GPPAC has received funding which is earmarked to promote response actions in GPPAC regions. Many of the regions engaged in the EWER programme have been working on early warning systems but are not yet fully ready to implement early response actions. Therefore, the Working Group has looked for ways to provide a bridge from early warning to early response, and has determined that promoting situation assessment and planning for early response and/or conflict prevention would represent one important advance towards greater response capability. In August 2008, the EWER programme launched the Mobilising Early Reponse Project in three pilot areas: Central America, Transnistria/Moldova and Kenya.

The overall objectives of this initiative include the following:

• To enhance the capacity of several GPPAC regions to respond to existing or emerging situations that threaten to result in violence;
• To perform situation assessments of designated conflicts in order to deepen understanding of their causes and dynamics; and
• To develop, based on the assessment, specific and agreed plans for the prevention of violent conflict in the short-, medium-, and long-term.

Expected Outputs:

The process will have two specific outputs, each of which is described in greater detail below:

1. An Assessment Report, based on an Assessment Mission by qualified personnel. Please click here for the assessment report of - Transnistria (5MB) - Central America - Kenya.
2. A Response Plan or Conflict Prevention Plan, which represents the widest consensus possible, that outlines potential initiatives or interventions by a range of actors to address proximate issues or longer-term structural dynamics that threaten to produce violence.

The MER Project has proven to be a useful exercise that has enabled three GPPAC regions to conduct concrete assessments of particular situations and begin the process of determining action plans.  In two of the three cases (Kenya and Moldova/Transdneistria), the regional groups were able to outline specific actions needed to prevent future violence. In the case of Central America (which included Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala), the group gathered considerable information and is planning to conduct additional analyses and plan further action in the coming months. 

While this approach necessary involves the direction of significant resources and attention to specific countries or conflicts, the broader intention is to enhance the capacity of the entire GPPAC region.

Go back to the Early Warning and Early Response homepage.