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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Abstract: Over the last decade, the international community
has been working toward a new and broader concept
of security, drawing input from a number of
governments, non-governmental organizations and
civil society groups as well as scholars and other
prominent individuals. This new concept—known
as human security—calls on states to ensure the
survival, livelihood and dignity of their inhabitants.
At the same time, it encourages e≠orts to equip
people to act more e≠ectively on their own behalf. Following the report by the Commission on Human Security, Human Security Now, this booklet seeks to show practical applications of human security and give the concept a human face. Between March-June 2006, in preparation for this publication, the Human Security Unit, a freelance journalist and a team of photographers visited dozens of project sites, conducting hundreds of interviews with local staff and beneficiaries. From these many compelling initiatives, nine stories were selected that reflect the range of issues, regions and institutions involved in human security work around the globe. Human security represents a fundamentally new
way of thinking about a range of contemporary
challenges—from hunger, poverty and failing
schools to armed conflict, forced migration and
human tra≤cking. Because these issues are closely
intertwined, human security emphasizes the need
for multi-sectoral responses and collaboration
among all stakeholders. Moreover, it aims to bridge
the gaps between security, humanitarian assistance,
human rights and development aid.
Abstract: In recent years, the potential security threat posed by climate change has caught the
world’s political imagination, generating a perceptible shift in the way that a growing
number of decision-makers in the North and the South are talking about the subject.
The African Union, in a January 2007 decision, expressed grave concern about the
vulnerability of Africa’s ‘socio-economic and productive systems to climate change and
variability and to the continent’s low mitigation and response capacities’. The European
Security Strategy predicts that climate change will aggravate competition for natural
resources, and likely increase conflict and migratory movements in various regions.
Meanwhile, climate change has become a core foreign policy priority of many
governments, including the new administration’s programme in the US, a move that is
rationalised, at least in part, by the security threat it presents. This paper explores the development of
conceptualisations of environment and security that influence current discussions over
the potential impacts of climate change on security. To illustrate, we devote particular
attention to the ways in which West Africa is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,
and draw upon recent empirical evidence and climate change scenario planning research
from two West African countries: Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Abstract: There is no frontier separating fragile states from the
global economy. The political instability and physical
insecurity of fragile states has not resulted in a lack of
interest from international companies. Rather, foreign
investment is predominately focused on the exploitation
of natural resources amidst the poor governance,
protracted poverty and violent conflict that characterize
these environments. Foreign investment
in the natural resources of fragile states has not only
dominated the formal economies of these countries, but
also provided the vast majority of their governments’
revenues. For instance, oil revenues in Sudan account
for over 60% of total government earnings. This combination
of foreign investment in malign economic and
political environments has resulted in international
companies having a resoundingly detrimental influence
in fragile states. They act as vehicles producing
value out of natural resources through the international
market place, often cementing the political power of
oppressive governments, exacerbating inequality, or
worse, intensifying and prolonging civil wars.
Abstract: Over the past decades, the way we talk about climate change has evolved. Traditionally seen as an environmental and an energy issue, climate change is now also being cast as a threat to international peace and security. Analysts argue that climate change will exacerbate existing tensions and triggers new conflicts by redrawing the maps of water availability, food security, disease prevalence, coastal boundaries and population distribution.
The security implications of climate change have become the subject of unprecedented international attention; in 2007 the focus of a Security Council debate and the Nobel Peace prize. There have been some attempts to construct scenarios of the security implications of climate change at a global scale. But the country-level security impacts of climate change have been lost in the midst of the political rhetoric. Local experts in the subject countries are rarely consulted.
In this article for the September 2008 edition of the African Security Review, published quarterly by the Institute for Security Studies, Africa’s leading human security research institution, Oli Brown and Alec Crawford draw on their fieldwork in Ghana and Burkina Faso to see to what extent the links that have been hypothesized reflect a realistic future for two different countries in West Africa as the impacts of climate change gather pace.
KEY FINDINGS:
1. Ghana and Burkina Faso already face considerable development challenges from existing economic, population and environmental stresses.
2. Climate change is not new to West Africa. West Africa in general and the Sahelian region in particular are characterized by some of the most variable climates on the planet.
