The African Peacebuilding Network asked several scholars and practitioners to explore what they consider to be the most significant issue(s) in the coming elections and the likely implications for post-2014 South Africa.…
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Essays
Replacing Boko Haram with an “Attractive Revolution”
by Bill Knight
"Restarting this process of building mass literacy could be a good way to revitalize all of NEAZDP’s components, rebuild trust, resurrect peace, and open the door to other community-driven integrated development initiatives .... Carried out by and for the people, such initiatives would replace the slogan 'education is bad' with 'education is good,' and thereby begin to address the integrated problems of generations going back to the 1970s."
Essays
Post-Amnesty Reintegration and Peacebuilding Challenges in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region: The Way Forward
by Oluwatoyin O. Oluwaniyi
“Policies that are implemented for reintegration, if they are to be truly successful, must be linked to the security and human development of oil-based communities, which have suffered untold hardships and borne the major burdens of exploration, exploitation, and violence. Effectively and efficiently rehabilitating all ex-militants and fulfilling their specific needs without turning them into a privileged group within their communities remains a considerable challenge.”
Conflict
South Sudan and the Complications of Peacebuilding through Statebuilding
by Meron Tesfamichael
“The struggle for power between factions at the center depends on building and undermining state institutions simultaneously—a process international assistance has not been able to rein in. The international technical support for state building appears overwhelmed by the dynamics of state formation, which is inherently political and often violent. Meanwhile, peacebuilding interventions are increasingly overshadowed by the urgency to build the state.”
Essays
Refilling the Vacuum: Responding to the Boko Haram Insurgency
by Olabanji Akinola
"If the Boko Haram insurgency is to be tackled effectively, a combination of well-thought-out development plans and security strategies is needed .... Bringing the State back into the lives of the people could make a significant difference in addressing youth unemployment and alienation and contribute toward institutionalizing new forms of democratic leadership, accountability, and social harmony."
Democracy, Development and Governance
More Than an Inspirational Freedom Fighter: A Tribute to Nelson Mandela
by Maxi Schoeman
Nelson Mandela inspired our entire continent and its people, and had an immense influence on the changing face of Africa as a whole. Hamba kahle, Madiba. We will never forget you.
Special Issues
Westgate and the Future of Security in Africa
by Boubacar N'diaye
The time has come to reflect soberly on the significance of the Westgate mall siege and other terrorist attacks, and what lessons must be drawn to prevent another tragedy. The imminent danger remains the inability of our states’ security institutions and our regional and continental security instruments to effectively tackle extremism-related acts of violence and terrorism. A vast movement must take place to ready the continent to meet this clear and present danger.
