24 May 2004: On the occasion of the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the Human Security Network, chaired by the Republic of Mali, the Advisory Board on Human Security (ABHS) in cooperation with the Government of Mali co-organized a colloquium in Bamako entitled "Conflict and Development - The Human Security Approach." The event gathered over 30 participants from West Africa.
The Malian Foreign Minister, Mr. Moctar Ouane set the tone for the meeting by highlighting the inter-linkages between conflict and development and recognizing that "conflicts and poverty are main causes of human insecurity in Africa." For this he stressed the importance of finding practical solutions to attaining "freedom from fear" and "freedom from want." Professor Adebayo Adedeji, Executive Director of the African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (ACDESS) and a member of the ABHS, followed Minister Ouane's opening statement and provided an overview of the approach of the Commission on Human Security (CHS) and its primary focus on addressing the challenges that conflict and poverty pose on the attainment of human security.
Participants discussed the following topics:
In view of the West African experience, it was recognized that poverty does not necessarily breed conflict and that tensions mostly derive from unfair and unequal distribution of limited resources. Participants however concurred that conflicts take a tremendous toll on affected populations in economic and social terms, especially among women and children. Among possible avenues to address the root causes of conflicts and to promote a virtuous cycle of peace and development, participants identified the following interventions:
- Give priority to education for all, especially young girls and women, with emphasis on the promotion of peace, human rights and respect for diversity.
- Support traditional mechanisms for resolving tensions and conflicts.
- Promote democratization, the rule of law and the fight against impunity.
- Empower civil society and give women the role they deserve in social and economic fields.
- Integrate the various elements of interventions to prevent and mitigate conflicts and to deal more effectively with post-conflict situations.
- Strengthen regional integration, free movement of people and goods and promote joint border management.
The general conclusions of the colloquium have been submitted to the Ministerial Meeting of the Human Security Network that took place in Bamako in the following days. The Network expressed its appreciation and interest for this contribution to the human security debate. For details of this workshop in French, please click here to view Compte-rendu du Colloque (in PDF).
* For documents in PDF format Adobe Acrobat Reader is required. You can download the reader free from the Adobe site.
BACK