When the problem of violence against women during and after conflict is discussed, it is often in reference to non-partner-perpetrated sexual violence. Intimate partner violence is, however, another form of violence that…
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Essays
Morocco and the African Union: Back into the Fold
by Anouar Boukhars
Morocco’s triumphant return to the African Union after a thirty-three-year break marked the culmination of a lengthy and intense diplomatic offensive designed to expand its circle of African allies to key nations in regions far from its historic sphere of influence in the Sahel, as well as in West and Central Africa. Now that the […]
Essays
Silence and Denial as Impediments to Peace in Post-Colonial Zimbabwe, 1980-2016
by Terence M. Mashingaidze
Introduction This appraisal is an interlocution of the twin cultures of silence and denial inherent in Zimbabwe’s post-colonial peacebuilding praxis. It evokes the exigency of placing victimhood, rather than political expediency, at the center of the country’s post-conflict architecture. Zimbabwe’s episodic cycles of violence are customarily resolved through state-mediated reconciliation pronouncements (1980), amnesty ordinances (1979, […]
Africa
Challenges to Food Security in Nigeria’s Oil-Rich Niger Delta Region
by Abosede Omowumi Babatunde
Introduction Although narratives of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region are increasingly shifting attention to the human security challenges affecting the area,[1] one significant component of human security—food security—has received limited scholarly attention. It is important to analyze food security in the context of livelihood security because food security is crucial to the sensitivity, […]
Conflict
Peaceful Negotiations: Implications for the Release of Twenty-One Chibok Girls from Boko Haram Captivity
by Sogo Angel Olofinbiyi
In April 2014, militant Islamist group Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls from Chibok—a town in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria—making global news [1]. Widespread concern generated by the incident soon culminated in a global social media campaign, “Bring Back Our Girls,” with an accompanying Twitter hashtag, #BringBackOurGirls, that featured Tweets from notable world leaders and international […]
Ghana’s 2016 Elections- Restoring Hope in Democracy?
Ghana: Another Peaceful Alternation of Power
by Seidu Alidu
On December 7 2016, Ghana held its seventh national elections since the beginning of the Fourth Republic. [1] In the run up to the elections two questions stood out prominently. First, will the Electoral Commission (EC) be neutral and fair? Second, will there be violence during and after the elections? The first question did arise […]
Ghana’s 2016 Elections- Restoring Hope in Democracy?
Assessing the Performance of the First Female Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission
by Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey
Ghana’s recent presidential and parliamentary elections were presided over by the country’s first female chair of the Electoral Commission (EC). Mrs Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei, a 45-year-old lawyer who chaired the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) before being appointed in June 2015 to head the EC. Mrs Osei’s replaced Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, who had chaired […]
Ghana’s 2016 Elections- Restoring Hope in Democracy?
‘My Wife, My Sister, My Mother’ : Electing More Women to Parliament in Ghana [1]