We shouldn’t be pessimistic for the thrive of peace!
Tesfaye Lemma
Agenda 2063 is a strategic framework for the socioeconomic transformation of the continent over the next 50 years. It’s built on, and seeks to accelerate the implementation of past and existing continental initiatives for growth and sustainable development. One of the crucial factors is creating a peaceful and secure Africa.
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union has dedicated to enhance long lasting peace and stability in the continent, guaranteeing the security of its citizens. Accordingly, every member state is responsible to work at multilateral and unilateral levels for the thriving of peace in the continent.
It is believed that each country should first do their homework of ensuring peace at home and then participating in regional and continental peace.
However, many political and security analysts argue whether the possibility of ensuring lasting peace in the continent. They attempted to justify their argument, saying, nowadays the world has become riches demanding. Ruthless and barbarous activities have become rife. The human element of people has been deteriorating.
A lot of people need to accumulate wealth on the others’ expenses; need power on the sacrifices of other people. These situations are common and become almost a daily practice in Africa. This group of analysts concluded as if it is impossible to bring lasting peace and stability in this continent.
In fact, there are some grains of truth in their argument. What we watch, listen or read daily witnessed that, there are various grounds aggravating instability and poisoning peace.
However, I absolutely disagree to this idea. I believe that there is a room for Africans to realize an enduring peace and stability, if they manage to cooperate despite lots of aggravating situations. Africans together could make it. They can realize lasting peace and maintain it.
One way forward could be, engaging local people as sole partners in avoiding conflicts and building peace and stability. And opening the space for their participation and encourage to utilize their own mechanism to resolve conflicts and maintain peace as they are the real peace agents in their respective communities.
When we are considering the peace of the continent, it is crucial to assess the peace situations of each member country and all of the regions in the continent. In case of the Horn of Africa, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, the Sudan, Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia could be at the heart of the discussion.
This peace, therefore, mainly focuses on the peace and stability situations and ways forward to ensure them. Ascertaining peace in this region could be one of the major components in ensuring peace in the continent as this area has remained being vulnerable and volatile for decades.
This cannot come to a reality unless a consolidated effort is exerted to ensure peace and by avoiding disputes and misunderstandings, which usually emanates from the propaganda of anti-peace groups, who are attempting to use religion and other sensitive issues to mislead the public.
Ethiopia could be a typical example in this regard. The sole reason is the fact that, the country’s contribution to maintain peace in its own territory and neighboring countries is so indispensable and irreplaceable.
The need for political power and the stingy wealth accumulation mentioned above usually cause conflicting situations. Groups usually use other pretexts in order to ensure their hidden agendas.
One among many reasons for such volatility could be the wrong misinterpretation of religious disciplines. According to some historical documents, more than 80 per cent of world conflicts have emanated from religious affairs.
Anti-peace groups prefer religion, because it is so sensitive. Religious people could pay any sacrifice whenever they feel there is danger to their religion. In fact, this perception and action is contradictory to religious disciplines to peace and tolerance.
However, it is possible to avoid all these anti-peace elements and practices, if there is a real collaboration among all African countries and a meaningful backing from the international community. The real commitment and cooperation among all states in the continent, religious and educational institutions as well as other stakeholders could change the volatile situation.
From the political perspective, many people argue that governments should maintain peace and order. But, it is the consolidated effort of all stakeholders, particularly the people that could contribute to realize peace and stability.
In this regard, proactive conflict prevention is more cost effective than reactive conflict prevention. Efforts made after a conflict has become violent to contain and reduce the intensity, duration and the possibility of geographic spill over. There is a growing perception that there are limits to the level of violence countries in Africa could permit.
If agenda 2063 is to be a real, member states should work industriously to ensure peace in the entire continent as sustainable development and economic integration is impossible without sustainable peace and stability.
Therefore, public participation is the bedrock on which democracy rests. It enriches democracy, including helping to ensure better decision-making and strengthening politicians’ accountability to the people. It helps build strong democratic parliaments, which in turn play a vital role in ensuring peace and development.
In order to sustain the ever rising African economy, active participation of people in political issues has a vital role. In building the economy as well as spurring the democratization process their involvement is vital. Citizens are the backbone for that particular political system.
Likewise, if the continent lacks the active participation of citizens, its progress will be crippled. It can’t move as fast as it should. There might be several reasons that deter the public from actively participating in the socioeconomic political sphere of Africa. Under such situation, governments have to do all they could, so as to promote public participation. Because, without public participation governments have no significant role,
From our recent experience, and if we considered the case in Ethiopia, we witnessed that, despite all attempts by destructive agents to disturb the peace and stability of the nation, the country has sustained its peace and stability. There might be several reasons that helped the country to safeguard its peace. These include the active participation of the public at all levels.
But there are cases in different African countries where people are divested of the chance of participation. As peace is the basis for national development, everyone should understand the value of peace and stability. Though, a bit tardy in responding to complaints, Africa is attempting to alleviate its problems by itself.
If Africa is to maintain its economic growth and realize its agenda 2063, it needs strongly to work to bring peace at the first instance. There should be a binding regulation and law among all states of the continent to silence anti-peace elements and states sponsoring conflict escalating situations. This could be possible if and only if there is a strong cooperation to do that.
In order to have peace, stability and growth in the continent, what states should do is they have to strive to create prudent and strong leadership which it lacks right now specially in some countries. Besides, they should work harder to develop the sense of Africanism.
It is advisable for the Africa Union Commission to inculcate a means that could enforce member states to show the slightest dedication and commitment to peace and stability. If so, there will be lasting peace that we shouldn’t be pessimistic.