Addis Ababa — The Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) will be hosting a High Level Policy Dialogue on Conflict and Development in Africa, in Accra, Ghana from 1 - 2 October 2015.

At the request of the African Union, the Capacity Development Division of ECA, prepared three regional studies on the costs and consequences of conflict on development in the Sahel, Great Lakes, and the Horn of Africa. The three landmark regional studies focused on the costs and consequences of conflict on development in the Sahel, Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa region.

The reports also concluded that with the exception of the Great Lakes Regional, all major continuing long-term conflicts are located in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa and are fought by pastoralists or agro-pastoralists. For example, in Sudan and much of the African Sahel, pastoralists have taken the route of armed struggle, seeking autonomy, while others opted for self-rule.

The three studies will be tabled to practitioners at the high level dialogue for discussion and with the ultimate goal of facilitating the uptake and implementations of the major finding and policy recommendations of the studies.

The High Level Policy dialogue aims to gather views of high-level conflict experts at regional, continental and international levels including civil society and other critical stakeholders, on the findings of the studies.

The key messages and recommendations arising from the dialogue will feed into the processes of the African Union and other key regional organizations and provide the basis on which to design comprehensive strategies and policy responses for stakeholders.

For any queries about the Policy Dialogue, please contact:

Ms. Rawda Omar-Clinton

Programme Officer

Capacity Development Division

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

P.O. Box 3005

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Tel.: +251 (0)115 443363

E-mail: romar-clinton@uneca.org