Promoting Security in Africa through Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the African Union’s African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA)

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Arthur
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
Security Architecture ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Financial Costs ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Conflicting Interests

The last two decades have seen African countries adopt a new security approach through the activities of regional economic communities (RECs) and the African Union’s (AU) African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). This article argues that despite progress in conflict prevention and the promotion of peace, defence and security through the APSA and RECs, challenges do remain. In particular, factors such as financial costs involved, the inadequate funds available for peace and security missions, conflicting interests and lack of agreement, poor co- ordination and inadequate human and logistics capacity have constrained the ability of African countries to achieve their peace and security agenda. Thus, for peace and security efforts being undertaken by the AU and RECs to be effective, the actors involved should have not only the requisite capacity but also political will and commitment, and cooperation among members and with the international community should remain crucial to the process.

Economic Community of West African States, Regional security and the Implementation of Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect: Rhetoric or Reality?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-183
Author(s):  
Peter Arthur
Keyword(s):  
Humanitarian Intervention ◽  
West African ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Conflicting Interests

The last 25 years have seen Economic Community of West African States, through the use of various norms, structures and protocols, make the promotion of security and the implementation of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect (R2P) important aspects of the political landscape in the sub-region. The article argues that despite the great strides made by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the implementation of R2P, there are not only challenges (inadequate funds available for peace and security missions, conflicting interests and lack of agreement, poor co-ordination, inadequate human and logistics capacity) with its application in the sub-region, but also concerns about its future. Thus, to promote security and realise the goals of implementing humanitarian intervention and R2P in the ECOWAS sub-region, not only should the actors involved have the requisite capacity but also political will and commitment, citizen awareness, and co-operation among ECOWAS member-states and with the international community should remain crucial to the process.

scholarly journals Peacebuilding Initiatives in Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Development ◽  
Security Architecture ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
African Countries ◽  
International Intervention ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Enormous Variation ◽  
Failing States ◽  
Islamic Extremism

Africa is a place of enormous variation and its countries have had very different postcolonial experiences. However, it is clear that since the 1940s peace has been elusive for many across the continent. A series of wars driven by poverty, identity, political economy, and failing states led to a widespread crisis of governance and extensive international intervention. Reductions in the security capabilities of states have also led to the growth of violent transnational groups, particularly those related to Islamic extremism in the Maghreb, Nigeria, and Somalia but also criminal networks involved with drug and people smuggling. This wide variety of conflicts also generated an equally wide range of responses as the international community began to develop ways of combating conflicts through reform of its own peacekeeping capacity. The optimism of the 1992 Agenda for Peace, which called for the UN to become the central instrument in the prevention and ending of conflicts, has given way to a more sanguine approach, as mixed results have led to diverse outcomes for African countries and Africa’s own peace and security architecture. In the end, despite the rapid development of important local and localized bottom-up peacebuilding initiatives, the state remains central to the overarching aims of peace and stability across the continent. It is here where the variations in performance can be found in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, and post-conflict reconstruction.

scholarly journals Demystifying China’s Involvement in African Peace and Security Architecture

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150001
Author(s):  
Hagan Sibiri
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Security Policies ◽  
Security Architecture ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Global Status ◽  
Building Activities ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
China Threat

Until the last decade, Peace and Security (PAS) issues were among the least discussed topic in the budding China–Africa relations. However, China’s recent involvement in African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) has attracted critical review. Critics aver that China’s expanding security engagement in Africa is a clear manifestation of China’s willingness to use its growing military to challenge the global status quo. This paper reviews China’s involvement in APSA to ascertain whether the realities of China’s PAS engagement in Africa support the ‘China Threat’ narrative (zhōngguó wēixié lùn). The paper establishes that, albeit the considerable flexibility in China’s foreign security policies, many of its aspects are still guided by the policy constraints of sovereignty, non-interference, and non-aggression. By upholding these policy constraints, China’s involvement in APSA has occurred on a constructive interactive basis and principally within the multilateral frameworks and mandate of regional and international bodies. However, the novelty is that China has taken an endogenous viewpoint in its security engagement with Africa that is hinged on the idea that Africa’s problems must be confronted with African solutions and capabilities. This is manifested in the increasing level of functional security exchanges and capacity-building activities to enhance African countries’ security capabilities to confront common security challenges independently.

