WANEP: Don't Use Any Armed Or Violent Means To Resolve Ivorian Crisis

The West Africa Network for Peace-building (WANEP) has cautioned against any armed or violent means of resolving the political crisis in La Cote d’Ivoire. At a news conference in Accra, yesterday, Emmanuel Bombande, Executive Director of WANEP, said the option of using armed intervention in that country will have serious security implications and is bound to assume ethno-regional and religious dimensions with devastating consequences. WANEP, Mr. Bombande said, will, therefore, continue to support a sustained mediated and negotiated settlement approach to resolving the crisis. To that effect, he said, WANEP has called for the creation of an International Mediation Team, comprising the leadership of ECOWAS, mediator of the Ouagadougou Political Accord, Secretary-General of the Francophone, President of the African Union (AU) Commission, UN Secretary-General and the rest of the international community, to facilitate the mediation and negotiation approach to complement the sanctions regime. This position of WANEP notwithstanding, Mr. Bombande said WANEP fully endorses the decision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), AU and the United Nations in recognizing Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the 28th December presidential elections in La Cote d’voire, as announced by the Electoral Commission, and commends their stance to sanction the illegitimate Government of Laurent Gbagbo. On Nigeria, a release issued by WANEP notes with concern the risk facing the elections process, considering the spate of violence, especially the killings in Jos Plateau, the Boko Haram killings in the North-East zone, the renewed militancy in the Niger Delta and the hate speeches from politicians along ethno-religious lines. The release cautions that given her geo-strategic importance in promoting peace and human security in West Africa, Nigeria cannot afford any flawed elections due in April, this year. Likewise the release also called for peaceful, free, credible and transparent elections to be held in Liberia, later this year. WANEP is a leading Regional Peace-building Organization founded in 1998 in response to civil wars that plagued West Africa in the late 1980s. The organisation places special focus on collaborative approach, working alongside major actors, particularly governments, inter-governmental bodies and women in a bid to establish a platform for dialogue, experience sharing and learning, thereby complementing efforts at ensuring sustainable peace and development. WANEP is a member of the Peace And Security Cluster of the AU’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOC). WANEP is the Regional Initiator and the current Chair of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflicts (GPPAC), headquartered in the Netherlands. It is also the Implementing Partner of the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Mechanism.