Children are under siege in South Africa, and we are exposing our glaring failures to them; in schools, and in the homes where they are supposed to find sanctuary and be the safest, adolescent girls of all ages are victims of unspeakable violence.
ISWAP, noticing the vacuum created by the death of Shekau, seized the opportunity to move in and present itself as the most prominent violent extremist group in the region, and has deepened its relationship with the Islamic State (IS), thus making itself a global threat and expanding the network and reach of such groups.
African youths have always been, formally or informally, part of the continent’s response to peace and security challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted yet other positive and inherent characteristics of African youth that challenge the negative stereotype that they are synonymous with social disruption and are harbingers of violence
The Lake Chad Basin Regional Strategy for Stabilization, Recovery and Resilience (RSS), adopted in August 2018, identified the eight governors as the primary mechanism for cross-border cooperation as well as domesticating the implementation of this Strategy.
Conflict and violence need to be understood in localised contexts and realities; this allows for an understanding of conflict that is unique to a country’s history and socio-political reality. Eswatini does not exhibit the signs of what the WPS agenda considers conflict.
From a general perspective it can be said that every actor in the Sahel is walking on a tight rope trying to achieve limited objectives, without remaining stuck in the many complexities of the local political milieu.
FAO economist Josef Schmidhuber has suggested that people in low-income countries tend to spend more than 60% of their earnings on food, leaving them particularly at risk. As hunger rises, so too does the potential for socio-economic disruption aimed at governments.
If politics is about who gets what, when, and how, then the political economy of managing diversity, especially in the era of competitive electoral politics, is also crucial to reflect upon.
The alarming rate of coups on the continent are an indicator that firmer measures are required from the AU and respective regional bodies as a deterrent.
Prior to the coups, the continent had already witnessed 7 popular uprisings within the last decade that brought about changes in government. The actions, and inactions, of the military were critical to the outcome of these uprisings.
In the four affected countries of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, widespread insecurity and limited access to health, education and other essential services amid the pandemic threaten to roll back sustainable development gains.
In relation to COVID-19 and its impact, particularly in Kenya, what we are seeing is really a manifestation of what is happening throughout the world. We need to use COVID-19 as a huge wakeup call and call on the solidarity of the youth.
Efforts are being made to ramp up production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa to address the continent’s low rate of vaccination. As of September 2021, there are at least twelve COVID-19 production facilities set up or in the pipeline across six African countries.
The crippling socio-economic and emotional toll of the pandemic has been countered by an inspired, energetic, and resilient youth who have organised, volunteered, and used their generation’s knowledge of technology and global networks to ‘bounce back better.
The uprising in Cabo Delgado has roots in both a rising Islamist presence in the region, and predictable grievances about economic marginalisation, a National Plan of Action for Preventing Violent Extremism is a paramount priority.
The decline in remittances is threatening the stability of millions of families on the African continent. This is why the government and international community should work together to support African households experiencing hardship.
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.
The Upcoming 8th FOCAC Summit gives both Africa and China an opportunity to focus on cooperative efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and on the post-COVID-19 economy.