Building Peace, Security & Development in Africa as a tool for sustainable development

Summary

Africa has suffered a total of one third of global armed conflicts over the past decade. The bottom 27 countries in the UNDP’s human development index are African and there are an estimated 6.1 million refugees and 20 million internally displaced persons across the continent. Now, more than ever, an effective EU-Africa partnership is required to address the underlying and proximate causes of conflict, insecurity, instability and underdevelopment to effect a demonstrative, positive and sustainable impact on the ground.

EU-Africa partnership is required to address the underlying and proximate causes of conflict, insecurity, instability and underdevelopment to effect a demonstrative, positive and sustainable impact on the ground.

Africa has suffered a total of one third of global armed conflicts over the past decade. The bottom 27 countries with estimated 6.1 million refugees and 20 million internally displaced persons across the continent. Now, more than ever, an effective

The first ever African Union (AU) Summit, held in February 2003, was dedicated to the resolution of conflict in Africa, resulting in the agreement for African-led peace measures in seven African countries. The Lisbon Summit will provide an important opportunity to support this, and other African led peace promoting processes, and to strengthen long-term EU-African engagement as a strategic priority for the EU in 2003, and beyond.

Introduction

The EU has the unique capacity as a regional union to have significant and positive impact on promoting structural stability in Africa. Member states have strong historical ties with Africa, there is broad diplomatic engagement on the ground, the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement, and others, facilitate relations between the regional blocs and the EU represents the largest aid provider for the African region. The commitments to peace-building, conflict prevention, management and resolution in Africa made at the EU-Africa summit in Cairo in 2000 and set out in the Cairo Declaration also signal a willingness on the part of the Heads of State of both regions to give priority to these issues within their own national policies and within regional and international cooperation frameworks. The agreed areas of action and progress, outlined at the ‘Follow up to Cairo summit’ in Ouagadougo in November 2002 on the prevention and settlement of conflicts, are also encouraging.

These commitments reflect a growing recognition of the importance of peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution both for the long-term development and stability of the African continent and for the interests of the EU. However, obstacles still remain with regard to implementation and co-ordination, both horizontally (across EU and African states) and vertically (between the political leadership and civil society). If the commitments laid out in the Cairo Declaration are to be translated into long term substantive progress, a number of issues will need to be addressed at the Lisbon Summit that advance more meaningful processes and new mechanisms for implementing and ensuring commitments

Building peace, security & development in Africa

The first ever African Union (AU) Summit, held in February 2003, was dedicated to the resolution of conflict in Africa, resulting in the agreement for African-led peace measures in seven African countries..

The EU has the unique capacity as a regional union to have significant and positive impact on promoting structural stability in Africa. Member states have strong historical ties with Africa, there is broad diplomatic engagement on the ground, the EU- Cotonou Agreement, and others, facilitate relations between the regional blocs and the EU represents the largest aid provider for the African region.

The commitments to peace-building, conflict prevention, management and resolution in Africa made at the EU-Africa summit in Cairo in 2000 and set out in the Cairo Declaration also signal a willingness on the part of the Heads of State of both regions to give priority to these issues within their own national policies and within regional and international cooperation frameworks. The agreed areas of action and progress, outlined at the ‘Follow up to Cairo summit’ in Ouagadougo in November 2002 on the prevention and settlement of conflicts, are also encouraging. These commitments reflect a growing recognition of the importance of peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution both for the long-term development and stability of the African continent and for the interests of the EU. However, obstacles still remain with regard to implementation and co-ordination, both horizontally (across EU and African states) and vertically (between the political leadership and civil society). If the commitments laid out in the Cairo Declaration are to be translated into long term substantive progress, a number of issues will need to be addressed at the Lisbon Summit that advance more meaningful processes and new mechanisms for implementing and ensuring commitments:

Relationship with NEPAD

To guarantee relevance and validity, the EU-Africa dialogue process should complement and support the New Partnership for Africa (NEPAD). In doing so, the process should provide formal diplomatic and financial support for the principle of NEPAD and for its processes and activities. It is necessary for the credibility of the EU-Africa dialogue to address common, critical issues, such as trade and agricultural subsidies, however, it is important to guard against any unnecessary duplication of endeavour or contradictory policies that might undermine both processes.

Defining, Implementing and Monitoring Commitments

Africa requires commitment to solidifying institutional relationships, and to the implementation of existing action orientated frameworks, such as the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement. Peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution must also be prioritised as a critical link in processes.

This necessitates, however, a common EU voice in relation to African priorities.,.All parties should monitor and follow-up on the agreed areas of action from the Ougadougou follow-up meeting and identify a number of new focal areas of action and avenues for implementation. The focal areas should be linked to ongoing activities within African and international institutions and frameworks.,there is also a need to define and monitor a number of mutually agreed indicators of progress amongst all the parties to the declaration.

Transparency and Democratising the Process

Civil society organisations that are legitimate and representative have an important role in promoting conflict prevention, crisis management and peacebuilding. Better civil society engagement in the EU-Africa dialogue process and beyond would strengthen vertical flows of information and expertise to inform policy, and create an independent monitoring mechanism for the development and implementation of conflict and gender-sensitive policy.

