The GPPAC process in West Africa is coordinated by Regional Secretariat the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP). For more information on GPPAC in the region, contact:

Mr. Francis Acquah

c/o WANEP

P.O. Box CT 4434
Cantonment-Accra
Ghana

Tel. (233) (0) 21 221318, 221388, 256439, 258299
Fax (233) (0) 21 221735

e-mail: facquah@wanep.org

You can also visit WANEP's GPPAC website at http://www.wanep.org/gppac/ to read about the GPPAC process in West Africa in detail.

• January 2008: Representatives of the GPPAC Regional Secretariat for West Africa, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), met with the Special Advisor to the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, Mr. Naoki Ishikawa. Discussions focused on the role of civil society in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and the UN Peacebuilding Commission, which is currently presided over by Japan. Please click here to read more about the meeting.

Since 2002, WANEP has been working in collaboration with both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Civil Society Organizations to increase the capacity and effectiveness of both formal and non-formal conflict prevention mechanisms in the West Africa region. The initiative embarked upon by the European Centre for Conflict Prevention (ECCP) to develop a common platform for effective action in conflict prevention at all levels found resonance with WANEP’s experience and practice of peacebuilding in the West African region.

A three-year initiative of GPPAC involved extensive research, dialogue, and networking at the local, regional, and international levels as a response to an invitation by the UN Secretary General to NGOs in conflict prevention to organise an international conference on their role in conflict prevention and their future interaction with the United Nations. WANEP’s involvement in this process as regional initiator for West Africa added another dimension to its capacity as a Network Organization, providing a platform for the promotion and consolidation of civil society mobilization around issues of peace, conflict prevention and human security. The first phase of the GPPAC process culminated in a global conference at the United Nations in July 2005. 

 As a concrete follow-up to the global conference, WANEP organized national consultations with two main objectives: One, to contextualize the West Africa, Africa and Global Action agendas to national needs; and two, to strengthen Civil Society collaboration in conflict prevention through the WANEP National Networks in Mali and Niger where there are no functioning WANEP National Networks. The national consultations will assist in developing and forming these national networks with support from the WANEP Regional Secretariat. The consultations that have so far been organised in the 9 countries (Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Ghana, Mali, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia) provided WANEP and a Regional Steering Group (RSG) that was set up during the West Africa Conference of CSOs, the opportunity to create awareness on the Global Action Agenda as an advocacy and lobbying tool among civil society actors. CSOs examined the relevance of Regional and Global Action Agenda to their local context and strategized on how to work collectively to enhance the participation of civil society in conflict prevention and human security. The objectives of the consultations included the following: 

• Expand the collective role of CSOs in conflict prevention and human security
• Create awareness on the Global Action Agenda and the opportunities for conflict prevention and human security 
• Examine the relevance of Global Action Agenda at the national levels  
• Develop strategies on how to engage policy makers on thematic issues of the Global Action Agenda   
• Launch a National Peace and Human Security Forum