West African Studies Conflict Networks in North and West Africa

West African Studies Conflict Networks in North and West Africa PDF

Author: OECD

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2021-03-29

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 9264455906

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Conflicts in North and West Africa have become more violent and widespread than in the past. They have also become more difficult to resolve due to the complex relationships between a growing number of belligerents with diverging agendas. This report maps conflict networks and the evolution of rivalries and alliances in 21 North and West African countries.

Conflict Networks in North and West Africa

Conflict Networks in North and West Africa PDF

Author: Oecd

Publisher: Org. for Economic Cooperation & Development

Published: 2021-03-29

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9789264673168

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Women make a significant contribution to West Africa's food economy, perpetuating a long tradition of commerce and participating in cross-border trade and regional outreach. Their activities face numerous obstacles but also present important opportunities, highlighted in this report through an unprecedented relational and spatial analysis of social networks. The study focuses on the rice sector in the Dendi region (Benin, Niger and Nigeria) and on the regional governance networks that support women's entrepreneurship. It confirms that Nigeria occupies a privileged position due to its demographics and growing urbanisation. The report proposes the development of innovative public policies based on the reinforcement of the social capital of women and policy approaches that promote better integration of the initiatives undertaken by governments, international and non-governmental organisations to empower women and strengthen their resilience.

Conflict Networks in North and West Africa

Conflict Networks in North and West Africa PDF

Author: Marie Trémolières

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9789264962668

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Conflicts in North and West Africa have become more violent and widespread than in the past. They have also become more difficult to resolve due to the complex relationships between a growing number of belligerents with diverging agendas. Building on a dataset of more than 36 000 violent events over a 23-year period and three case studies (Lake Chad, Central Sahel and Libya), this report maps conflict networks and the evolution of rivalries and alliances in 21 North and West African countries. It applies an innovative approach, Dynamic Social Network Analysis, to explain the types and evolution of relationships across actors in conflict. Finally, the report analyses the impact of military interventions on the re-composition of violent groups and the shifting nature of insecurity. This new analysis, based on temporal and spatial approaches contributes to the creation of strategies that will ensure long-term political stability and serves as a reminder that there is a need for co-ordinated regional approaches and place-based policies.

West African Studies Borders and Conflicts in North and West Africa

West African Studies Borders and Conflicts in North and West Africa PDF

Author: OECD

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2022-02-19

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9264317376

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This publication examines the role of border regions in shaping patterns of violence since the end of the 1990s in North and West Africa. Using the innovative OECD Spatial Conflict Dynamics indicator (SCDi), the report looks at the growing relationship between political violence and borderlands at the regional level, by analysing more than 170 000 violent events between January 1997 and June 2021 and through the exploration of case studies in the Central and Eastern Sahel.

The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa

The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa PDF

Author: Alexandre Marc

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2015-06-19

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1464804656

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Since independence, the West African sub-region has been an arena for a number of large-scale conflicts and civil wars, as well as simmering and low-intensity uprisings. Contrary to perceptions, West Africa in its post-independence history has experienced fewer conflict events and fatalities from conflict than the other sub-regions on the continent. The turn of the millennium has witnessed the recession of large-scale and conventional conflict, and it has ushered in new and emerging threats. The specters of religious extremism, maritime piracy, and narcotics trafficking threaten to undermine some of the progress achieved in recent years. The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa critically examines the key drivers of conflict and violence, and the way in which they impact the countries of the sub-region. In addition to emerging threats, these drivers include the challenges of youth inclusion, migration, sub-regional imbalances, and extractives, as well as challenges related to the fragility of political institutions and managing the competition for power, reform of the security sector, and weakness of institutions related to land management. The book explores how the sub-region, under the auspices of the regional organization ECOWAS, has become a pioneer on the continent in terms of addressing regional challenges. The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa also identifies key lessons in the dynamics of resilience in the face of political violence and civil war drawn from CÃ ́te d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, that can be useful for countries around the world in similar situations. It incorporates knowledge and findings from leading experts and provides insights from academics and development practitioners. Finally, the book identifies possible policy and programmatic responses and directions for policy dialogue at the national and international levels.

