KPAC24: Annual Conference Report

On 19 November 2024 KPAC24 opened at Gorée Island in Dakar, Senegal. The conference gathered 200 participants from all over the region, the Netherlands and beyond under the theme of ‘Building Trust, Pacifying Power and Connecting Realities’. The aim of this theme was capture the latest trends of quickly changing power structures and a crisis of legitimacy of democracy – changes both present at geopolitical level and regionally in the Sahel. These developments are paired with an environment of increasing distrust and shrinking civic space, but also increasingly disconnected realities, both within and between countries. Building trust, pacifying power and connecting realities are ingredients to counter these trends:

• Building trust is needed to be able to work together both at multilateral and at community level. Without it, there is no basis to take risks together to tackle shared challenges. To put it economically, the ‘transaction costs’ in society are far higher without trust.
• Connecting realities can contribute to building trust. It nuances dominant narratives and shows the layered, often even conflicting realities that different people face from their position or context.
• Pacifying power is a way to take the edges off the changing power structures. Support for strong leaders is increasing and multilateral institutions’ regulations are no longer a given. Pacifying power means ensuring checks and balances in these new structures and making sure those that govern have the capacities to listen to people and answer their needs.

This report captures the main points and recommendations per KPAC session. Chapter 2 covers insights from Dakar, chapter 3 covers insights from The Hague. The content of those reports are based on notes taken during KPAC, though shortened to limit the size of this report. It highlights insights and recommendations that were not necessarily object of consensus among all participants. The session leads had the opportunity to check the summaries of their respective sessions. In chapter 4 and 5, the KPSRL Secretariat has distilled key findings for its network and formulates follow up in 2025.