March 15, 2016 By Regina Pratt
The West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP) has launched a report on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in Sierra Leone and set a timeline for the development of an implementation plan. The report is themed ‘Institutional capacities for the implementation of R2P in West Africa, a case study for Ghana.’
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a new international security and human rights norm to address the failure of the international community to prevent and stop genocides, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
In her launching address, ,Madam Memunatu Pratt, head of department at Peace and Conflict Studies, Fourah Bay College, said the report was an excellent fact to promote peace, noting that state institutions that should protect human rights were the ones violating them.
“Sierra Leone is not new to the operationalisation of the R2P as we had gone through conflict,” she said, adding that the use of the R2P had been part of Sierra Leone’s transformation from conflict to peace.
“We need to strengthen our existing human rights and good governance institutions. As a partner and member state of ECOWAS, we must ensure that we fully implement the member states peace and security framework and fulfill our obligation with the UN Charter,” she said.
Giving an overview of the report, WANEP’s Regional Coordinator – Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Vincent Azumah, said the report was a product of a year-long research in 2015 supported by DANNIDA and WANEP.
He said the Sierra Leone war was one of the most outrageous wars in the world, while Guinea Bissau is one of the worst fragile states in the world.
“It is said that instead of elections bringing good governance and democracy, it is used as a tool for underdevelopment and atrocities,” she noted.
In his welcome address, National Coordinator for WANEP-Sierra Leone, Edward Jombla said the report was sponsored by DANNIDA, a department for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark.