Theme: Trust between Citizens & Institutions

The 34th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) Assembly took place without the usual fanfare. Held away from the gaze of the public via an online platform courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AU summit set by design a very limited agenda. Apart from the transition of the leadership of the AU Assembly from South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa to Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and an update on the institutional reform of the AU, the summit focused, in the main, on the election of the new leadership of the AU Commission and Africa’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 15th of February 2021 will go down in history as the day on which a woman, and an African, was elected for the first time to the important post of Director-General of the WTO. It is a proud day for women all around the world and a proud day for all of us in Africa. However, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had to wait several months for a change in the administration of the United States before there could be consensus on her appointment, despite her having the support of the overwhelming majority of the members of the WTO. This very fact underscores the vital importance of this job at this particular juncture in our world.

The dawn of 2020 heralded an auspicious beginning for four defining initiatives with particular significance for Africa: the historic agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); the African Union (AU) theme on Silencing the Guns 2020: Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development; and two notable anniversaries related to women, peace and security (WPS). These were the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the 20th anniversary of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 (2000). It is worth recalling that the WPS agenda was established by UNSC Resolution 1325 and seeks to empower women in efforts aimed at preventing and ending conflict, and building and sustaining peace. Unfolding against this backdrop was one of the greatest threats to global health.

Twenty-five elections were scheduled for 2020 in Africa. While some states chose to postpone their elections, citing COVID-19, others opted to continue. Holding elections during a pandemic has resulted in a number of new challenges. Some states have exhibited resilience by managing to conduct well-run elections, despite COVID-19. However, in other cases, attempts to conduct elections during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased tensions, undermined trust in democracy and contributed to election-related violence.

COVID-19 has significantly impacted peace processes in Africa, but it has also offered opportunities, however small, for peace. On 23 March 2020, United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) António Guterres made an appeal, echoed by African Union (AU) Chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa, for a global ceasefire in an effort to redirect attention and resources to fighting COVID-19. In the context of the AU’s campaign to “Silence the Guns”, the UNSG explained that ceasefires would create more space for humanitarian services and diplomatic intervention in conflict areas. While experiences of conflict on the African continent may have presented conditions that are highly unlikely to result in any immediate ceasefires, some African cases have presented significant and interesting responses to the UNSG’s call. This piece briefly examines the trajectory of the seven African cases of ceasefires in relation to COVID-19, and looks at the implications for silencing of the guns.

What will governance and public service be like post COVID-19? We will not and should not revert to “business as usual” after this crisis. We should draw on the maxim from the United Nations (UN) 2030 agenda – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – to “leave no one behind” in achieving a more sustainable, equitable, inclusive and secure/peaceful future. We should start a dialogue about the current and future implications of COVID-19 on governance and public service.

The 2020 United States of America (USA) elections were held during a deadly COVID-19 pandemic wherein many countries’ economies declined, and civil and human rights were suspended. Globally, the pandemic outbreak seriously questioned the traditions and norms, even in elections management. Many countries’ elections, by-elections, referenda, and all civic matters like meetings in villages, towns or cities were suspended indefinitely following subsequent lockdowns. Similarly, conflict resolution efforts, especially in Africa, were also adversely affected as security was tightened increasingly through lockdowns, and curtailment of inter-state travel.

COVID-19 has been quite a challenge to the world. It has made us question so many of the things we took for granted. It has changed the outlook and stereotypes we had about the world and humanity. For example, nobody imagined that with the current developments in technology and medicine, a pandemic could bring the world to its knees like this one has. COVID-19 has also questioned the impression we in Africa had that pandemics kill so many of our people, because of our lack of resources in terms of knowledge and facilities. This pandemic has shown that the world realities are more complex than we thought we know and we have mastered.

In a year dedicated to Silencing the Guns (STG) in Africa, the world has been plunged into a global pandemic that risks reversing the gains made on the peace and security front on the continent, either by creating new forms of conflicts or exacerbating already-existing ones. While the African Union (AU) and regional economic communities (RECs) – such as the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) – concurrently seek to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic while attending to rising conflicts, this piece spotlights the agency of youth in the region and why it matters in emerging conflicts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought multiple challenges to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as a region and to its member states. Some of these challenges include the unavailability of medicines and health equipment, food insecurity, gender-based violence and a negative impact on the economies of member states. Whilst the pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges, the region has continued to defy some of the early forecasting that Africa would be hardest hit by COVID-19, following what happened in developed countries with better-resourced health systems. The region has thus shown a greater degree of resilience, demonstrating that lessons are not only learnt from developed countries.