Conference
The European Federation of Liberian Associations (EFLA)
CONFERENCE PROPOSAL
No other continent have experience this stark statistics of armed
conflicts, indiscriminate killings, force migration and all forms of
violence but for Africa. No less than 28 Sub Saharan African States
have been at war in the last two decades. There may be as many as
18-20 million internally displaced people in Africa along, majority
of whom are vulnerable women and children thriving for survival in
harmful environments[2].
Of all the political strife and arm conflicts that the African
continent have experienced, the West African Sub-Region has be most
affected directly with Liberia, La Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone
being the centre of media coverage.
The fourteen years of Liberia’s civil war has been branded as one of the bloodiest humanity has seen as it connects infamous war-crimes in Sierra Leone, La Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea. According to the Global Security Organization, an estimate of over 200,000 Liberian lives have been claimed, leaving millions displaced in neighboring countries between 1989-1996[3]. In contemporary times, there has been increasing emphasis and advocacy around various international policies and laws by the United Nations. Precisely, the Humanitarian Law, Refugee Laws and the Declaration of Human Rights have not oblige obliged member states to act accordingly as it related to populations of humanitarian concerns but also has create a rather complicated network and presence of non-governmental/humanitarian organizations to mushroom in Africa.
[1] Ioacopino V, Waldman RJ. War and Health: From Solferino to Kosovo—The Evolving Roles of Physicians Journal of American Medical Association 1999: 281(5):479-481
[2] International Development Research, (ID21). Poverty vs. Conflict: Understanding Africa’s wars. 2001 [cited 2007 February 9]: Available from http://www.id21.org/society/s10brl1g2.html
[3]
Global Security Organization. Liberia – First Civil War –
1989-1996. 2005 [cited 2007 February 9]: Available from
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/
war/liberia-1989.htm
[4]
Garrett, L. The Challenges of Global Health.
[cited 2007,
February 9]: Available from
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070101faessay86103-p
80/laurie-garrett/the-challenge-of-global-health.html
unless these efforts start tackling public health in general
instead of narrow, disease-specific problems -- and unless
the brain drain from the developing world can be stopped --
poor countries could be pushed even further into trouble, in
yet another tale of well-intended foreign meddling gone
awry.”
As each day unfolds, there is an increasing need to
examine/re-examine, assess/re-assess, evaluate/re-evaluate
and monitor not only the approaches, methodologies and
implementation of international humanitarian activities in
Africa, but also to critically scrutinize their long-term
out-comes and strategic plans as it relates to ethics,
security, respect and dignity of local communities.
The International Community through the United
Nations has used Sanctions on belligerent parties an
important tool in promoting and maintaining international
peace and security, and potentially protecting civilians. No
doubt that aid organizations are integral part of
populations of humanitarian concerns. As such, they are
often exposed to dangerous working conditions whereby some
are threatened or lose their lives; which is why certain
preventative measures need to be implored in delivering
service to populations of humanitarian concern.
The transition from humanitarian-need to
stability and development-led response is critical in West
Africa as peace is consolidated. As demands for humanitarian
programmes in the sub-Region increases we have to be wary of
that poorly managed
transitions can jeopardize
peace dividend as well as protract dependency and weaken
state institutions. Despite the
good intentions of humanitarian programmes, it is
note-worthy that these assistances are not everlasting. It
has been observed the phenomenon of “donor fatigue” is
becoming more rampant as aid organizations exhaust the
resources over a long period of time without much long-term
sustainability and capacity building of local communities.
international community,
researchers, local governments and other related
institutions to contribute to exploring lasting solution
around long-term development and reintegration process in
the sub-region.
THEME: War-Torn West Africa Emerging from
Humanitarian Assistance to Political and Economical
Reconstruction.
AIM:
To provide practical recommendations to the international community
on effective reconstruction processes for West African countries
emerging from civil conflict.
OBJECTIVES:
1.
To critically examine the
inclusion/exclusion of Africans in nation building and
reconstruction of war-affected
2.
To assess and evaluate the
presence of humanitarian assistance.
3.
To provide an opportunity
for Africans
4.
To create long-term
partnerships, networking and collaboration between Africans
5.
