Welcome Address by Dr. Chukwuemeka B. Eze, FICMC, Executive Director WANEP at the Opening Ceremony of WANEP’s 20th Anniversary, March 26, 2019
Your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana-Addo-Dankwa Akufo Addo, Excellency, former Prime Minister of Burkina Faso and former President of ECOWAS Commission, Desire Ouedraogo the Chainman of this occasion, Excellency the United Nations Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Excellency the President of ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude BROU, Excellences Former Presidents and Commissioners of ECOWAS and African Union Commissions, Excellences Special Envoys of African Union and ECOWAS, Chair and members of the WANEP Regional and National Boards, founding Directors of WANEP, former Board members, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished WANEP partners and friends, leaders of CSOs and peace agencies across the globe (special recognition of the President of ICMC, Executive Director of ACCORD, GPPAC, WASCI, Commandant of KAIPTC, Coordinator of the IPSS and the representative of the Baywood Foundation), former and current colleagues, our friends from the media, Ladies and Gentlemen
Twenty years is a milestone. It is an occasion to celebrate- and an
opportunity to reminisce on our unique experience as an institution and chart a
future that consolidates the vision of our founding directors. I am delighted to
welcome you this morning to our celebration of 20 years of peacebuilding
practice, learning and contribution to Africa peace and security agenda. I believe
this is one of the rare moments of our history we are privileged to host this
level of dignitaries comprising leaders of African States and government, leadership
from the United Nations, African Union and ECOWAS, key stakeholders in the
security sector, businesses, civil society and academia to mention but a
few. Some of you have travelled quite a
distance to grace this event – whether you battled through our challenging
interstate road networks or through our sometimes, impossible regional
connecting flights, we are happy you got here to share the WANEP story – a
story you have been part of in many ways! Let me specially express my sincere
appreciation to His Excellency Nana Akufo Addo, the President of the Republic
of Ghana, for being the first sitting President to attend a WANEP regional function.
We thank you, previous governments and the Ghanaian citizens for providing us
with the conducive environment to operative our administrative and program
headquarters that facilitates our peacebuilding approach and impact across West
Africa.
WANEP was
born as a direct response to the conflicts and civil wars that plagued the West
African region throughout the 80s and 90s. It was born out of a genuine desire
to establish a credible platform for addressing African problems from an
African perspective. More importantly, it was a conviction that Africans can
establish, nurture, grow and sustain an institution. Today, WANEP is no longer
just an institution but an attitude, a bold statement and the pride of
Africans. I pay special tribute to my predecessors, Dr. Sam Gbaydee Doe and
Hon. Emmanuel Habuka Bombande for sowing and nurturing the mustard seed that is
celebrated today as an oak tree of many branches and a forest of many parts.
The
birth and beginning of WANEP was not only fraught with difficulties but also bumps
and jabs! It took more than a year of consultations and negotiations to get us
started and even then, it was seen as an experiment and at best a project with an
end date. Our founding Directors and Board with the initial 20 members were
resolute and unyielding in their resolve for a new narrative for African peace
and security. A narrative that enables us take responsibility for our actions
and inactions in Togo, Ghana and Benin as well as allow us lead in the design
and implementation of peacebuilding strategies in Senegal, Gambia and Guinea
Bissau. A platform that gives us autonomy and space to reflect and learn from
our interventions in Mali, Cape Verde and Nigeria while giving us pride in the
successes we record in Gambia, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Juxtaposed to this is the celebration of our
partnerships and accompaniments in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote D’Ivoire. It gives us a sense of fulfilment that while we
appreciate our imperfections in responding to our challenges we take pride in
what we have learnt as an institution and how it continually motivates and
shapes our resolve to find indigenous solutions to conflicts in our region.
