The problems of Tigray are not to be found in former fighters awaiting a sustainable return to civilian life; nor in the internally displaced people awaiting the chance to return to their homes; nor in the hopes for recovery of war shattered communities; nor even in the fact [...]
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) can be both a mechanical process of transforming former fighters into civilian roles; and a strategic process to help create stability and prosperity in a post-conflict society. In Tigray, this strategic outcome would also contribute to Ethiopian national stability and security, as [...]
Tigray has suffered a civil war of devastating proportions. The fighting is now over, but the challenge of re-building a fractured society still remains. One of these challenges is the question of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR). But that challenge does not stand in isolation – Tigray [...]
Recently, I have been prompted to think a bit about international efforts to grow African peace support capability, especially as the nature of peace support operations (PSO) appears to be evolving: Alongside the traditional (UN-led), the new kids on the block (AU-led), the alternative (region-led) there is a growing [...]
Everyone knows what a Peace Support Operation (PSO) is – we’ve all seen it on TV. Intense deliberations in a high-level forum leading to a resolution by a representative international body to “do something”. Harried and sometimes exhausted looking negotiators ironing out wrinkles and soothing opposition. Discussions about [...]
More questions than answers on the way forward for Tigray. But hope is not a good basis for strategic planning and wishing that the problem would go away is pointless. In such a context, results cannot be bought - rather grown over time. But the humanitarian clock [...]
I am staying in an hotel in the capital city of an African country I have known rather well in the past. It is a nice hotel – nicer than the kind of place I normally stay in. And the kind of “nice” I could get used [...]
Fifty years since its original inception, the African Union (AU) reflects a significantly changed African and global environment. Its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), established in Addis Ababa, on 25 May 1963, was dedicated to combating colonialism, promoting the economic and political future of Africa, defending [...]
The European Union (EU) is evaluating the first ten years of the Africa Peace Facility (APF). The APF was established following the African Union (AU) Summit in Maputo in 2003 as a means to finance (i) the development of African peace support capacity; and (ii) [...]
Insecurity in Africa is increasingly acknowledged as a threat to global security. But tackling it often prioritises the interests of the international community at the expense of people in Africa and the Continent’s long-term stability. The nature of the threat is rarely traditional and military [...]