Deadline: 6 January 2017
West Africa Peace and Security Network (WAPSN) is seeking proposals for its 2017 symposium entitled “Back to the Future? Conflict Resolution and Sustainable Peace in Contemporary West Africa”.
The 2017 WAPSN Symposium seeks to address the existing lacuna in the knowledge system in a manner that makes a contribution to the attainment of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in West Africa. This emphasis compels a critical look at the difference between conflict management and conflict resolution and applying this to the understanding of the present and future scenarios in West Africa.
By focusing on “conflict resolution” WAPSN seeks to reclaim the knowledge of the salient issues that have to be addressed in order for these violent conflicts to be better dealt with. What can we learn from past experiences? What are the futures of conflict resolution as a normative project, as a research programme, and/or as a practice for building peace?
Topics for Consideration
- Links between the normative, theoretical and practical aspects of conflict resolution
- Best practices in the use of conflict resolution
- Conflict resolution in post conflict peace-building
- Application of ECOWAS normative framework for peace
- ECOWAS Council of the Wise
- Governance and security
- The intervention of eminent persons
- National Peace Councils
- The role of traditional political authority or mechanisms in resolving conflict
- Role of CSOs
- Case studies of conflict resolution successes or failures
Eligibility Criteria
- WAPSN welcomes 250-word proposals for papers that address past examples of conflict resolution or failure and/or the current state and the future possibilities of conflict resolution in managing or transforming West African conflicts.
- Whether understood as a normative project of conflict transformation or of managing the status quo, as a research programme that challenges disciplinary understanding of conflict, or as a policy practice, it is imperative to assess or reassess the possibilities of conflict resolution.
- WAPSN strongly encourage submissions that link the epistemological and ontological, theoretical and methodological issues in developing conflict resolution approaches to the promotion of sustainable peace in West Africa.
How to Apply
Interested applicants can send their proposals at the address given on the website.
Eligible Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
For more information, please visit WAPSN Call for Papers.