 It is therefore important that civil society’s voice is heard both in the ongoing process of prioritising areas of action within the framework of the EU-Africa dialogue, as well as the process of translating commitments into effective action.

For civil society to play an effective role it is vital that they have access to information on the dialogue process and related activities, and that space and resources are made available for them to reflect on the issues. This could take the form of a complementary civil society forum (or fora) in association with the EU-Africa summit. This should include a cross-section of representative actors from the media, churches and youth groups, from the private sector, trade unions, conflict prevention, development and peace-promoting NGOs and women’s organisations. The EU could play an important role in supporting these initiatives, both by providing resources and advocating for these organisations to have the political space to contribute

Conflict Prevention as a Cross-Cutting Issue

The creation of an environment conducive to peace and security requires attention to be paid to a range of issues (such as trade, environment, private sector development, education, regional integration) for their potential to increase or decrease the risks of conflict and instability in a country or region. It is important therefore that the commitments and related actions across all areas of the Cairo Declaration are assessed from the perspective of their potential to contribute to peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution potential.

Small Arms At the Cairo Summit, EU and African governments agreed to “Intensify efforts to fully co-operate at international fora to combat the problem of illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, including reducing the flow of arms to conflict regions, and support relevant African and European initiatives.” They also agreed to “Endeavour to ensure the success of the UN conference on the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects in 2001.”It is important that the forthcoming summit builds on these commitments and agrees on more specific ways forward.

Key priorities are the development of international agreements on export controls, arms brokering and supplies to non-state actors. Co-ordinating positions ahead of the July 2003 Biennial Meeting of States to monitor progress made under the UN Programme of Action on small arms is vital.. .

Terrorism and Conflict Prevention

The joint declaration on terrorism made at the meeting in Ouagadougou in November 2002 is a welcome addition to international discussion on this issue, in particular its emphasis on the root causes of terrorism. Whilst stating the close connection between terrorism, organised crime and illicit drugs trafficking, the declaration fails to underline the role of conflict both as a cause and consequence of terrorist grievance and a factor in state collapse. Failed states have proved a fertile breeding ground for terrorist networks (and incidentally organised crime and illicit trafficking in drugs and other goods). It is important, therefore, that peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution is recognised as an integral aspect of the fight against terror and that more attention be dedicated to promoting good governance and legitimate public institutions.

Recommendations:

1,Harmonise EU member state positions in relation to conflict in Africa for a long term, unified EU strategy.?Review the EU-Africa dialogue process to ensure that it is taken forward in a way that is fully complementary with ongoing activities in African institutions and frameworks (such as the AU and NEPAD) and international frameworks of cooperation (such as the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement and the G8 plan of action for Africa).

2,Strengthen complementarity between the EU-Africa dialogue process and NEPAD by

v providing formal political and diplomatic support for the principle of NEPAD;

v ensuring financial support for the development of NEPAD processes and activities;

v strengthening and developing the peer review mechanism of NEPAD;

v addressing common, critical issues, such as trade and agricultural subsidies;

.ensuring and promoting vertical linkages within societies, as well as horizontal, diplomatic linkages across African states.

3,Support the establishment of an EU-Africa civil society forum. These could involve both a complementary forum established in conjunction with the formal event as well as separate national or regional fora hosted by African and EU networks as a mechanism for feeding into and following up on commitments made. These should be linked up with civil society forums established under the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement.

This would establish an important precedent for future civil society engagement in the EU-Africa dialogue.?

4,Assess commitments across all aspects of the Cairo Declaration (e.g. on trade and development) from the perspective of their potential to contribute to good governance, peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution.?

5,Prioritise shared areas for action on peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution. This should include commitment to:

v .implement key development priorities, as outlined in the Millennium targets;

v fulfil trade commitments made in the Cairo Declaration relating to duty free market access for products from developing countries;

v .implement measures to stop the illegal exploitation and trade of natural resources, through the Kimberley Process

v operationalise the AU Early Warning System, as outlined in the Cairo Declaration, and link these up with EU early warning structures.

6,?Develop clear timelines and shared, measurable benchmarks for these conflict prevention initiatives through the EU-Africa dialogue process.

7?Establish a joint EU-African position which prioritises international agreements on export controls, arms brokering and supplies to non-state actors, ahead of the July 2003 UN Small Arms Conference Biennial Meeting. ?

8,Emphasise peace building and conflict prevention in Africa as an integral element of the fight against terror

Conclusion

.

The abrupt increase in worldwide refugee and migration flows has led to a stronger interest in examining the root-causes. Violent conflict has been identified as one of the most significant and immediate triggers for forced migration and displacement. The African continent is particularly conflict-prone and has hosted more than one fourth of global violent conflicts in the last years. Yet, while this worrying development has contributed to one of the most severe refugee crises in recent history, it is important to shed-light on the increasing engagement of African actors in tackling security threats on the continent.

We should encourage policy debate with practical know-how and implementation experiences. It features innovative approaches, challenging analyses, interesting publications and thought-provoking ideas.as stated below

1, The successes and challenges of conflict interventions by the African Union and regional organizations in the framework of the African Peace and Security

2, Examine the link between violent conflict and forced migration

3,exchange with African experts on the peace and security situation on the continent and its global implications

4, link the practical experiences from the field with the European policy priorities in this area.