ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, March 31, 2016/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
The conference was opened by President Pierre Buyoya, Former President of Burundi and African Union High Representative for Mali and the Sahel, and Haile Menkerios, Special Representative of the Secretary General to the African Union, who reinforced the importance of this issue within continental African policy and global foreign policy.
The meeting’s aim was to encourage and implement African peacebuilding by African actors, in response to new threats challenging the existing peacebuilding framework.
A key objective was to further the findings from the first meeting and ‘road test’ them, with a view to the new perspectives arising out of this meeting being developed into concrete policy measures. See the event programme for further details.
After a successful first meeting in February 2015, Wilton Park, an Executive Agency of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, hosted this follow up dialogue. Participants met from across Africa and further afield, focusing on developing African approaches to peacebuilding.
This meeting has been held in association with the African Leadership Centre at Kings College London and the Social Science Research Council in New York, with support from The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Richard Burge, Chief Executive of Wilton Park said: ‘Chairing this second dialogue in Africa was a great privilege. It was encouraging to see the discussion develop digitally as well as in the conference room. It is essential that African voices contributing to peacebuilding initiatives at all levels are heard and recognised. The partnerships that made this event possible provide a platform from which these voices have a global audience.’
Further information:
Wilton Park
Wilton Park is a global forum for strategic discussion organising 65 events a year in the UK and overseas, bringing together over 3,000 representatives of 130 countries from the worlds of politics, business, academia, diplomacy, civil society and media.
We focus on issues of international security, prosperity and justice, and help advance the global foreign policy agenda by provoking lively debate and encouraging inclusivity.
Wilton Park meetings provide a neutral environment where conflicting views can be expressed and debated openly and calmly, allowing acceptable compromise and resolution to be achieved.
Discussions are non-attributable to encourage frank exchanges and open dialogue.
