In July 2025, Sierra Leone’s civil society took its place on the regional stage as Musa Ansumana Soko represented the country at the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS) Coastal West Africa Dialogue on Prevention and Peacebuilding held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Participating in his capacity as the Country Focal Point of the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS), Musa joined government officials, development partners, regional organisations, international financial institutions, United Nations agencies, researchers, and civil society leaders from across West Africa to explore practical solutions for strengthening peace, resilience, and nationally owned prevention strategies.
The two-day dialogue served as a timely platform for examining the region’s evolving peace and security landscape while reaffirming the importance of inclusive governance, local ownership, and cross-border cooperation in preventing conflict before it escalates.
A Strategic Dialogue for a Changing Region
The IDPS Coastal West Africa Dialogue brought together 55 representatives from IDPS constituencies and partner institutions to reflect on emerging trends in peace, development, and security while identifying opportunities to strengthen nationally led prevention and peacebuilding efforts.
Building on the outcomes of the 2024 dialogue in Accra, participants explored how governments, civil society, regional bodies, and international partners can work together to address increasingly complex challenges, including violent extremism, democratic backsliding, climate insecurity, economic pressures, and shrinking civic space.
A central message throughout the discussions was clear: sustainable peace cannot be imported. It must be designed, owned, and implemented by national actors with communities at the centre.
Representing Sierra Leone’s Civil Society Perspective
As CSPPS Country Focal Point for Sierra Leone, Musa Ansumana Soko brought the perspectives and experiences of Sierra Leonean civil society organisations working on peacebuilding, democratic governance, youth participation, accountability, and conflict prevention.
Drawing on Sierra Leone’s post-conflict recovery journey, he highlighted the importance of:
- Community-led peacebuilding initiatives.
- Meaningful youth participation in governance and decision-making.
- National ownership of prevention strategies.
- Strong partnerships between governments and civil society.
- Inclusive approaches that empower women, young people, and local communities.
- Integrating development, peace, and security into coherent policy frameworks.
Sierra Leone’s experience demonstrates that long-term stability is strengthened when communities are actively engaged in identifying risks, resolving disputes, and contributing to national development.
Moving Beyond Security to Human Security
One of the defining themes of the dialogue was the need to move beyond traditional security responses toward a broader human security approach.
Participants acknowledged that military and law enforcement measures alone cannot address the root causes of conflict. Instead, sustainable prevention requires investments in education, livelihoods, climate resilience, governance, social inclusion, and equitable development.
For border communities across West Africa, where governance gaps, limited services, unemployment, climate pressures, and insecurity often intersect, prevention must be holistic and responsive to local realities.
This perspective closely aligns with Sierra Leone’s own efforts to promote development as a pathway to lasting peace.
The Critical Role of Civil Society
Throughout the discussions, civil society was recognised as an indispensable partner in conflict prevention, dialogue facilitation, reconciliation, and accountability.
Community organisations often serve as the first responders to emerging tensions, helping raise awareness, build trust, and connect citizens with institutions. Yet participants also acknowledged that civil society actors remain underfunded and are frequently excluded from formal decision-making processes.
The dialogue called for stronger partnerships that recognise civil society not merely as implementers but as equal partners in shaping national prevention strategies and monitoring their implementation.
For CSPPS and its national focal points, this represents an opportunity to bridge the gap between grassroots realities and regional policy discussions.
Investing in Women and Youth as Peacebuilders
Another major outcome of the dialogue was the recognition that women and young people must play a central role in prevention and peacebuilding efforts.
Participants advocated for greater implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security, including stronger representation of women and youth in formal peacebuilding structures and decision-making platforms.
The dialogue also encouraged peer learning among countries that have developed Youth, Peace and Security strategies while promoting practical approaches to engaging women and young people, particularly in rural and underserved communities.
For Sierra Leone, where youth constitute a significant proportion of the population, investing in their leadership and participation remains essential for sustaining peace and democratic governance.
National Prevention Strategies: A New Direction
A key discussion focused on the value of developing comprehensive National Prevention Strategies that bring together existing peacebuilding, development, and security initiatives under a common vision.
Rather than creating new structures, participants emphasised building on existing achievements, grounding strategies in evidence and data, ensuring inclusive consultations, and linking policy with practical implementation.
Importantly, these strategies should be nationally led, adequately financed through domestic resources, and independently monitored with active civil society participation to promote transparency and accountability.
For countries like Sierra Leone, this approach offers an opportunity to consolidate progress while addressing emerging risks in a coordinated and sustainable manner.
Strengthening Regional Cooperation
The dialogue also highlighted the growing importance of cross-border collaboration between Coastal West Africa and the Sahel.
Participants recognised that challenges such as violent extremism, organised crime, displacement, climate change, and economic instability do not respect national boundaries and therefore require coordinated regional responses.
IDPS was encouraged to facilitate greater dialogue among governments, civil society, and regional organisations while promoting evidence-based policymaking, peer learning, and shared accountability across countries.
These recommendations reinforce the importance of regional solidarity in addressing common challenges and building resilience.
Bringing Regional Learning Back Home
Participation in the IDPS Dialogue provides valuable opportunities for Sierra Leonean civil society to strengthen national programming through lessons learned from neighbouring countries.
Discussions on inclusive governance, prevention financing, climate security, evidence-based policymaking, and local ownership can help inform future initiatives aimed at strengthening resilience and reducing the drivers of conflict.
Equally, Sierra Leone’s own experience in post-conflict recovery continues to offer practical insights for countries facing similar transitions.
A Reflection from Musa Ansumana Soko
“The future of peacebuilding in West Africa depends on our ability to move from reactive responses to proactive prevention that is nationally owned and locally driven. Communities, especially young people and women, must not be viewed merely as beneficiaries but as architects of sustainable peace. The IDPS Dialogue reaffirmed that lasting stability can only be achieved when governments, civil society, and development partners work together to strengthen inclusive governance, human security, and evidence-based prevention strategies. Sierra Leone’s experience offers valuable lessons, but we also have much to learn from our neighbours as we collectively build a more resilient region.”
Conclusion
As West Africa confronts evolving security threats, democratic transitions, climate pressures, and socio-economic inequalities, platforms such as the IDPS Coastal West Africa Dialogue provide an essential space for dialogue, learning, and coordinated action.
By representing Sierra Leone’s civil society at this important regional forum, Musa Ansumana Soko reinforced the country’s commitment to nationally owned peacebuilding while ensuring that grassroots experiences contribute to shaping regional policy.
The dialogue ultimately demonstrated that prevention is not simply a security agenda but a development imperative rooted in inclusive governance, local ownership, regional cooperation, and meaningful citizen participation. Through continued engagement in platforms such as CSPPS and IDPS, Sierra Leone is well positioned to contribute to a more peaceful, resilient, and prosperous West Africa.