PROPUESTA DE INTERVENCIÓN 1 DATOS INFORMATIVOS:

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117 of WANEP when he noted that a partnership also exists between WANEP and local CSOs particularly in the area of capacity building.

It is no longer in doubt, that external support and partnership can help strengthen civil society contributions to peace consolidation. It builds on local CSOs potential and comparative advantages (availability, geographical access, reach across conflict fault lines, expertise, familiarity with the context, community-based interventions, voice of marginalized groups), especially when an independent civil society can counterbalance a fragile or partisan state. While institutional and international partnership is a critical element in developing civil society, support for peacebuilding should be based on locally-owned initiatives.

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118 (ERA)

PROSPECT S AND CHALLEN

GES FOR THE CIVIL

SOCIETY SECTOR

8b. To what extent does the civil society sector critically reflect on its‘ work as a means of learning lessons to prepare it for the future?

8c. To what extent does the civil society sector facilitate learning opportunities for its members?

8d. To what extent and in what specific areas can the civil society sector act differently to better prepare it for the future?

4. Guinean Organization for Human Rights (GOHR)

1.8 45%

5. National Institute of Research and Pedagogic Action (NIRPA)

1.3 33%

6. Association of African Professionals of Communication (AAPC)

1.5 38%

7. Rural Radio of Guinea (RRG)

1.8 45%

8. National Platform of United Citizens for Development (NPUCD)

1.5 385

9. Association For the Well Being of Communities and Development (AWCD)

2 50%

10. West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP)

1.3 33%

Total average score and percentage

1.6 40%

Source: Fieldwork, 2013

The total average score on this objective is 1.6 on a scale of 4 representing 40%. Of all the average scores and percentages, the scores on objective 6 is the lowest implying that despite the contributions of the civil society sector in supporting good governance and stability in Guinea, the sector is however not fully equipped to face the challenges of the future. It may be useful to demonstrate through the web how the various elements interact to undermine the capacity and preparedness of the civil society sector in facing the challenges associated with the process of peace consolidation in the future.

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119 Source: Fieldwork, 2013

It could be deduced from the web that organizations like MARWOPNET and ACWD with an average score of 2 on a scale of 4 (50%) hold the view that the sector is equipped to face the challenges of the future. Though this represents the highest score on this objective yet it is considered a weak position. This presupposes that while the sector might have demonstrated some positive strides towards preparing for the future, it seems to be heavily weighed down by the interaction between inadequate funding, lack of access to opportunities for relevant capacity enhancement, lack of relevant institutional and international linkages, inability to adequately track information, analyse and communicate findings as well as inability to design and implement results-based programs/interventions directed towards enhancing and strengthening the learning of lessons. The prospects of the civil society sector will be continuously threatened as long as these elements continue to interact in this manner.

Again, the central element and indeed the driving force in the process of peace consolidation is the human factor which seems not to be critically developed in the civil society sector in Guinea.

2

1.3

1.8

1.8

1.3 1.8 1.5

1.5 2

1.3

50%

33%

45%

45%

33%

45% 38%

38%

50%

33%

Mano River Women Peace Network (MARWOPNET)

The National Coalition of Guinea

for the Rights and Citizenship of…

Equal Rights for All (ERA)

Guinean Organization for

Human Rights (GOHR) National Institute of

Research and Pedagogic Action

(NIRPA) Association of

African Professionals of Communication…

Rural Radio of Guinea (RRG) National Platform of

United Citizens for Development

(NPUCD) Association For

Community Wellbeing and

Development…

West Africa Network for Peacebuilding

(WANEP)

Web VI: Responses to objective 6

Prospects and challenges for the civil society sector

Average Scores Percentage Scores

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120 Findings from interviews and group discussions show that staffs of the various organizations meet at irregular intervals to discuss progress, issues, problems and solutions to the challenges of the sector but this is not often systematically done.

There is no consistent evidence of critical reflection and feedback that could be ploughed back into the planning process to better inform strategies of interventions and more effectively prepare civil society actors for the future. One of the recurrent issues from interviews and group discussions was that opportunities for internal capacity building/learning exist but are seldom explored as civil society actors tend to have a focus that capacity building/learning is better facilitated predominately through external stimuli or persons.

Interviewees and group discussants shared their fears that there are prospects in the future to have a country whose civil society sector is predominantly based in urban centres. Evidence shows that apart from a few organizations like ABC-Development and MARWOPNET which seem to have presence in rural communities, all others tend to operate in the major cities in Guinea. This rural-urban dichotomy has also created a situation whereby the rural areas are now seen as safe havens for conflict entrepreneurs and breeding grounds for hoodlums. The rural areas are obviously the most in need of all round assistance-access to health services, education, and potable water as well as civic education. The over-concentration of civil society organizations and its activities in the urban centres means that rural dwellers are deprived of effective and consistent civic education which is an integral component of the process of peace consolidation. The argument here is that location is a major constraint on the capacity of civil society organizations to contribute to the process of peace consolidation. As fluid as this line of reasoning might seem; it is supported by the assumption that urban-based civil society organizations have the advantage of interacting more closely with critical stakeholders and policy influencers than their rural-based counterparts. Discussants noted that such interactions; have a tendency to strengthen or weaken the capacity of the sector for intervention. Overall, the challenges identified in this study would need to be addressed for the civil society sector to be more strategically placed to effectively engage the process of peace consolidation in Guinea.

There are also prospects for the civil society sector in Guinea to be a model especially, for the Mano River Union countries (MRU) to learn from. This would be

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121 possible only if the National Civil Society Council of Guinea (a forum supposedly responsible for the coordination of the activities of the sector) can shake off the challenges of corruption, politics, ethnicity, lack of access to opportunities for capacity building, lack of relevant institutional and international linkages, inappropriate means of sharing findings and the challenge of inadequate and sustainable funding opportunities that seem to weigh it down. This is so because amongst the countries of the Mano River Union (MRU), Guinea seems to be the only member country that appears to have a forum/organ that is supposedly responsible for coordinating the activities of the sector.