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Thursday 3 December 2009
DARFUR CONFLICT: ITS HISTORY, NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT
Increased access to weapons from southern Sudan, Chad, Libya, and Eritrea aggravated the inter-tribal conflict with the emergence of tribal militias. Some tribes believe that the government was not able to defend them against other tribes and armed criminal gangs who have more sophisticated weapons, which led several nomadic tribes to form their own defence groups. As a result the region became an open arms
market attracting arms dealers to smuggle in all kinds of weapons such as small arms, heavy and light artillery, RPG rocker launchers, and including armoured vehicles. Between 1983-87 fighting broke out between Fur, Zaghawa and Ma’alihyah communities which resulted in 5,000 deaths, tens of thousands of displaced people and the destruction of 40,000 homes. The conflict was mediated and settled by
government and local tribal leaders. In 1990 the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army inspired an insurgency led by Daud Bolad from the Fur tribe. The insurgency was defeated in few months. In 1996 the Rezeigat and Zagawa tribes came into
armed conflict. In 1997-99 there was fighting between Massaleit
and some Arab tribes
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market attracting arms dealers to smuggle in all kinds of weapons such as small arms, heavy and light artillery, RPG rocker launchers, and including armoured vehicles. Between 1983-87 fighting broke out between Fur, Zaghawa and Ma’alihyah communities which resulted in 5,000 deaths, tens of thousands of displaced people and the destruction of 40,000 homes. The conflict was mediated and settled by
government and local tribal leaders. In 1990 the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army inspired an insurgency led by Daud Bolad from the Fur tribe. The insurgency was defeated in few months. In 1996 the Rezeigat and Zagawa tribes came into
armed conflict. In 1997-99 there was fighting between Massaleit
and some Arab tribes
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Indigenous Systems of Conflict Resolution in Oromia, Ethiopia
This chapter describes the role of the gadaa system, an institution developed for guiding the social, political, economic and religious life of the Oromo people in Ethiopia and for managing resources such as water, as well as its contribution in conflict resolution among individuals and communities. It discusses ways to overcome the difference between customary and statutory approaches in conflict resolution. A synthesis of customary and statutory systems of conflict resolution may facilitate a better understanding that will lead to improved management of resources, which are predominant variables for the socio-economic development of the country. It
suggests that top-down imposition and enforcement of statutory laws that replace customary laws should be avoided. Instead, mechanisms should be sought to learn from the Lubas, elders who are knowledgeable in the gadaa system, about the customary mechanisms of conflict resolution so as to integrate them into the enactment or implementation of statutory laws
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suggests that top-down imposition and enforcement of statutory laws that replace customary laws should be avoided. Instead, mechanisms should be sought to learn from the Lubas, elders who are knowledgeable in the gadaa system, about the customary mechanisms of conflict resolution so as to integrate them into the enactment or implementation of statutory laws
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Drought War, and the Politics of Famine in Ethiopia and Eritrea
During almost two decades, beginning in the early 1970s, the Horn of Africa was racked by the ravages of hunger and war. Natural disasters are not new to the region, which historically could count on at least seven major droughts each century, but in the current era they have been increasing, in part due to massive deforestation and the changing pattern of weather.1 It is estimated that in Ethiopia alone, because of soil erosion and deforestation, 30,000 million tons of top-soil
are lost each year.2 A second important factor affecting the seventy of famine has been the dramatic escalation in the level and intensity of civil conflict, nowhere more evident than in Ethiopia. A devastating drought and associated famine contributed greatly to the demise of the imperial régime of H aile Selassie in September 1974.3 The fall of the Old Order, and the failure of the new leaders between then and 1991 to develop a plan for the rebuilding of society that was
widely accepted as legitimate, fuelled an internal war in the Ethiopian heartland, and a struggle for national liberation in the former Italian colony of Eritrea. The latter conflict lasted for over three decades; and during the 1980s, its scale, scope, and intensity increased markedly, culminating in victory for the Eritrea n People's Liberation Front (E.P.L.F.) in April 1991. Concurrently the internal opponents of Ethiopia's revolutionary régime became better armed and organised,
