Project Summary and Background
Since its inception in 2005 the Alliance of African Initiatives for peace and stability in West Africa has met with populations in several towns in West Africa to discuss issues of peace security and stability.
Our approach is to research and give value to the indigenous mechanisms of Africa that have always been used in the prevention and management of conflict. The research hubs were put in place to explore the acquired knowledge and cultural practice through oral literature, more specifically accounts and knowledge and know how of African negotiators and mediators. From Kankan to Guinea- Bissau, while passing through Bamako and Ouagadougou, the Alliance has been able to develop stakeholders and community based organisations.
This project is designed to facilitate the building of an Alliance of West African civil society organizations engaged in peace building beyond national and cultural borders. The peace constituency's specific aim is to explore, compare, use and make known conflict management approaches that are adapted to the cultural values and social realities prevailing in African societies.
Practitioners and intellectuals representing NGOs, research institutions as well as other organisations, initiatives and individual personalities dedicated to the promotion of peace and citizenship in Africa and the world have joined the Alliance since our first workshop in 2005, in order to share and publish their knowledge and experiences.
Our work
Research
A wide thematic of research is undertaken for the project based on concerns and knowledge of organisations that form the Alliance. One of the larger research projects is based in Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone. In cooperation with the National Archives in Senegal and Mali, this project focuses on the life history and visions of Aliin Sitoye Jaata, a leading West African figure engaged in cross-cultural peace-building during the first half of the 20th century.
Our study aimed to understand and render visible the role and action of such women of excellence in the history of peace-building efforts within conflict zones, thereby paving the way for alternative philosophies, narratives and histories to those divisive ones mobilized in the initial stages of violent conflicts deemed 'ethnic', 'religious' and 'nationalistic'.
Research findings were disseminated to concerned civil society actors, other peace NGO's and other interested actors, such as researchers, and women's organizations. The research is further intended to be at the disposition of elementary and high school history teachers as an education tool in peace building for youth.
Regional Meetings
We organise regular regional meetings with representation from all the countries of West Africa. The meetings equally allow shared knowledge and experience sharing between different actors. The themes of the meetings are inspired by the work of the different organisations of the Alliance, including those of youth and women, as well as researchers from university working in the field of the promotion of peace.
Thematic workshops
The information disseminated and shared through the alliance as well as the workshops serve as a capacity building support for the organisations working on the ground. Themes of the workshops, like the research are identified collaboratively according to information and capacity gaps of the organisations of the Alliance. The value of traditional knowledge is always integrated in the topics of concern. Themes for capacity building and research have included:
- citizenship in West Africa
- alternative solutions to conflict management
- the role of women in the management and prevention of conflicts in West Africa