN Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Threats to the effect that a fund for peacebuilding of at least $250 million, be set up. However, this amount is negligible compared to the needs in Africa alone, and to the amounts spent on peacekeeping operations. We are also concerned that focusing the use of the funds to only “expenditures of nascent government, as well as … rehabilitation and reintegration” will perpetuate the same pattern of focusing on belligerents, pointed out above.
3. Backing Africa’s governance reforms with the necessary institutional, technical, financial and moral support
On the whole African governments have shown greater commitment to democracy, accountability and sound management. But much more needs to be done. Governance issues have been central to the instability of African countries over the past decades. We call for sustained efforts to encourage and support the institutionalization of democracy in Africa, building on the emerging will of African leaders and citizens.
Democratic practice and peace. Properly organized, democracy can be a tool for conflict prevention. Unfortunately, democracy in Africa is largely equated with election cycles and the number of political parties. Parties are often formed along ethnic and clan lines. With insufficient popular knowledge about electoral processes, political leaders are able to manipulate constitutions to perpetrate themselves in power. The absence of strong institutions means that power is often personalised. This, coupled with the absence of a framework for consensus building and inter-party consultation, can escalate tensions and lead to violent conflict.
Corruption and mismanagement. Corruption and the misappropriation of state resources by political leaders pose a major challenge. It is also frequently cited internationally as the reason why development aid has not benefited Africa. African leaders have a responsibility to address this concern by eliminating corruption and exercising probity and good management. The creation and, in cases where they already exist, the strengthening of mechanisms for transparency and accountability, is necessary. Governments and civil society should set up independent watchdog institutions capable of policing and prosecuting corrupt officials, and promoting a culture of non-tolerance of corruption.
Citizenship. Citizenship and movement of people remain contentious in Africa and have been at the core of some of the violent conflicts. The issues of nationality, ethnicity and race have become grounds for the violation of peoples’ rights and participation in the decision making processes. We call on African governments to articulate clear and progressive policies on citizenship and cross-border movements, in tandem with regional economic integration programmes and aspirations.
Gender parity and inclusion. Decision making in Africa remains mostly the exclusive domain of governments dominated by elderly males. There is a need for real democratization of decision making to effectively involve women and younger people. As stated in the November 2004 Dar-es-Salaam Declaration on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region we urge governments to adopt deliberate policies and mechanisms for promoting gender equality at all levels and in all sectors, in accordance with the Millennium Declaration, the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, the Beijing Platform for Action and the African Union’s Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa. At this time of major transitions in the continent, we recommend that the resilience, resourcefulness, creativity and knowledge of women and the young generations be invited into the process of regenerating the continent.
4. Supporting the development of the capacity for operational prevention within Africa through capacity building of regional bodies and the African Union
African institutions and processes have increasingly been brought to bear on Africa’s conflicts in the last one decade. Thus, most of the major recent peace processes have involved African instruments and processes, such as the conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Sudan and Somalia. Regional bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have taken the lead in Africa’s peacemaking. The African Union (AU) has also set up the Peace and Security Council. These nascent mechanisms need to be nurtured.
Low capacity for peacemaking and prevention. In spite of their commendable roles in conflict management and peacemaking, Africa’s regional bodies and the AU lack adequate capacities and resources for the various roles required of them. The efforts of these organizations, including the ability to set agendas, are often hampered by this lack of capacity. We recommend that more resources be committed to the development of capacity for operational prevention in Africa, and that such capacity be vested in the AU and the regional organizations. CSO initiatives hold a great potential for, among others, linking the higher level initiatives to the communities.
Lack of Coordination. Some existing efforts remain uncoordinated or duplicated. For example, the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and IGAD have separate or are developing programmes on peace and security, in spite of covering the same geographic region. Donor support too remains largely uncoordinated and sometimes ignores the priorities or seeks to influence the agenda of recipients.
5. A Multilateral and holistic approach to global security threats
The debate on global security threats is dominated by the ongoing war on terrorism and, to some extent, the related fears of the spread of nuclear weapons capability. We acknowledge that the continent is also affected by the acts and threat of terrorism and share in the objective of the elimination of terrorism of all forms. We are however concerned that the ‘war on terrorism’ seems to be misdirected and unilateralist in nature. We are also concerned that the current efforts are diverting attention and resources away from the need to develop medium and long term strategies for people-centered, all-inclusive security.
We believe that a global response to threats needs to address both the effects as well as the underlying challenges that we face. We believe that the global community, together, needs to deal with poverty and underdevelopment, perceptions of domination and denigration, so as avoid extremism and terrorist acts.
In dealing with the challenges of global peace and security, we recognize the supremacy of multilateralism as represented by institutions such as the UN. Similarly, we recognize the African Union and its sub-regional institutions as legitimate bodies to deal with security threats in Africa. We support the efforts to reform the UN and its key organs in order to ensure a fair and equitable representation of all regions of the world and effective participation in key decision making processes on matters of peace and security.