and under the leadership of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (E.P.R.D.F.) they were able to depose President Mengis tu Haile Mariam even as the rebels were claiming victory in Eritrea. Why were those living in the rural areas not able to use traditional techniques of survival to mitigate the ill effects of drought, and avoid
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are lost each year.2 A second important factor affecting the seventy of famine has been the dramatic escalation in the level and intensity of civil conflict, nowhere more evident than in Ethiopia. A devastating drought and associated famine contributed greatly to the demise of the imperial régime of H aile Selassie in September 1974.3 The fall of the Old Order, and the failure of the new leaders between then and 1991 to develop a plan for the rebuilding of society that was
widely accepted as legitimate, fuelled an internal war in the Ethiopian heartland, and a struggle for national liberation in the former Italian colony of Eritrea. The latter conflict lasted for over three decades; and during the 1980s, its scale, scope, and intensity increased markedly, culminating in victory for the Eritrea n People's Liberation Front (E.P.L.F.) in April 1991. Concurrently the internal opponents of Ethiopia's revolutionary régime became better armed and organised,
and under the leadership of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (E.P.R.D.F.) they were able to depose President Mengis tu Haile Mariam even as the rebels were claiming victory in Eritrea. Why were those living in the rural areas not able to use traditional techniques of survival to mitigate the ill effects of drought, and avoid
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Grassroots Conflict Assessment Of the Somali Region, Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s Somali Region is undergoing a gradual but important transition that has multiple implications concerning violent grassroots conflict (defined, in this context, as conflict largely driven by local factors, as opposed to macro-political factors). Home to more than four million people, the vast majority of whom are ethnically Somali and Somali-speaking, the region’s inhabitants are undergoing a fundamental shift in their livelihoods, started about two decades
ago, that affects many facets of life. This shift is driven by multiple factors and results in a measured move away from the traditional nomadic pastoralist way of life towards a foundation of agro-pastoralist activities and sedentary farming. There are many implications of this shift at multiple levels of society; this report focuses on the implications for community-based conflict and argues that the shift brings with it new drivers of conflict in addition to conventional drivers. Aggravating the situation is the recent drought professed by some to be the worst in the region’s history.
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ago, that affects many facets of life. This shift is driven by multiple factors and results in a measured move away from the traditional nomadic pastoralist way of life towards a foundation of agro-pastoralist activities and sedentary farming. There are many implications of this shift at multiple levels of society; this report focuses on the implications for community-based conflict and argues that the shift brings with it new drivers of conflict in addition to conventional drivers. Aggravating the situation is the recent drought professed by some to be the worst in the region’s history.
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Ethiopia: government recognition of conflict IDPs crucial to addressing their plight
Internal displacement due to conflict occurs in different parts of Ethiopia. It is caused mainly by ethnic tensions exacerbated by the government’s regionalisation policy
along ethnic lines, tight political control from the centre, and widespread resource
shortages in a chronically food-insecure country. In the absence of a coherent ap-
proach to internally displaced persons (IDPs), estimates of displacement vary from
100,000 to 280,000, including some 60,000 drought IDPs. This report considers the
displacement situations in the four regions of Tigray, Somali, Oromiya and Gambella.
Drought displacement and the national resettlement scheme are mentioned as well.
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along ethnic lines, tight political control from the centre, and widespread resource
shortages in a chronically food-insecure country. In the absence of a coherent ap-
proach to internally displaced persons (IDPs), estimates of displacement vary from
100,000 to 280,000, including some 60,000 drought IDPs. This report considers the
displacement situations in the four regions of Tigray, Somali, Oromiya and Gambella.
Drought displacement and the national resettlement scheme are mentioned as well.
