In the December 2012 issue of New Routes Journal by the Uppsala-based Life and Peace Institute, CEWARN Director Dr. Martin Kimani reflects on CEWARN’s ten years of operation and its aspirations as it transitions into a new phase of operations.

In September 2012, the CEWARN Mechanism launched a strategy framework that will guide its operations from 2012-2019. The framework is transformative as it entails a fundamental expansion of the mechanism’s operational focus, beyond its previous focus on cross-border pastoralist and related conflicts.

The new framework is aimed at increased accessibility and relevance of the mechanism to decision-making and actions that widen and entrench peaceful outcomes to conflict throughout the member states.

CEWARN partners with Kwani Trust to host the Kwani Literary Arts Festival 2012 themed Conversations with the Horn: Writers, Artists In Exchange. The festival which runs from 9-16 December in Nairobi, will attract renowned writers and artists from around Africa to events that include poetry and book readings, lectures and conversations, film screening, art exhibition and book swap.

In the afternoon of 12 December, CEWARN Director Dr. Martin Kimani will moderate a panel discussion on ” Narratives of Peace & Conflict- The place of Arts, Culture & Literature” at Louis Leakey Auditorium, National Museum from 2.30 pm – 8 pm. The session that will also be streamed live via, http://www.ustream.tv/channel/kwani-trust, will explore narratives that drive peace and conflict in the region, and how artista cultural and literary contexts understand and impact these issues.

See full Festival Programme enclosed and visit our facebook page – www.facebook.com/CEWARN for updates.

CEWARN is looking for a competent firm to develop and deploy a human resource strategy that delivers an institution that is adaptive, whose individual and team processes are focused on delivering strategic impact, and that has a capable and motivated staff to successfully implement the 2012-2019 CEWARN strategy. Deadline for Applications: 4 November 2012.

For more information, please download the attached Terms of Reference

H.E First Lady and Minister of Karamoja Affairs of the Republic of Uganda Hon. Janet Museveni delivers opening remarks at a meeting of Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and IGAD Committee of Ambassadors at Kampala’s Common Wealth Munynyo Resort. The officials are gathered to launch the CEWARN post-2012 Conflict Early Warning and Response Framework.

See attached press release for more.

IGADMember States’ experts are gathered at Kampala’s Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort today to consult on broadening regional cooperation on prevention of national and trans-boundary violent conflicts

The two-day meeting is aimed at reviewing and paving the way for the launch of a post-2012 conflict early warning and response framework that will build on the work of IGAD’s Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism. CEWARN has so far been driving regional cooperation on cross-border security concerns including pastoral conflicts in the Horn of Africa region.

From Left, Mr. Mohammed Moussa Director of IGAD Agriculture and Environment Division, meeting Amb. Rhoda Kaisho, Director for Regional Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda, CEWARN Director Dr. Martin Kimani Mbugua presiding over the opening of the two-day meeting.

CEWARN Quarterly E-newsletter May-August 2012.

On 4 September, high-ranking officials of IGAD Member States will convene in Kampala’s Munyonyo common wealth resort to launch a regional strategy on conflict early warning and response.The meeting that will be presided over by First Lady and Minister of Karamoja Affairs of the Republic of Uganda Hon. Janet Museveni will mark a significant expansion of the scope of operations of IGAD’s Conflict Early warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN).

It will also deepen the commitment by Member States on early warning information sharing as well as joint response actions in response to emerging threats of violent conflict.

The Executive Secretary of IGAD Eng. Mahboub Maalim made the announcement today (Thursday, 30 August 2012) at a press conference in Kampala to Uganda-based media houses. Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International cooperation of the Republic of Uganda Amb. James Mugume and Director of CEWARN Dr. Martin Kimani Mbugua also presided over the press conference.

Eng. Maalim expressed IGAD’s deep appreciation for the leadership displayed by Uganda and Her Excellency Hon. Janet Museveni in hosting and presiding over the launch. He said Uganda continues to display exemplary leadership in driving the peace and security agenda in the IGAD region recalling a decision made by the 45th Meeting of the IGAD Council of Ministers for Member States to champion various thematic areas.

Amb. James Mugume on his part reflected on ongoing efforts in dealing with security challenges in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the agenda of the summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) highlighting the need for a mechanism like CEWARN in informing peace efforts.