A Grassroots Approach to Peace and Security in West Africa

A Grassroots Approach to Peace and Security in West Africa PDF

Author: Lisa Block

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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West Africa faces grave challenges to peace and security. Many peace and security actors in the region operate at the policy level in urban centers, leaving the majority of the population, which is illiterate or rural, behind. Tostan, an American Non-Governmental Organization, implements human rights-based education in rural villages across West Africa and engages social networks in movements to transform harmful social norms. This thesis provides direction for Tostan to further apply its grassroots approach to the promotion of peace and security in West Africa. The Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), a governmental agency, funded Tostan's Peace and Security Initiative, whose overall goal is to create links between rural communities and institutional peace and security bodies in West Africa and build peace and security within and between grassroots social networks. Preliminary research during the initiative revealed unprecedented information regarding West African community stakeholder's perspectives on the types and sources of conflict in their lives. Discrimination or marginalization due to differences in ethnicity, race, religion, political affiliation, or caste and a lack of communication were cited as sources of conflict in all five West African countries in which research was conducted, and the exclusion of women's voices was noted in all but one. Programmatic suggestions in this work are based on a review of academic literature and the results of the preliminary research regarding the root causes of conflict and successful means of building peace and security. An evaluation of other regional peace and security actors, including the African Union, WANEP, Gorée Institute, regional working groups on women, peace, and security, and traditional mediators, informs recommendations for effective partnerships. New programming focuses on the right to freedom from discrimination, resource management, inclusion of women in peace building, traditional and alternative conflict resolution skills, regional peace and security initiatives, and intra and inter-network dialogue.

West Africa's Trouble Spots and the Imperative for Peace-Building

West Africa's Trouble Spots and the Imperative for Peace-Building PDF

Author: Osita Agbu

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2007-10-15

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 2869784244

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This monograph highlights the necessity for taking preventive measures in the form of peace-building as a sustainable and long-term solution to conflicts in West Africa, with a special focus on the Mano River Union countries. Apart from the Mano River Union countries, efforts at resolving other conflicts in say, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, C?te d'Ivoire and Nigeria, have suffered from a lack of attention on the post-conflict imperatives of building peace in order to ensure that sustainable peace is achieved. Given the often intractable and inter-related nature of conflicts in this region, it argues for the need to revisit the existing mechanisms of conflict resolution in the sub-region with a view to canvassing a stronger case for stakeholders towards adopting the peace-building strategy as a more practical and sustainable way of avoiding wars in the sub-region. Peace-building in consonance with its infrastructure is a more sustainable approach to ensuring regional peace and stability and, therefore, ensuring development for the peoples of West Africa. Dr Osita Agbu is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos. His areas of specialization include Peace and Conflict studies, Governance and Democratization and Technology and Development. He was until recently, a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Developing Economies, Chiba, Japan.

Militancy and Violence in West Africa

Militancy and Violence in West Africa PDF

Author: James Gow

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-07-18

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1135968578

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This volume provides a systematic and cross-regional analysis of radicalisation, militancy and violence in West Africa. Concern about terrorism in, or from, West Africa, has been recognised in academic research, and the adoption of militarised approaches to addressing it questioned. However, the basis for that questioning – the need to investigate factors such as the historical and socio-economic roots of militancy – is not developed, nor is it substantiated in existing studies. The significant impact of religiously motivated radicalisation and violence in West Africa upon international security makes it essential to understand the issues of militancy and violence in the region. In this volume, the authors draw upon empirical research in West Africa to develop understanding in these areas. Over the course of several chapters written by leading experts in the field, the book successfully blends historical and conceptual analysis with new empirical research gathered from focus group discussions and research interviews. Each of these core studies is structured around five interrelated issues: tracing the antecedents of radicalisation; monitoring trends; identifying actors; anticipating possibilities; and analysing the strength of existing preventive mechanisms. This book will be of much interest to students of African security, African politics, radicalisation, political Islam, war and conflict studies and security studies in general.

The State of Peacebuilding in Africa

The State of Peacebuilding in Africa PDF

Author: Terence McNamee

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-11-02

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 3030466361

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This open access book on the state of peacebuilding in Africa brings together the work of distinguished scholars, practitioners, and decision makers to reflect on key experiences and lessons learned in peacebuilding in Africa over the past half century. The core themes addressed by the contributors include conflict prevention, mediation, and management; post-conflict reconstruction, justice and Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration; the role of women, religion, humanitarianism, grassroots organizations, and early warning systems; and the impact of global, regional, and continental bodies. The book's thematic chapters are complemented by six country/region case studies: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan/South Sudan, Mozambique and the Sahel/Mali. Each chapter concludes with a set of key lessons learned that could be used to inform the building of a more sustainable peace in Africa. The State of Peacebuilding in Africa was born out of the activities of the Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding (SVNP), a Carnegie-funded, continent-wide network of African organizations that works with the Wilson Center to bring African knowledge and perspectives to U.S., African, and international policy on peacebuilding in Africa. The research for this book was made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York.