3. Future climate change will likely make many current development challenges more complex and urgent.
4. There are links between climate change and security in the region. However, there is little research that has managed to construct an empirical link between climate change and conflict in the region (or, for that matter, anywhere else).
5. Climate change could exacerbate existing, latent tensions in Ghana and Burkina Faso.
6. But only in the extreme scenarios does climate change begin to present a determining factor in future economic and political instability.
KEY RECOMMENDATION:
Adaptation needs to focus on the full range of development problems affecting countries. Adaptation to climate change clearly needs to be integrated within wider plans for development assistance, and the additional costs for that adaptation need to be funded with “new money” so as not to undercut development priorities elsewhere.
Abstract: Dans sa lettre datée du 21 décembre 2007 (S/2007/754), le Conseil de sécurité
a convenu de proroger le mandat du Bureau des Nations Unies pour l’Afrique de
l’Ouest (BNUAO) jusqu’au 31 décembre 2010, et m’a prié de faire rapport sur
l’application de son mandat révisé tous les six mois. Le présent rapport porte sur la
période allant du 1er janvier au 30 juin 2008, et tient compte des recommandations
faites dans mon rapport du 13 mars 2007 au Conseil sur les questions transfrontières
en Afrique de l’Ouest (S/2007/143). Il est centré sur l’évolution des questions
intersectorielles et transfrontières dans la sous-région et sur les activités entreprises
par le BNUAO pour mieux faire comprendre les nouvelles menaces et les nouveaux
défis, promouvoir les consultations et les synergies au niveau sous-régional, et
assurer la liaison avec la Communauté économique des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest
(CEDEAO) et l’aider à promouvoir la paix et la stabilité.
Des progrès significatifs ont été réalisés en Afrique de l’Ouest pour consolider
la paix et la gouvernance démocratique. Des élections pacifiques ont été organisées,
l’engagement de la communauté internationale envers les efforts de consolidation de
la paix a été renforcé et, en reconnaissance de l’amélioration des capacités
nationales pour la reconstruction après un conflit, des missions de paix des Nations
Unies dans la sous-région ont commencé à être réduites et deux pays de la sousrégion,
la Guinée-Bissau et la Sierra Leone, ont été inscrits à l’ordre du jour de la
Commission de consolidation de la paix des Nations Unies. En outre, la CEDEAO a
démontré qu’elle était de plus en plus capable de relever les défis politiques,
sociaux, économiques et sécuritaires dans la sous-région. Malgré cette évolution encourageante, il reste de nombreux problèmes qui
menacent les progrès faits dans la consolidation de la paix. Certains de ces
problèmes sont connus, tels que le chômage des jeunes, l’urbanisation rapide et les
migrations illégales, alors que d’autres sont nouveaux ou se sont aggravés,
notamment les crises sociales et économiques, la traite des êtres humains et le trafic
des drogues et l’insécurité dans la région du Sahel.
Abstract: La dernière décennie du XXe siècle a vu naître en Afrique de l’ouest des conflits armés d’un genre nouveau. Ce sont des batailles non rangées (chaotiques), sans objet politique clairement défini, où il est difficile de distinguer entre combattants et non combattants, et où les civils non armés constituent la majorité des victimes. Face à ces mutations de la violence, la diplomatie préventive, au sens classique du terme, se retrouve désorientée et impotente. Par voie de conséquences, les sociétés, les Etats et les institutions multilatérales à la recherche de voies innovatrices de sortie de crise, tentent de briser l’impasse du face à face entre chefs de gouvernement et chefs rebelle, en sollicitant notamment la société civile qui est désormais appelée à jouer un rôle que l’on espère déterminant dans l’éradication et la prévention de la violence. Compte tenu du nouvel environnement de violence en Afrique de l’ouest, cette option de diplomatie préventive au ras du sol est riche de promesses. Cependant, il serait sage de ne pas exagérer ses potentialités, de prendre la bonne mesure de ses capacités réelles et de s’y orienter avec lucidité, réalisme et bon sens.
