Enhancing capacities for conflict prevention and mediation of the Africa Union and the Regional Economic Communities

Addis Ababa, 21st June 2013 – The African Union Commission (AU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will from 24 to 25 June 2013 organise a two day consultation on strengthening the linkage between national, regional and continental efforts in conflict prevention and mediation. The consultation will be held at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Committee Room 2, Old Conference Building.

Recent global analysis points towards a range of new emerging patterns or drivers of change in Africa that are affecting the development environment. Most of these trends have either a direct or indirect link with the re-occurrence of episodes of violent conflict or even war. They point to the realisation that lack of inclusive governance as well as lack of sustainable conflict transformation and consensus building skills are reducing the development gains in countries affected by conflicts.

The various change processes in parts of the continent demonstrate the potential to lead to greater participation and more inclusive governance structures, and the possibility to contribute to peace and prosperity. However, without mechanism to peacefully handle the tensions resulting from shifting power dynamics, these changes can result in new levels of social disorder, violence and even war.

For the AU and the UNDP, building on the successes and gains of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and its various mechanisms, the most effective way to prevent tensions from leading violent conflict lies in facilitating inclusive and sustained dialogue over the contentious issues.

Dialogue can promote mutual understanding, build trust among the stakeholders and create options for constructive problem solving and joint action to prevent violence. This is why building and strengthening national capacities and mechanisms for structured dialogue to take place to peacefully settle conflicts lies at the core of strategically linking national conflict prevention capacities and mechanisms to the regional and continental peace and security architecture. This will contribute to building on the complementarity of national, sub-regional and regional efforts in supporting mediation and non-violent resolution of conflicts and tensions.

This consultation will explore all these issues and more, and contribute a new understanding and action points on how to more effectively strengthen collaboration between the AU Commission and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as on how to integrate national conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms and capacities within the sub-regional and regional efforts.

Journalists are invited to cover the opening and closing ceremonies of the consultation on strengthening the linkage between national, regional and continental efforts in conflict prevention and mediation

Programme attached
Contact:
Ms. Yaye N. Sène
Directorate of Information and Communication
E-mail: seney@africa-union.org; Cell : +251 913 45 31 13