Reframing narratives of state building in Africa : lessons from South Sudan

The Sudan peace process and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement/CPA/ of 2005 did not realize viable state and sustainable peace in south Sudan. South Sudan is a deeply divided state under a divided and politically immature ruling party and instead of reducing conflict, independence served to intensify the internal divisions as the SPLM elite competed over control of the state. Four years after becoming an independent state, South Sudan is experiencing a multifaceted crisis that has its epicentre in the SPLM led government, but finds reflection in all spheres of governance and the SPLA

Youth and countering violent extremism in Africa

Research findings from the project suggest adopting a multi-level engagement, viewing and engaging youth as partners, recognising human-rights approaches, ensuring multi-stakeholder involvement, and focusing on “soft interventions” including citizen participation, working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other non-state actors, investing in social cohesion, and reinforcing the need to nurture and empower young people. IDRC's pan-African initiative “Understanding and Addressing Youth Experiences with Violence, Exclusion and Injustice in Africa” supported 14 research projects in 12 African countries. This brief provides a window into some country study findings

Hybrid political orders in the Horn : comparative analysis between Somaliland and Puntland

Somaliland offers important lessons concerning theories about security governance in Africa, the role that political elites play in conflict resolution, indigenous systems of governance such as clan elders, and the failure of existing international approaches to state reconstruction. The article provides a comparative analysis regarding Somaliland and its neighbor Puntland, to shed light on the nature of hybrid security which highlights multiple non-state providers of “security, welfare and representation.” Hybrid also refers to the fact that informal systems are not well understood in the literature. Unlike most parts of Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland followed bottom-up approaches to reconstruction

Trajectories of state building and peace building in Ethiopia : the role of political settlement - a baseline study

While the Ethiopian state has been strong in its capacity for control, it has so far been weak in its capacity to command popular legitimacy. The conflicts in 20th century Ethiopia were caused by the exclusionary nature of the state: ethnic domination, political centralization and economic marginalization. Political settlement was not only exclusionary at the outset but continues to be so in present times. This baseline study introduces a research agenda to assess the effect of political settlement on the subsequent trajectories of peace building and state reconstitution in Ethiopia

Youth resilience to violence in Africa

‘Resilience’ takes shape at different levels and is determined by socialisation, norms and values. The less socialised the individual is, the less his or her ability to escape violence. Self-advancement is very much linked with self-regulation. Adaptation, decision making, and proactive action were the most influential internal factors, while peer influences and family are the most important external factors. Intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (such as educational institutions) have critical roles. Study reports clearly illustrate the social-ecological factors of influence and why when given meaningful support most young people construct peaceful pathways for change

Trajectories of state building and peace building in Ethiopia : the role of peace settlements

In a region that is characterized by minuscule and diminutive span of statehood, Ethiopia nonetheless stands out. For many in Africa and much of the developing world, foreigners appropriated the period of entry into modernity, and the course of history had to be restored. But the Ethiopian case is just the opposite. The sole African state to defeat European colonialists and retain its independence through the 19th century scramble for Africa, its people have an understandable pride in their history, which informed their peace and state building trajectory in a distinct way

Mapping of southern security and justice civil society organisations and networks

The purpose of this mapping study is to provide the UK Department for International Development (DFID) with a quantitative and qualitative snapshot of security and justice civil society organisations (CSOs) and networks working in and across the countries investigated. CSO engagement on issues of security and justice is inherently difficult in many countries due to the nature of their governing regimes (such as where the state has authoritarian tendencies or where military regimes preside). In some cases the political space for CSOs to engage in issues of security and justice is being increasingly suppressed. Consequently, the success of donor support for security and justice CSOs often depends to a great extent on the political will of respective governments to enable CSOs to work freely. Furthermore, donors who wish to support security and justice CSOs need to take account of the extent to which donor interactions with government security and justice structures may influence the extent and quality of donor interaction with CSOs. In many countries, an understanding of security and justice as conceptualised and defined by donors is lacking amongst civil society – and an understanding of these issues as conceptualised by civil society is often lacking among donors and governments. This scenario even holds true in those countries where civil society as a whole is otherwise vibrant. Consequently, there is a need to increase the basic level of understanding on security and justice matters (both within CSOs and governments), to broaden the strategic community (those working in think tanks or engaged in policy analysis), and to support the development of research capacity and expertise in security and justice areas. Joined up approaches to security and justice work are rare in almost all contexts and common/collaborative/networking fora do not exist. Recommendations were made in almost all sub-regions stating that donor approaches should encourage collaboration at the outset between security and justice CSOs and devise schemes that reward or encourage joined up working