CEWARN supported and participated at the eighth annual Tegla Loroupe peace race for the Karamoja Cluster on 27-28 May 2011 in Moroto town, Uganda.

The peace race themed “Empowering and talents tapping for enhanced livelihood options, the path to peace,” was part of annual cross-border peace sporting events organized by Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation. The event brought together youth warriors and elders from pastoral communities in the cross-border areas of Kenya, Sudan and Uganda who engaged in a peace dialogue as well as a 10 km peace race.

The event also involved cultural shows including a play presented by reformed warriors as well as a symbolic 2 km race for organizers.

Those in attendance included provincial administration officials; representatives of national CEWERUs of Kenya and Uganda as well as high-level government officials including concerned Members of Parliament and Ministers from Kenya and Uganda. Representatives of governmental and non-governmental partners including from CEWARN and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as well as the Deputy Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) Hon. Beatrice Kiraso were also present.

CEWARN’s support was directed towards facilitating the participation of youth and elders as well as district peace committees from target communities from Kenya and Uganda. CEWARN Field Monitors and Members of CEWARN District Peace Committees were actively involved in mobilization of participants.

The event was successful as an occasion for peace advocacy in the Karamoja Cluster. The use of sports as a unifying theme also made it particularly effective in mobilizing communities to join in a constructive and fun event.

The Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation (TLPF) is founded and run by world renowned Kenyan marathon athlete and peace activist Dr. Amb. Tegla Loroupe.

CEWARN’s approach to pastoral conflict is poised to broaden and be made more robust in providing sufficient early warning to enable preventive action and appropriate mitigation.

The Committee of Permanent Secretaries (CPS), the senior policy organ of IGAD’s Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) convened on 27th May in Mombasa, Kenya and agreed to adopt related recommendations emerging from CEWARN’s 8th Technical Committee on Early Warning and Response which was held from 25-26 May 2011.

The recommendations were aimed at defining the future shape and activities of CEWARN in terms of a possible expansion of its coverage in broader areas of reporting on the Djibouti-Ethiopia border, in Somalia and to render the assistance needed by South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan. Other recommendations also include the need for CEWARN to broaden its information collection as well as the integration of its analysis of conflict with food security and climate data.

The decision comes at a time when CEWARN is embarking on developing a new five-year strategy covering the period from 2012-2017.

The eighth meeting of the Technical Committee on Early Warning and Response (TCEWR) of IGAD’s Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) kicks off on 25 May 2011 in Mombasa, Kenya.

The meeting will assess the peace and security situation in CEWARN’s areas of reporting – particularly in relation to pastoral and related conflicts along the cross-border areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

Another Key item on the meeting’s agenda is consultation on a way forward on CEWARN’s transition towards a more effective integration of its efforts to prevent pastoral conflict as well as expansion into other conflicts that threaten the lives and livelihoods of the region’s peoples.

Amb. Ali Abbas from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the host country, Kenya; Honarable Netsannet Asfaw, IGAD’s Director of Peace and Security as well as other technical experts and government officials from the Member States will participate at the two-day meeting.

See attached press release for further detail.

warning report issued in April 2011 covering CEWARN’s areas of reporting in Ethiopia (in both the Karamoja and Somali Clusters) indicates the prevalence of severe drought in these areas with failure of ‘pastoral rains’ normally expected from October – November 2010.

Some of the recorded impacts of the drought include severe depletion of ground water resources and pasture; livestock deaths and resultant food insecurity in these areas. This has in turn caused serious socio-economic strain and untimely migration of affected communities.

For instance, in Moyale Woreda of the Somali Cluster, some reports suggest that up to 35 per cent of livestock may have perished. In relation to implications for security, there are already signs of tensions developing among communities due to competition over meager resources.

This is evident, for instance, in parts of the Karamoja Cluster through simmering tensions among the Toposa, Nyangatom and Surma communities of Ethiopia and South Sudan. In the Somali Cluster where the drought is more pronounced, competition over resources coupled with lingering tensions amongst the Gabra, Borena and Gerri are feared to flare up conflict.

See link below for full version of the report and recommendations.

CEWARN’s areas of reporting on the Ugandan side of the Karamoja cluster continue to be affected by an extended drought since September 2010. Related environmental factors as well as resultant shortage of water and pasture are pushing communities in the area to migrate – in some cases across international borders.

During the month of February, there was also a warning issued by the Office of the Prime Minister about a long dry season with shortage of food, water and pasture based on an earlier prediction by the Department of Meteorology that the usual rainy seasons of March and May will likely experience delay in the karamoja Sub-region.

On the other hand, the security situation in the areas of reporting during the month of February 2011 was relatively stable with only nine recorded incidents in the districts of Amudat, Kapchorwa and Moroto compared to 13 recorded incidents in January. There was only one recorded human death.

The meeting brought together community-level peace actors as well as governmental and non-governmental stakeholders from the cross-border areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda that shared their best practices in local response strategies that have proven successful in mitigation and prevention of cross-border pastoral and related conflicts.

During the workshop, provincial administration officials in CEWARN’s areas of operation as well as CEWARN local peace committees and civil society organizations from these countries presented and deliberated on selected case-based experiences with the aim of strengthening the capacity of local-level peace actors and enhancing the effectiveness of their interventions.

dialogue workshop on best practices in local response strategies organized by the Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) of IGAD in collaboration with Giz-Germany was held from 21-23 February in Hawassa Town, Ethiopia.

The meeting brought together community-level peace actors as well as governmental and non-governmental stakeholders from the cross-border areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda that shared their best practices in local response strategies that have proven successful in mitigation and prevention of cross-border pastoral and related conflicts.

During the workshop, provincial administration officials in CEWARN’s areas of operation as well as CEWARN local peace committees and civil society organizations from these countries presented and deliberated on selected case-based experiences with the aim of strengthening the capacity of local-level peace actors and enhancing the effectiveness of their interventions.

National Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) of Kenya held an official launching ceremony of the national Early Warning and Response Mechanism on 25th November 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to Mr. Samuel K. Maina, Head of the national CEWERU of Kenya, the rationale for the establishment of the national early warning and response system was a pressing need in Kenya for a capacity to undertake timely and effective action to prevent and mitigate violent conflicts. He said the need is even more pressing following the damage caused by the 2007 electoral violence.

Mr. Maina also stated that the Mechanism is modeled after the Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which has been serving as platform for collaboration among IGAD Member States on the prevention and mitigation of cross-border pastoral and related conflicts in the Horn of Africa region.

Mr. Raymond Kitevu, the Ag. Director of CEWARN on this part commended Kenya for taking the lead in the IGAD region in taking advantage of the support provided by CEWARN and establishing a country-specific conflict early warning system that would work to mitigate and prevent all types of violent conflict in the country. He said this provides further impetus to CEWARN’s aspiration of expanding to cover other types of conflicts in the near future.