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Gambia News : ECOWAS, UNHCR capacity building workshop
Dr. Abdou Gueye, ECOWAS Early Warming System Manager, has said in the
last few years, conflict prevention has become the corner-stone for
sustainable peace building in West Africa.
Gueye made the statement at the opening of ECOWAS-UNHCR capacity
building early warming and response workshop here Tuesday, recalling
the process of operation of the ECOWAS Early Warning System is in
accordance with chapter IV of the protocol relating to the mechanism
for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peace building and
security.
He noted the ECOWAS Early Warning System was the first
pillar of overall conflict prevention and heads of states and
governments of the sub-region gave ECOWAS the mandate to make the
system fully functional.
According to him, the first step in the
process was to build a partnership with civil society in the sub-region
and the West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) was designated
as implementing partner-organisation for the operation of the system.
He
said further WANEP has thereby entered into a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with ECOWAS to formalise the relationship, noting
that a key outcome of the early phase was the development of a bulk of
indicators after a series of consultations between civil societies,
ECOWAS and member states.
According to him, the second step was
to seek for funding partners and the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), African
Development Bank (ADB), and African Union (AU) all supported the
process in various ways.
"We succeeded in building a data base
of ninety four indicators for peace, conflict and human security
challenges in our sub-region.
"As we moved the
operationalisation forward, we recognised the need to have enough
people on ground in addition to the zonal bureau heads.
"We have
thus integrated 30 Focal Points (FPs) in the system, two in each
members state and one from civil society and the other from
government," he stated.
Gueye also said the workshop with UNHCR
was to deepen the partnership base and increase effectiveness and
efficiency of the Early Warning System, noting that the workshop was a
true transformation of their vision of an integrated early warning
system where all major actors and stakeholders are involved.
"This
integrated vision is critical to an effective system and we recognised
the need to involve the specialised agencies, particularly the United
Nations System, particularly UNHCR as regards issues related to
refugees and internally displaced person (IDPs).
"Indeed, an
early warning system can only be maximally exploited if data and
reports are shared and response collectively mobilized to ensure human
security", he charged.
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