Leading the Search in Guinea-Conakry

In May 2008 I was selected by the West Africa Steering Committee to lead the BEFORE assessment mission to Guinea-Conakry. Having been there on an assignment as the US Ambassador in the 90s, I was more than happy to return and to lead a team of four key experts:

• Gen. Lamine Cissé of Senegal, who had recently completed a stint as Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary General for West Africa,
• Ms. Elizabeth Coté, Director of IFES-Guinea,
• Dr. Siba Grovogui, a Guinean-American Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University, and
• The Honorable Yasmin-Jusu-Sheriff from the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone.

Every team member was responsible for different sectors within society — women, unions, political parties, rule of law and security forces.

Our assessment task meant we meet with a wide range of stakeholders and international actors already at work in Guinea to develop a clear understanding of the origins of possible violence. We then assessed what might be done by BEFORE to help forestall a major political crisis. We were also asked to identify potential local organizations to work with BEFORE to implement it’s conflict prevention program.

Everywhere the team went, we asked whether there was a place for BEFORE involvement and whether assistance would be well received. In all cases the answer was positive. We met with many people, who contributed to our understanding of the situation in Guinea. We were particularly impressed by a group of Elders. This inter-ethnic Committee of about 50 men, with co-chairmen from the four regions of Guinea, welcomed us to a modest and sweltering room in Conakry suburb. Their spokesman gave us perhaps the most succinct analysis of the political situation and of the dangerous course of a government which had completely lost touch with its people.

By the end of the trip, we had talked to numerous civil society groups anxious to stop the country’s drift toward civil conflict. With the help of local stakeholders, we came to the conclusion that the most urgent element of a violence prevention strategy in Guinea-Conakry was to provide support for popular demands for prompt and fair elections.

We believe BEFORE and its supporters can successfully support civil society groups, especially women, to help prevent political violence in Guinea.

Ambassador Dane Smith, Jr.
Leader, BEFORE Guinea Assessment Team
Member, BEFORE West African Steering Committee
Senior Associate, Center for Strategic & International Studies
Adjunct Professor, American University