By Amin Kef (Ranger)
The Government of Sierra Leone and partners, with the financial support of the European Union and the German Government, on the 1st June,2023 concluded the validation of the National Early Warning Centre for the Coordination of Response Mechanism’s five-year Strategic Plan.
Establishment of the National Early Warning and Response Mechanism Centre (NEWRMC) Sierra Leone, known in some ECOWAS member States as National Centre for the Coordination of Response Mechanism (NCCRM), is an initiative of the ECOWAS Commission as part of its mechanism for conflict prevention, management and resolution.
It aims to provide a platform for information gathering and sharing on threats on human security within the sub region, in a timely fashion that will trigger early response.
The NEWRMC was set up by the Government of Sierra Leone in 2021, as part of the fulfillment of its regional obligations to the ECOWAS Commission in shaping Sierra Leone’s national early warning and response mechanisms.
To deliver on its strategic mandate, the Centre has developed a Five-Year Strategic Plan outlining its medium to long-term vision and goals, as well as roadmap for achieving those goals. The Strategic Plan enables the Centre to align its resources, operations, and processes towards achieving common objectives, which will result to an efficient and effective delivery of its core mandate to the people of Sierra Leone.
The validation workshop brought together a host of institutions and professionals who joined the Centre staff and the experts, actively participated in the validation exercise organized by the National Early Warning and Response Mechanism Centre Sierra-Leone supported by EU and Germany through the GIZ-ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) project.
Financed by the European Union and the German Government, the EPSAO Project supports the ECOWAS Commission in its mandate to address regional peace and security threats through strengthening of capacities in four crucial policy areas including: Peace Support Operations, Conflict Prevention, Security Sector Reform and Governance, and Electoral Affairs.
The EPSAO Projects addresses the root causes of conflict and promotes multilateral interventions and the implementation of sub-regional and continental strategies to address challenges to human security. Across all its interventions, the project highlights the role of women and marginalized groups in peace and security processes as a backbone for fostering inclusive and sustainable peace.
