Africa Program: Initial Phase, Second Phase
Since 1992, IPA’s Africa Program has devoted increasing attention to the regional dimension of peacemaking and peacekeeping in Africa, by assisting regional organizations in Africa to meet the new security challenges of the post-Cold War era. As a first step in this process, IPA initiated its Program on Conflict Management in Africa (Africa Program) in 1992. In close cooperation with the Organization of African Unity (OAU), IPA launched a series of initiatives to develop strategies, programs and procedures to enable Africa – in particular the OAU, African governments and civil society actors – to perform a more effective role in peacemaking and peacekeeping. IPA is building on this experience to examine the development of security mechanisms in Southern, West and East Africa in the current phase of its work.
In response to changing needs, IPA’s work in Africa has evolved in distinct phases:
Initial Phase (1992-1998)
IPA launched its Africa Program in 1992 in response to the wave of conflicts engulfing parts of the African continent in states like Liberia, Somalia, Sudan and Sierra Leone, and the seeming inability of regional actors in Africa to react effectively to such crises. With the broad objective of helping to enhance indigenous African capacities to prevent and manage their own conflicts, the Program has been guided, under the strong and dedicated leadership of Mr. Olara Otunnu and Professor Margaret Vogt (both now senior United Nations officials), by two key goals:
Objectives
- To assist the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in its efforts first to conceptualize and later to operationalize the OAU Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (the OAU Mechanism) established at the OAU’s 1993 summit in Cairo.
- To assist in the building of indigenous African capacity for conflict management by providing training in peacekeeping and other related issues to African policymakers and implementers as well as representatives of non-governmental and civil society groups.
Work
The Africa Program held consultations on conflict management issues related to Africa, in close cooperation with the OAU, in Arusha (1992), Addis Ababa (1993), Cairo (1994), Cape Town (1996), and Addis Ababa (1998). Between 1998 and 2000, the goals of the Africa Program have been pursued via two particular projects:
- The Study of the OAU Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution builds on the work presented in April 1998 by the Joint OAU/IPA Task Force on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping in Africa. IPA is completing an independent assessment of the effectiveness of the OAU’s implementation of the key elements of the Mechanism. The Study will assess the effectiveness of the OAU Mechanism in preventing, managing, and resolving conflicts six years after its creation.
- The IPA Seminar Series on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping in Africa is a capacity-building project designed for the representatives of the OAU Secretariat and diplomatic missions accredited to the OAU Secretariat in Addis Ababa, as well as the member states of the OAU’s Central Organ, with representatives being invited from African Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense. The purpose of the 1996 and 1998 Seminars has been to enhance African expertise and capability for the planning and management of peacemaking and peacekeeping operations, and to improve the familiarity of African policymakers with the OAU Mechanism. The second IPA Seminar on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping in Africa was held in Addis Ababa from 30 November to 4 December 1998.
Second Phase (1998-1999)
After six years of sustained engagement with the OAU, IPA’s Africa Program began increasingly to see the importance of working on two additional, interrelated goals:
Objectives
- To assist sub-regional organizations – the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – in their efforts to develop, establish and operationalize their own mechanisms for conflict prevention and management.
- To ensure that civil society actors contribute effectively to developing regional security mechanisms and share their comparative experiences in sustaining these efforts.
Work
The Project on Civil Society: Case Studies of National Reconciliation and Peacebuilding in Africa involves IPA staff writing case studies and organizing events on proximate interventions by ad hoc coalitions of neighboring states in internal conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-Bissau. The case studies are also examining broader issues of regional security in Central and West Africa.
The IPA Consultation on War, Peace, and Reconciliation in Africa took place in Dakar, Senegal, from 29 November to 1 December 1999. Held in cooperation with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the Consultation focused on the views of diplomats, soldiers, religious leaders, academics, journalists, women’s groups and constitutional experts in conflict prevention and management in all of Africa’s sub-regions. The Consultation also assessed the potential and past contributions of the United Nations and other extra-regional actors to efforts at developing Africa’s security mechanisms.