West Africa's Trouble Spots and the Imperative for Peace-Building

8 Multilateral Organisations and Conflict Resolution in the Sub-region

8 Multilateral Organisations and Conflict Resolution in the Sub-region Apart from the very significant role played by ECOWAS, the OAU (now AU) and the United Nations have been important partners in the effort at conflict resolution in the West Africa. The European Union was also very helpful in the Sierra Leonean peace process. In the case of the UN, since its creation in 1945 it has been saddled with the all- important task of maintaining international peace and security. By this is meant that it is expected to act as the keeper of the peace. The drafters of its charter were more concerned then with inter-state rather than intra-state conflicts. This has therefore accounted for its inability to mediate effectively and judiciously in West African conflicts in the 1960, 1970 and also in the Nigerian civil war of 1967–1970. This is because many of the conflicts in Africa during these periods were mainly intra-state rather than inter-state conflicts in nature. By late 1990s however, the UN evolved new mechanisms for dealing with intra-state conflicts within the international political system. The mechanism evolved revolved around the use of peacekeeping and peace-enforcement as key strategies. This made it possible for the organisation to contribute to the peace efforts in both the Liberian and Sierra Leonean conflicts of 1990–1997, and 1998–2001, respectively. However, it should be noted that the role the UN played in the conflicts was largely reactive rather than proactive. Its strategy was not meant to prevent the outbreak of conflict but rather to manage and at times. In brief, the role of the UN in the resolution of conflicts in West Africa is basically what one could call cordone-sanitaire. In other words, it is both possi- West Africa’s Trouble Spots and the Imperative for Peace-Building 79 ble to keep and enforce the peace as long as the blue-helmets are on the ground. The drawback to this arrangement, prior to the introduction of PSOs was that the strategies only worked as a short-term measure. In respect of the Liberian conflict (UNOMIL, 1993–1997), the UN role was mainly in response to the ECOWAS intervention, which had already taken place and consisted mainly in support of ECOMOG. A major mistake the UN made was not having intervened much earlier. The same belatedness could also be said of the (closely linked) conflict in Rwanda and in Sierra Leone where the deployment of UNOMSIL was delayed in 1998. UNOMSIL then comprised of only unarmed observers protected by ECOMOG, and followed later by a somewhat more strengthened UNAMSIL after a successful ECOMOG offensive to retake Freetown.1 For the OAU (now AU), its mechanisms for addressing conflicts in the continent of which West Africa was a major source of concern included the Commission of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration, the protocol of which was signed in 1964; the Ad hoc Commissions of the Heads of State and Government and council of ministers; and, the Mechanism of Conflict Prevention, Management , and Resolution established in 1993.2 The Commission of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration was established under Article XIX of the organisation’s charter.3 Under this charter, ‘member states pledged to settle all disputes among themselves by peaceful measures, and to this end, decided to establish a commission of mediation, conciliation and Arbitration’.4 It is important to note however, that because the Protocol for the commission was not ready until 1964, and its bureau was not established until 1968, and because member states feared or were wary of the effects of judicial decisions on their sovereignty, and had a stricto sensu perception of international affairs, the commission was never effective.5 The OAU had to adopt other measures such as ad hoc commissions ; Good offices of OAU Heads of State and Government, summits and other such measures for conflict management and confidence building. These alternative ways were used to build confidence and mediate successfully in the border disputes between Ghana and Burkina Faso in 1964 and the dispute between Guinea and Cote D’Ivoire in 1967.6 The Mechanism of Conflict Prevention, Management, and Resolution (1993), was established at the Twenty-Ninth ordinary session of the OAU’s Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Cairo, Egypt. This mechanism was designed as a catalyst to make the organisation more effective in the way it manages crises and conflicts in the continent. It had three main goals. First, to anticipate and...