Ecowas Conflict Management and Peace-Keeping Initiatives in West Africa

The work examined the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) conflict management and peace-keeping initiatives in West Africa. The objective is to evaluate the interventions carried out in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau conflicts with a view to learning lessons and building on the achievements to strengthen the regional peace and security. The work observed that economic integration was the original mandate of ECOWAS. Threats to development, peace and security informed the ECOWAS decision to broaden its mandate to encompass conflict management. ECOWAS has established a commendable record in peace-keeping. Its intervention in Liberia brought the conflict to an end. In Sierra Leone, it provided the necessary support for the legitimate government and in Guinea Bissau, ECOWAS failed in its responsibility of stopping violence. For peace-keeping force to proceed, certain factors must exist; political will to act and political cohesion. There must be a clear mandate detailing the role and orientation of the force in the theatre of conflicts. All these were lacking during the ECOWAS interventions in these countries. Fortunately, these challenges have been addressed by ECOWAS mechanism for conflict prevention and management. Thus, conflict prevention as the main strategy for ECOWAS conflict management deserves to be given much more attention as it is cheaper in every respect than peace-keeping operations. Keywords: ECOWAS, Conflict, Management, Peace-keeping, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau