July 21, 2011
International Monetary Fund

Abstract:

This paper identifies the factors linked to cross-country differentials in growth performance in the aftermath of social conflict for 30 sub-Saharan African countries using panel data techniques. Our results show that changes in the terms of trade are the most important correlate of economic performance in post-conflict environments. This variable is typically associated with an increase in the marginal probability of positive economic performance by about 30 percent. Institutional quality emerges as the second most important factor. Foreign aid is shown to have very limited ability to explain differentials in growth performance, and other policy variables such as trade openness are not found to have a statistically significant effect. The results suggest that exogenous factors ("luck") are an important factor in post-conflict recovery. They also highlight the importance in post-conflict settings of policies to mitigate the macroeconomic impact of terms of trade volatility (including countercyclical macroeconomic policies and innovative financing instruments) and of policies to promote export diversification....

January 23, 2009
African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes // African Journal on Conflict Resolution

Abstract:

In Africa, the decade of the nineteen nineties was characterised by civil war and interstate conflict, but as the decade came to a close and a new millennium emerged many of the protracted conflicts in Africa had officially come to an end. The official resolution of conflict in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire has helped stem the rampant instability that has plagued the continent for most of its postcolonial history. With the newly established peace agreements comes an even more critical and difficult challenge of creating peaceful societies in these war-ravaged nations. In order to rebuild a nation, one must examine and acknowledge the root causes of the conflict. One of the most prevalent and underrepresented root causes of conflict in Africa and worldwide is that of horizontal inequalities. In that light, the goal of this paper is to provide practical solutions for the long-term resolution of conflict by addressing one of its root causes, that of horizontal inequalities. Reference will be made to solutions proven successful in past cases where conflict emerged as a result of group inequalities, namely Rwanda and Mali. The paper will take the following form: Section one will look at the current literature on conflict and demonstrate the link between horizontal inequalities and conflict. Section two will focus on the two case studies providing background to the conflict, and the action taken after violent conflict ceased. Section three will be dedicated to the lessons learned from the Malian and the Rwandan experience, including policy recommendations that should be instituted for any nation where horizontal inequalities are a major catalyst of conflict....

June 1, 2006
Sciences Po // Center For Peace And Human Security

Abstract:

Situated in between Ghana and Benin, with a coastline of no more than 56km, Togo is one of Africa's smallest countries. However, what has habitually been a little talked about West African nation holds a long history of political unrest and has recently entered into a phase of instability in the beginning of 2005. Civil society members and organizations are now regrouped in the WANEP network, (West African Network for Peacebuilding) in a joint effort to set a national agenda toward reconciliation, peace and security and lead the way in facing Togo's unprecedented public health, development and education challenges....

October 26, 2004
Crimes of War Project

Abstract:

If a storm can be described as perfect, then the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) in the second half of the 1990s was the "perfect war". Precipitated by the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the fall of the West's client kleptocrat, President Mobutu, and his rotten state, the war in DR Congo was dubbed Africa's First World War. It directly involved the armed forces of six neighbouring states. It drew in factions and rebel groups from other African wars, the remnant armies of defunct neighbouring regimes, and the usual crowd of international profiteers, would-be peacemakers and humanitarians. It was closely connected with armed conflicts in several neighbouring countries, including those in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, and Angola. According to one estimate published in 2003 the war may directly and indirectly have caused the deaths of over 4 million people in DR Congo since 1996. As has become increasingly common in Africa the victims were almost all civilians....

October 15, 2004
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

West Africa is a region with a history of senseless wars that have often targeted civilians rather than combatants. In October 1998, Heads of State and Governments of the 16 member states of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)1 formally signed the Moratorium on the importation, exportation, and manufacture of small arms and light weapons (SALW). ECOWAS Member States adopted a code of conduct as well as a plan of action for the implementation of the Moratorium. The creation of national commissions for the fight against illicit trade and possession of small arm, verification strategies, and introduction of enduser certificates constitute major highlights of the document. This article provides a review of events in West Africa that have challenged the effectiveness and relevance of the Moratorium in addressing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the region....

March 2, 2009
The Jamestown Foundation // Global Terrorism Analysis

Abstract:

The Terrorism Focus is a fortnightly complement to Jamestown’s Terrorism Monitor, providing detailed and timely analysis of developments for policymakers and analysts, informing them of the latest trends in the War on Terror.

February 12, 2009
Foreign Policy

Abstract:

Five rebellions that somehow keep going years after the governments they antagonize declared victory.

July 13, 2006
Project on International Courts and Tribunals // African International Courts and Tribunals

Abstract:

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS/CEDEAO) is well known for its military intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leone. ECOWAS was created in 1975 to replace the Customs Union of West African States originally created in 1959 to redistribute customs duties collected by the coastal states of West Africa. The Treaty on the Economic Community of West African States was revised at the Cotonou Summit of July 1993 to replace the inexistent Tribunal originally envisioned with a Community Court of Justice....

July 13, 2006
Project on International Courts and Tribunals // African International Courts and Tribunals

Abstract:

The Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) is the court of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), one of the most successful regional legal harmonization efforts on the Continent. Unlike the other continental regional integration groups, OHADA does not seek to conform national law to an overarching treaty and successive regulations and directives, which allow national legislature some leeway. Instead, OHADA uses the integration method of issuing binding uniform acts that automatically supercede all prior and future inconsistent national laws. With the goal of creating a secure, simple and modern legal framework for the conduct of business in Africa, OHADA has issued eight uniform acts on general commercial law, commercial companies and economic interest groups, securities, arbitration, simplified recovery procedures and measures of execution, collective insolvency and accounting....

July 13, 2006
Project on International Courts and Tribunals // African International Courts and Tribunals

Abstract:

The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) was established when the CFA was devalued in order to ensure coherent monetary and economic policy among the states of the CFA zone. The Court of Justice is intended to assist in the enforcement of that coherence. The Court of Justice, alongside the Court of Auditors, functions as the juridical arm of WAEMU, with automatic jurisdiction over all Member States of the Union. Avoiding the perennial delays seen in the entry into force of the Protocol Establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Treaty provided that the Protocol on the Court would be an integral part of the Treaty with no need for ratifications. Addressing further the Continental problem of implementation, the Treaty required that the Court come into being within six months of the Treaty entering into force. With financial help from France and the European Union, these Treaty provisions were fulfilled and the first judges of the Court were sworn in on January 27, 1985. Not meeting the three month deadline in the Treaty, the judges fully operationalized the Court by promulgating #the Rules of Procedure in July 1986. In 1997, the addition of Guinea Bissau to WAEMU resulted in the expansion of the bench to nine judges. The Additional Act that initiating this expansion also included the specification that judges on the Court are chosen from among those persons guaranteeing independence and juridical competence, emphasizing that the Court is to be wholly separate from the political sphere of the Union....

June 1, 2006
Energy Information Administration

Abstract:

Regional leaders created the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on May 28, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria. ECOWAS is comprised of 15 countries, which include: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire , The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria , Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The leaders established ECOWAS to promote regional integration and economic growth in West Africa, as well as to create a monetary union in the region. However, ECOWAS has encountered problems in the process of regional integration including: political instability and lack of good governance that has plagued many member countries, the insufficient diversification of national economies, the absence of reliable infrastructure, and the multiplicity of organizations for regional integration with the same objectives....

September 18, 2007
British Broadcasting Corporation

Abstract:

Mali has sent troop reinforcements to an army base near the Algerian border, as skirmishes with Tuareg rebels threaten to develop into insurrection.

March 21, 2005


Abstract:

Créé le 08 Mars 1990, le Comité d'Action pour les Droits de l'Enfant et de la Femme au Mali (CADEF) est un projet de collaboration pour le suivi de l'application des deux conventions des Nations Unies relative aux droits de la femme et de d'enfant au Mali CADEF fait partie d'un réseau international de militantes et de professionnelles qui oeuvrent pour le respect des deux conventions.

October 22, 2004


Abstract:

Website of the Africa Union.

August 31, 2004


Abstract:

The Human Security Network (HSN) is a group of like-minded countries from all regions of the world that, at the level of Foreign Ministers, maintains dialogue on questions pertaining to human security. The Network includes Austria, Canada, Chile, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Mali, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Slovenia, Thailand and South Africa as an observer. The Network has a unique inter-regional and multiple agenda perspective with strong links to civil society and academia. The Network emerged from the landmines campaign and was formally launched at a Ministerial meeting in Norway in 1999....

August 11, 2011
The Middle East Institute

Abstract:

This Policy Brief examines the real and imagined influence of al-Qa‘ida in North Africa and the Sahel. Despite a perception of the transnationalization of terrorist movements in North Africa under al-Qa‘ida’s banner, robust evidence of an effective al-Qa‘ida’s expansion in the Maghreb and the Sahara/Sahel region remains elusive at best. Rather, doubts about al-Qa‘ida’s actual threat and the efficacy of international response in the context of pervasive state failure in the Sahel raise questions regarding the policy objectives of US-led counter-terrorism in the region....

