Ethiopian consultative meeting on national conflict prevention and resolution priorities commenced on 30 April 2012 in Hawassa Town.The two-day meeting organised by IGAD’s conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) in collaboration with the national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) of Ethiopia, is designed to inform CEWARN’s post-2012 Strategy plan on regional cooperation in conflict prevention in the IGAD region.

Speaking at the opening of the national meeting, CEWARN Director Dr. Martin Kimani Mbugua said “CEWARN has a strong mandate that enables IGAD to act concretely in preventing all types of conflicts in the region.” Therefore, he added, “the national consultation avails an opportunity to consider extending the mechanism’s coverage in Ethiopia beyond the current areas of reporting.”

Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) in collaboration with the national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) of Uganda is conducting a two-day consultation on national priorities in conflict prevention and resolution as well as the role of conflict early warning and response structures in this pursuit.

The consultation currently underway in Entebbe is  to inform CEWARN’s regional strategy plan development process for the 2012-2019 period that will be hinged on individual priorities of IGAD Member States in Conflict prevention as well as common priorities guiding regional cooperation.

CEWARN’s operations in Uganda so far cover Amudat, Bukwo, Kaabong, Kapchorwa, Kotido, Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts that border Kenya and South Sudan. These areas make up CEWARN areas of reporting in the region along the borders of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda, which are approximately the size of Uganda.

See press releas on the consultation for details

CEWARN and the National Steering Committee (NSC) on Peace building and Conflict Management of Kenya in the Office of the President are convening a two-day national seminar on developing a post-2012 regional strategy that aims to build peace through the delivery of conflict early warning and response operations.

The meeting brings together key governmental and non-government institutions, with individual participants running the gamut from conflict analysts, peace workers, to senior officials. They are united by their peace and development work and for the next two days will deliberate on national priorities in conflict prevention and resolution, and the role early warning and response should play in this pursuit.

See press release for details.

Representatives of CEWARN development partners from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the Embassy of Denmark in Ethiopia joined a team from CEWARN to areas of reporting in Ethiopia bordering Kenya and Somalia from 21-24 February 2012.

The team led by Ms. Dominique Claire Mair who is ADA’s Conflict Prevention and Peace building Adviser on an official visit to the region, and Ms. Pernille Mortensen representing the Embassy of Denmark in Addis Ababa joined the CEWARN Response Coordinator Mr. Abdelrashid Warsame to Dire and Dillo woredas where CEWARN-supported cross-border communal peace initiatives have proven successful.

 The main objective of the mission was to allow development partners get first-hand exposure to CEWARN’s areas of reporting and learn about peace initiatives in these areas. The team held meetings with Local Peace Committees (LPCs) whose memberships comprise provincial administration and security officials, community elders, youth, women as well as CSOs working in these areas.

CEWARN’s areas of reporting in the Somali Cluster (areas along Ethiopia-Kenya-Somalia borders) have for long been affected by resource-based communal conflicts such as conflict amongst the Borana, Gabra and Gerri communities living along the Ethiopia and Kenya borders.

In recent years, the level of violence has significantly reduced and communal relations have flourished due to CEWARN-led efforts to support and sustain communal peace initiatives engaging both government and non-government institutions.

CEWARN held national consultation meetings in Djibouti and Khartoum, Sudan on 13-14 February and 22-23February respectively to inform the current regional strategy plan development (2012-2019).

The meetings brought together governmental and non-government institutions, including a number of peace NGOs, parliamentarians, humanitarian aid and disaster management specialists, environmentalists, conflicts analysts, peace workers and university researchers among others.

 The meetings deliberated on respective national priorities in conflict prevention and resolution as well as the future role of CEWARN’s early warning and response structures in this pursuit.

 The meetings also explored new areas of reporting that the national Conflict and Early Warning Units alongside CEWARN will focus on in the coming strategy period. CEWARN’s approach to developing its strategy plan (2012-2019) is innovative and potentially ground breaking, as it’s based on extensive conversations at the local level that are enriched by national officials and NGOs.

CEWARN Director Dr. Martin Kimani and team travelled to Mogadishu to conduct a national consultation meeting with the Somalia national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) and relevant government and non-government institutions on 8 -9 February.

The meeting was opened with statements from the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia Mr. Osman Mohammed Adan and Dr. Martin Kimani.

Some key objectives of the meeting included conducting a review of  progress towards the full operationalisation of the national CEWERU of Somalia as well as discussing CEWARN’s future operations in light of the new Strategy Plan (2012-2019) which is under development.

The meeting covered discussions on key conflict types and drivers as well as optimum use of CEWARN early warning and response structures to address pastoral and related conflicts in cross-border areas in the post-2012 period.

The meeting was concluded with a luncheon that was hosted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the TFG of Somalia Mr. Abdinur Sheikh Ibrahim Roble and presentation of awards to four national CEWERU members in recognition of outstanding contribution to its work.

Steering Committee of the CEWARN Rapid Response Fund (RRF) held its fifth regular meeting on 20 February in Addis Ababa to review the progress of ongoing peace building projects in the predominantly pastoral cross-border areas of the IGAD region.

The RRF was set up as a multi-donor basket fund in 2009 to enable CEWARN to support locally-driven and timely response projects to contain the spread and escalation of violent conflicts along the borders of Ethiopia-Djibouti; Ethiopia-Kenya- South Sudan- Uganda as well as Ethiopia- Kenya –Somalia.

See press release for details on the meeting

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CEWARN Quarterly E-newsletter Jan-March 2012. It contains  reflections on community conversations held in CEWARN’s areas of reporting as a first step in developing strategy plan for new phase of operations (2012-2019)

CEWARN through the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) provided laptops and motor bicycles to local peace committees in its areas of reporting in both the Karamoja and Somali Cluster sides of Ethiopia.

The materials were provided to local peace committees in Nyangatom and Dassenech Woredas in the Karamoja Cluster as well as Dire, Miyo, Dire, Regions four and five as well as Yabello woredas in the Somali Cluster. The provisions are aimed at facilitating current efforts by the national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) of Ethiopia to revitalize and enhance the Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (CPMR) and logistical capacity of Local Peace Committees (LPCs) in both clusters.

Local Peace Committees in these areas deal with logistical challenges on daily basis in terms of obtaining early warning information from remote parts of their areas of reporting as well as communicating the information to their local and national counterparts to elicit response measures. The provisions will thus significantly bridge these gaps and enhance their effectiveness.

Head of the national CEWERU of Ethiopia Mr. Mihreteab Mulugeta provided the materials to administrators of these districts in separate hand-over ceremonies from 30 December -3 January 2012.

The national CEWERU of Ethiopia is undertaking various capacity building measures targeting local peace committees in the country including training in CPMR as well as facilitating linkages and regular interaction with other local partners.