Read more
CROSS-CULTURAL CONFLICT
Conflict is competition by groups or individuals over incompatible goals, scarce resources, or the sources of power needed to acquire them. This competition is also determined by individuals’ perceptions of goals, resources, and power, and such perceptions may differ greatly among individuals. One determinant of perception is culture, the socially inherited, shared and learned ways of living possessed by individuals in virtue of their membership in social groups. Conflict that occurs across cultural boundaries thus is also occurring across cognitive and perceptual boundaries, and is especially susceptible to problems of intercultural miscommunication and misunderstanding. These problems exacerbate the conflict, no matter what the root causes of it—including strictly material interests—may be. In this sense culture is an important factor in many sorts of conflicts that at first may appear to be exclusively about material resources or negotiable interests.
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Sudan: Root Causes of the Wars in South Sudan, Darfur And the Afro-Arab Borderlands
The problems that the Borderlands raise, being that area of Africa stretching from Sudan on the Red Sea to Mauritania on the Atlantic Ocean, date back thousands of years. That area provides a sharper, historically based, holistic definition of the African personality than that hitherto offered by the Black consciousness movements in the Americas and southern Africa.
The last population census conducted in Sudan was in 1983. Population figures in Sudan, the largest country in Africa, and especially southern Sudan, are the subject of continual dispute. Sudan’s total population was estimated to be close to 20 million people, with 80-85 percent settled in rural areas. While 39 percent of Sudan’s population considers itself as ‘Arab’, the ruling elite in Khartoum present Sudan as an ‘Arab’ country, which most international bodies and scholars accept. In Sudan, mainly around Khartoum, exists a minority group of mixed race Black people who do not consider themselves Africans and who participate in the oppression and the enslavement of the majority African population. Clearly what is at stake here is not a matter of colour, but a question of culture. What the Borderlands teach us is that the African personality is primarily defined culturally. It is not race based.
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The last population census conducted in Sudan was in 1983. Population figures in Sudan, the largest country in Africa, and especially southern Sudan, are the subject of continual dispute. Sudan’s total population was estimated to be close to 20 million people, with 80-85 percent settled in rural areas. While 39 percent of Sudan’s population considers itself as ‘Arab’, the ruling elite in Khartoum present Sudan as an ‘Arab’ country, which most international bodies and scholars accept. In Sudan, mainly around Khartoum, exists a minority group of mixed race Black people who do not consider themselves Africans and who participate in the oppression and the enslavement of the majority African population. Clearly what is at stake here is not a matter of colour, but a question of culture. What the Borderlands teach us is that the African personality is primarily defined culturally. It is not race based.
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On the Theory of Ethnic Conflict
In many countries and many periods a person’s ethnic identity has profound consequences for his or her physical safety, political status, and economic prospects. Violent confrontation along ethnic lines is the most apparent form of ethnic conflict, and recently has claimed lives in such diverse places as the Balkans, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Indonesia, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, and several other countries. Less news-making, but even more widespread, is nonviolent ethnic conflict, whereby ethnic cleavages form the basis for political competition and/or economic exploitation. In Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Belgium, and countless other countries rent seeking on behalf of one’s ethnic group crowds out productive activities, and the threat of violence discourages investments in human and physical capital
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Poverty and Conflict in Africa: Explaining a Complex Relationship
With the end of the Cold War, poverty and conflict have become the biggest challenges to sustainable development. Even though debatable, poverty is continuously cited as one of the principal factors responsible for instability in many parts of Africa. For example, West Africa contains 11 of the world’s 25 poorest countries and is currently one of the unstable regions of the world. In fact, at a recent United States Institute of Peace workshop on “Responding to War and State Collapse in West Africa”, participants reached a consensus (contrary to popular belief) that poverty and the lack of economic opportunity were more important factors than Charles Taylor and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the continuing instability that afflicts the entire region. According to the 2003 UN Human Development Report, “The new century opened with an unprecedented declaration of solidarity and determination to rid the world of poverty. In 2000 the UN Millennium Declaration, adopted at the largest-ever gathering of heads of state, committed countries – rich and poor – doing all they can to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and equality and achieve peace, democracy and environmental sustainability.” Three years later, poverty and conflict are on the rise, particularly in Africa. Indeed, for most countries in Africa, the last few years have been times of despair and the 2003 Human Development Ranking is a testimony – the 25 poorest countries in the world, at the bottom of the ranking, are from Africa.