Over the years, WANEP has evolved to
meet changing and challenging dynamics of conflicts in Africa and position
itself to deliver on the expectations of our clients and communities. In addition to our growing influence and
footprint in West Africa peace and security arena, we have expanded our work at
the continental level as part of our contribution to address African challenges
through the Africa Peace and Security Architecture. In 2017 we seconded a staff
to the African Union Commission Peace and Security Department just as we have
maintained a Liaison at the ECOWAS Commission since 2004. In this regard, I pay
special tribute to His Excellency Ibn Chambas for taking the initial “risk” of
signing an MoU with WANEP in 2004 as ECOWAS Strategic Partner in Peace and
Security – the first of its kind in Africa! The experiences from AU and ECOWAS
has endeared us to the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
that has formally requested that WANEP provide them with support in
operationalizing its early warning system and to build its partnership with
CSOs in the region- a reflection of WANEP-ECOWAS partnership example in West
Africa. We have now advanced discussions
to second a staff at the ECCAS Commission to support its vision of bridging the
gap between CSOs, intergovernmental organizations and its member states. In the
years ahead, we are committed to cross fertilize ideas that cut across borders
and boundaries of Africa, expanding the horizon and sharing our knowledge with
other Regional Economic Communities and CSOs on the continent
We continue to leverage on our partnerships and the growing expertise of
our staff in developing innovative strategies that enable us to remain
relevant. A retrospection of where we started from and where we are today
clearly shows a phenomenal growth in the key areas of governance, advocacy,
program planning and implementation, financial management and accountability
and adherence to the organization’s strategic direction. Despite the challenges
associated with managing large networks including the harmonization of
operational instruments and institutional reforms, WANEP networks continue to
play critical roles in supporting ECOWAS, AU and its member states peace and
security agenda
At this juncture, Mr. Chairman, Excellences, ladies
and gentlemen, permit me to recognize our past and present partners especially
those who have funded our activities generously over the years. Some of them
took the initial risk of investing in an unknown organization operating in unpopular
thematic areas of early warning, active non-violence, women in peacebuilding
and other conflict prevention mechanisms while others have helped us sustain
the vision of our founders. Institutions like the Catholic Relief Services,
Bread for the World, Miseror, United States Agency for International
Development, Governments of Finland, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Germany/GIZ,
European Union, Oxfam, NOVIB, OSIWA, USIP, and other strategic partners like AU, ECOWAS, GPPAC, WACSI, CDD,
ACCORD, NPI, defunct FEWER, KAIPTC, IPSS of the University of Ibadan, Institute
for Chartered Mediators and Conciliators among many others have all
played and continued to play vital roles in the growth and sustenance of WANEP
and at this anniversary celebration, we pay special compliment and honour them
for their contributions.
I
have already acknowledged our founding directors and my mentors for laying the
foundation upon which thrive today. Let me respectfully appreciate our
professional Regional and National Board members especially the current Chair
AVM Christian Edem Dovlo and Chairman Emeritus Professor Isaac Albert, the
distinguished and highly committed members of WANEP who are with us today,
former board and staff members, my colleagues in the management team, our
national staff and all of you our friends. There is no way to adequately thank
you for what you have helped us to achieve especially in our early years.
Without your focused commitment to improve the peace and security landscape in
West Africa, without your dedication to build a solid organization that could
really make a difference, we simply would not be where we are today. I equally
pay special tribute to our colleagues who have passed on and hope that they
will be proud of how our collective dream is helping and changing lives.
In preparing for this 20th anniversary celebration I dug into
the archives of WANEP and unearthed a number of gems including the report of
our initial consultative meetings to establish WANEP. The good old pictures
that portrayed Sam and Emmanuel as boys and Esther as a school girl. I had joyous moments of how much we have stood
true to our vision, commitments and conviction. I reviewed some of the
evaluation reports and audited accounts, I reviewed staff list and performance
appraisals and more importantly our challenges and ordeals. The story of WANEP
is in many respects the story of the changing topography of peace and security.
