After the national multi-stakeholder consultations on the Comesa Conflict Early Warning System (COMWARN) Structural Vulnerability Assessments (SVAs), Seychelles has completed the first phase in the assessment of the SVAs.
At the end of the workshop on Friday at Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay, the comprehensive report of the National Consultations was accepted.
After five days of workshop with various stakeholders, now they will have to identify the drivers and discuss further discussions on the recommendations, shared Steve Lalanne, director general for Regional Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism.
Elizabeth Mutunga, head of governance, peace and security, explained that “Comesa is very much known for its programmes in integration and trade in Africa and many people do not know that Comesa runs a programme on peace and security. The overall objective of the national multi-stakeholder consultations is to disseminate the country-specific Structural Vulnerability/Resilience Assessment (SVRA) for Seychelles and identify the necessary response strategies”.
The other objectives are to sensitise the participants on the SVRA methodology and to use the early warning system and build resilience.
Ms Mutunga spoke on the current world situations (pandemic, war, natural disasters) and how each country should become more resilient.
“Many people did not see the importance of our programmes but after the pandemic the countries realised the importance of vulnerability and resilience assessment and mitigation strategy. Sometimes outside forces can devastate a country and it is very important for all of us to ensure that we start the process of establishing a national response structure.”
Taye Abdikadir from the African Union was also present and explained that through the Peace and Security Council (PSC) during its 360th and 463rd as well as the 502nd meetings on conflict prevention, expressed the need for renewed efforts to address the structural/root causes of conflicts in Africa. In its decisions, the Council commended the Commission, among other steps it had undertaken, for the development of the Country Structural Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment (CSVRA) and the Country Structural Vulnerability Mitigation Strategy (CSVMS) tools as part of the Continental Structural Conflict Prevention Framework (CSCPF) and encouraged all member states to fully take advantage of these tools in their efforts towards the structural prevention of conflict and the consolidation of peace. The PSC further requested the commission, in collaboration with the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), to avail of all necessary assistance to member states and to popularise these tools.
Mr Lalanne further explained that this one-week workshop will help us see the different vulnerability areas in our country whether it is climate change, economy, arts, education etc.
“These assessments are being done to see if these vulnerabilities can cause conflict in the country. Sometimes, policy makers do not thoroughly look into the issues affecting the society. For example everyone in Seychelles has access to our health services, but are we missing out on things that one day can create a conflict in the society? Seychelles’ case is unique and we have to investigate and see if some strata of the society are not having access to the policies we have.”
The policy makers in the national multi-stakeholder will now have a better idea on what to look into when policy are being made and ensure that no one is left behind.
Denis Matatiken, principal secretary for Environment, stated that the workshop was beneficial for several reasons for Seychelles stakeholders as they were able to learn more about the Seychelles country-specific SVRA report developed by the Comesa Conflict Early Warning System and the identification of the necessary response strategies.
“The local stakeholders had the opportunity to learn about the African Union’s Continental Structural Conflict Prevention Framework (CSCPF) tools which are used to further assist member states to conduct sub-national consultations with diverse stakeholders at grassroots level towards identifying the necessary structural mitigation strategies.
Over the past decades, the African continent, and the Comesa region, have continued to witness a multiplicity of challenges that have impacted on efforts towards attaining peace, security, stability and development. These challenges range from wars, violent conflicts, epidemics and pandemics, climate change effects and related natural disasters, maritime piracy and terrorism, economic crises among other challenges leading to slowed socio-economic development, national and transnational crimes. Other pronounced challenges are related to governance issues particularly electoral disputes and constitutionalism. As a result of these challenges, various legal frameworks, mechanisms, and initiatives have been put in place at the continental and sub-regional levels towards managing and addressing these challenges due to the inherent high costs that conflict imparts on the communities affected. In this regard, peacebuilding efforts and crisis management initiated by policy makers at the continental, sub-regional and national levels have continued emphasising – through various decisions – that more focus and efforts should be directed towards enhancing resilience/reducing vulnerabilities by addressing the root causes of conflict and other structural factors contributing to instability.
Source: Seychelles Nation