Today, 21 September 2014, marks the International Day of Peace that is observed worldwide annually. It is a day of reflection and commemoration of the ideals of peace within and among all people and nations. This year’s celebrations are also underpinned by the 30th year anniversary of the affirmation of ‘The Right of People to Peace’ by the United Nations.

Peace and security are matters of utmost priority for the IGAD region that continues to grapple with a myriad of security challenges.

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The IGAD Special Envoys to the South Sudan Negotiations condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing fighting between the two warring parties taking place in Renk County and in the area south of Malakal town in Upper Nile State.

On 19 September, CEWARN Director Mr. Richard Barno and team held a consultation with representatives of the Life and Peace Institute, the Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) and InterAfrica Group on a partnership to conduct targeted policy research and advocacy on regional peace and security challenges.

 The consultative meeting followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding among these institutions earlier in 2014. The principal aim of the partnership is to contribute to regional policy formulation processes in the areas of peace and security through facilitating collaborative platforms among state, inter-state and non-state actors on selected themes that represent a ‘regional peace and security policy dilemma’.

The collaborative platforms will pursue targeted policy research and advocacy processes that are “participatory, informed by local perspectives and experiences as well as backed by solid evidence”. The initiative matches one of the key priorities of CEWARN’s strategic focus as articulated in the 2012-2019 Strategy Framework which is, the utilization of CEWARN’s early warning data and analysis to inform high-level decision-making and policy formulation processes. The CEWARN 2012-2019 strategy framework that informs the mechanism’s current operations entails a significant expansion of the mechanism’s operations beyond an earlier narrow focus on cross-border pastoral conflicts to a substantially wider scope of conflict typologies and geographic areas.

Accordingly, the strategy framework considers as key immediate aims, the strengthening of CEWARN’s region-wide capabilities in gathering credible and sufficient data, delivering high-quality early warning analysis as well as mapping and analysis of response initiatives. The significant expansion of CEWARN’s regional networks and partnership to realize its new mandate is another one of the mechanism current priorities.

CEWARN Director Mr. Richard Barno and team convened a meeting with coordinators of national CEWERUs from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda as well as a USAID/EA Official on 19 September in Addis Ababa to review and update 2015 plan of activities.

 During the meeting, Mr. Barno outlined key region-wide priorities for 2015 that include reinventing CEWARN’s data collection and analysis architecture; adopting new ICT tools; scaling up response initiatives; enhancing mapping and analysis of response initiatives; as well as expansion of local civil society networks and partnerships with specialized institutions.

Some of the plans for 2015 at the national level that were presented by the respective coordinators include a plan by the Somali national CEWERU to build functional collaboration with the Somali National Army (SNA) and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and provide them with conflict early warning information.

The South Sudan national CEWERU on the other hand intends to convene a peace conference in Jonglei state for the Greater Upper Nile that is intended to bring together stakeholders from Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Unity States focused on communal peace dialogue and reconciliation. The communal reconciliation conference is also aimed at complementing the IGAD-led political dialogue currently taking place in Bahir Dar city in Ethiopia.

CEWARN Director Mr. Richard Barno and team held a meeting with Sudan’s national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) steering committee in Khartoum on 17 September 2014. The main aim of the meeting was to reactivate the national CEWERU Steering Committee and consult on the national unit’s capacity needs in light of the CEWARN 2012-2019 Strategy framework.

 Speaking at the opening of the meeting Mr. Barno recalled that Khartoum is the birthplace of CEWARN as it where the IGAD Heads of State passed the historic Khartoum Declaration in 2000 that contained the decision to establish CEWARN.

He added, it is also where the protocol establishing the mechanism was signed in 2002. The full day event included a presentation on the current status of implementation of the 2012-2019 strategy framework by Mr. Barno and plenary discussion as well as internal reflection sessions to assess national and cross-border conflict challenges facing the Republic of the Sudan.

The sessions also identified short and long term measures to boost the CEWERU’s early warning and response capacity. Mr. Barno indicated that some of the CEWARN Unit’s immediate priorities include supporting national CEWERUs to adopt new ICT tools as well as expand their local civil society networks and partnerships with specialized institutions.This is aimed at improving the mechanism’s early warning and response output at the national level.

Before concluding his mission in Khartoum, Mr. Barno held a meeting with the Commissioner of Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission Mr. Ahmed Adam and briefed him on CEWARN’s operations in the IGAD region as well as its current priorities in light of the 2012-2019 Strategy Framework.

At the moment, the CEWARN Rapid Response Fund (RRF), that supports local-level conflict prevention and peace building initiatives across the region, is supporting two response projects in the Republic of Sudan. One of these projects that is worth USD 50,000 focuses on producing an elaborate baseline survey for the Blue Nile State of the Republic of Sudan that contains demographic analysis, an appraisal of the peace and security situation in the state including causes of conflict as well as a mapping of ongoing peace initiatives. The survey is intended to inform future CEWARN conflict mitigation and peace building interventions in the state.

