Opening Remarks by Mr. Abdalla Hamdok
Director, Governance and Public Administration
UNECA

3 October 2011

Your Excellency, Eng. Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of IGAD
Honorable Netsanet Asfaw, Director, Peace and Security Division
Distinguished participants
Ladies and gentlemen

I am pleased to have the opportunity to welcome you to hold this important regional training and capacity building at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, co-organized by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the ECA. I would also like to express my appreciation to Government and People of Ethiopia for their continued warm hospitality to the UNECA and IGAD.
The Eighth Summit of IGAD Heads of State and Government of 23 November 2000 mandated the IGAD Secretariat to develop a mechanism to enhance collaboration among CSOs/NGOs in the region, and between them and the IGAD Secretariat. This led to the establishment of IGAD/Civil Societies Forum in July 2003.
The Peace and Security Division of IGAD is mandated to address issues related to Peace and Security and Humanitarian Affairs, which is similar to the ECA's focus on addressing the challenge of managing transitions from conflict, and, helping to build strong governance institutions and the mechanisms for sustainable peace, which are essential to political and economic development in Africa.

Dear participants,
A key element of our partnership with IGAD relates to the strengthening of democracy, sustainable peace and security in the region. This involves supporting civil society, and promoting good governance; as well as promoting transparent bottom-up peace building and development approaches that include civil society. In order to strengthen sustainable peace and security, we must support the promotion of inclusive development processes, as well as the promotion, where necessary, of reformed pro-citizen security and justice systems. These are part of our fundamental peace building and state building objectives in order to guide global and national level interventions in conflict-affected states.
In the above context, ECA in collaboration with IGAD has launched a training event that targets CSOs, practitioners and experts actively engaged with conflict management and peace building in the IGAD country members. The main objective of the training is to strengthen this Manual and take it the  ground in efforts to equip civil society organizations with a greater understanding of conflict, the elements that define it; and the capacity to identify, analyse, define and discuss conflict at the different levels at which it occurs. This is critical for Africa, in particular IGAD members where most countries are in the state of conflict or in post-conflict situations.
In the past twenty years, there has been an increasing emphasis on the role of African civil society organizations working in post conflict and peace building.  Recent studies conducted on a number of post-conflict African states indicate strong, informed and engaged civil society organizations are critical for the success of tasks related to preventing the resurgence of conflict, helping people to start afresh and begin to rebuild their lives, ensuring   basic security of persons and property, delivering essential services and access to livelihoods. The active engagement and continued involvement of CSOs reduce tension, promote stability and avoid the resumption of violent conflicts, all critical elements for success of post-conflict reconciliation and development efforts.
Despite the fact that CSOs play a crucial role in post conflict issues in Africa, little is known about their capacity, reach, efficiency and effectiveness. Rarely are efforts focused on creating enabling environments, developing strategies for providing capacity building and technical support to promote the role and function of CSOs in Africa.  
I am therefore pleased to know that this training seeks to contribute to the ongoing search for the most feasible means of facilitating the effective contribution of African CSOs in the field of post conflict reconstruction and peace building.
Dear Participants,
As you may know, ECA as a regional UN and Pan-African body, conducts research on critical issues, advocates for sound policy formulations, and assists member states and African CSOs in reinforcing their capabilities.
We at ECA, in close collaboration with our partner institutions such the IGAD are actively engaged in building and promoting an environment where the state and its society can come together to address the issue of deepening democratization within the context of governance challenges.
I would like to mention, in this regard, that ECA, through its newly restructured Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD) has put in place various programs and activities. These include:

• ECA’s research aimed at developing Africa-specific mechanisms and indicators for measuring and monitoring good governance trends on the continent;
• ECA’s technical support to member states on political, economic and corporate governance and on institutional effectiveness issues; and
• ECA sees the building and strengthening accountable and transparent governance institutions as critical elements in promoting good governance. 

To this end, we organize training programs and workshops on various dimensions of governance for relevant stakeholders including CSOs, policymakers, the judiciary, government agencies, and institutions of higher learning and research.
We, at the UNECA, fully appreciate the crucial role of African CSOs in post conflict situations in the region and are prepared to engage in meaningful discussions of concrete strategic actions to enhance CSO capacity and ensure effectiveness.  The African Center for Civil Society, established and operated by the UNECA, is fully dedicated to service the African civil society community. Over the past decade, the Center has consistently focused on the promotion of civil society participation in relief and development in Africa; and the strengthening of civil society organizations to enable them to play a meaningful role. ECA has taken on the task, among others, of designing programs to:

• Promote the visibility and understanding of civil society participation in the recovery, development and governance process;
• Promote new and creative ways to facilitate interface between CSOs and governments, and among CSOs;
• Promote an enabling environment conducive to CSOs participation; and
• Find ways to institutionalise the participatory process.

 I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that the African Center for Civil Society, in particular, and the UNECA, in general, stands ready to work with you in strengthening and building the capacities of the African CSO community in the areas of peace building and sustainable development.
Thank you for your attention and I wish you very fruitful deliberations.