scholarly journals The Costs of Introducing the Hepatitis B Birth Dose Vaccine into the National Immunization Programme in Senegal (NéoVac Study)

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 521
Author(s):  
Andréa Gosset ◽  
Marie Libérée Nishimwe ◽  
Mamadou Yaya Diallo ◽  
Lucas Deroo ◽  
Aldiouma Diallo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatitis B ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Training Costs ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Immunization Programme ◽  
Financial Costs ◽  
Birth Dose

Some African countries are still reluctant to introduce the hepatitis B vaccine birth dose (HepB-BD) into their expanded program of immunization (EPI), partly because of logistical, economic, and cost information constraints. To assist decision-makers in these countries, we assessed the economic and financial costs of HepB-BD introduction in Senegal in 2016. We performed a micro-costing study in a representative sample of Senegal’s EPI sites at all levels in 2018. Information on EPI and HepB-BD activity-related inputs and costs was collected using standardized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Using inverse probability weighting, we computed weighted average costs associated with HepB-BD introduction for each EPI level, country-level aggregated costs and estimated costs per newborn. Economic and financial costs from a government perspective were estimated in US dollars for 2015, 2016 and 2017. Total economic costs were USD 143,364 in 2015, USD 759,406 in 2016 and USD 867,311 in 2017, while financial costs were USD 127,745, USD 82,519 and USD 29,853, respectively. When annualizing pre-introduction and initial training costs, the economic (financial) cost per vaccinated newborn was USD 2.10 (USD 0.30) in 2016 and USD 1.90 (USD 0.20) in 2017. Our estimates provide valuable information to implement HepB-BD in Sub-Saharan African countries that have not yet integrated this vaccine.

Global Values and the Institutions of the United Nations

ICL Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto Spijkers
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
International Community ◽  
Shared Values ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
Global Values

AbstractA constitution defines the values of a particular community, and establishes institutions to realize these values. In defence of the argument that the United Nations Charter is the world’s constitution, I will try to show that it contains the shared values and norms of the international community, and that the UN’s organs are tasked with the promotion and protection of the shared values and norms as defined in the UN Charter. The focus is on the values of human dignity and peace and security.

scholarly journals The African Peace and Security Architecture as a Tool for the Maintenance of Peace and Security. Part 1

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Bewuketu Dires Gardachew
Keyword(s):  
Early Warning ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Security Architecture ◽  
African Union ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Operational Structure

This study critically explores the extent to which the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) (such as the African Standby Force (ASF), the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS), Panel of the Wise (PoW) and the Peace Fund (PF)) have been successful in achieving their institutional objectives, as well as the degree to which they are able to contribute to the work of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC). The AU PSC as a key pillar of the APSA is the main decision-making body regarding issues of peace and security. In order to achieve its responsibility, the AU PSC shall be supported by the African Standby Force, the Continental Early Warning System, Panel of the Wise and the Peace Fund. APSA is the umbrella term for the key African Union (AU) mechanisms for promoting peace, security and stability in the African continent. More specifically, it is an operational structure for the effective implementation of the decisions taken in the areas of conflict prevention, peace-making, peace support operations and intervention, as well as peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction. APSA is envisioned as a means by which Africa can take a greater role in managing peace and security on the continent, with the objective of offering “African solutions to African problems”.

scholarly journals Frictional interactions on Women, Peace and Security in Mali

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-483
Author(s):  
Jenny Lorentzen
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
International Community ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
Security Council Resolution ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
The Way

AbstractMore than 20 years after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the international community is concerned with taking stock of its implementation in countries undergoing transitions from war to peace. This article contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics involved in implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda through a focus on the frictional interactions that take place between different actors promoting women's participation in the peace process in Mali. Based on extensive fieldwork in Bamako between 2017 and 2019, it analyses interactions between different international and local actors in the Malian peace process through a discussion of vertical (between international and local actors) and horizontal (between local actors) friction. It finds that the way different actors respond to friction shapes relationships and impacts norm trajectories by triggering feedback loops, which in turn trigger new responses and outcomes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document