COMESA has concluded the validation of the study on Climate Change, Peace and Security for the Northern Cluster under the Africa Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) IV European Union (EU) programme.
The validation is aligned with the Decision of the 18th Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs which “called on the Member States to support the conclusion of cluster specific studies on the nexus between climate change, peace and security through validation exercises and provide practical recommendations to enhance preparedness and address effects of climate change”.
About two years ago, in 2021, COMESA Secretariat conducted a regional mapping study to understand the nexus between climate change, peace and security. Considering the dynamics within the region, the study recommended an approach that would cluster the region into five fairly homogeneous clusters namely Northern, Southern, Tropics, Horn and the Islands. The clustering would ensure an in-depth study and understanding of the region.
The cluster studies were concluded in 2023 and four of them validated including for the Horn, Tropics, Southern and Island clusters. The validation meetings took place in Entebbe, Uganda and Harare, Zimbabwe. The validations are meant to get inputs from subject area experts in the region to enrich the reports.
The remaining Northern Cluster study was validated on 30 – 31 January 2024 in Kenya. Experts that participated were drawn from the region including from the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations International Organisation on Migration (IOM), Center for the Study of Conflict and Violence (CSVR), Save The Children International, Horn of Africa Youth Network, academia and COMESA Staff from the Climate Change and Governance, Peace and Security units.
With the validation of the Northern Africa cluster study, COMESA is now in a good position to proceed to the next step of consolidating the five cluster studies into one regional policy document. This will be further validated by government experts from the Member States. Thereafter, the regional policy document will be presented to COMESA’s Policy Organs for adoption to guide its work on climate security.