Sections:
Progress on peace in Africa
6 October 2008
Annual report of Africa Conflict Prevention Programme published
The
latest report from a UK Government programme aimed at bringing peace to Africa's
troublespots has shown that the continent is making real progress in stamping
out conflict.
However, the
Africa Conflict Prevention Programme's (ACCP)
annual report
(1.48mb)
also highlights the great amount of work that still needs to be done to build a
more peaceful Africa.
In 2007/8 the ACPP invested £60 million towards development, diplomacy
and defence initiatives in a cross-Whitehall approach. As well as responding to immediate crises such as last year's post-election violence in
Kenya, the ACPP has focused on longer term work such as helping to train African peacekeeping forces, supporting election preparation and monitoring in
at-risk countries, and mediating within communities.
Supporting peace
ACPP achievements from 2007/08 that are highlighted in the report include:
In Kenya - Supporting Kofi Annan to lead African mediation efforts to end the post-election violence that followed the disputed presidential elections of December 2007.
In Rwanda - Fighting against sexual violence by working with the armed forces to provide channels for reporting and acting on incidents.
In Zimbabwe - Ensuring that rural voters had access to independent information on electoral choices in the March 2008 Parliamentary and Presidential elections.
In South Africa - Supporting the South African National Defence Force to open a peace mission training centre, providing a facility for both civilian and military personnel on peace support missions.
In Sudan - Helping to transform the Sudan People’s Liberation Army from a guerrilla army into a professional, disciplined armed force operating under democratic civil control.
In Nigeria - Successfully mounting a visible ‘Red Band’ campaign against electoral violence around elections in April 2007.
In Sierra Leone - Helping to ensure a safe and peaceful electoral process in Sierra Leone in 2007 by supporting the armed forces, which remained apolitical throughout the elections.
In Central Africa - Enabling the demobilisation of almost 300,000 combatants in the past five years in seven countries through support to the World Bank-led Multi-country Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme (MDRP).
In addition, the ACPP has assisted the peace processes in Northern Uganda, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, leading to significant reductions in conflict in the region. During 2007/08, 1,000 African peacekeepers were trained by the Programme, bringing to 12,000 the total trained since 2004/05 with ACPP support.
The ACPP is a joint initiative from three UK Government Departments: DFID
(where it is managed by the Africa Conflict and Humanitarian Unit), the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office (managed by the Pan Africa Policy Unit), and the
Ministry of Defence (managed by Policy and Defence Relations South). DFID’s Pan Africa Policy Director holds the position of Senior
Responsible Officer for the Programme.
Find out more in this synopsis
of the ACPP’s operations(69kb).