CEWARN Director Dr. Martin Kimani Mbugua stated that the launch is key to CEWARN’s transformation into a more robust regional mechanism that uses data-driven insight to address a broad spectrum of violent conflicts – far beyond the mechanism’s previous focus on cross-border pastoral and related conflicts.

CEWARN organized a roundtable themed Global Trends shaping Africa’s future with focus on peace and security at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa on 9 July 2012.

The roundtable was organized in collaboration with the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, and was anchored on a presentation of the US National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2030: Alternative Report.The roundtable drew members of the diplomatic community; researchers and practitioners from the peace and security and relevant fields as well as representatives of development agencies based in Addis Ababa.

 Discussions on the report provoked a lively debate on the implications of global political and socio-economic trends on Africa’s future, with particular reference to peace and security. These global mega trends include citizen’s empowerment with growing access to information technology; variations in global demographic trends; increased diffusion of power at national and global-levels as well as the growing demands world-wide for energy, water and food.

CEWARN Director Dr. Martin Kimani in his opening statement expressed his belief that interventions by IGAD and other regional bodies engaged in working for promoting peace and security in Africa, should be informed by a

profound understanding of Global trends and their impacts on Africa’s future.

Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) and InterAfrica Group held a seminar on South Sudan titled ‘Emerging Conflicts, Appropriate Responses from Understanding conflicts to building peace in South Sudan’ on 31 May 2012 in Addis Ababa.

The seminar drew together Heads of diplomatic missions in Addis Ababa; senior government officials and Members of Parliament from South Sudan; senior representatives of IGAD, the African Union, United Nations Mission in South Sudan(UNMISS) and other international organizations working on CPMR as well as academic and research organizations.

It was aimed at provoking policy-level discussions on a better understanding of emerging conflicts in South Sudan as well as application of early warning response to prevent and mitigate conflicts.

Dr. Francis Deng, the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, delivered a keynote speech. He said that South Sudan’s journey to peace is continuous and promising. Speaking as a Southern Sudanese he passionately touched on different national and regional aspects of the security challenges of South Sudan that included social and economic divisions including but not limited to ethnicity and the longstanding center versus periphery structure of economic relations. He made uplifting remarks on South Sudan’s ability to learn from history and engage the future in a way that could make it an exemplary success story.

On May 5th, South Launch of South Sudan’s national Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU)
On May 5th, South Sudan’s Vice President, H.E. Dr. Riak Machar, formally launched a national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) committee directly linked to IGAD’s Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN.) This historic step was taken with the leadership of the South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission (SSPRC) which now takes up the mantle of the existing early warning system.

See press release for details

The system is designed to deepen the government’s ability to respond proactively to risks of violent conflict. The national early warning system, known as CEWERS, has been operational in four states since 2009, supported by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) including in Eastern Equatoria state where CEWARN has been operating with a regional focus.

The official launch transfers ownership of the system to a high-level committee made up of government and response-ready NGOs. The system will also be mirrored on the state and county levels, and connected to the broader regional CEWARN mechanism.

The new South Sudan CEWERU comprises key government and non- government institutions working on peace, security and development. It is modeled after similar structures in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda that serve as important nodes in national and regional efforts to prevent and mitigate violent conflict.

H.E. Dr. Machar, presiding over the launch event, signaled the government’s commitment to this effort. The Vice President who also keenly engaged with technical presentations from CEWERS and CEWARN described the importance of early warning as a ‘whole of government’ approach to governance. He pointed to the stark difference between the human and financial costs incurred in preventing conflict as opposed to trying to recover from it, and spoke passionately of the need to lean to the former.

The need for this approach is clear in South Sudan. As he put it, “South Sudan, which has come out a long-running civil war, continues to grapple with multiple internal and regional security challenges which necessitate a nation-wide capacity to anticipate, and act proactively to prevent violent conflicts.”He also stressed the need for the mechanism to operate at county, state and federal levels with local structures empowered to undertake response measures.

The CEWARN Director,Dr. Martin Kimani, observed that the establishment of the national CEWERU was an important milestone in advancing CEWARN’s engagement in South Sudan and the wider IGAD region. He recognized the transformative possibility that the South Sudan CEWERU presents to the region as it gets launched at a critical stage for the broader mechanism saying, “As CEWARN transitions into a new phase of operations in the post-2012 period, its operations are set to expand to wider geographic and thematic areas of national and regional relevance in South Sudan as in the rest of the IGAD Member states.”