Abstract: Le Burkina reste l'un des pays les plus pauvres de la planète, avec 44.8 pour cent de sa population vivant avec moins de 1 USD par jour. L’activité économique a pourtant marqué un saut qualitatif ces dix dernières années, avec une croissancemoyenne de 5.9 pour cent entre 1997 et 2006. La croissance a atteint 6.1 pour cent en 2006, contre une moyenne de 3.1 pour cent dans l’Union économique etmonétaire ouest africaine (UEMOA). Ces bons résultats sont dûs à la poursuite des réformes structurelles et des investissements soutenus. La croissance a cependant ralenti en 2007, avec un taux de 4.3 pour cent dû à la chute de la production de coton. Une reprise progressive est attendue, avec 4.7 pour cent projetés en 2008 et 5.8 pour cent en 2009.
Abstract: Le présent rapport fait la synthèse de la première grande étude continentale visant à mesurer et contrôler les « Progrès accomplis sur la voie de la bonne gouvernance en Afrique », entreprise par la Commission économique pour l’Afrique. Dans le cadre de cette étude, des enquêtes et des recherches ont été menées sur 28 pays. Les résultats complets et l’analyse de l’étude seront
publiés en 2005 dans le premier «Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique ».
La CEA a entrepris ce travail pour évaluer l’idée que les citoyens se font de l’état de la gouvernance en Afrique, pour rassembler des informations sur les meilleures pratiques et pour identifier les principaux besoins de la région en
matière de développement des capacités. Le projet a identifié quatre tendances positives sur la voie de la création d’États compétents en Afrique: transitions démocratiques, ouverture politique, liberté d’expression et obligation comptable, et gestion économique.
Abstract: Le Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique est le fruit de larges travaux de recherche sur les pratiques de gouvernance entrepris dans 27 pays africains par la Commission économique pour l’Afrique (CEA), par l’intermédiaire d’instituts nationaux de recherche, qui ont recueilli, ensemble par échantillonnage, les opinions de plus de 50 000 ménages et de 2 000 experts. Les conclusions, soumises à la CEA entre 2002 et 2004, ont fait l’objet d’un processus rigoureux d’examens auxquels ont participé des experts nationaux et internationaux travaillant sur la gouvernance et les questions politiques et économiques.
Ce rapport est la première grande étude de ce type initiée par les pays africains, qui vise à analyser de façon empirique les opinions des citoyens quant à l’état de la gouvernance dans leurs pays, tout en mettant en évidence les principaux déficits de capacité dans les pratiques et institutions de gouvernance et en recommandant des pratiques optimales et des solutions pour y faire face. On s’est attaché à assurer l’appropriation locale de l’ensemble empirique de résultats afin de renforcer l’efficacité et la légitimité de la prise de décisions et de l’effort de sensibilisation aux niveaux national et infrarégional. Les données ainsi générées peuvent être utilisées pour mesurer la performance des gouvernements et de toutes les principales parties prenantes dans leur réponse aux préoccupations exprimées par les citoyens et pour suivre la mesure dans laquelle le contrat qu’ils ont passé entre eux est respecté. Nous avons pris soin de ne pas être trop directif. Le Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique contient des recommandations qui découlent essentiellement des réalités propres aux pays, car, pour être durable, la gouvernance doit être replacée dans son contexte et internalisée.
Abstract: Ce rapport contient des résumés sur les régions suivants: Afrique australe, Afrique de l’Est, Afrique de l’Ouest et Afrique centrale, et Afrique centrale, et aussi sur les thèmes suivantes: le double défi de la tuberculose et du VIH, circonsion masculine et préventions du VIH, epidémies latentes parmi les hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec des hommes, la consommation de drogues injectables: un facteur croissant dans plusiers épidémies de VIH de L'Afrique Subsaharienne, et signes de changements vers des comportements à moindre risque.
Abstract: Généralités: Les données fiables sur les conséquences obstétricales des mutilations génitales féminines sont rares. L’étude porte sur les effets des différents types de mutilations sur le devenir obstétrical des femmes.
Méthodes: 28 393 femmes se présentant pour une naissance unique entre novembre 2001 et mars 2003 dans 28 centres d’obstétrique au Burkina Faso, au Ghana, au Kenya, au Nigéria, au Sénégal et au Soudan, ont été examinées avant l’accouchement pour vérifier si elles avaient subi des mutilations ou pas, et ont été classées selon le système de l’OMS : mutilation de type I, excision
du prépuce, avec ou sans excision partielle ou totale du clitoris ; mutilation de type II, excision du clitoris, avec excision partielle ou totale des petites lèvres ; mutilation de type III, excision partielle ou totale des organes génitaux externes et suture ou rétrécissement de l’orifice vaginal (infibulation). Des informations prospectives sur les facteurs démographiques, sanitaires et génésiques ont été recueillies. Les participantes et leurs nouveau-nés ont été suivis jusqu’à la sortie de la mère de l’hôpital.