The second project which is also worth USD 50,000 is a peace building project targeting Assalaya, Al-Ferdous, Abu Matariq, Abu Jabra localities of the East Darfur State of the Republic of Sudan. The project that entails various training, awareness raising and local peace dialogue initiatives targets vulnerable communities that are affected by the ongoing conflict in the area.

The cluster update contains information obtained primarily from CEWARN’s Field Monitors that operate in Amudat, Bukwo, Kaabong, Kotido and Moroto/Napak districts in the Ugandan side of the Karamoja Cluster.

The field report has also been supplemented by additional information from other sources including Civil Society Organizations and the media. The graphs in the attached Summary Cluster update show the trends of local and cross-border violent incidents highlighting human deaths, livestock theft and human injuries in the Ugandan side of the Karamoja Cluster from May to July 2014.

CEWARN’s national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) in South Sudan conducted mapping of conflict early warning and response stakeholders in Western Equatoria and North Bar El Ghazel states in July 2014. The mapping exercise was aimed at identifying conflict threats as well as peace and conflict actors in these two states in order to inform the CEWERU’s conflict prevention work.

During the exercise, the CEWERU team along with CEWARN’s GIS Officer Mr. Andrew Malinga, engaged with the Offices of the Governors as well as ministries of local government, Social Affairs as well as the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission of the two States.

The team also conferred with representatives of other organizations including UNMISS and UNOCHA. During these engagements, the question of how the CEWERU’s conflict prevention programmes can complement existing initiatives by these organizations in the two states was discussed.

Some of the efforts the CEWERU intends to undertake include providing support to the Northern Bar el Gahzel Peace Forum; organizing bi-annual pre and post migration peace dialogue between the migrating Mesiriya from South Kordofan of Sudan, the Rezgad from Darfur, and the local Communities of the Dinka Malual; as well as providing support to the State Peace Commissions to convene regular meetings of Governors of the border States to appraise peace and conflict dynamics.

Furthermore, the CEWERU also intends to craft Joint Border Resolutions along with their counterparts in the Republic of Sudan and conduct studies to identify the origin, activities, and interests of the Ambororo nomads in Western Equatoria State.

CEWARN Director Mr. Richard Barno met and briefed Ambassador Charles Manyang, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of South Sudan on 25th July 2014 on CEWARN’s operations as well as the mechanism’s support to conflict prevention and mitigation work in South Sudan. Present during the briefing was Hon. Chuol Rambang, Chairperson of the South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission and South Sudan CEWERU head.

Mr. Barno also met and held a similar briefing for H.E Eng. Karanja Kibicho, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya on 1 August 2014.

In his briefings Mr. Barno indicated that during the current year 2014 CEWARN’s primary focus has been the reinvention and strengthening of its data gathering, analysis and dissemination tools and processes including the re-engineering of the CEWARN data management software tool, the Reporter.

In this regard, in line with the mechanism’s 2012-2019 Strategy Framework and subsequent consultative processes, CEWARN is envisaging a conflict early warning and response system infrastructure that will cover 15 conflict themes that are categorized along five major sectors. The new system just like the existing system will be underpinned by a close working relationship among CSOs and government institutions at all levels of the mechanism’s operations, including data gathering, analysis, decision-making and response measures.

A preliminary model of the system has been presented to CEWARN’s Technical Committee of Early Warning (TCEW) and has been approved for piloting. While the piloting process progresses through January 2015, the model will be presented for further guidance to CEWARN’s highest policy organ –the Committee of Permanent Secretaries in October 2014.

Meanwhile, CEWARN has undertaken several capacity building measures in anticipation of the new system. These include: training of national CEWERUs and CEWARN Secretariat members on Media Monitoring tools. CEWARN has also facilitated the provision of GIS and various ICT equipments to its national Conflict Early Warning and Response Units (CEWERUs) in Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia. Other capacity building measures extended to CEWERUs and the CEWARN Secretariat members include training on integrated Early Warning and Early Response systems as well as training on project cycle management.

In terms of CEWARN’s support to conflict prevention and mitigation efforts in South Sudan, CEWARN continues to provide all-rounded technical and administrative support to the ongoing IGAD-led mediation process for South Sudan in Addis Ababa by assigning key staff members to work with the mediation on a full time basis.

CEWARN also continues to work closely with the national CEWERU and so far has supported the launch of the National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation, the Design of Peace and Reconciliation priorities and the convening of a Peace rally in Juba. Dr. Manyang acknowledged the positive role that CEWARN and the South Sudan CEWERU (the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission) under the Chairmanship of Hon. Chuol Rambang was playing to promote peace building and reconciliation in South Sudan and the region at large. He expressed his government’s commitment to support the CEWARN mechanism.

