Please refer to the tender document on supply of Audio Visual Communication Equipment of IGAD’s Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN).

Tenders must be sent or hand delivered to the contracting authority before the deadline specified. They must include all the documents specified in point 11 of these Instructions and be sent to the following address :

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Peace and Security Division,

4th floor Tensae Building, Cape Verde Street, Bole road, off Africa Avenue,

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Tenders must comply with all the guidance provided in the document including the following conditions:

All tenders must be submitted in; one original, marked ‘original’, and two copies with double side printing, degradable material for folders, presentation, etc) copies signed in the same way as the original and marked ‘copy’.

All tenders must be submitted to Before the deadline 10 July 2020.

CEWARN held a virtual meeting of its technical Committee on early warning that comprises heads of CEWARN national Early Warning Units and representatives of civil society organizations from IGAD Member States, namely, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda on 2 June 2020.

The main agenda of the technical Committee meeting was to appraise new funding and operational modalities of the CEWARN Rapid Response Fund (RRF) that was established in 2009 to support Member State Response actions to prevent and mitigate violent conflicts.

The RRF was established to support Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (CPMR) efforts in Member states as well as to support response capacity of government and non-government structures at national and sub-national levels.

The RRF has gone through an evolution in line with the expansion of CEWARN’s conflict early warning thematic focus and it is currently reconstituted to support response initiatives beyond cross-border areas.

Support through the RRF is done on project-basis with ordinary disbursements ranging between 10,000 USD and 50,000 USD – with designations as urgent and regular projects respectively. Currently, the RRF manages three million Euros that is ready for use by member states for a period of two years. The funds were obtained through contributions from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the governments of Netherlands and Sweden as well as the European Union through the IGAD Promoting Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa Region (IPPSHAR) program.

An inaugural meeting of the new Rapid Response Fund Steering Committee, which convenes bi-annually to oversee the fund’s operations and appraise project proposals for funding, followed the technical meeting. The steering committee comprises CEWARN Director and Director of IGAD Peace and Security Division as well as heads of CEWARN national Units and civil society representatives from member states.

The inaugural meeting of the Steering committee discussed the new funding mechanism under IPPSHAR as well as on how to conduct national sensitization programs as well as identify priority activities that can be implemented in light of current constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of 26 April 2020, the number of active cases of COVID-19 in the IGAD region stood at 1,564. While 2,269 cases have been reported since the start of the pandemic, 646 persons have so far recovered and 59 persons died.

CEWARN continues to monitor the situation and has so far made the following observations on its anticipated impacts:

•   Some of the challenges related to containment measures in the IGAD region include the typically high-density of urban and semi-urban areas and the communal lifestyle of the population. Enforcing containment measures in slums, informal settlements, cross-border areas as well as in Refugees’ and IDP settlements proves particularly difficult;

•   The well-known limitations of health systems and the limited health workforce to population size ratio as well as meager critical care capacities in the region would make it difficult to manage in case of a spike in local transmission of the pandemic;

•   There is growing concern about the anticipated impacts of the pandemic in both socio-economic and political terms. While the economic impacts of the pandemic have not been monetized, they are expected to be far-reaching with a large section of the population that relies on the informal sector already hard-hit;

•   The pandemic comes at a time when the region is still recovering from a series of natural disasters including floods and droughts as well as the worst desert locust invasion in 25 years. The region is currently bracing for a second invasion. The cumulative effect of these challenges is likely to have devastating consequences for food security and livelihoods across the region;

•   In terms of peace and security, the pandemic is expected to derail the pace of important transitions that are ongoing in Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. Somalia was slated to have its highly anticipated first ever one-person-one-vote elections in early 2021. The election is considered to be a historic milestone, which would set the country along a path back to security, stability and prosperity following decades of civil war and political crisis;

•   South Sudan has also recently established Revitalized Government of Transitional National Unity (R-TGoNU) and the pandemic has already caused delays in the completion of some important pre-transitional tasks such as the reconstitution of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA). This was expressed as a serious concern by the IGAD Council of Ministers when it convened on 23 April 2020;

•   Sudan’s momentous political transition and ongoing efforts towards economic recovery are also likely to be disrupted due to the burden posed by managing the COVID-19 pandemic;

•   Furthermore, the pandemic is expected to impact preparations for upcoming elections in Djibouti (2021), Ethiopia (August 2020), Uganda (March 2021) and Kenya (2022). Election preparations including the nomination of candidates, the review and update of voter registers and related tasks will all risk delay due to lockdown measures in all these countries. This is taking place in a context where some election dates are constitutionally mandated and fixed, and in some instances, for example in Ethiopia, the last possible constitutional extension has been reached. These extensions and the ripple effects could cause discontent among the general population; and

•   Lastly, job losses and severe economic strain on the majority of the population could push many to desperation and result in a rise in crime.

CEWARN held a Communications strategy development workshop on 20-21 February 2020 in Naivasha, Kenya. The workshop drew together Heads, technical officers and communications focal persons of national Conflict Early Warning and Response Units (CEWERUs) as well as representatives of CEWARN local networks, IGAD Units and partner organisations.

