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STATEMENT BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WANEP, MR EMMANUEL BOMBANDE Commandant of the KAIPTC, Your Excellencies, Participants of the 11th training session of WAPI Invited Guests On behalf of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), I welcome you warmly to this very important institute, the West Africa Peacebuilding Institute (WAPI) 2012. Regardless of strenuous efforts and progress made to prevent violent armed conflicts by government and civil society organisations in West Africa, we continue to be confronted with the threats of insecurity and instability in the sub region at many levels. Many West African countries are witnessing an upsurge of violence. Violent extremism is increasing with the consequence of rebellion which continues to linger on in Mali. Religious fundamentalist is breeding high levels of insecurity in Nigeria particularly in some Northern Geo-political zones. A coup attempt has been foiled in Cote d’Ivoire. In Guinea Bissau, a coup d ‘etat reversed completely the major gains that were made in the efforts to return the country to democracy following the death of President Malam Bacai Sanha. The coup d’etat in Guinea Bissau just before the 2nd round of presidential elections exacerbated the volatility in a region recuperating from an earlier coup in Mali and signalling grave security implications for the region. Conflict and insecurity in Mali has compounded the complex humanitarian emergency and vulnerabilities in the Sahel region, where food and nutrition crisis is affecting over 18 million people due to a combination of drought, high grain prices, environmental degradation etc. This scenario poses a serious concern as the inadequate fraction of food and non-food aids accessible to most host communities particularly in Burkina Faso has to be shared with Malian refugees. Figures of population suffering are huge and threaten human security based on a prediction of millions of children to suffer severe acute malnutrition. Piracy along the Gulf Coast of West Africa is also increasing while the proliferation of light weapons continues to threaten human security by confining the populace to live in perpetual fear owing to the failure of national government to provide security for its citizenry. Incidents of communal violence are recorded in Ghana which could have peace and security implications for the upcoming polls in December. In Togo, series of violent demonstrations against electoral reforms implemented by President Faure Gnassingbe have also been recorded in Togo and this threatens peace and security in the country. All these dynamics send a strong signal that the sub-region and the African continent as a whole need to shore up its effort at addressing fundamental issues underlying these conflict factors. WANEP as a civil society organization working in partnership with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and other partners continue to appreciate the tremendous efforts of Governments to ensure peace and development. The African Union declaration of “African solutions for African problems” still resonates in new commitments and engagements such as the constitutive act of the AU or the protocols in ECOWAS for promoting Democracy and good governance. It is important that at our respective national levels we get adequate and massive support from all stakeholders to support peacebuilding efforts and create the environment for dialogue so that communities can own the process of finding mutually acceptable outcomes to bridge the divide of hatred, to reconcile and live in harmony and peaceful co-existence even where there may still be disagreements. With the general appreciation of the fact that that there is an overwhelming need for sustainable peacebuilding work in the region, and the African continent at large, the question is the human resource capacity to address and sustain these peacebuilding efforts. It is for this reason that the civil society effort to compliment the efforts of governments and the inter- governmental body ECOWAS finds resonance with the West Africa Peacebuilding Institute (WAPI). For the past 10 years that WAPI has been in existence, WANEP through carefully designed practice-oriented programmes continues with its efforts of developing an integrative and collaborative approach to building peace in the sub-region. Honourable Minister, Commandant, Your Excellencies Distinguished Guests and Participants of WAPI, on behalf of WANEP, we express profound appreciation to Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre for believing in the capacity of civil society such as WANEP to build the human resource capacity for conflict prevention and peacebuilding West Africa and Africa at large as the participants are not just from West Africa but from other parts of Africa including the new Nation South Sudan. Honourable Minister, we are indeed most grateful to the Commandant and his team for the partnership we continue to enjoy. In the course of the next three weeks, WAPI will provide a unique platform to explore the concepts and practices in peacebuilding within the context of the experiences of peacebuilding and conflict prevention in West Africa informed by current conflict trends and dynamics and the mechanisms for conflict transformation. The courses will involve intensive engagement, sharing of experiences and knowledge to enhance peacebuilding in the African continent and beyond. WAPI over the years has admitted not only West Africa nationals but candidates from all over the world. We have so far received participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Gabon, Madagascar, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, USA, and as far as Australia, Lebanon and Palestine. This year, we have a total of 30 participants; and among the countries participating outside West Africa are Angola, Cameroon, Chad, South Sudan, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. To all our participants from all over the world, we say welcome. .

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