African Peace Forum (APFO)

From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations

APFO
Jamhuri Crescent off Kabarnet Road
P.O. Box 76621 - 00508, Yaya Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254 20 3874092 / 3871099 / 3871141
Fax: +254 20 3872803

Email: apfo@amaniafrika.org
Website: http://www.amaniafrika.org

Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, Executive Director (current Chairman, African Peer Review Mechanism Eminent Persons Panel, NEPAD; Chancellor of Egerton University Nakuru, Kenya)
Ambassador Ochieng’ Adala, Senior Programme Officer (Small Arms and Light Weapons)

Description

Africa Peace Forum (APFO) was established in 1994 with a mandate to contribute towards the prevention, resolution and effective management of conflicts by engaging state and non-state actors in exploring collaborative approaches to bring lasting peace in the Greater Horn of Africa (which includes Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo).

APFO has wide experience in conflict analysis and peace building and maintains a strong working relationship with governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental bodies as well as research institutions both within Africa and abroad. APFO works in five main program areas:

• Conflict early warning and response: A prime objective of APFO is to support and promote the development of the organization’s capacity and its key partners for research and analysis on critical issues relating to early warning. The broad objective of the Early Warning and Early Response Unit is to systematically anticipate and influence response to various conflicts that affect the Horn and the Great Lakes region of Africa. The program seeks to identify and develop early warning and response indicators; produce policy recommendations on early warning; support existing early warning mechanism such as IGAD, CEWARN; promote resource sharing on cross border issues; monitor, track and analyze conflicts in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa regions; and disseminate such information to policy makers and other strategic actors who can influence response.
  
• Small arms and light weapons (SALW) control: The Small Arms Programme aims to support and promote the development of capacity for research and analysis in small arms and light weapons issues in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. This is done through encouraging and engaging state and non-state actors within the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa Region in exploring collaborative approaches to the pursuit of peace and security through the control and management of illicit small arms and light weapons. Activities undertaken under this program are implemented through a range of collective efforts including joint research and advocacy, training, co-hosting workshops and seminars, and joint information dissemination strategies. The program involves two projects, the Small Arms Advocacy Project 2006, and the Capacity building project on SALW control issues in Southern Sudan.
  
• Peace and security initiatives: APFO’s vision for sustainable peace and security in Africa means that peace initiatives and processes constitute a key element of its work and the organization therefore participates in and supports peace initiatives and processes in the Horn of Africa sub-region. Insecurity and conflict in the Greater Horn of Africa greatly constrain development, and in recognition of this, APFO continues to play an active role in upholding previous peace agreements in the region and participating in upcoming peace processes. This program seeks to: promote the objective of peace and security through participating in and/or supporting peace initiatives and processes; initiate and support partnerships for peace at national and regional levels; strengthen dialogue and consultations between civil society and state actors; promote the engendering of peace initiatives and processes and especially in the context of UN resolution 1325; and promote track two diplomacy.
  
• Research: This is an integral part of APFO’s work and cuts across most of the organization’s programs. Indeed, the support and promotion of the development of capacity for research and analysis in early warning, small arms, conflict management and peace building is a critical objective of the organization. In the pursuit of this objective, the organization has been involved in several research projects, including: Developing a Regional Security Architecture in the IGAD Region–Phase Two; Building the Capacity for Sustainable Peace: Track Two Diplomacy and the Sudan Conflict; CEWARN, in APFO’s capacity as Kenya’s National Research Institute for IGAD CEWARN; and Conflict in the East Africa Sub-region: A Strategic Analysis.
  
• Training: Recognizing that conflict can be viewed as a natural multidimensional phenomenon that is indicative of change within society, this program seeks to carry out this message both to APFO and its partners that understanding the interaction of different contexts and interventions is critical to achieving impact. Specific objectives under this program include: enhancing the understanding of CPMR among practitioner’s, policy makers and researchers; building research capacity on small arms issues; promoting advocacy skills for CPMR and CSA measures; developing and sharing resource pack and training manuals; promoting CSA program implementation; and raising awareness on the inter-linkages between conflict, politics and policy.

APFO conducts much of its work through collaborative approaches. Its team of experts consists of a diverse group of professionals, researchers and practitioners. The team is drawn from civil society organizations, academic and research institutions in the region, bringing together a unique combination of qualifications and experience. APFO bolsters staffing by harnessing an internship program sponsored by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Project Ploughshares.

