COMESA Peace and Security Mandate

COMESA’s active engagement in addressing the conflicts in the region dates back to 1999 due to concerns on what appeared then as widespread and persistent armed conflicts in the region and after a lengthy debate on the devastating impact of wars and conflicts on the COMESA integration agenda as noted in preceding sections. The Fourth Summit of the COMESA Authority, which was held in Nairobi, Kenya in May 1999 then made a decision for formal structures and modalities for COMESA engagement on matters of peace and security under the article 3(d) of the COMESA treaty. The Authority mandated COMESA Ministers of Foreign Affairs to meet at least once in a year to discuss modalities for addressing peace and security and to also monitor and advice the Authority on promotion of peace, security and stability. The Authority also directed that the activities of the Programme would have to work within the framework of the African Union, hence build towards the Regional Peace and Security Architecture. The Authority also decided on a three tier system to enable faster intervention.

Recognizing the complexity of the conflicts in the region the Authority further directed the COMESA Secretariat on the need for collaborative and consultative relationship between a wide range of stakeholders that include civil society, business community and parliamentarians. COMESA responded by setting up the structures for the engagement of other non-state actors including the formation of a network of civil society and private sector organizations through a process of accreditation to the COMESA Programme on Peace and Security; and the establishment of a COMESA Inter-Parliamentary Forum.

During the Seventh Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs that was held in Djibouti in November 2006, the Ministers continued to construct the structure for the Programme by recommending for COMESA to establish a Committee of Elders drawn from the COMESA Region for preventive peacebuilding assignments. During the same meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs the Ministers made a Decision that curved a niche for the COMESA Programme on Peace and Security to be on economic dimensions of conflicts and thus directed the Programme to develop its strength on such thematic issues as war economies.

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