STIMULATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF
CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORKS TO
SUPPORT UN STRATEGY
IMPLEMENTATION
Workshop on:
Building an African Civil Society Network to Support
the Implementation of the UN Global
Counter-Terrorism Strategy
BY
Zebulon Suifon Takwa
Director of Programs, WANEP
Cape Town, South Africa
WANEP: Strategy
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Engaging the actors
Networking and Collaborative approach
Building strategic partnerships e.g.
Partnership with ECOWAS in the “Capacity
Building Programme for Conflict Prevention and
Good Governance for ECOWAS and Civil Society
Organisations in West Africa” since 2002.
Focus on operationalising the ECOWAS Early
Warning System as laid down in protocols
(1999; 2001) and enhanced by the 2008 Conflict
Prevention Framework Document
ECOWARN (Early Warning System) and reliance
on open sources of data collection.
4/8/2015
West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
RELATIONAL STRUCTURE:
WANEP NATIONAL NETWORKS
Cameroon
Caper Verde
Niger
08/04/2015
4/8/2015
Mali
3
West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
STRUCTURE OF THE ECOWAS EW SYSTEM
(ECOWARN): ROLE OF WANEP
GAMBIA
ZONE 1
SENEGAL
WANEP Zonal
Coordinator (ZC)
CAPE VERDE
GUINEA BISAU NNCs,FPs
CAPITAL BANJUL
BURKINA FASO
ZONE 2
WANEP ZC
COTE D’IVOIRE
NNCs,FPs
MALI
NIGER
EARLY WARNING
DEP’T/WANEP
Liaison Officer
(temporarily redeployed)
LIBERIA
SIERRA LEONE
NNCs,FPs
ZONE 3
WANEP ZC
GUINEA
TOGO
ZONE 4
WANEP ZC
CAPITAL MONROVIA
GHANA
BENIN
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CAPITAL OUAGA
NNCs,FPs
CAPITAL COTONOU
NIGERIA
West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
Counter Terrorism
 Not directly addressed by WANEP though we look at
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the structural and proximate causes of violent
conflicts
ECOWAS has dealt with issue as a security threat
following 9/11 and some member states have
collaborated with the United States in waging the war
on terror in the Sahel-Sahara belt
The ECOWAS indicators for ECOWARN also focuses
on terrorism
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West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
Opportunities for stimultating
CSO Networks
 Existing Networks and platforms in West Africa (
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WANSED, WANEP, WACSOF, etc); effective
coordination, capacity enhancement and perhaps
division of labour is the missing link.
Government-civil society working relations on
security issues improving (at least in some countries)
Space for, and voice of civil society is available and
needs to be enhanced. WANEP for instance has
played a pivotal role in the ECOWARN process and is
expected to do same in the new phase that focuses
on early response
ECOWAS’ emphasis on an “ECOWAS of the People”
4/8/2015
West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
Challenges
 Terrorism as a concept is still a controversial issue.
 Terrorism is real; yet discussions around it remain
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the preserve of governments and covert operations
associated with it makes the space for CSOs narrow.
Other threats to human security such as dumping of
toxic and chemical wastes, ‘deliberate’ environmental
damage, medical vaccine trials/tests on human
beings, etc… should they be equated to terrorism?
How do we deal with State terrorism or state
sponsored terrorism?
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West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
WANEP and Policy Influencing
P
o
l
i
c
y
I
n
f
l
u
e
n
c
i
n
g
Top Level
Regional, International
(ECOWAS, AU, UN)
Middle Level
National, Governmental
(Over 450 member organizations)
Local Level
Grassroots, regional/state
Internationa
partners
Way Forward
 Build on what exist and avoid duplications/unhealthy
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competition among CSOs. Enhance capacity of
existing networks to include “Counter-terrorism” but
avoid the doing everything syndrome among CSOs
Capitalize on current dynamism and opportunities
(West Africa in particular-towards an ECOWAS of the
people), other RECs and AU.
Support Civil Society-State partnerships
Explore ways towards a “preventive approach to
dealing with terrorism” rather than reactive
Adopt an inclusive approach and take into
consideration the linguistic diversity of Africa
(Anglophones, Francophones, Lusophones, etc).
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West Africa Network for Peacebuilding
Thank you for your kind attention
WANEP: www.wanep.org
Address: wanep@wanep.org
Tel: +233 21775975
775977
4/8/2015
West Africa Network for
Peacebuilding