Regional Advisory Committee

BEFORE is committed to regional and local expertise, letting stakeholders take the lead on the peace and prevention process whenever possible. This is embodied in our regional Advisory Committees. Composed of regional peacebuilding and violent conflict prevention experts, the Advisory Committee of each region selects which countries could benefit from BEFORE involvement, monitors the work of each assessment mission, and recommends intervention, if it is necessary and feasible. Participating as necessary in local, regional, and international advocacy efforts, in cooperation with the Secretariat, Lead Agency and Governing Board.

Advisory Committee for West Africa

The West Africa Steering Committee oversees BEFORE activities in its region, encompassing Senegal, Cape Verde, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon.

The Advisory Committee for West Africa Members include:

• Dr. Lulsegged A. Abebe

  Dr. Abebe has over 25 years of experience in international relations, development, management and humanitarian assistance. Dr. Abebe joined International Alert in 2002 and since 2004 has worked as a Program Manager for West Africa Program. He is a member of the Royal African Society and the Editorial Board of Cosmopolis (quarterly online magazine on “international democracy” and “transnational relations”). Dr. Abebe’s recent publications include: “Diamonds: Facing the Challenge of Peace” (2010), “Natural Resources Conflicts in West Africa: The Case of Niger River Basin” (2009), “Ethiopia: A year after the elections” (2006), “The Church as a Third Party Intervener in Resolving Conflict” (2003). He holds a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.

• Dr. Kwesi Aning

  Dr. Aning currently serves as Head, Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD). Prior to taking up his new position in January 2007, he served as the African Union’s first Expert on Counter-terrorism, defense and security with responsibility for implementing the continental counter-terrorism strategy and oversight of the African Center for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) in Algiers, Algeria. Dr. Aning holds a doctorate from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His primary research interests deal with African security issues broadly, comparative politics, terrorism and conflicts. He has taught in several universities in Europe and Africa and was recently given an adjunct professorship with the 34th External Session of The Hague Academy of International Law.

  Dr. Aning’s recent publications have appeared in Journal of Asian and African Studies, Encyclopedia of African History and African Security Review. He reviews for several scholarly journals and serves on diverse Boards.

• Brigadier Vere Hayes

  For more than two years, working with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Brigadier Hayes was responsible for delivering courses in peace support operations doctrine and techniques to the nations within Southern African Development Community (SADC). He has practical experience of such operations at command and principal staff officer level in Northern Iraq and Bosnia. Since retiring from the British army he has assisted United States Institute of Peace, Concordis International and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO) in conflict prevention, security sector reform and ceasefire negotiations. He has been engaged with BEFORE on conflict prevention in Guinea-Bissau for several years and acts as military adviser to their West Africa Regional Steering Committee. Since January 2008 he has been working with United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) as Training Adviser on the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army Transformation Project. Hayes’ military appointments include Commander British Military Advisory and Training Team (Harare), Commander 2 (SE) Brigade in UK, Chief of Staff at the United Nations Headquarters in Bosnia Herzegovina and Commander of British Forces in Iraq.

• Dr. Dane F. Smith, Jr.

  Dr. Smith is a consultant on peace-building. He is a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Washington D.C., where he is writing a book on US Government modes of peace-building. He is adjunct professor at the American University. On behalf of BEFORE, he led a multinational team to Guinea September 2008 for a preliminary study on possible conflict prevention initiatives. From 1999 to 2003, he served as President of the National Peace Corps Association, the alumni group for former U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers. Dr. Smith served as U.S. Ambassador to Senegal 1996-99. In 1995-96 Smith was Special Presidential Envoy for Liberia. He was U.S. Ambassador to Guinea 1990-93. Dr. Smith earned his A.B. from Harvard College and a PhD in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He also studied at the Union Theological Seminary in New York.

• Dr. Lydia Umar

  Dr. Umar is a Nigerian educationist and teacher with more than 25-years of experience. She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction (Social Studies) from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria in 2001. Dr. Umar started her career in the NGO-sector as a development practitioner in 1997. In 2003 and 2004 she was beneficiary of the UPEACE Faculty and Staff Development Seminars. In 2004 & 2008 she trained at the West Africa Peace Institute (WAPI). She has participated in developing training manuals and serving as a trainer/ facilitator on gender, conflict resolution and peace-building workshops. Currently she serves as the Executive Director of Gender Awareness Trust (GAT), a Nigerian NGO. Dr. Umar holds appointments in several boards namely, the West Africa Network on Peace (WANEP) Regional & Nigerian Board in charge of Training and Capacity Building, Women in Peace Building Network (WIPNET), Coordinating Committee Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN) and Gender and Constitution Reform Network. She has been member of the BEFORE West Africa Steering Committee since May 2008.