6. Recognising and promoting the role of CSOs in conflict prevention and peacebuilding
Given the complexity, scale and diversity of violent conflict, no single entity can hope to adequately respond to bring about and sustain peace. Rather, a complex architecture of relationships and actions is called for. CSOs all over the world have worked in specific conflict settings, undertaking processes of peacemaking and conflict resolution, promoting dialogue and peaceful coexistence, providing research and analysis, supporting the rehabilitation, healing and reconciliation needs of survivors of conflict, and promoting a culture of peace, among other roles. Their proximity to the conflicts that they seek to address affords CSOs access to information and insights that other actors may not have. Women’s movements are increasingly working at the grassroots and regional levels, gaining acceptance in conflict theatres. We realise that we are uniquely positioned to assume a linking role between leadership level and grass-roots initiatives in Africa. We commit ourselves to forging these links and relationships between all sectors of society to ensure sustainability of peacebuilding efforts. We call for the recognition of the important role of CSOs in conflict prevention and peacebuilding by governments, regional intergovernmental organizations, and the UN. We hail the move in this direction by the UN and regional organizations such as ECOWAS, COMESA and IGAD, among others.
VI. Recommendations
A. CSO Commitments and Strategies
We are aware of the challenges that confront CSOs in Africa and the world. These include inadequate capacity, lack of transparency, accountability and mandate, rivalry and competition for resources, duplication, vulnerability to manipulation, and lack of coordination and sustainability. As a starting point, we commit ourselves to the following ideals and pursuits:
• Self-Regulation and Ethical Conduct. We commit ourselves to creating an accountable, self-regulating and transparent community committed to peace and justice. In particular, we commit to exemplifying the change we seek in the wider society by demonstrating accountable governance, transparency, good leadership, and generally promoting ethical values within our organizations
• Gender Inclusion and Sensitivity. We commit ourselves to promoting gender parity and sensitivity in all our undertakings. In particular, we recognise that particular attention will need to be paid to the needs and roles of women in conflict prevention and peacebuilding
• Promoting Collaboration, Networking and Learning among CSOs. We commit ourselves to seeking greater collaboration and sharing among CSOs in Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world. We also recognise the importance of continuously evaluating and learning from our practice.
• Capacity for Research and Informed Analysis. We recognise the importance of factual and concrete information as a basis for our practice and engagement with others. We shall endeavour to improve our capacity for informed analysis by conducting basic research or partnering with research institutions and academics on the continent.
• Engaging Governments and Intergovernmental Organisations. We shall seek to engage governments and intergovernmental bodies through dialogue on issues of conflict prevention and peacebuilding, seeking to maximize on each other’s comparative advantages.
• Promoting a Culture of Peace. At the core of many of the challenges we face is a pervasive culture of violence that has taken root throughout Africa and the world. We shall work with communities, schools, governments and other partners to promote a culture of peace and tolerance.
• Lobbying for the Implementation of the Recommendations Below. We shall lobby relevant actors to prioritise responses to the challenges raised above, and to implement the respective recommendations made below. In doing so, we consider the UN-Civil Society Conference sitting in New York from July 19th to 21st, 2005 as a necessary starting point to develop follow-up actions to the recommendations that we have provided in this document.B. 45 Specific Recommendations to the UN, African Governments, Inter-governmental Organizations, and CSOs.
Addressing Structural Conditions that Breed Violent Conflicts in Africa
1. The international community should concretely support the AU’s efforts at enhancing good governance and sound economic management by its members, especially through its NEPAD initiative. Promises by the G8 countries to support this initiative should be fulfilled instead of the G8 countries themselves proposing new ones
2. The international community should increase investment in development assistance by at least US$ 50 billion, in order to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for Africa by 2015. We support the call made by the UN Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change for a second UN Security Council meeting on HIV/AIDS but urge that this be expand to include malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
3. Creditor countries should adopt radical measures to cancel, reschedule or restructure debts owed by African countries, benefiting those countries that are unable to repay as well as those that demonstrate good management.
4. The UN and the international community should enforce laws that protect political, social and economic rights, especially the rights of women, children, and minority or indigenous groups.
5. The African Union should set up a revolutionary strategy to address the youth problem in Africa that has resulted in treacherous exoduses to Europe and America. Governments should establish viable youth policies and structures that create jobs for youth.
6. All African governments should subscribe to the instruments that promote good governance and respect of human rights, in particular the African Union’s NEPAD-APRM initiative.
7. Development planning and resource allocation should pay attention to the needs and roles of women in development
8. All African governments should subscribe to the instruments that promote good governance, in particular the African Union’s NEPAD-APRM initiative.
9. Through the AU, African leaders should exercise more peer influence and pressure on each other, particularly regarding good governance and responses to conflicts and threats of conflict.
10. African leaders should institutionalise democracy through respecting institutions and refraining from amending constitutions to stay in power
11. CSOs should lobby and advocate for an enactment and implementation of policies meant to reduce poverty, fight against corruption and abuse of human rights, and mismanagement as a strategy to ensure holistic conflict prevention.
