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.
Essays
Essays present critical analysis and debate on a pressing issue in African peacebuilding.
Democracy, Development and Governance
Anticipating the new awful: Covid-19 and South Africa’s fragile peace
by Gideon van Riet
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.
Cameroon
Grassroots Perspectives on Building Sustainable Peace in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon
by Sakah Bernard Nsaidzedze
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.
Essays
Between Violent Separatist Agitation and Political Reforms? The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Crisis of Post-War Nigerian Federalism
by Ngozika Anthonia Obi-Ani
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.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Strategies for Building Inclusive Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Reflection
by Olivier Bahoze
This article critically examines the strategies for building inclusive peace in the DRC in the face of armed groups backed by neighboring states, foreign companies, and transnational actors seeking to exploit the country’s abundant natural resources.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Fostering a Gendered Approach to Peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region: Perspectives from the Democratic Republic of Congo
by Trésor Makunya Muhindo
Introduction Since the late 1990s, the African Great Lakes Region (AGLR) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in particular, have been ravaged by interstate and intrastate conflicts. Negotiations were undertaken, under the supervision of the international community and regional organizations, in order to broker agreements among the belligerent parties and establish sustainable peace. These […]
Democratic Republic of Congo
Promoting Inclusive Peacebuilding in the African Great Lakes Region: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo
by Balingene Kahombo
This Special Issue of Kujenga Amani brings together articles by Congolese scholars and researchers, largely from the University of Goma, examining peacebuilding efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and prospects for the future. The DRC remains one of the most conflict-affected and unstable countries in the African Great Lakes Region (AGLR) because of […]
Democratic Republic of Congo
Natural Resource Governance and Peace in the African Great Lakes Region: A Legal Perspective to the Case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
by Balingene Kahombo
Introduction Natural resource governance is widely recognized as an important international public policy issue. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 12.2 seeks to achieve, by 2030, “the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.” The African Union (AU) prioritizes natural resource governance in its “Agenda 2063: The Africa we want.” In a similar […]
Covid-19 in Africa
Reflections on Conducting Fieldwork during the Covid-19 Pandemic
by Tapiwa Madimu
The pandemic has necessitated the creation of new methodological tools and ethical practices, as well as the adaptation of older practices, to meet the challenges faced by researchers and the researched. Researchers have been confronted with the dilemma of either canceling field research, postponing it indefinitely, or continuing, with the attendant risks to their own health and the health of their informants.
Conflict
The Challenge of Mothering in the Context of Violent Conflict: How War Is Impacting Women in Tigray, Ethiopia
by Sela Muyoka Musundi
On June 22, 2021, the Ethiopian Air Force conducted an aerial bombardment of a busy marketplace in the village of Togoga, in Tigray, Ethiopia, causing the deaths of at least 64 people and injuring 180 others. Although Ethiopian military sources claimed that the victims were combatants, health-care workers and local residents who witnessed the incident […]