The workshop focused on refining a mapping report of CEWARN’s internal and external audiences; their communications needs and suitable channels of engagement.

Namu Communications – the firm engaged to support the strategy development – also led a session on basic storytelling skills.

The workshop will inform the drafting of a comprehensive communications strategy that will guide CEWARN’s engagement with its internal and external stakeholders as well as guide the dissemination of its early warning products. In addition, the strategy document will guide crisis communications as well as CEWARN’s more effective engagement with the general public, the media and development partners.

The CEWARN communication strategy development is supported by the European Union through the IGAD Promoting Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa Region (IPPSHAR) Programme.

The CEWARN Unit and national Conflict Early Warning and Response Units (CEWERUs) convene for a joint planning and implementation review workshop on 17 – 19 February in Naivasha, Kenya . The workshop brings together coordinators and technical persons of CEWARN’s national CEWERUs and team from the regional office.

The workshop is intended to harmonize work plans across the CEWARN Mechanism, efficiently allocate available resources and enhance monitoring, evaluation and reporting. It is also aimed at achieving more effective coordination between the CEWARN Unit and national CEWERUs.

During the workshop national CEWERUs will be presented with current modalities of accessing the Rapid Response Fund (RRF).

The CEWARN Unit team held an end-of-year retreat to reflect on the mechanism’s achievements and challenges in 2019. The retreat was held on 16-18 December 2019 in Entebbe, Uganda.

The CEWARN team reviewed the mechanism’s achievements and challenges faced in 2019 and reflected on lessons learnt. The team also developed key milestones for 2020 towards providing adequate support to member states in prevention and mitigating violent conflicts through data-based early warning.

Some of CEWARN’s achievements in 2019 include:

•  In 2019, CEWARN boosted its early warning operations by establishing a regional GIS platform for use by its national Conflict Early Warning and Response Units (CEWERUs). CEWARN conducted training for two Member States and will complete training for remaining Member States in 2020;

• CEWARN held trainings for members of its early warning information collection networks in Djibouti, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda on its standard data collection templates and indicators. CEWARN also refined its key early warning templates in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Political and Peace building Affairs (UN DPPA);

• CEWARN conducted a Scenario building exercise on regional peace and security by engaging national sector experts in October. The exercise identified three priority issues-to-watch on each of the five sectors of focus, namely: Governance, Security, Economy, Social and Environment;

• CEWARN held two meetings of its Technical Committee on Early Warning (TCEW) and Committee of Permanent Secretaries (CPS) in July in Addis Ababa and in November in Juba that appraised its work and provided guidance on subsequent priorities;

• CEWARN and partners launched livestock markets in Magado Kebele of Ethiopia and in Sololo district of Kenya along the Ethio-Kenya border in August. The markets are expected to boost cross border livestock trade, provide economic stimulus to communities whose livelihoods are debilitated by violent conflicts as well as strengthen inter-communal ties. The markets were constructed with support from USAID-East Africa;

• CEWARN convened its 3rd Training programme on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution for 45 local peace workers that will stand ready to support regional peace initiatives. The training was held in December and its modules covered themes such as: Conflict Analysis, Frameworks to break cycles of violence, trauma healing and ‘Researching-own-Practice’;

• CEWARN and International Alert held training on Conflict and Gender Sensitivity in Peace Work for CEWARN’s national units in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. The training was held in October and its content included: use of conflict and gender analysis as well as social inclusion models in peace programming; and

• CEWARN held a seminar on Integrating Conflict Sensitivity in tax governance processes in the IGAD region in June. The  seminar engaged ministries of finance, revenue authorities as well as representatives of special interest groups like trade unions and academic institutions from member states. 

The above-mentioned activities were conducted with financial support from the European Union through the programme – IGAD Promoting Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa Region (IPPSHAR). 

On 25 – 26 November 2019, the CEWARN Unit and the Somali national Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) hosted a revitalization meeting in Mogadishu.

The CEWARN protocol stipulates that a functional national CEWERU should have an active CEWERU Committee that comprises representatives of key government institutions including security agencies and parliamentarians as well as civil society groups that include academic/research and religious institutions.

Accordingly, the two-day meeting was aimed at revitalizing the national CEWERU by expanding its membership and inducting the new members on the CEWARN mechanism’s operations as well as its data collection analysis framework and tools.

In attendance were: representatives of line ministries, civil society organizations, National Research Institutes, religious leaders, women and youth groups, and members of parliament that are all members of the CEWERU National Committee.

On the same occasion, CEWARN Unit team lead by the CEWERU Liaison Officer, provided orientation on the progress of development of the CEWARN response framework. The European Union provided financial support for this activity under the IGAD Promoting Peace and Security in the Horn of Africa Region Programme (IPPSHAR).

CEWARN convened the 15th meeting of Committee of Permanent Secretaries (CPS) that brings together permanent secretaries of Ministries of Foreign affairs and Heads of national Conflict Early Warning and Response Units (CEWERUs) from IGAD Member states on 20 November 2019.

