Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation Kruschen Govender| r apporteur with Yvette nGandu 1 MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF FINLAND Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation A report based on a seminar organised by the African Union (AU) Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 15 – 16 October 2009 MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF FINLAND ACCORD The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) is a non- governmental institute working throughout Africa to bring creative solutions to the challenges posed by conflict on the continent. ACCORD’s primary aim is to influence political developments by bringing conflict resolution, dialogue and institutional development to the forefront as an alternative to armed violence and protracted conflict. Acknowledgements A generous contribution by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland made the seminar organised by the African Union Commission (AUC) on 15 and 16 October 2009, and this report, possible. Additional support from the Swedish International Development Co- operation Agency (Sida) to ACCORD’s Knowledge Production Department (KPD) also assisted in the writing, editing and production of this report. The Rapporteurs Kruschen Govender is a freelance researcher working in collaboration with the Knowledge Production Department (KPD) at ACCORD. He holds an M.A. in Development Studies from the School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). Yvette Ngandu, who contributed to this report, is currently the Coordinator of the UN- AU-RECs cooperation project in mediation, and of the Secretariat of the Panel of the Wise, with the African Union Commission’s Peace and Security Directorate. She holds an M.A. in Public Administration and International Relations from Bowling Green State University, in Ohio. She has previously been a Senior Programme Officer with the New York-based International Peace Institute (IPI). Disclaimer Views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of ACCORD, the African Union (AU), the African Union Commission (AUC), regional economic communities (RECs), organisations involved in enhancing the AU’s mediation capacity or the funders of the seminar and report. While every attempt was made to ensure that the information published here is accurate, no responsibility is accepted for any loss or damage that may arise out of the reliance of any person upon any of the information this report contains. Copyright © 2010 ACCORD This document may be downloaded at no charge from the ACCORD website: www.accord.org.za. All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ACCORD, Private Bag X018, Umhlanga Rocks 4320, Durban, South Africa www.accord.org.za Editor: Angela Ndinga-Muvumba Language Editor: Ed Katz Printer: Pro-Print, South Africa Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 INTRODUCTION 7 Background and Context 9 Defining International Peace Mediation 13 Developing a Strategic Approach to AU Mediation 17 Mediation Relationships between the AU, RECs and Partners 21 The role of Women in Mediation 27 Sharing Experiences from Mediation Processes in Africa 31 CONCLUSION 37 Bibliography 38 ANNEX I: List of Abbreviations 41 ANNEX II: Agenda 43 ANNEX III: List of Participants 47 ANNEX IV: Opening Remarks 51 Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation Executive Summary Armed conflict is one of the greatest threats to Africa’s development. Today, many African countries are in the throes of civil conflict, several more face a heightened risk of experiencing armed violence, while others are recently emerging from protracted wars. The challenges ahead are sobering. The African Union (AU) organised a seminar entitled ‘Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation’, which was held at the Commission of the African Union, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 15 and 16 October 2009. The seminar was the culmination of a series of consultations launched in late 2008, Executive summary in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) and other stakeholders, to reflect on lessons learned from mediation experiences in Africa. The Addis Ababa seminar brought together policymakers, mediation experts and civil society actors to develop a more strategic approach in enhancing the AU’s mediation capacity. In so doing the participants addressed the following themes: • Improving the AU’s performance in mediation • Consolidating and integrating the approaches of the AU and the RECs in mediation • Discussing collaboration with partners including the UN. Collaboration between African and international actors is critical for strengthening the AU’s role in conflict prevention and mediation in Africa. International mediation is a long-term process, thus it is necessary for relationships between external and internal actors to be one of equitable partnership, synergy and complementarity. There are a plethora of strategic challenges relating to international peace mediation in deep-rooted conflict. Arguably, it is not possible for the AU to design a generic ‘mediation strategy’. Mediation practice should be highly flexible, utilising various strategies and responses to the circumstances of each case. Nonetheless, it is possible for the AU to define and adopt a ‘strategic approach to mediation’ – which is based on the principles of the organisation, the experience of peacemaking on the continent and the goal of forging sustainable peace agreements. The key discussion themes were underpinned by the working paper, ‘Plan of Action to build the AU’s Mediation Capacity,’ prepared by Dr. Laurie Nathan. Most of the working paper themes were mentioned and some critically debated by participants at the Addis Ababa seminar. Different views were expressed, but in general participants affirmed many of Dr. Nathan’s recommendations. A common thread throughout the two-day seminar was the nature of mediation relationships between the AU, UN and RECs – more specifically the sensitive question regarding ‘who takes the lead in mediation?’ In addition, other pertinent themes were raised, such as the importance of promoting gender equality and mainstreaming gender in the AU’s mediation framework. Therefore, the ‘role of women in mediation’ and ‘mediation relationships between the AU, RECs and partners’ will be explored further in this report. The outcomes of the seminar were intended to initiate 4 Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation the strengthening of the AU Commission’s Peace and Security Department (PSD) by discussing lessons learned and best practice and by catalysing the process of defining a strategic approach to mediation. The AU and UN are undertaking the first Triennial Review of the 10 Year Capacity-Building programme for the AU. The outcomes of the Addis Ababa seminar should be used to inform the review. This report provides a succinct contextual framework to capture the essence of the discussions and subsequent recommendations presented at the seminar. In many respects, this report is a follow up to ACCORD’s 2009 research report ‘Mediating Peace in Africa: Securing Conflict Prevention’, which captures the issues discussed at a seminar held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 4 March 2009. The meeting in March was also organised by ACCORD and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, with the participation of the AU. This second report although focused on the October 2009 seminar, therefore also includes excerpts from ‘Mediating Peace in Africa: Securing Conflict Prevention’, as well as widely referencing Dr. Nathan’s working paper. 5 Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation REUTERS 6 Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation Introduction The African Union (AU) organised a seminar entitled ‘Towards Enhancing the Capacity of the African Union in Mediation’, which was held at the AU Headquarters, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 15 and 16 October 2009. The seminar was the culmination of a series of consultations launched in late 2008, in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) and other stakeholders, to reflect on Introduction lessons learned from mediation experiences in Africa. In the prevailing volatile global economic climate, Africa’s development agenda is in addition arrested by widespread peace and security concerns. A high incidence of violent conflict has imposed a heavy toll in terms of human suffering and lost development opportunities in Africa. Today, many African countries continue to face a heightened risk of experiencing armed violence, while others are emerging from protracted conflicts. The challenges ahead are sobering. Mediation is an integral component of peacemaking and has the potential to be instrumental in preventing, managing and ending conflicts. Thus, as Africa enters a new era of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, it is imperative for the AU in collaboration and coordination with strategic partners – namely the regional economic communities (RECs), the UN and the European Union (EU) – to develop specialist expertise and a systematic mediation practice. Mechanisms and processes for mediation at the AU need to be defined, institutionalised