Our work and scope have matured and modified with the transforming needs of
African citizens and government and looking into the future we see our
potpourri of ideas being increasingly fine-tuned to address priorities such as
violent extremism, governance and leadership deficit, integration agenda of
Africa, women and youth empowerment, poverty and underdevelopment, strengthening
our governance and institutional mechanisms as a network, environmental issues
and many more. All these falls under the human security lexicon, the SDGs,
Africa Vision 2063 and ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework and I am very
pleased that our current and future strategic plans are poised to address and contribute
to the success and impact of these initiatives.
Today
we are also privileged to have the President of the Republic of Ghana to inaugurate
the first ever West Africa Peacebuilding Fellows and I am truly honoured to
have them here at this auspicious event. The Body of Fellows is for exceptional West African
citizens who work in and beyond their countries of origin and whose
contribution has direct bearing on peace and security in West Africa.
The Fellowship seeks to harness and leverage the skills of peacebuilding
practitioners in support of WANEP, ECOWAS Member States and the Commission as
well as other development agencies and practitioner’s intervention for conflict
transformation in Africa. It further seeks to support research, teaching,
publication, and practical field experience on issues of peace, causes of
conflict, and Africa’s development; thereby inspiring people to build
relationships for a culture of tolerance and peace while enhancing their
capacity, knowledge, and skill through interactions and exchanges. With the
fluidity and nature of threats in the region, requiring rapid and innovative
strategies to prevent or mitigate their impact, it has become imperative to
have a platform of peacebuilding actors across the region with proven expertise
and hands-on experience to provide guidance and direction in the design and
implementation of peacebuilding programs. To celebrate the birth of this
Fellowship a public lecture has been scheduled immediately after this opening
ceremony. This maiden lecture will focus on the future and features of peace
and security in Africa and will inform the design of WANEP’s next strategic
plan
Today we will also present a documentary of our work and impact on the
continent and two important books showcasing our contributions to elections and
democratic process in West Africa and lessons from our partnership with
intergovernmental organisations. Our exhibition will portray our collective
work in the last 20 years from the regional and national level. With your
support WANEP has grown tremendously over the past 20 years both in terms of
the depth of its remit and the impact of its interventions. WANEP is a
partnership and a family, it is also 15 countries, several donors, professional
Board, 554 members and over 10 million direct and indirect beneficiaries, civil
society, indigenous people, and business. Operating as a network allows WANEP
to draw on the expertise and capacities of each, giving us a very broad set of
competencies, as well as the ability to support ECOWAS and AU and make
influence that transcends our internal capacity. So, believe me excellences,
ladies and gentlemen when I say I am very proud to have the rare opportunity of
leading this team to celebrate 20 years of impact, 20 years of accomplishment
and 20 years of solid foundation that bonds us for future challenges.
Your
Excellency Mr. President, permit me to confess that though I have been nurtured
by two very shy professionals, I have relied more on the biblical injunction of
ask and you shall receive Which is why I humbly bring up the following passionate
appeal to you. In 2015 we submitted a request to the Ministry of Foreign
affairs to grant WANEP diplomatic status. The request was supported by ECOWAS
in the form of a recommendation to the government and backed by an MoU with AU. Our ability to
meet the demands of ECOWAS, AU and member states and the cost of our doing
business is hindered by our inability to access this status and we use this
opportunity to collectively ask your excellency to kindly facilitate this
process within his powers to enable us serve Africa better.
Naturally,
we are deeply encouraged by the enthusiasm we see out there for the future of
WANEP. Your attendance here today is just one of many recent examples of that
enthusiasm, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to help harness and
leverage it. We have truly embraced our role as a catalyst and partner for
change. In fact, we have made that catalytic work a central pillar in our plan
as we look forward to another decade of peacebuilding practice in Africa. Of
course, our plan for reaching the big goal will largely depend on you our
partners and friends and as we share this moment with you, we invite you to
continue to be part of our story – this is why we invited you here today. We
want the benefit of your good thinking, and the energy generated by your
enthusiasm, to help us chart the road ahead and to continue to be relevant to
you. Thank you for your friendship and for believing in us. Akwaba!
