On 14 May, UNOAU participated in a roundtable session titled: “Two-way Street: A discussion of emerging best practices related to bottom-up and people-centred approaches to conflict prevention and sustainable peace on the African continent”. The UNOAU co-organised the event, together with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, as part of the Just Future Alliance and the World Bank projects. The event aimed at highlighting best practices from multilateral, regional and local partnerships across the African continent to enhance complementarity of efforts in conflict prevention and sustaining peace, with a focus on a human rights-based approach in Security Sector Reform, DDR and Early Warning. Over 30 participants attended, drawn from different backgrounds – representing governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, as well as international organizations.

Speakers included representatives from the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, the National Coordinator of the Network for SSR and Justice, the African Security Sector Network, the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Network for Inclusive Reintegration focusing on DDR, Cameroon, and discussants from the World Bank, AU and UN DDR section. Discussions sought to identify local activities to enhance conflict prevention; regional and international activities by multilateral actors and organizations to enhance conflict prevention; and how the bottom-up and top-down efforts can be better linked or complement each other. The meeting contributed to ongoing discussions on enhancing conflict prevention and sustainable peace. It was noted that the Pact for the Future, Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 emphasize actions that focus on inclusive and people-centred approaches, as well as building trust and addressing root causes of conflict. In this context, the need to optimize partnerships across sectors and to understand the role of communities in conflict prevention was underscored. Key recommendations will be used for future activities and events to support the AU, including at the upcoming AU Africa SSR Forum later this year.