Conflict Management Programme (CMP)

Maintaining peace and security in Africa is a challenging endeavour which requires innovative approaches in responding to the changing nature of security threats. Conflict management requires that all actors, relations, tools and mechanisms are deployed towards avoiding, containing, and reducing conflicts.

Approaches to conflict resolution in the past have often been reactive rather than proactive. The emphasis has largely focused on responding to conflicts after they have erupted instead of trying to prevent them from escalating in the first place. The CMP programme targets local, regional and international initiatives aimed at preventing or resolving conflicts with the aid of appropriate tools or mechanisms.

The CMP contributes to empirical based research and training on conflict prevention, resolution and peacemaking strategies.

Its work is designed around two main thematic areas;

Conflict and Conflict Transformation Project

The Conflict and Conflict Transformation Project analyses conflict issues, actors and their roles in conflicts in West Africa. It also examines conflicts, mediation efforts and peace processes of international organisations such as the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) interventions in conflicts as well as those of national governments and non-state actors.

Fragility and Resilience Project

The Fragility and Resilience project identifies some of the key sources of fragility in West Africa and explores frameworks of intervention to address these. It focuses on border management, weapons proliferation and mass atrocities and terrorism, and how these influence state fragility in West Africa. It further examines how states in the sub-region have built their resilience to withstand shocks to their security.

CMP Projects

Team

  • John Pokoo
    – Head of Programme

  • Afua Lamptey

  • Shiela Naade Tetteh

  • Serwaa Allotey-Pappoe