To stimulate an atmosphere
of innovation, learning and critical thinking about reconstruction,
political and economic growth in
6.
To engage African youth in
nation building and political and economic reconstruction.
7.
To create a legacy of Africans in the Diaspora.
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
The international and local NGO’s
communities have struggled to create coordination mechanisms and
support services to improve the humanitarian response in war-torn
nations.
The Who Does What Where
is one product that is universally agreed to be the most important
priority for any co-ordination activity. Knowing which
organizations (WHO) are carrying out which activities (WHAT) in
which locations (WHERE) is essential for organizations and
activities to be coordinated in a way that ensures that humanitarian
needs are met not only in the temporarily but for long-term
purposes. Although this sounds relatively simple, it has been
in fact difficult to implement.
Hence, the European Federation of Liberian Associations being cognizant of these problems have decided to host this conference to dialogue and provide recommendations as to what criteria should be set for West-African countries as they transform from humanitarian assistance to political and economic reconstruction. It is hope that at the end of the conference, more West-Africa Diaspora will play a pivotal role is contributing rebuilding of war-torn West Africa.
METHODOLOGY
In mobilizing the African Diaspora to be a part of
this International Conference, a conference committee has been
set-up to draw up plans and activities for this one day conference.
Various sub-committees have been set-up to deal with scheduling,
fundraising/sponsorship, promotion/advertising, speaker/guest
invitations, food/beverage, volunteer recruitment, entertainment and
hospitality. To emphasize the relevance of the academic institution
in effecting change, I.P.A.G (Institute for Administration and Civil
Service Studies, University of Western Brittany) in France has been
invited to take part in the conference planning. The conference will
include speakers or experts on key topics develop by the conference
committee. To provide a broader range of discussion various sessions
will be held during the conference: plenary sessions, group
presentations, panel, and round-table discussions.
The climax of the conference would be to have the central
keynote address given by the President of Liberia, Her Excellency
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
The conference will recruit various conference
secretaries/note-takers that will do daily report of issues arising
from the conference. The conference will also have volunteers and
facilitators that will make sure the conference objectives are
achieved to its maximum. A website will be created that will give an
idea to potential participants of what the conference will entail.
This site will also be used during the two days conference to
disseminate information from the conference to the world about the
activities and in-turn solicits comments and contribution from
others. Resolution and recommendation adopted by the conference will
be published and distributed to guests, participants, organizers,
organization, institutions and others. An evaluation committee will
also be set up to carry out regular assessment and monitoring of the
entire conference.
The international conference will create awareness and host a whole
day of critical discourse, forum, and information exchange of
war-torn West Africa transition from dependence on humanitarian
assistance to in(ter)dependence and sustainability. The conference
will bring together Africans home and abroad, international
community involved in development, reconstruction and capacity
building, academics, researchers, activists, students from around
the globe.
POTENTIAL TOPICS:
During the conference, some
topics for discussion would include, but not limited to the following:
o
Political and Social exclusion of the vast majority of local
communities;
o
A
o
Power-hunger amongst West African Leaders:
o
Gross human rights abuses by past governments and relevance of the
International Court of Justice;
o
Scarcity of forums to seek national redress and reconciliation;
o
Limitation of youth involvement in leaderships and capacity building
o
o
Girl child assess to education
o
Combating violence and abuse against children
o
Mass poverty, illiteracy and lack of economic and educational
opportunities for the masses;
o
Poor and inept governance and political administrations;
o
Ethnic exclusion from political participation;
o
Failure to implement a political system that will ensure smooth
transition of government;
o
Denial of the constitutional right of the West African people to
alter and change their governments;
o
Misuse of state security agencies and the army;
o
Exploitation of the national wealth.