July 8, 2011
Chatham House

Abstract:

I consider it a singular honour to have been invited today by Chatham House to address this august forum. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which I represent, is a regional organisation which has, over the years, gained your attention only for the unfortunate reasons of state implosion and instability caused by bad governance and marginalisation. I therefore welcome the opportunity to throw further light on its objectives, challenges, and achievements, which factors have effectively brought together fifteen West African states in the enterprise of improving upon the living standards of 230 million people as well as integrating them.

The term ‘Chatham House Rule’ is today an internationally-accepted cliché that this Institute has contributed to international diplomacy discourse, a reference norm in rigorous and policy-oriented exchanges on global peace and security. I therefore view your invitation to lead today’s discourse about ‘Democracy in the context of Regional Integration in West Africa’ as an unique honour for me personally, and a recognition of ECOWAS as a leading brand in regional integration.

Ladies and gentlemen, the evolution of ECOWAS can only be properly understood against the backdrop of the fascinating history and circumstances of West Africa since establishing contact with the world beyond its borders. The fact that slavery, colonialism, as well as racial and economic marginalisation, had left an intrinsic yearning for freedom, unity and solidarity among peoples of African descent everywhere defines its wish to integrate its states and peoples....

May 24, 2011
Security Council Report

Abstract:

This special research report provides an analysis of a set of new issues that have been emerging in the West African subregion and possible implications for the Security Council in the coming year(s). It identifies some key emerging threats to peace and security in the 16-state subregion and their linkages to existing security challenges. The report points to a key feature: the fact that some of the new threats are essentially criminal rather than political in nature. However, it explains also the growing political and security implications. The report also highlights action already taken by the Council to recognise these threats and considers options available to the Council to tackle these issues going forward.

The raw material for the study was derived from literature research; field research in a number of countries in the West African subregion (including Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria); and interviews in the region with diplomats, government officials and officials of relevant international intergovernmental bodies (e.g. UN Office in West Africa or UNOWA, UN Office for Drugs and Crime or UNODC, the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS and the AU), NGOs and academics....

February 3, 2011
International Center for Terrorism Studies // Potomac Institute

Abstract:

The purpose of this updated report is to supplement two earlier special studies published in 2009 and January 2010: “Why the Maghreb Matters: Threats, Opportunities, and Options for Effective Engagement in North Africa” (March 2009) was co-sponsored by the Conflict Management Program of the John Hopkins University jointly with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. The second report, “Maghreb & Sahel Terrorism: Addressing the Rising Threat from al-Qaeda and other Terrorists in North and West/Central Africa”(January 2010), was published by the International Center for Terrorism Studies at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

In sum, a coherent and firm US policy vis-à-vis the threats of terrorism in Maghreb and Sahel would increase domestic public understanding and support in the US for sustained engagement with the nations of North and West/Central Africa. The updated documents incorporated in this report, particularly the statistical tables and terrorism chronology covering the period September 11, 2001 – December 31, 2010 make it clear that constructive and sustained engagement is vital, employing both “hard” (security, military, intelligence cooperation) and “soft” elements (economic and social development creating employment opportunities, education that equips students/trainees for jobs, and reduction of religious radicalism). Otherwise, the US, the EU, and our friends in the region will remain hostages to, and targets of, these ideological, theological, and political terrorists for the remainder of the 21st century....

November 2, 2010
Institute for Security Studies // L'Institut d'Etudes de Sécurité

Abstract:

This paper aims to appraise and map the security challenges that have faced West African countries since independence with a special focus on the period after 1990. It also assesses the efforts made by various national, regional, continental and extra-African actors and makes suggestions on how the shortcomings in these efforts could be improved. An effort is made to show the evolution of at least some of the challenges over the years, in the hope that this could contribute to a better formulation of policy responses.

The study is based on extensive review of existing literature, complemented by field research in the region undertaken in July and August 2010, in addition to general familiarity with the region from many previous research visits on related subjects.

Without neglecting other issues that could be considered as security threats, and without attempting any hierarchical ordering of these threats, the paper focuses on the following six major issues: i) armed conflict, ii) military coups and unconstitutional changes of government; iii) mismanagement of electoral processes; iv) transnational criminality, particularly drug trafficking, terrorism and maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea; v) poverty and illiteracy; vi) climate change and environmental degradation....