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Do Human Rights Violations Cause Internal Conflict?
This article outlines a human rights framework for analyzing violent internal
conflict, by “translating” social-scientific findings about conflict risk factors into
human rights language. Discrimination and violations of social and economic
rights appear to function as underlying causes, creating the deep grievances and
group identities that may, under some circumstances, motivate collective
violence. Violations of civil and political rights, by contrast, are more clearly
identifiable as direct triggers. Abuse of personal integrity is associated with
conflict escalation, with intermediately repressive regimes most at risk. Denial of
political participation rights is associated with internal conflict insofar that full
democracies experience less conflict, but democratization itself is dangerous,
because regime transition is also a major risk factor.
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conflict, by “translating” social-scientific findings about conflict risk factors into
human rights language. Discrimination and violations of social and economic
rights appear to function as underlying causes, creating the deep grievances and
group identities that may, under some circumstances, motivate collective
violence. Violations of civil and political rights, by contrast, are more clearly
identifiable as direct triggers. Abuse of personal integrity is associated with
conflict escalation, with intermediately repressive regimes most at risk. Denial of
political participation rights is associated with internal conflict insofar that full
democracies experience less conflict, but democratization itself is dangerous,
because regime transition is also a major risk factor.
Read more
Do Human Rights Violations Cause Internal Conflict?
This article outlines a human rights framework for analyzing violent internal
conflict, by “translating” social-scientific findings about conflict risk factors into
human rights language. Discrimination and violations of social and economic
rights appear to function as underlying causes, creating the deep grievances and
group identities that may, under some circumstances, motivate collective
violence. Violations of civil and political rights, by contrast, are more clearly
identifiable as direct triggers. Abuse of personal integrity is associated with
conflict escalation, with intermediately repressive regimes most at risk. Denial of
political participation rights is associated with internal conflict insofar that full
democracies experience less conflict, but democratization itself is dangerous,
because regime transition is also a major risk factor.
Read more
conflict, by “translating” social-scientific findings about conflict risk factors into
human rights language. Discrimination and violations of social and economic
rights appear to function as underlying causes, creating the deep grievances and
group identities that may, under some circumstances, motivate collective
violence. Violations of civil and political rights, by contrast, are more clearly
identifiable as direct triggers. Abuse of personal integrity is associated with
conflict escalation, with intermediately repressive regimes most at risk. Denial of
political participation rights is associated with internal conflict insofar that full
democracies experience less conflict, but democratization itself is dangerous,
because regime transition is also a major risk factor.
Read more
The causes of conflict in Africa
Summary
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Has dramatically increased in level and scale throughout the 1990s. In January 2000 over half of African countries were affected.
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Is caused by inequality, economic decline, state collapse and history.
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Has changed in nature; wars are now predominantly regional.
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Has increasingly affected non-combatants over the past decade as a result of increasing factional fighting and violent action against the civilian population.
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Has caused as many deaths each year as are caused by epidemic diseases, and has uprooted millions of people.
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Is constraining economic growth on the continent as a whole. Its economic impact crosses state borders.
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Has resulted in a marked reduction in food production and serious losses of infrastructure.
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Must be tackled because of the human suffering and also because of the impact on global security and the environment.
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Requires a stronger and more focused international effort encompassing conflict prevention, reduction, resolution and peace building, in order to respond effectively and break the conflict cycle.
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●
Has dramatically increased in level and scale throughout the 1990s. In January 2000 over half of African countries were affected.
●
Is caused by inequality, economic decline, state collapse and history.
●
Has changed in nature; wars are now predominantly regional.
●
Has increasingly affected non-combatants over the past decade as a result of increasing factional fighting and violent action against the civilian population.
●
Has caused as many deaths each year as are caused by epidemic diseases, and has uprooted millions of people.
●
Is constraining economic growth on the continent as a whole. Its economic impact crosses state borders.
●
Has resulted in a marked reduction in food production and serious losses of infrastructure.
●
Must be tackled because of the human suffering and also because of the impact on global security and the environment.