Track Record

APFO has achieved significant impact with its programs. In the area of Small Arms and Light Weapons, APFO was pivotal in helping establish the Nairobi Secretariat on Small Arms, now renamed the Regional Centre for Small Arms (RECSA). APFO also played a key role in the events leading to the drafting of the Nairobi Declaration of 2000 and the Nairobi Protocol of 2004, both of which are important legislative documents in the control and management of SALW in this region. APFO continues to play an active role in UN meetings regarding the UN Programme of Action (PoA) on the control of SALW and participated in the UN Review Conference on the PoA, in June 2006. In collaboration with other actors, APFO is also very active in advocating for Arms Trade Treaty. APFO collaborates with the International Action Network on small Arms (IANSA), is a member of the East African Action Network on Small Arms (EAANSA) and is a steering committee member of the Kenya Action Network on small arms (KANSA).

With regard to early warning and early response, APFO was involved with the setting up of the IGAD Conflict and Early Warning Mechanism (CEWARN) in 2000 (see separate profile on IGAD). CEWARN aims to provide early warning information on potential conflict areas among the pastoralist communities in the IGAD sub-region through collaboration with National Research Institutes (NRI) set up in each member country. APFO is currently IGAD’s NRI for Kenya, responsible for coordinating the collection of early warning information and the analysis of that information; the alerts, situation briefs and updates that are generated are forwarded to the National Conflict Early Warning and Response Unit (CEWERU) and the IGAD-CEWARN Unit which are responsible for coordinating response at the national and regional levels.

APFO’s research on conflict, peace building and security issues in the Horn of Africa contributes to the formulation of policies and interventions that are based on sound evidence and an understanding of local dynamics. Some research findings are published by APFO while others are jointly published with partners. APFO also publishes AmaniAfrika, a biannual Journal which first appeared in December 2004.

APFO engages in training as one of its efforts to build the capacity of various actors in peace building. In the past, APFO has conducted trainings in Johannesburg on Conflict Sensitive Approaches to development for UNIFEM staff in Southern Africa (2005). APFO has also undertaken training for members of the provincial administration in Kenya when District Officers from all over the country were trained on CSA in 2005.

APFO has been a key player in mediating the region’s conflicts. It has consistently participated in the Sudan peace process by promoting dialogue among the various groups in Southern Sudan and in the process leading up to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005. Following the signing of the CPA, APFO continues to work with the government of Southern Sudan by supporting the post war reconstruction process through capacity building. APFO runs two projects in Southern Sudan namely: Building capacity for Sustainable Peace: Track two Diplomacy and the Sudan Conflict in collaboration with Project Ploughshares of Canada; and SALW control training in Southern Sudan in collaboration with the Bonn International Centre for Conversion of Germany.

On Somalia, APFO’s executive director Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat was the special eEnvoy and chairman of the Somali peace process that concluded its work in December 2004 with the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government. Ambassador Kiplagat is offering expert opinion to the negotiators involved in the ongoing peace process in Northern Uganda as well as working with religious leaders to resolve the political conflict in Zimbabwe.

In addition to these various programs and accomplishments, and as part of its policy advocacy work, APFO has also been instrumental in the development of Kenya’s National Peace-building Policy and the Kenya National Action Plan for the control and management of the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons.

Challenges

While APFO has made significant strides in the pursuit of its vision and in the accomplishment of its mission, the organization’s main challenge constitutes its lack of core funding. Currently, APFO’s funding is project specific, meaning its program staff is recruited on a contractual basis tied to projects. Some ongoing projects do not sufficiently cover the salaries APFO pays, which are in any event below the prevailing standard rates in this field of work. APFO’s annual budget is close to 83 million Kenya shillings (approximately US$1.2 million). Its main biggest donor is IDRC, followed by Project Ploughshares, IGAD and Norwegian Church Aid.

Opportunities

Private foundations have the opportunity to invest in the sustainability of a leading ARO in the conflict and peace-building field. Predictable core funding for 3-5 years would enable APFO to match staffing to its programs, and plan more effectively in the medium and longer term. Institutional support would also strengthen APFO’s ability to deliver its mission.