“There is no universal model for conflict management and resolution”. With this strong statement, Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), Rachid El Houdaigui, kicked off 8th edition of African Peace and Security Annual Conference (APSACO) to highlight “Mediation in African Internal Conflicts” at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University’s (UM6P) campus in Rabat on Monday.
The conference is running for two days, gathering national and international high-level figures to highlight the concept of mediation in armed conflicts, particularly in the African context.
In this regard, Former Guinea Prime Minister Kabiné Komara shared his experience in the peacemaking process in his country, as he became the leader of Guinea in the democratic transition era.
He confessed that the experience was not easy, because the army refused to give up the power and the process involved foreigners to the country for mediation, mainly former colonizers of the continent.
Komara affirmed that African countries are “jealous” of their borders and sovereignty, as they believe that “African problems need African solutions.”
For his part, Former Burkina Faso’s President Lassina Zerbo said that no peace can be reached without the inclusion of local cultures, youth and women.
Zerbo stated that it is unfair to not include youth in the mediation process, because the eldest are creating conflicts and war, while the youth are the ones who are fighting during these wars.
He highlighted also the role of women in conflict-resolution process, saying that “women are born to mediate in their natural way to accept and tolerate”
The Former prime minister, who has also the helmet of a mediator, insisted on the fact that “mediators” should be familiar with the local culture to understand the needs of the population and their original background in solving issues.
He concluded: “we are not closing doors for outsiders to make peace, but we have to consider all layers of our societies, including youth and women.”
The third panelist, Project Director, International Crisis Group Jean-Herve Jezequel highlighted that pacification experiments in the Sahel generally fail to resolve the security crisis, because military objectives win out over mediation attempts.
He said that governance and development should be the main points in the conflict resolution process rather than security.
Ceasefire and Security arrangements Mediation Support Unit at the UN, Ajay Sethi, stressed that the biggest issue that the UN is facing is that they are rarely in touch with locals to have the opportunity to train them to be moderators in their local problems.
He added that “creating and sending a UN mission to a conflict zone in our times became an end itself, instead of being a means to solve the conflict, just to silence the international public opinion”.
He stressed that financial efforts are required, but the sustainability in the process is more needed.
Ajay added that the use of technology is very important, reaching out to many mediation dialogues through social media. It’s a force multiplier.
But Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mauritania, has another opinion in this regard, affirming that technology facilitated communication between terrorists and armed groups.
He stressed out that conflicts are really contagious as security issues could be leaked to the neighboring countries. The Sahel situation is the best illustration for this statement.
Ould Abdellah also underlined the importance of combating corruption, adding that it is not an African problem, but it is more present in Africa compared to other countries.
He also applauded Morocco’s approach in intervening in West African conflicts through establishing schools, sending Ulemas (religious scholars) to train locals and teach them a moderate Islam, and combating radicalization and extremism in the region.