The APN’s 10thanniversary presents an opportunity to review the past and also look forward with hope towards a brighter future. The APN is in a unique position to promote peace-related research collaboration among African academic, research, and policy institutions.
Essays
Essays present critical analysis and debate on a pressing issue in African peacebuilding.
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by Kenneth Omeje
My Exciting Research Journey with the APN
The APN has been a major part of my exciting intellectual journey, especially in the last decade. The narrative of my initial contact and progressive engagements with the APN can be best explained within the changing dynamics of my research interests as a policy-engaged scholar.
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by African Peacebuilding Network
Editorial: APN@10 Anniversary Essay Series
About the Series As one of the activities marking the 10th anniversary of the Social Science Research Council’s African Peacebuilding Network (APN), the program is launching the “APN@10” essay series on Kujenga Amani. The series offers a platform for invited fellows and alumni to share their personal experiences and reflections on how APN awards and activities have impacted their professional careers and lives. It […]
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by John Mwangi Githigaro
Reintegration Challenges in the Post-2015 Amnesty Program for Former Foreign Fighters in Coastal Kenya
This essay reflects on the reintegration challenges in the implementation of the post-2015 amnesty program for returning foreign Al-Shabaab fighters (hereafter returnees) in Coastal Kenya. Based on insights from fieldwork in Mombasa and Kwale Counties, it argues that reintegration is hampered by three key factors: trust deficits, community acceptance, and policy lacunas.
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by Julieth T. Kabyemela
Prospects of using Theatre for Development (TfD) as a tool for resolving Farmers-Pastoralist conflict in Kilosa, Tanzania
This essay establishes that TfD has immense potential in mediating and resolving farmer-pastoralist conflicts as it has the power to empower community members to reflect more on their conflicts and address conflicts through community members' proposed means.
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by Hauwa Mohammed Sani
Language, Conflict Mitigation and Mediation Processes in Kaduna State, Nigeria
Conflict is part of human everyday existence. Occasionally, conflict may become confrontational and culminate in physical violence. The approach to conflict in the essay is framed within the context of poor communication between certain groups and actors in society.
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by Gideon van Riet
Anticipating the new awful: Covid-19 and South Africa’s fragile peace
The coronavirus and lockdown measures have had a crippling effect on the South African economy and her people. The pandemic exacerbated pre-existing conditions of economic hardship and marginalization in South Africa in many ways.
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by Sakah Bernard Nsaidzedze
Grassroots Perspectives on Building Sustainable Peace in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon
Based on a qualitative research approach, this article analyzes some grassroots perspectives and voices captured through field interviews, focus group discussions, and collage-making sessions with local populations across the Anglophone regions. It revisits some critical implications of the conflict and prospects for peacebuilding processes in the restive regions.
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by Ngozika Anthonia Obi-Ani
Between Violent Separatist Agitation and Political Reforms? The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Crisis of Post-War Nigerian Federalism
Igbo youths have mobilized themselves to agitate for the reform of a system they see as structured against them. Sensing that their agitation is not attracting any response to their grievances, some are demanding to opt out of a federal arrangement that is perceived as unfair.