EAST AFRICA RISING GROUP PARTNERS DEVELOPMENT DISPATCH PODCAST FOR #SILENCINGTHEGUNS TWEET-CHAT (#ECOWAS VS #EAC)

EAST AFRICA RISING GROUP PARTNERS DEVELOPMENT DISPATCH PODCAST FOR #SILENCINGTHEGUNS TWEET-CHAT (ECOWAS VS EAC)

A Public Conversation titled: 

RECs, Peace & Security- Lessons from West to East Africa

At the AU 50th Anniversary on 25 May 2013, the Heads of State and Government "pledged not to bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation of Africans and undertake to end all wars in Africa by 2020". The AU theme for 2020 is "Silencing the guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa's development". The premise of this theme is that socio-economic development is at risk without peace and security and both issues should be prioritised.

In commemoration of this year's Africa Day on 25 May, East Africa Rising Group and DevDispatch are organising a public conversation via Twitter that will bring together voices from East and West Africa to discuss and share experiences on the role of RECs in addressing the challenges of conflict, governance and insecurity on the continent and the lessons from ECOWAS for East Africa.

The Twitter chat will take place at 9am – 10am GMT on the hashtag #lessonsfromW2EAfrica. Addirional hashtags for the chat include #Africapeaceandsecurity #silencingtheguns

Background:

Both ECOWAS, EAC and IGAD were established as regional economic blocs to facilitate economic growth, integration, co-operation and development among its members. Overtime, the dream of trade and development integration has been hampered by violent conflicts and instability on the continent. Consequently, RECs in recognition of the linkage between regional security and regional economic development and the pivotal role they can play in implementing the African Union's (AU's) Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), have expanded their portfolio to include peace, stability and regional security.

However, the extent of intervention by ECOWAS in West Africa and EAC and IGAD in East Africa have been vastly different. Political instability and conflict in countries like Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia has seen ECOWAS rise to the occasion providing military support, early warning systems, security sector reform and other post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. EAC and IGAD have done the same in their member states but to a lesser extent despite the reoccurring and protracted conflicts and terrorism in the region- think Sudan, Kenya, Eritrea, Burundi and 

Somalia. The importance of collective security in East Africa to consolidate the growing economic gains cannot be emphasised and this presents a huge opportunity for EAC and IGAD to step up.

In commemoration of the 2020 Africa Day under the theme " Silencing the gun", we would like to center the conversation on the role of RECs in managing conflict on the continent, the role that they should play and lessons that the RECs in the East African region can learn from ECOWAS with regards to its response to conflict, political instability and governance in West Africa.

Format

The chat will be moderated by DevDispatch and panellist will include experts in issues of peace, security, conflict management and governance on the continent. Suggested panellists include:

1. Michelle Ndiaye- Director Africa Peace & Security Programme (APSP) / Head of Secretariat, Tana Forum

2. Nnamdi Obasi- Senior Adviser, Crisis Group

3. Emmanue K. Bensah- Communicator on all things peace and security in Africa and advocate at East Africa Rising.

4. Yvonne Akpasom- Head, Peace and Security Unit, GIZ ECOWAS Support Programme

5. Charles Nyuykonge- Senior Researcher at the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, Political analyst, and Peace and security practitioner

6. Tigist Hailu- PR and Communications Officer, IGAD's Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN)

7. Chukwuemeka B. Eze- Executive Director of West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP)

8. Roba D Sharamo- Regional Representative for the AU, and Horn and East Africa. Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

9. Simon Nyambura- Director, IGAD Center of Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (ICEPCVE)

**** Panellist in red are yet to confirm.