FUNDING: DUTCH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Since November 2023, Promediation has been implementing a regional project aimed at supporting the member states of the Accra Initiative (AI) in their prevention and stabilization policies, particularly in cross-border areas, by promoting coordination at the local (outcome 1), national, and regional (outcome 2) levels. To avoid overwhelming the AI secretariat with requests/meetings that could undermine its effectiveness, Promediation works primarily in support of the organization’s member states (at the bilateral or multilateral level), while communicating regularly with the AI secretariat. This approach builds upon Promediation’s work with the Accra Initiative over the past five years.
At the local and cross-border level, the project aims to mitigate tensions in the cross-border areas of the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea and to foster the emergence of coordinated containment mechanisms through cross-border consultation processes between communities, as well as between them and local administrative/security authorities. Several cross-border forums were organized during January 2024, bringing together key individuals from several regions affected by rising insecurity (banditry, community conflicts, cattle theft) along the Sahel – Gulf of Guinea border strip.
This project also aims to connect peripheral cross-border areas with national capitals, through information sharing on the local situation, but also on identified local initiatives and ad-hoc mechanisms that could benefit from national support or be replicated in other regions. By involving, where possible, representatives from the Accra Initiative and ECOWAS, Promediation plans to organize meetings at the national level to facilitate the transfer of initiatives from the regional to the local level, and vice-versa. The project is designed to connect local representatives with national and regional government representatives, as well as with international partners, with the ultimate goal of influencing relevant structures for policy change and implementation. In turn, local authorities and actors will better understand regional strategy and actions, and multi-level coordination will be strengthened.