squares squares


 

PROGRESS WITH SECURITY NETWORK
The civil society south-south network on peace and security

Date of Launch: 1st September 2005

Vision:

The promotion of peace and security, good governance and economic development is at the heart of both the OAS and AU programmes for renewal and transformation. Taking responsibility for developing our continents, promoting the best practices and engaging civil society to build common futures will bring better governance and representation as well as stability and peace in the two regions of the world that most need it. This is the formula to create the necessary conditions for private and community sector growth and job creation and sound government investment in social and human security programmes. This will also move Latin America and Africa closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Recognizing the interdependence of peace and sustainable development can pave the way for enhanced partnership between individuals, CSOs and the State to consolidate towards a realistic future for our peoples.

Mission:

To serve the long term security and development needs of Africa and Latin America and its people by improving the effectiveness of civil society participation in the peace and security, governance and development programmes already agreed by the OAS and the AU and the relevant programmes identified by the Millennium Development Goals.

Objective:

To create and sustain a forum for like minded civil society organizations in Africa and Latin America leading to the development of commonly owned agenda and the exchange of experiences so as to strengthen our participation capacity in the provision of peace, security, good governance and progress as identified in the above goals.

Activities of the network:

  • Learn more about each other and our operations in a systematic manner
  • Exchange information on events
  • Sensitize each other on the upcoming agendas regionally and continentally
  • Share products and ideas
  • Identify common areas of concern
  • Collaborate in the peace, security and governance priority areas,
  • Generate common positions representing the voice of the South on the above issues in the relevant international fora

Target Audience:

The network will be available to all those who register for it and that come from organized civil society structures operating in Africa and Latin America (for example, all those already accredited to the Economic Cultural and Social Council at the African Union and those accredited at the Organization of American States that are from Latin America); and all those other organizations of the civil society sector, whether national or local, that share our mission and vision.

The areas of work of these organizations will be diverse since the area of peace, security, governance and development is broad: those working on youth, education, health, resource generation, micro enterprises, policy studies, research and writing of concepts, sustainable resource use and management, information collection, small arms disarmament and management processes and legislation, de-mining, peace building, demobilization, security sector reform, civil-military relations, combating crime, conflict prevention, management and resolution, and the enhancement of civil society participation including the generation of statistics and of dialogue to improve governmental-non governmental interactions, etc.

Geographic Scope:

Although we will commence this service focusing in Africa and Latin America, other regions with similar problems, such as Asia, are welcome to join the network at their request.

Formal and informal organizations:

For registration purposes, informal, or not legally registered organizations, are as welcome as legal entities because we are trying to see where the common denominator lies in the performance of groups of people in support of local or national peace and security. Therefore, no discrimination between form will be undertaken.

Management and Administration:

The network will be provided, coordinated and serviced by SaferAfrica, a not for profit organization based in South Africa but operating in the whole of Africa and Latin America. The network and its use is free of charge and membership will not be costed.

Work plan for 2005:

Main objective: Learning who we are, what we do, and how we think about peace and security in the South.
  1. Reach out to accredited NGOs of the AU and OAS system
  2. Identify more members of the network
  3. Send and obtain information as per the registration form enclosed
  4. Generate questionnaires and surveys by email that can be moved through the network, answered and analyzed
  5. Update the information on the web including adding the results of the analysis of surveys and questionnaires distributed through the network, every three months.
  6. Generate a profile owned by the civil society organizations of Africa and Latin America that can serve to improve our understanding of our challenges, needs and our potential to improve peace, security, governance and development in Africa and Latin America.

Methodology:

Every three months a short survey to explore who we are, what we do, and how we think about peace and security will be sent out to the network. With the answers, SaferAfrica will analyse results and publish them in the web. Thus, every three months there will be a focus on an aspect of our constitution that will illuminate commonalities in problems, approaches and solutions to the problem of peace and security in the South. The first survey will be launched on September 6th, 2005 and its analysis will be placed in the web on December 1st, launching simultaneously a second survey and so forth.