This policy brief draws on insights from the West Africa Peace and Security Dialogue to examine how community-level responses to conflict and insecurity can be better connected to regional cooperation frameworks and international partnerships. It sets out practical recommendations for policymakers, practitioners, and partners working to advance sustainable peace in the region.
Admin Wapsed
-
WAPSeD 2025 Dialogue
A multi-day regional convening bringing together policymakers, researchers, civil society, and young peacebuilders from across West Africa to discuss shared peace and security priorities across six focus areas.
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
-
Reflections from the WAPSeD 2025 Dialogue
The WAPSeD 2025 Dialogue brought together policymakers, researchers, civil society actors, and young peacebuilders from across West Africa for several days of conversation in Abuja. What stood out most was not any single session, but the throughline across all of them: that sustainable peace in the region depends on connecting grassroots experience with regional policy, not treating the two as separate conversations.
Across the week, discussions moved through six focus areas: conflict prevention and peacebuilding, preventing violent extremism, women’s participation in peace and security, youth leadership, climate and human security, and regional cooperation. Each session reinforced a shared conviction among participants: that lasting solutions have to be locally grounded and regionally coordinated at the same time.
