ACCORD has adapted to the new COVID-19 reality, refocusing and restructuring a significant proportion of its staff and its effort on identifying & monitoring, tracking &, analysing, and preparing & responding to COVID-19 related social-unrest and violent conflict in Africa.
Through our networks across Africa, and supported by available online data, ACCORD identifies COVID-19 related incidents and trends that may provide early warning of rising tensions that could develop into social unrest and violent conflict. Once the incidents are captured in the dataset, ACCORD analyses the trends and publishes a weekly COVID-19 Africa Conflict and Resilience Monitor, in order to share the information and analysis with all stakeholders.
ACCORD then works with its in-country networks and other local, regional, continental and international partners and stakeholders, to encourage and support interventions aimed at mitigating, and where possible preventing, COVID-19 related social unrest and violent conflict.
Our July edition of the Monitor pays tribute to the founding Editor of ACCORD’s African Journal on Conflict Resolution (AJCR), Prof. Jannie Malan, who passed away this month. The Founder and Executive Director, Dr Gounden, reflects on the immense contribution made by Prof. Malan at ACCORD and in the field of peace studies.
Dr Linda Darkwa’s articles offers insights on strategies to advance gender equality, and makes a case for why the militarisation of peace operations can be viewed as an opportunity to advance gender equality.
Dr Fiifi Edu-Afful, writes about the withdrawal of United Nations’ (UN) peacekeeping missions, particularly in Africa, which have raised pertinent questions about what follows once the UN has exited. He makes a case for a need to end the side-lining of African regional organisations/mechanisms in regional stability after departure of UN operations.
The last article in this edition is written by Boikanyo Nkwatle and deals with one of the important aspects in South Africa’s election cycle, which is the demarcation of ward boundaries ahead of the local government elections in 2026. In addition to reflecting about the state of local government politics in South Africa, the article also provides an overview of processes and outcomes of some of the ward delineations that are currently underway in the country.
On 23 June 2025 we said goodbye to Professor Jannie Malan—a founding pillar of ACCORD’s Research Department, a revered scholar of peace, and, above all, a deeply compassionate human being.
The effective implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in African peace operations requires strategic pragmatism. Rather than viewing militarisation as antithetical to gender equality, it can serve as an opportunity to embed gender sensitivity into the core of peace operations.
The United Nations (UN) and its peacekeeping missions are currently at critical crossroads. One structural obstacle with most UN transitions is the sidelining of African regional organizations.
If you are able to share information from your experiences on the ground with the crisis in Africa, we'd really like to hear from you. Please get in touch!