ü
Reconstruction
acceleration,
ü
Infrastructural
reconstruction
ü
Government strategy,
ü
Humanitarian organizations,
roles in the reconstruction process,
ü
Diaspora participation
ü
Youth Leadership
ü
Gender and education
o
The European Federation of
Liberian Associations is collaborating with the following
universities for
the successful implementation of the conference:
o
I.P.A.G (Institute for
Administration and Civil Service Studies, University of Western
Brittany), France
o
University of London,
School of Oriental and Africa Studies
o
The Trudeau Centre for
Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Toronto, Canada
o
John F. Kennedy School of
Government, Harvard University, USA
o
Center for Peace and
Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Australia
o
Centre for Africa Studies,
Stanford University, USA
o
Association of African
Universities (West Africa Branch)
JUSTIFICATION
o
Research has shown that
engaging local communities in development is the best approach to
addressing long-term sustainability, capacity building, rebuilding
and socio-economic growth. EFLA suggests that the following are
justifiable reasons to carry out this innovative initiative:
o
To create bona fide
partnership
o
To better plan and
coordinate humanitarian efforts in war-torn West-Africa
o
To benefit from the
expertise of the university research, teaching and value on aid and
rebuilding;
o
To sensitize the academic
institutions on reconstruction efforts of war-torn countries;
o
To engage international aid
organizations and local governments in a dialogue of on active
reconstruction
o
Explore the contribution of Africans in the Diaspora
can make towards reconstruction and rebuilding
o
To engage Africa youth is
education, research, development and leadership roles
OUTCOME
By the end of this conference it is hoped that the following would be achieved:
-
Africa youth would have opportunities to be
more involved in reconstruction and rebuilding;
-
Academic institutions will get more
recommendations to conduct research and development on
reconstruction of war-torn West-Africa;
-
Local West-African governments would reinforce
their role in peace building and reconstruction;
-
There would be more cohesive relationship
between West Africans living within the Diasporas;
-
It will create a sense of awareness amongst
West Africans and institutions responsible for
reconstruction and development;
-
Publication of a bilingual (English, French)
book about the findings of the Conference.
BENEFICIARIES
Africans - home and abroad,
international, national, Inter (non)-governmental organizations,
foreign investors, UN, academic Institutions, researchers, war-torn
African countries, students, development workers, local communities
and local civil servants.
EVALUATION/MONITORING
All through the process of planning this
conference various avenues would be explored as to how the
organizers can effectively evaluate not only the process of planning
the conference but the effectiveness of the actual conference in
meeting all of its objectives. Evaluation and monitoring of this
conference will be an effective way to accomplish the following:
o
Provide constant feedback on the extent to which the conference is achieving their goals.
o
Identify potential problems at an early stage and propose possible solutions.
o
Monitor the accessibility of the
conference to all sectors of the target groups.
o
Monitor the efficiency with which the different components of the conference are being
implemented and suggest improvements.
o
Evaluate the extent to which the project
is able to achieve its general objectives.
o
Provide guidelines and framework for the planning of future conferences.
o
Incorporate views of stakeholders.
The tools to use to carryout our
evaluation objectives will include, but is not limited to,
questionnaires, surveys, formal and informal interviews, and
statistical comparison.
TIMELINE
The conference preparation is set to a minimum five
months.
|
Date |
Activity |
|
May-June 2007 |
Identify potential collaborators, fundraising,
website design, advertising, speakers, guests
invitations,
entertainment, call for proposals |
|
Frbruray 2008 |
Conference registration |
|
Februray 2008 |
Food/beverage planning, hospitality (venues,
guests, hotels, flights) |
NB: Most activity would be on-going.
CONCLUSION
CONFERENCE AGENDA
8.15 - 9.00
Registration and breakfast
City Representative
Conference Organizers
10:00 - 11:00
Address (keynote)
Liberia from war to
peace, the challenges in the political, social,
11:00 - 11:15
BREAK
11:15 - 11:45
Speaker
Infrastructure
and the Reconstruction process
11:45 -12:15
Speaker
Post War West Africa (NGO’s role & Governmental strategy for
Economic growth)
12:15 – 13:00
LUNCH
Themes
·
Role of the diasporas in the
reconstruction process
·
Strategies government could put in
place to boost or revitalize economic activities
·
The role of NGO’s in the
reconstruction process
15:30 – 15:50
BREAK
NGO’s, UN, ECOWAS, IMF, World Bank, Embassies, government
agencies & Universities
17:00 - 17:20
Day’s recap
Conference secretary
17:20 - 17:50
Reading and Adoption of Resolution
17:50 – 18:30
Remarks
18:30
Conference closure