Overview

The Great Lakes, Central Africa, and the Horn of Africa have been a longstanding focus of CPPF programming, given the organization’s deep knowledge and experience, and the breadth of UN investments in these areas. CPPF has supported the development of regional strategies in these regions and the good offices of various UN Special Envoys. Ongoing programming has also focused on the Sahel region and country-specific cases through the prevention lens across the continent. In addition to working with UN Headquarters in New York, CPPF collaborates with a number of UN missions such as MINUSCA (Central African Republic), MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo), UNOCA (Central Africa), UNMISS (South Sudan), and the recently established UNITAMS (Sudan) to take stock of developing trends over a multitude of issues such as armed groups, displacement, political dialogues, and electoral processes. Drawing from CPPF’s vast networks of scholars and practitioners who work on or in the region, CPPF has helped UN officials and their international partners identify new methods of engagement to better address the regional political, security, and economic dynamics driving violence in the region.

Current Projects:
Abyei: CPPF has begun planning for a virtual workshop on models of shared sovereignty and how these may be applied to the context of Sudan and South Sudan concerning the contested Abyei area.
Central Africa Climate Change: As part of its continued support to the CSM and UNOCA, CPPF is planning a series of research briefs on environmental security issues in Central Africa. Also, at the request of UNOCA and the UN Climate Security Mechanism, CPPF is planning a third in a series of workshops that will bring together the UN, the Economic Community of Central African States, and the African Union around a shared analysis of climate-related risks in the Central African sub-region. Finally, CPPF will organize a workshop to present and discuss the conflict and deforestation platform produced by Project Canopy in collaboration with CPPF.
Great Lakes Special Envoys & Region Retreat: CPPF is in discussion with the Office of the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes and Switzerland to plan the 2023 annual retreat of special envoys to the Great Lakes. This initiative, currently in its ninth year, provides a unique platform for international and regional stakeholders to exchange with experts on and from the region and with each other.
Cameroon: DPPA has requested CPPF support for an expert workshop on Cameroon and options for UN engagement.
Niger: At the request of DPPA and the Resident Coordinator, CPPF is planning to convene an expert workshop on Niger and regional dynamics, with a focus on prevention. This workshop will help prepare a Regional Monthly Review (RMR) meeting and will follow the SG’s high-level panel report on the Sahel.
Liberia: CPPF is in discussion with DPPA about convening an expert workshop following the first post-UN transition elections in the country, currently scheduled for October 2023. This workshop will help inform the recently re-activated UN inter-agency forum on Liberia and the UN’s engagement with the country post-peacekeeping.