WANEP EARLY WARNING AND RESPONSE NETWORK (WARN PROGRAMME)

 Since 2000, the WANEP Warning and Response Network (WARN) was instituted and became the flagship programme of WANEP, since the official launching of the institution in 1998. The National Early Warning System (NEWS) is an integral component of the WARN Programme and its establishment across all WANEP networks in West Africa was envisaged by WANEP not only to strengthen the WARN programme across board but to also to reach remote communities that are at risk of both man-made and natural catastrophes including violent conflict, in view of enhancing human security and socio-economic development in these communities.  The NEWS also supports the ECOWAS EW system-ECOWARN and the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) under the Protocols Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security in West Africa and the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) of the African Union. NEWS is an online system which has been functional since 2008. The system facilitates the generation of data from monitors and reporters across the 15 countries of West Africa. The monitors/reporters use a set of indicators related to proximate conditions of conflicts at community, district, county, state, regional and national level.

The WARN products/outputs include:

  • Weekly Highlights,
  • Monthly Bulletin,
  • Policy Briefs,
  • Thematic Report,
  • Quarterly Peace and Security Report,
  • Situation Tracking,
  • Quick Update,
  • NEWS Advisory Note…

The Election Violence, Monitoring Analysis and Mitigation (EMAM) program of WANEP was instituted in 2015 as part of the organisation’s efforts to contribute to the reduction of elections related violence in ECOWAS Member States. Since its inception, the EMAM programme has been implemented in almost all the 14 ECOWAS with the exception of Cape Verde. The EMAM programme focuses on the entire electioneering processes, from pre, during and post-election period.

Some pre-election activities include:

  • the validation of election monitoring indicators,
  • training of community monitors,
  • stakeholders and hotspots identification or mapping,
  • the establishment of National Election Response Group (NERG) and Regional Election Response Group (RERG) with the responsibility to act upon any potential threats that could mar the peaceful conduct of the elections.

Before the day of the elections, WANEP trains its observers on the survey 123 application to report any disruptions or violence conducts from the opening to the closure of the polls. On the day of the elections, Election Situation Room (ESR) is established as a continuation of the monitoring processes. WANEP’s ESR has 4 different segments (data gatherers, Analysts, Communication and Decision-makers) and each of these segments operate on a specific task during the elections.

  • Data gatherers comprises young people who liaise with observers deployed on the field to collate and submit data into the Survey 123 application on potential incidents that could mar the peaceful conduct of the elections.
  • Analysts comprises people from the academia and civil society who make sure that data/information received from the field are well interpreted in the various reports in order to inform the decision-makers (Decision Room) on which actions to be taken after potential threats to the peaceful conduct of the elections have been identified.
  • Decision Room comprises eminent personalities both women and men who use their good offices and relationship/contacts and influence to pre-empt or intervene after potential threats have been identified.
  • Communication Room comprises personnel from the mainstream media and social media specialists who ensure that reports from the ESR are disseminated to partners and relevant stakeholders on time. They also ensure that visits in the WANEP’s ESR by other observer missions and eminent personalities are well captured for publicity.

EMAM Products/outputs:  

  • Stakeholder and Hotspot mapping reports,
  • Election Weekly Highlight,
  • Monthly Situational Report,
  • Communiqués…