conflict in africa
In July 2002, in Durban South Africa, leaders and representatives from 53 African nations launched the African union, a continental organization to replace the organization of African union. This new organization calls for major changes to pan African approaches to peace and security. The Constitutive Act of the African union and its protocol relating to the establishment of the Peace and Security Council place renew emphasis on building a continental security regime capable of preventing, managing and resolving conflicts in Africa.
The African Union like the Responsibility to Protect clearly lays out provisions for interventions in the internal affairs of a member state through military force, if necessary to protect vulnerable populations from human rights abuses.
The African Unions Constitutive Act is the first international treaty to recognise the right on the part of an international organization to intervene for human protection purposes. In order to provide an operational dimension to the security provisions of the Constitutive Act, the African Union is developing capacities for early warning, quick reaction, management and resolution of conflicts in the African region of the world.
Africa has witnessed more conflicts than any other continent in the world. There have been over 9million refugees and internally displaced people due to conflicts in Africa.
The causes of conflicts in Africa are many and they frequently recur, including major causes of potential tensions and conflicts, which could perhaps be summarised and classified below.
Common to many conflicts is the unsatisfactory nature of inter-state borders. Nearly all these borders were inherited from colonial times, and were the product of negotiations and treaties between the colonial powers, decided in Europe with the aid of poor maps and with scant attention to African peoples. At independence, the African governments shied away from
The African Union like the Responsibility to Protect clearly lays out provisions for interventions in the internal affairs of a member state through military force, if necessary to protect vulnerable populations from human rights abuses.
The African Unions Constitutive Act is the first international treaty to recognise the right on the part of an international organization to intervene for human protection purposes. In order to provide an operational dimension to the security provisions of the Constitutive Act, the African Union is developing capacities for early warning, quick reaction, management and resolution of conflicts in the African region of the world.
Africa has witnessed more conflicts than any other continent in the world. There have been over 9million refugees and internally displaced people due to conflicts in Africa.
The causes of conflicts in Africa are many and they frequently recur, including major causes of potential tensions and conflicts, which could perhaps be summarised and classified below.
Common to many conflicts is the unsatisfactory nature of inter-state borders. Nearly all these borders were inherited from colonial times, and were the product of negotiations and treaties between the colonial powers, decided in Europe with the aid of poor maps and with scant attention to African peoples. At independence, the African governments shied away from
References: Abbink, Jon and Ineke van Kessel, eds. 2005. Vanguard or Vandals: Youth, Politics, and Conflict in Africa. Boston, MA: Brill. Adelman, Howard and Govind C. Rao, eds. 2004. War and Peace in Zaire-Congo: Analysing and Evaluating Intervention, 1996–1997. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. Manning, C. Local level challenges to post-conflict peace building. International Peacekeeping, 3 (10) (2003):25–43.