Interprétation: Les femmes qui ont subi des mutilations génitales féminines ont une probabilité nettement plus élevée de complications obstétricales que celles qui n’en ont pas subi. Il semble aussi que le risque augmente avec l’ampleur de la mutilation.
Abstract: An analysis of the imagery on postage stamps suggests that regimes in Sudan and Burkina Faso have pursued very different strategies in representing the nation. Sudan’s stamps focus on the political center and dominant elite (current regime, Khartoum politicians, and Arab and Islamic identity) while Burkina Faso’s stamps focus on society (artists, multiple ethnic groups, and development). Sudan’s stamps build an image of the nation as being about the northern-dominated regime in Khartoum (whether military or parliamentary); Burkina Faso’s stamps project an image of the nation as multi-ethnic and development-oriented.
Abstract: Le Comité de Coordination des Peuples Autochtones d'Afrique (IPACC) est un réseau d'organisations des peuples autochtones d'Afrique. C'est une organisation regroupant des membres adhérents. Toute organisation légitime composée de peuples autochtones africains peut présenter une demande d'adhésion à l'IPACC. D'autres associations opérant dans les domaines du développement, droits de l'homme ou droits autochtones, peuvent présenter une demande d'adhésion en tant qu'associées (sans droit de vote). Les membres élisent un Comité Exécutif représentant cinq régions d'Afrique auquel s'ajoute une représentante régionale des femmes autochtones.
Les peuples autochtones sahélo-sahariens jouèrent un rôle prépondérant dans la
naissance de cet outils qu’est l’IPACC. En effet le Sahel et le Sahara comptent
en leur sein des peuples très militants qui, dans la même période étaient en
armes contre le Niger, le Mali et le Tchad, pour la prise en compte de leurs
identités dans ces jeunes pays nés de la décolonisation des années 60. Ces
peuples sont : les touareg (nom donné Ã la partie sud de la nation AMAZIGH qui
couvre tout le nord de l’Afrique), les Toubous, les peuls Woodaabè et les Ogoni
du delta du Niger au Nigeria.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Abstract: Trafficking in Persons has become a major concern for all countries of Western Africa.
The Meeting of ECOWAS Heads of States, in December 2001, adopted a Declaration
and the ECOWAS Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons (2002-2003). It
directed the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat to prepare proposals for controlling trafficking
in persons in the sub-region, with special consideration to the situation of trafficked
children.
The UNODC project FS/RAF/04/R60 on the "Assistance for the Implementation of the
ECOWAS Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons" will strengthen the capacity of
the ECOWAS Secretariat and its Member States in implementing the ECOWAS Plan of
Action, particularly as it relates to assessment of existing national legislation and the
drafting of new legislation in response to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children.
This Manual presents the definitions of trafficking in human beings and smuggling of
migrants as well as general guidelines on investigation and prosecution of cases related to
trafficking in human beings, with a focus on cooperation between ECOWAS Member
States. This Manual is to be used as reference material and in training activities under
the project.
Abstract: Burkina Faso is a parliamentary republic. President Blaise Compaore continued to dominate the Government of the Fourth Republic, assisted by members of his party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), despite gains made by the opposition in the 2002 legislative elections. In 1998, President Compaore was reelected to a second 7-year term with 88 percent of the vote. International observers considered the 2002 legislative elections to have been substantially free and fair, although a collective of 14 local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) cited voter list irregularities and cases of fraud. The judiciary was subject to executive influence and corruption.
The security apparatus consists of the armed forces and the gendarmerie, which are controlled by the Ministry of Defense; the national police, controlled by the Ministry of Security; and the municipal police, controlled by the Ministry of Territorial Administration. The Presidential Guard is an autonomous security force, although technically it is subject to the jurisdiction of the armed forces and part of the army. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of the security forces committed serious human rights abuses.