The meeting that was held at the Palm Africa Hotel in Juba, South Sudan was also attended by IGAD Focal Persons from Ministries of Foreign Affairs of IGAD member states. The CPS is CEWARN’s highest policy organ that convenes bi-annually to consider the progress of CEWARN’s operations and provide policy guidance. The CPS meeting was preceded by a two-day technical Meeting of Heads of CEWARN’s national Units (CEWERUs) as well as representatives of Civil society organizations from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

The technical meeting received reports from national CEWERUs and the CEWARN Unit on the status of implementation of CEWARN Strategy Framework from 19 July – 18 November 2019. The technical meeting came up with a set of recommendations to guide the mechanism’s subsequent regional conflict prevention and peace building work.

During the CPS meeting, the outcomes of a regional scenario exercise on peace and security that was conducted in October 2019 in Entebbe were presented. The scenario building exercise outcomes are the result of an intense exercise conducted with experts from IGAD Member States along CEWARN’s Sectors of conflict early warning focus, namely: Governance, security, economy social and environment.

The scenario building exercise began with identification of key issues emerging along the five key sectors in each member states and subsequently identified common trends that pointed to emerging issues-to-watch as threats to human security in the IGAD region.

Under Economy Sector, CEWARN regional scenario building exercise identified Youth Unemployment; rising national debt; as well as weak institutions and skewed terms of trade as issues-to-watch affecting human security with potentially destabilizing impacts.

Under Social Sector, , CEWARN regional scenario building exercise identified Migration particularly rising number of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs); polarized ethnicity; as well as Human trafficking as issues-to-watch affecting human security with potentially destabilizing impacts.

Under Environment Sector, , CEWARN regional scenario building exercise identified poorly governed extractive industries and natural disasters (including floods, soil erosion and drought) as issues-to-watch affecting human security with potentially destabilizing impacts.

Under Governance Sector, CEWARN regional scenario building exercise identified electoral processes; tension among central and provincial government structures as well as as boundary disputes as issues-to-watch affecting human security with potentially destabilizing impacts.

Under Security Sector, CEWARN regional scenario building exercise identified proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALWs); inter-state disputes and violent extremism/terrorism as issues-to-watch affecting human security with potentially destabilizing impacts.

Refer to Decision of the 15th CPS Meeting for further information.

The CEWARN Unit in collaboration with the HEKIMA Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations (HIPSIR) is running a certificate course in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution that combines theory, research and practice.

Third time running, the programme that was launched on 13rd November with an intake of 45 students is an intense 12-week course that is organised in three different parts. The first part of the course consists of a 4-6 weeks online interaction between the students and the Lead Facilitator followed by an in-resident 12-day intensive workshop at the HIPSIR campus in Nairobi and a post-training research and writing that students undertake with online consultation with the Lead Facilitator.

The main modules covered include: Conflict Analysis: Understanding Contemporary Conflict and Violence; Strategies and Frameworks of Breaking Cycles of Violence; Community Based Trauma Healing; Fundamentals in Designing and Facilitating Training; and Researching our own Practice.

The course is designed for CEWARN Field Monitors and individuals working in the area of conflict prevention and resolution with the aim of transforming them into CEWARN Facilitator Trainers equipped and readily deployable by IGAD and Member States on demand basis to support peace negotiations; communal conflict mapping; participatory development of peace dividend projects; and participatory evaluation and learning around on-the-ground projects.

The programme targets practitioners who:

a) work or live in situations of conflict and, therefore, need time to assess and reflect on their situations and peace practices through a rigorous academic experience; b) need an opportunity to explore and update their knowledge, skill, attitudes and strategies in Conflict Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) and peace building; and c) develop new tools and new strategies of breaking cycles of violence through community based training and trauma-informed peacebuilding.

The training encourages critical reflection, peer-to-peer exchange and strengthening of practical skills in community based conflict resolution work, facilitation of community based trauma healing work and conducting community based training in conflict resolution.

To qualify for the award of the Certificate in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, a student must complete all the course requirements including: completing the pre-survey form; drafting a case study from their context; attending all class sessions and field visits; active participation in class; completing all assignments and submitting the final version of the Reflection Paper.

CEWARN Unit is conducting a training programme on Geographic Information System (GIS) for Kenya National Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) on 12-16 November 2019, at Hilton Hotel in Nairobi.

The training targeted Kenya National Situations Room technical staff, National Statistics department and field based local government staff to better equip them in analysis and dissemination by using an online system.

The main objective was to provide participants with necessary skills that will enable them to fully utilize the functionalities of a software platform that has been made available to them to support its data gathering and analysis.

The GIS software tool has been acquired by the CEWARN Unit with a 2-year subscription from the Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI) to provide ArcGIS online services that will host its shared conflict data and online map resources on conflicts in the region with Member States.

The training programme will be conducted in all Member States and will allow them to be able to upload and download GIS data on conflicts and for the CEWARN Unit to have access to the information through a shared group account.