Ghana Institutes New Peace and Security Forum
by
E.K.Bensah Jr,
Ecowas
Business News
In the
conversation on continental peace and security forums, Ghana is
positioning itself to respond. After the flagship Tana Forum, and the
eponymous Dakar Forum, Ghana has spawned a novel peace and security
Forum established to honour the late UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
who dedicated the better part of his life to the cause of global
peace and security.
Known as
the Kofi Annan Peace and Security Forum (KAPS), it is a flagship
initiative of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training
Centre (KAIPTC). In collaboration with GIZ, it is an annual
international platform that will bring together political leaders,
diplomats and experts to dialogue and share ideas on the most
critical evolving peace and security trends on the African continent.
The title
of the maiden edition is “Peace Operations in the Context of
Violent Extremism in Africa”, and is inspired by the unique
challenges that have bedevilled the African agency in its response to
the multiple vulnerabilities that threaten the security of states and
their societies. In addition, the continent has witnessed an
unprecedented surge in violent extremism (VE) in the last decade,
including activities of Somalia's Al-Shabaab, that has
significantly-dominated the discourse on violent extremism in Africa
– especially in the Horn of Africa.
In 2019,
VE has extended and taken deep roots in the Lake Chad Basin and the
Sahel region, where Boko Haram, which originated from Nigeria, has
since spread across countries in the region, including Cameroon,
Niger and Chad. The affected countries have, for a while, been
responding jointly to the extremist threats through the Multinational
Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram.
Even as
Africa has made some headway with the establishment of groups like G5
Sahel, established in 2014, there remain considerable challenges in
the operational efficiency. The G5 Sahel force, for example, has been
challenged by the sustained operations of violent extremist groups
across the borders of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
Similarly, the January bombings in Kenya remind us that Al-Shabaab is still a veritable existentiak threat in East Africa, and needs to be neutralized with counter-offensive strategies of AMISOM, which is in its 12th year of operations. There is no gainsaying that AL-Shabaab remains a clear and present threat to civilians as it continues to sustain attacks against them, including AMISOM officials.
It is
against this background that the KAPS forum has been instituted. The
forum seeks to foster deeper diplomatic, policy and academic
exchanges among key stakeholders, such as poitical leaders,
diplomats, practitioners and scholars on critical issues relating to
peace and security in Africa.
Speaking
to the media, the Coordinator of the KAPS Forum, Ernest Ansah Lartey,
explained in his four-point rationale that, the primary role of the
Forum is to recognise the role of former Presidents in shaping
political governance, peace and security in Africa
Secondly, to honour the memory of late Kofi Annan; third: to deepen collaboration between KAIPTC, UN, AU, Regional Economic Communities; governments; CSOs; development partners, and even the private business community in finding political solutions to security situations in Africa. Finally, it is to implement KAIPTC's new strategic vision of becoming the preferred centre of excellence in the delivery of capacity and expertise in peace an security in Africa.
The
conference is scheduled to take place from 4-5 September at the
Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Ghana.
ENDs
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