This book is part of the outputs of the work by the centre for Democracy & Movement (CDD) in collaboration with the West Africa Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) on conflict prevention. The two organizations have been engaged in series of activities on early warning and early response to conflicts in West Africa. The central objective of the programme has been to build the capacity of civil society in West Africa in monitoring governance and human security in the region. This has been pursued within the context of ECOWAS Early Warning, Early Response (ECWARN) mechanism developed by ECOWAS and the West African Network for peace (WANEP). The mechanism has 94 indicators covering eleven thematic areas. This elaborate indicators and thematic areas are not user friendly for civil society. In addition, the operation of the ECOWARN mechanism has been restricted to ECOWAS and WANEP focal persons and is not open to the wider civil society. It is on this basis the CDD worked closely with the ECOWAS early warning department at a workshope in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in December 2006 to review, synthesise and reduce the indicators to 42 covering four thematic areas. 

CONTENTS

1. The Historical And Socio- Economic Context….............P. 3

2. Casamance …………………………………….........................…P. 59

3. Guinea Bissau And Cape Verde ………………................…P. 101

4. Senegambia, Ecowas and the Way forward ……...........p. 119