12. The African Diaspora should form a strong coordinated pressure group to lobby and advocate for African agendas in their respective countries of residence
13. Youth should be encouraged to share experiences and best practices in the continent.
14. CSOs should sensitize the populace on their fundamental human rights and responsibilities.
15. CSOs should research international norms and standards for democratic processes that address issues of governance, accountability and elections.Enhancing Capacity for Operational Conflict Prevention
and Peacebuilding in Africa.16. The UN and the international community should support initiatives aimed at building the capacity of the AU to enforce the implementation of its peace and security policies.
17. The UN should promote a paradigm shift from reactive to proactive approaches to conflict and support the implementation of preventive strategies as enshrined in existing sub-regional, regional and international protocols, conventions and declarations.
18. The UN should facilitate and strengthen partnerships among all relevant stakeholders towards preventing violent conflict and building sustainable peace.
19. The UN should urge member states to ratify and implement protocols relating to the proliferation of arms, ammunitions and other materials. Member states should domesticate these conventions through national legislation.
20. African intergovernmental organisations should seek to achieve more coordination of peacebuilding and conflict prevention programmes, building on each others’ comparative advantages
21. African governments should strengthen the Peace and Security Commissions of the AU so that it can focus a continental approach to capacity building, research, risk assessments, early warning, resource mobilisation and foster multi-actor collaboration in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
22. CSOs should initiate and strengthen networks across borders for collaboration and sharing of best practices and lessons learnt.
23. CSOs in Africa should partner with others internationally to form a viable and sustainable network of partners for conflict prevention and peace building
24. CSOs should enhance their capacity for research and analysis through linking with academic institutions, think tanks and key indigenous stakeholders.
25. CSOs should establish mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of protocols, declarations on conflict prevention and peacebuilding by governments.
26. CSOs should support capacity building of traditional institutions and facilitate the mainstreaming of their contributions to conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
27. Formal frameworks for effective participation, sharing and engagement between CSOs, governments and intergovernmental organizations, the UN and other stakeholders, should be established.Long-term Support for Post Conflict Reconstruction Processes
28. The UN, in consultation with African programmes such as NEPAD, should set up a long-term Post-Conflict Reconstruction Fund for Africa to support transitional arrangements and foster reconstruction and reconciliation to avert a relapse into violence. The proposed $250 million Peacebuilding Fund should be greatly increased.
29. The international community should invest the necessary resources in African countries emerging from conflict to meet urgent needs such as physical rehabilitation of amenities and infrastructure, psycho-social support of victims of violence and DDR.
30. UN member states should endorse the recommendations of the UN High-level Panel for the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission.
31. All actors should ensure that post conflict recovery programmes pay special attention to the experiences, needs and roles of women and children.
32. African governments should promote methods of post-conflict healing, justice and reconciliation appropriate to their settings, such as the gacaca system in Rwanda, the Spiritual Healing in Mozambique and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.
33. State actors should design economic and social mechanisms to effectively reintegrate ex-combatants into society.
34. CSOs, in collaboration with governments, the regional economic organizations, the AU and the UN should seek to alter the perception that peace processes reward armed groups. A new paradigm of peacemaking should be advocated that recognises the role of non-armed actors, particularly women and civil society, in peace negotiations.Dealing with External Causes of Conflicts in Africa
35. Civil society, African governments and international community should investigate, name and shame the external perpetrators and economic beneficiaries of violent conflicts in Africa
36. The UN should encourage member states to reinforce and implement the “Nairobi Declaration on Illicit Small Arms” and other legally binding agreements on the regulation and control of arms
37. The AU should pass a resolution banning the use of mercenaries in Africa
38. The UN should implement the recommendation from the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, paragraph 92, that states “The UN should work with national authorities, international financial institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector to develop norms governing the management of natural resources for countries emerging from or at risk of conflict.”Responding to Global Security Threats
39. All nations should adopt a holistic understanding of global security to include not only threats of war and terrorism, but also threats posed by poverty and widening gaps between the rich and the poor, threats to lives posed by diseases such as malaria and HIV/Aids
40. The UN should be the sole authority empowered to police the world and coordinate responses to impending security threats.
41. The UN should encourage its member states to ratify, domesticate and enforce all international laws and conventions on human rights and good governance.
42. A UN Security Council Resolution should mainstream Conflict Prevention and denounce the use of violence as a means for interaction among states consistent with the existing UN Resolutions on Peace and Security.Recognising and Promoting the Role of CSOs
43. The UN, AU and African governments and inter-governmental organizations should articulate and promote the role of CSOs in conflict prevention and peace building at local, national, regional and international levels.
44. The UN, regional inter-governmental bodies and governments should institutionalise mechanisms for consulting with and seeking the input of CSOs in the area of conflict prevention and peacebuilding
45. Liaison offices and persons should be appointed within the UN, AU and regional organizations to facilitate consultations with CSOs.
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