Mr. Barno invited Ambassador Manyang and Eng. Kibicho to the forthcoming Meeting of CEWARN Committee of Permanent Secretaries in October.

The Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS) and SPLM/A – In Opposition signed the Implementation Matrix of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement at the recent urgent Summit Meeting of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government that convened on 25 August 2014 in Addis Ababa, to consider the situation in South Sudan.

 The signing is a key step in operationalizing the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed by the two Parties on 23 January 2014. The terms of the matrix include an immediate freeze in position as well as disengagement and separation of GRSS and SPLM/A – IO forces. The IGAD Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM) will provide assistance to these steps and play its verification role.

Meanwhile, the IGAD Special Envoys for South Sudan announced the adjournment of ongoing talks in Addis Ababa from 28 August to 13 September for consultation. The IGAD-led mediation process has entered its eighth month and CEWARN continues to provide technical support to the process.

For more information on the peace process visit http://southsudan.igad.int (the dedicated website of the IGAD-led Mediation Process for South Sudan)

Also Refer to: Communique of 27th extraordinary session of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government held on 27 August 014 &

Press Release from IGAD Special Envoys on the signing of Implementation Matrix for the Cessation of Hostilities in South Sudan on 27 August 2104

CEWARN convened the 8th regular meeting of the Steering Committee of the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) on 11 August 2014 in Djibouti. The meeting brought together representatives of the CEWARN regional office, heads of CEWARN’s national conflict Early Warning and Response Units (CEWERUs) and Civil Society organisations from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, to review progress in the implementation of ongoing response projects.

 Representatives of development partners that support the fund were also present at the meeting. The Rapid Response Fund (RRF) was set up in 2009 as a regional basket fund to support locally driven and timely response projects to contain the spread and escalation of violent conflicts along IGAD Member States’ borders.

While the fund’s initial focus has been on mitigation of cross-border pastoral and related conflicts, its use is set to expand to avert a wider-spectrum of security challenges experienced by Member States.

The meeting received an assessment report of ongoing RRF projects from the CEWARN Rapid Response Fund (RRF) Coordinator Mr. Yacob Chaka as well as representatives of CEWARN national units in these countries. The meeting also considered proposed rules and procedures for the Steering Committee’s virtual meetings as well as fund raising plans.

RRF Success stories

The RRF is an innovative and optimal approach to conflict prevention and peace building in the IGAD region as it focuses on supporting home- grown solutions to conflicts and equipping local institutions for early action to avert violent conflicts. This is in line with current trends in global conflict Prevention Management and Resolution practice that emphasize that violent conflicts are most effectively solved at the closest point to where they are occurring.

By streamlining government and civil society-driven efforts at local, national and regional levels, the RRF also enables CEWARN to marry contemporary and Customary Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (CPMR) methods in its response initiatives.

Allocation of RRF monies is strictly project-based and funding covers broad areas of rapid response initiatives including support to dialogue among conflicting groups; emergency support; facilitation of joint access to resources; as well as capacity building and technical studies.

Two major categories of RRF projects are namely: urgent projects and regular projects. Urgent projects are worth a maximum of 10 thousand USD and can be accessed within 24hrs of submission of the request. In the case of regular projects that are worth 50,000 and beyond, the approval of the RRF Steering Committee, which is the highest regional decision-making body of the RRF, is required. The Steering Committee is comprised of representatives from national CEWERUs, the CEWARN Secretariat and development Partners. Regular projects also have an implementation time cycle that could stretch up to a year.

So far, the CEWARN RRF has supported 52 CPMR related projects across the region. Fifteen of these projects were focused on capacity building of local and national structures for response mainly through the provision of equipment, training and facilitation of study tours. The other twenty-six projects focused on Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (CPMR) projects ranging from peace dialogues to collaborative cross-border peace processes.

While four of the remaining projects were focused on technical studies that inform response decision making, the seven were conflict preventive projects. The latter included joint access to specific local resources as well as the development or expansion of jointly managed assets such as cross-border cattle markets. The total worth of the 52 projects amounts to 1.8 million USD.

CEWARN partners that have so far contributed to the RRF basket include the Austria Development Agency (ADA), Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Sweden and the UK. ADA and Sweden currently contribute the lion’s share of available RRF funds.

Some of the most notable achievements of the RRF include enhanced technical and financial capacities of local actors in implementing response projects as well as relative peace enjoyed by a number of CEWARN areas of report due to timely response to conflict threats. This was most visible in CEWARN’s areas of reporting along the Kenya-Uganda and the Ethiopia-Kenya-Somalia borders. Peace dialogues initiated with RRF funds have also proved instrumental in fostering peaceful-co-existence marked by cooperation, free mobility and resource sharing among neighboring communities.

The most significant challenge faced by the RRF is the varying levels of project management capacities at local and national levels including limitations in accountability for funds as well as project proposals that fall short of RRF project application standards. The fast changing dynamics and peace and security situation in the region also poses challenges in following through projects.