14 – 16 January 2014
ABUJA, Nigeria – The CLEEN Foundation organised a three-day regional conference on Conflict and Security Governance in West Africa. The high profile conference, which took place on 14 – 16 January 2014 in Abuja, Nigeria, was organised to examine the prevailing perception that security personnel aggravate conflicts while trying to quell armed violence, an issue that has raised serious concerns amongst stakeholders in the international community.
It was in this view that the CLEEN Foundation, in conjunction with the Altus Global Alliance, brought together West African security and governance experts to exchange opinions on a study carried out by Altus on Conflicts and Security Governance in the region.
Participants included delegates from the West African countries of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, as well as participants from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), the Ford Foundation and the African Security Sector Network (ASSN). CLEEN is an institutional member of the ASSN network.
The conference urged West African leaders to collaborate more among themselves and with other stakeholders in the effort to tackle rising violence and conflict in the region. This was among the conference resolutions, which were read out at the conclusion of the forum by Dr. Kemi Okenyodo, Executive Director of the CLEEN Foundation.
Dr. Okenyodo said the region, like other parts of the world, must be decisive in finding lasting solutions to conflict and violence in the region.
She also mentioned that while the conference agreed that democracy and security go together, the way this will be achieved and practised in the various regional countries will be different, adding that the way Ghana is improving is noteworthy to the other West African countries. Dr. Okenyodo stressed that it was necessary to view the conference recommendations in totality as none of them had the capacity, on its own, to solve the existing problems.
Participants at the conference recommended that the best way to address impunity would be through a judicial process, and emphasised that priority should be given to periodic training of parliamentarians on effective oversight and the establishment of a body to ensure the implementation of this training. Civil society organisations and the media were also encouraged to show more interest in security sector budgetary processes.