●
Requires a stronger and more focused international effort encompassing conflict prevention, reduction, resolution and peace building, in order to respond effectively and break the conflict cycle.
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The Root Causes of Conflict: Some Conclusions by by Frances Stewart
This paper analyses the ‘root’ causes of complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs) on the basis of studies conducted in a UNU/WIDER project on social and economic causes of CHEs; and identifies policies that appear relevant to the prevention of conflict. The paper regards horizontal inequality (i.e. inequality among groups, in contrast to vertical inequality which measures inequality among individuals) as the fundamental source of organised conflict. Such horizontal inequality may have political, economic or social dimensions. The case studies indicate that CHEs occur where group identity coincides with horizontal inequality that is consistent, and often widening, over a number of dimensions. Preventative policies need to be addressed towards correcting horizontal inequality along the relevant dimensions. Where conflicts are already underway, it is also necessary to introduce policies
to change the private incentives of those who carry it out towards alternative peaceful occupations. Preventative policies thus require inclusive government, politically, economically and socially. Such policies do not form part of the current political or economic conditionality exercised by the international community, and may sometimes contradict this conditionality
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to change the private incentives of those who carry it out towards alternative peaceful occupations. Preventative policies thus require inclusive government, politically, economically and socially. Such policies do not form part of the current political or economic conditionality exercised by the international community, and may sometimes contradict this conditionality
Read more
Trends and Causes of Armed Conflict
From the start of 1990 to the end of 1999 there were 118 armed conflicts world wide,
involving 80 states and two para-state regions and resulting in the death of approximately six million people. If we seek to prevent conflict from escalating into armed warfare, or, failing that, to at least achieve an end to fighting as soon as possible, and if we want to maximise the opportunity for avoiding the return of the war after apparent settlement, we must first be sure that we properly understand armed conflicts and their causes.
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involving 80 states and two para-state regions and resulting in the death of approximately six million people. If we seek to prevent conflict from escalating into armed warfare, or, failing that, to at least achieve an end to fighting as soon as possible, and if we want to maximise the opportunity for avoiding the return of the war after apparent settlement, we must first be sure that we properly understand armed conflicts and their causes.
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Livelihood Conflicts: Linking poverty and environment as causes of conflict
Poverty increasingly is caused by environmental scarcities of arable land and water,
resulting in loss of livelihoods. A common denominator for causes of conflict in
many recent internal wars is the loss of livelihoods resulting in young men being
unable to reach the positions in life earlier generations of men could expect. Policy
attempts to break the vicious path to conflict need to address both poverty and environmental issues. Reconstruction of exhausted environmental resources will work
towards both these ends.
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resulting in loss of livelihoods. A common denominator for causes of conflict in
many recent internal wars is the loss of livelihoods resulting in young men being
unable to reach the positions in life earlier generations of men could expect. Policy
attempts to break the vicious path to conflict need to address both poverty and environmental issues. Reconstruction of exhausted environmental resources will work
towards both these ends.
Read more
Lack of citizenship rights a major cause of conflict in Africa
(Kampala, Uganda, 21 October 2009)—The lack of citizenship rights generates conflict and undermines democracy in many countries in Africa, according to two new studies by the Open Society Institute. The reports, the culmination of years of research, analyze citizenship laws from all 53 countries in Africa.
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Wednesday 2 December 2009
Conflict early warning response mechanisms
Conflict early warning and response’ (EWR) was conceived as a means of preventing violent conflict in order to protect people’s life. Broadly two types of mechanisms can be distinguished: quantitative and qualitative models. The most explicit response mechanism exists with regard to humanitarian emergencies at the UN level; however the EWR mechanism is far from being efficient since the UN is a bureaucratic organisation with a ‘silo’ mentality among the different agencies and departments, and the UN Security Council is a highly politicised body. At the same time, only in recent years have regional organisationsbeen charged with responding to crises and only now are they beginning to establish instruments (organs of peace and security) with a capacity to respond.
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Horn of Africa: Peace Agreement
This posting also contains a selection of links with updates and background on the conflict.
Source Africa Policy E-Journal
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Source Africa Policy E-Journal
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