|
What is meant by a conflict system?
Conflict systems are made up of all the conflicts within different territories, of various intensities and forms with diverse immediate causes. They are connected to one another in the long-term and feed into each other. They end up obviously being structured by the evolutions and dynamics emerging from the crisis and/or the intended action of predominant actors with converging or common interests.
Objectives
-
Involve sub-regional networks and expertise in the implementation of the programme on conflict systems and risk assessment;
-
Finalise, validate and define modalities and conditions for the implementation of the action plan on risk assessment and the analyses on dynamics and deep-seated causes of conflict in West Africa;
-
Define specific approaches, the methodology for the analysis of three selected priority countries.
Key Questions
-
To what extent do conflict systems exist in West Africa? Where are they located? How can understanding them contribute to the early warning and crisis prevention responses?
-
What are the links between national dynamics and sub-regional conflicts? In ECOWAS countries, what are the risks of crises, conflicts, instability and/or violent outbreaks?
-
How to organise risk assessment in order to contribute to the operationalisation and improvement of the ECOWARN system? What methodology(ies) to adopt? What are the practical modalities of implementing a risk evaluation in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau?
Programme
-
Session 1: The ECOWAS mechanism and the regional approach in conflict analysis
-
Session 2: Structural causes of conflict in West Africa
-
Session 3: Conflict systems and dynamics in West Africa
-
Session 4: Risk assessment approaches and methodology
-
Session 5: Case studies: overview of the situation in priority countries
- Session 6: Synthesis and validation of the meeting's decisions
Participants
Jointly organised by the SWAC and the ECOWAS Early Warning Department, this workshop brought together some 40 security actors of the region, including independent experts or members of research institutions and civil society networks from 12 countries of the region; representatives from sub-regional and regional organisations, networks, think-tanks, research institutes (CODESRIA, GRTP, MOST, PASPA, WACSOF, WANEP, WANSED) as well as representatives from the UN system (UNDOC, UNOCHA, UNOWA).
|
