By SulaymanWaan
The National Network Coordinator of West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) has said the Gambia government has no central institution to coordinate peace building initiatives.
Madam Salama Njie was speaking on Tuesday at the opening of a Nationwide Consultations on Developing A Gambian-Context Specific Infrastructure for Peace, held at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA).
She said: “This has resulted ad-hoc, non-holistic and reactive approaches to collaborative dialogue, peace-building and conflict prevention in the country. The challenges and gaps are being exacerbated by the fact that incidences of conflict are on the rise.”
Madam Njie said there is a need for government to institutionalize a structure with legal mandate to formally coordinate peace-building initiatives as well ensures collaborative and proactive conflict management approaches in the country.
On Infrastructure for Peace
“Consultations and analysis have highlighted the non-coordinated and adhoc nature of conflict prevention and peace building work in the country, and there is a need to enhance coordination through infrastructure for peace.”
“As a result, a joint Government- Civil Society Organizations study tour was undertaken to learn from Ghana’s National Peace Council experienced, this report with recommendations has been shared to stakeholders,” she said.
This report, she said recommended the Gambia Government to initiate infrastructure for peace. “There is a need for further multi-stakeholders’ consultation and dialogue to develop a robust consensus on the nature and structure of such architecture.”
On the 23rd of July, 2020 the Ministry of Interior of The Gambia hosted a virtual roundtable discussion of national and international partners on establishing a national infrastructure for peace in the Gambia under UNDP project.
On this regard, Madam Njie said an independent peace commission or peace council will go a long way in shaping peace in the West African tiny nation.
On September, 2013 the ECOWAS member states, in a meeting co-organized by ECOWAS, AU and UN in Accra, Ghana declared an establishment of National Infrastructure for Peace in the sub-region.
The head of states and governments of ECOWAS again echoed that the declaration through the adoption of the communiqué of the 45-ordinary session, In Accra in July 2014 (Article 51) for the establishment of National Early Warning and Response Mechanism.
However, she said establishment of Infrastructure for Peace in the Gambia could be a useful mechanism and structure to deal adequately with ongoing and potentially violent conflict.
She added that this project “would require developing and adopting a cooperative problem-solving approach to conflict based on dialogue and inclusion of stakeholders at local district and national level.”