scholarly journals The effectiveness of regional peacemaking in Southern Africa – Problematising the United Nations-African Union-Southern African Development Community relationship

Author(s):  
S Ancas
2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  

As is the case the world over, human trafficking remains a serious issue of concern amongst the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states. At a time when most of the SADC states are confronted with slow economic growth, poverty and limited economic opportunities, several people continue to be forcibly or deceptively recruited and transported across borders for various purposes that include sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery and/or removal of organs. This is despite the fact that most SADC countries are signatories to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons of 2000, especially Women and Children (the Palermo Protocol) which supplement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). However, SADC member states have been implementing a sundry of strategies in the form of policies, legislations, regional interventions and plans of action such as the 10 Year SADC Strategic Plan of Action on Combating Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2009-2019), in order to combat human trafficking in the region. With the use of primary and secondary data sources, this paper sought to evaluate the anti-trafficking strategies that have been implemented so far by SADC member states at national and regional level. It further identifies the challenges being encountered, as well as opportunities presented within the regional and global networks for fighting human trafficking. On the strength of the research findings, appropriate suggestions are made to enhance the success of strategies being implemented in the SADC region in particular, and other parts of Africa in general.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 180-204
Author(s):  
Lawrence Ngobeni ◽  
Babatunde Fagbayibo

Abstract In 2016, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) amended Annex 1 of the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment (FIP) in order to remove investor access to international arbitration or Investor-State Dispute Resolution (ISDS). The recent formation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (T-FTA) are factors that will likely curtail SADC’s ability to regulate foreign investments. Both AfCFTA and T-FTA are supposed to have their own investment protocols. This means that SADC faces the loss of regulatory authority over foreign investments. The recent formation of the Pan African Investment Code (PAIC) has shown that some African Union (AU) Member States want to provide ISDS for their investors, while others including SADC Members States do not. This article intends to evaluate the lessons SADC can learn from other jurisdictions in terms of the effective regulation of ISDS.


1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 111-111

Vice President Mondale has been participating extensively in Africa-related foreign policy matters since taking office in January, 1977. The Vice President works closely with Secretary of State Vance and Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young in the development of Africa-related policy recommendations for consideration by the President. The Vice President also participates in meetings with visiting African leaders and monitors political developments in Africa. Finally, at the President’s request, Vice President Mondale met with Prime Minister Vorster of South Africa to explain the new Administration’s policies toward southern Africa. Information on the Vice President’s staff’s involvement in Africa-related matters was requested but not received.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Kasaija Phillip Apuuli

Abstract Since the end of the revolution that toppled the rule of Muammar Qaddafi in October 2011, Libya has never known peace. The country descended into civil war with different factions contending for control. In this milieu, the United Nations attempted to mediate an end to the crisis but its efforts have failed to gain traction partly as a result of other mediation initiatives undertaken by several European actors. Sub-regional and continental organizations, including the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the African Union (AU) respectively, that should have taken the lead in the mediation have been absent. Meanwhile, continued fighting has hampered a mediated settlement, and terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda have taken advantage of the situation to establish a presence in the country. In the end, rather than ending the crisis, Libya has provided the ground for competing mediation processes which have prolonged the crisis.


2021 ◽  
pp. 261-284
Author(s):  
Jamie Pring

This chapter argues that the interaction of organizational norms and interests influences an organizations’ willingness to lead, collaborate, or compete in mediation processes. Examining the interactions of the United Nations, African Union, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the Horn of Africa, the chapter finds that while functionalist explanations for cooperation among mediation actors are dominant in the field, they don’t adequately account for cooperation in all types of mediation support. Crucially, functionalist approaches overlook geopolitical and normative factors crucial in forging cooperation in operational support to on-going mediation processes. Therefore, in addition to functional concerns, norms and interests also need to be considered in working towards deeper integration.


Author(s):  
Mathias Stephen ◽  
Trengove Stadler

This chapter explains the membership practices in international organizations (IOs). It focuses on criteria for membership, rights and obligations of membership, suspension, expulsion, and withdrawal. In addition to setting out the legal criteria in an international organization's constitutive treaty relating to membership, it also discusses how these criteria have been applied in practice and how decisions that are political in nature have been made within the established institutional and legal framework. The chapter focuses on three different types of IOs: the universal, represented by the United Nations (UN); the regional, such as the European Union (EU) and African Union (AU), where membership is restricted to countries from a particular geographic area; and the specialized agencies which, while fulfilling a limited and technical function, are often open to universal membership.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-325
Author(s):  
Vassilis Pergantis

This essay revisits the relationship between Article 4(h) of the African Union Constitutive Act and the R2P concept with a particular focus on military intervention. After unfolding the narrative of equation between the two norms, we explore their content and highlight their clear differences. We also observe the conceptual glissement concerning Article 4(h) from a right to a duty to intervene, which is not backed up by international practice. Furthermore, we examine the possible impact of the narrative of equation on the use of force architecture and particularly, on the relationship between the African Union and the United Nations. Finally, we analyse the normative implications of the equation for the R2P concept and conclude that the above equation fails to produce tangible legal consequences. What remains are its political motivations that sharply depart from the ‘higher’ ideals permeating the R2P and thus undermine its logic and realization.


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