GLEEHD Foundation for Leadership and International Development in partnership with The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) part of the University of London, Rostra Consulting and Amandla Consulting announces its 1st “West and Central Africa Security, Counter-Insurgency and Counter-Terrorism Summit 2014” coming up on the 29th September to the 1st October, 2014.
This high level security summit will bring together senior government officials, diplomats, Defence and law enforcement professionals, and stakeholders, from across West and Central Africa, and Europe in order to share best practices, as well as champion greater regional integration and cooperation. The conference supports and seeks to contribute to a unified response to insecurity and insurgency as the most effective way to fight terrorism in Africa.
Participants will include representatives from National Security Councils, Military and Defence Agencies, Ministry of Internal/Home Affairs, Border Security, Disaster Management and Emergency Management Unit and the diplomatic community- ECOWAS member states, US AFRICOM, United Nations, the African Union, UK House of Lords, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Funding Security Projects, Chatham House, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK and US intelligence agencies, special envoys, mediators and other senior officials involved in nonstop effort to promote peace, security and stability in Africa. Others will include expert scholars, leading journalists, security bloggers and African youths.
The summit will be held in London, Washington and Nigeria. While in London, participants will;
· Meet with top European government ministers, counter-terrorism chiefs, private sector security companies in areas like policing, cyber-security, border security etc.
· Network with top European investors who are not put off by the news coverage on West and Central Africa and want to help their economies grow.
The Washington Summit would promote collaboration between North American, West and Central African security sector stakeholders. Session presentations would also include a Cross-National & Comparative Study of Counter-Terrorism Policies and Strategies. The input from this conference will help West and Central African nations understand how to man, equip and train the army to deal with counter-insurgencies now and in the future.
The Nigerian session would be a discussion with key policy experts on counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency efforts in Nigeria, West and Central African sub-regions, drawing on the outcomes and lessons learnt from both London and Washington conference.
Prior to the London Summit, a conference on “The role of Civil Society Organizations in Tackling Insurgency and Terrorism in West and Central Africa” will hold in Lagos, Nigeria bringing together CSO representatives and government to explore collaborative approach between CSO and security agencies in tackling the threat of terrorism.