Analytical note N° 01| FES P S S C C C limitations of crisis prevention, management and resolution mechanisms in the ECOWAS region and civil society’s contribution to their review and updating Dr. Serigne Bamba Gaye September 2023 Summary ECOWAS has set up mechanisms to promote de­mocracy and strengthen collective security within its borders. These mechanisms have produced mixed results since their creation at the end of the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The military coups that have taken place in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger over the last three years have shown the limits of these mechanisms and the need to review them in order to adapt them to the ever changing political, security and geopolitical context in West Africa. This is a major challenge that ECOWAS will have to overcome successfully if it intends to preserve its central position as the organisation responsible for maintaining collective security in this part of the continent and promot­ing democracy for the well-being of its peoples. This document addresses this issue by focusing on the role that civil society should play in reviewing and updating the mechanisms for crisis preven­tion, management and resolution within ECOWAS, and by making recommendations to ensure that this review is successful. Introduction On 26 July 2023, a putsch led by General Tchiani overthrew Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected President of Niger in 2021. This successful putsch was the 6 th in the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) in three years. Faced with the disruption of the constitutional order in this country, ECOWAS reacted strongly by applying sanctions against Niger on several levels: diplomatic, political, economic and monetary. These sanctions are intended to isolate the junta and force it to return the democratically elected president to power. Meanwhile, ECOWAS has decided to deploy its standby force in readiness for military intervention in Niger if the diplomatic efforts underway are not successful. The determination of the regional organisa­tion in dealing with this coup d’état and the reluctance of the mutineers to give in to pressure from ECOWAS offer little prospect of a peaceful solution to this crisis. However, many actors fear a military intervention with unpredictable consequences for Niger and the stability of the Sahel. In their opinion, the diplomatic and political option should be prioritised, even if for the moment this option is finding it difficult to make headway. Recent visits to Niger by tradi­tional leaders and religious dignitaries from Nigeria justify their preference for a peaceful resolution to this crisis. But beyond these individual initiatives, the question is how to fit them into a consistent framework such as Protocol A/ SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance additional to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security of ECOWAS? Are these mechanisms still relevant 1