Issue No: 31/2021

COVID-19 Conflict & Resilience Monitor – 15 September 2021

The Conflict and Resilience Monitor offers monthly blog-size commentary and analysis on the latest conflict-related trends in Africa.

ACCORD COVID-19 Conflict & Resilience Monitor
Photo: Stuart Price/AFP via Getty Images

In this week’s monitor we start with a contribution by Dr Erin McCandless, an associate professor at the University of Witwatersrand, who argues for a comprehensive humanitarian-development-peace nexus approach towards ensuring peace and stability in Cabo Delgado.  Our second contribution is by ACCORD’s own Halima Ahmed, who discusses the impact that COVID-19 has had on remittance flows into Africa and suggests new policies and approaches that can be put in place.

Finally, we end this week’s monitor with an article from Dr Andrea Prah, Katharine Bebington and Keenan Govender of the ACCORD research unit about network multilateralism and its role in peace and security on the continent. This piece is an abridged version of an input challenge paper they have written for the United Nations Foundation in the run-up to the UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report.

Chief Editor: Conflict & Resilience Monitor​
Managing Editor: Conflict & Resilience Monitor
Assistant Editor: Conflict & Resilience Monitor​
ACCORD COVID-19 Conflict & Resilience Monitor
Photo: Joaquim Nhamirre/AFP via Getty Images
COVID-19, Trust between Citizens & Institutions

People-centred pathways to sustain peace in Cabo Delgado

  • Erin McCandless

Violent extremism is often a symptom of state fragility and weak social cohesion. It tends to take root in marginalised areas where the state is not adequately attending to community needs and grievances, which are then easily mobilised. Young people with little hope for their future are particularly vulnerable. While governments tend to pursue ‘hard security’ responses in such contexts, there is a growing awareness that this will not solve the issues. The causes of violent extremism are complex and multifaceted – stemming from a mix of historical, political, economic and social, and psychological push and pull factors, including grievances around economic and political exclusion on the one hand, and ideology and material benefits that transform grievances into violent extremist action, on the other.

Read More
ACCORD COVID-19 Conflict & Resilience Monitor
Photo: Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP via Getty Images
COVID-19, Livelihood Insecurity & Economic Impact

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on migrant remittances in Africa

  • Halima Ahmed

Remittances, which are monies sent home by migrants to their families, are known to provide a financial boost to millions of households. The positive impact that they have is seen in the fact that their flows into Africa surpassed Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and Developmental Aid in 2019 for the first time, reaching a total value of $48 billion. These are only recorded flows; the true size of remittance flows, however, including those through informal channels, is often predicted to be even larger.

Read More
ACCORD COVID-19 Conflict & Resilience Monitor
Photo: Stuart Price/AFP via Getty Images
COVID-19, Political Unrest or Violence

Leveraging Networked Multilateralism for Effective Peace Support Operations in Africa

  • Andrea Prah
  • Katharine Bebington
  • Keenan Govender

In Africa, a key issue with which the continent has faced for decades has been that of persistent insecurity, instability and high levels of transnational organised crime, thus hindering the continent’s economic development. To that end, the African Union Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) was implemented in 2002. The APSA and other African institutions do not exist in isolation.  There are a number of examples of networked multilateralism in Africa, where regional and global institutions work together to pursue peace and stability on the continent, including in the area of peace support operations.

Read More

Do you have information to share?

Does any of this information look incorrect to you, or do you have anything to share from your experience on the ground in an African country?

If so, please complete our contact form – we would love to hear from you!

ACCORD recognizes its longstanding partnerships with the European Union, and the Governments of Canada, Finland, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, UK, and USA.

TRANSLATE THIS PAGE