The West African sub-region has endured over two decades of civil wars andother violent intrastate conflicts that have resulted in the deaths, injuries and displacements of thousands of West Africans and contributed to the stagnation of the sub-region’s development. Though the sub-region is recovering from these unfortunate experiences, the root causes of conflicts such as colonial legacies, poverty, and marginalisation of groups, ethnic tensions, corruption and poor governance persist in all countries and in varying degrees.

In its efforts to ensure long term peace, stability and development in West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF) to tackle both the structural and proximate causes of conflicts in the sub-region. In providing a comprehensive operational strategy for conflict prevention and peace-building, the ECPF recognised civil society as a sector which can make a substantial contribution towards transforming conflicts in West Africa.