The International Contact Group and Steps Toward Stability in the Great Lakes

On February 9-10, 2012 the International Contact Group on the Great Lakes Region will meet at the Department of State in Washington, DC. This body, consisting of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the European Union, and the United Nations, aims to meet on a quarterly basis and has been convened regularly since the early 2000s. The Contact Group works to address political, diplomatic, security, and development issues in the region, and since 2008 has included a task force focused on the illegal trade in natural resources. The intention of the group is to act as a medium for regular exchange of information, the harmonization of messaging, and for the identification and discussion of gaps that exist in regional foreign policy among the members of the group. The group originally included regional countries such as Angola and South Africa, but over the years has slimmed down to its current members that now act as a North American - European alliance on development, security, and economic diversification in the Great Lakes Region. The Contact Group has a unique ability to advance a coordinated regional policy from all members based on the collective knowledge the group brings to the table. The Group tends to meet just below the ministerial level, occasionally receiving participation from senior principals, and in general allowing for interaction among working level and deputy assistant secretary level and equivalent representatives. This framework is beneficial in that it engages those who have an in depth working knowledge of the issues and situations on the ground. Ultimately, this allows those officials most responsible for crafting the nuts-and-bolts of policy to communicate and coordinate with their counterparts. The upcoming meeting in Washington will focus on four urgent subject areas: the Congolese elections, security sector reform in Congo, conflict minerals, and armed groups and regional dynamics including the LRA. As a whole, these areas represent core impediments to peace, stability, and development in the Great Lakes. The following are recommendations to the group on specific elements of each subject area where this body can act to create real progress to mitigate conflict and fill critical gaps in cross-border coordination and communication. Read more

Conflict-Sensitive Conservation in Nyungwe National Park: Conflict Analysis

In September 2011 the Wildlife Conservation Society and the International Institute for Sustainable Development initiated a two-year collaborative project on conflict-sensitive conservation in Nyungwe National Park, in southwest Rwanda. The collaboration focuses on building the capacity of the Rwanda Development Board and Nyungwe-area district representatives to understand, manage and resolve conflicts. The work is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Conflict-sensitive conservation is conservation programming and implementation that takes into account the causes and impacts of conflict and the actors in it, in order to minimize conflict risks and maximize peace-building opportunities. As a central part of the project, a two-day workshop on conflict-sensitive conservation was held in Kitabi on September 22 and 23, 2011. The objectives of the workshop were to introduce the staff of the Rwandan Development Board and other stakeholders to the CSC methodology, identify existing and potential conflicts affecting the conservation of Nyungwe National Park and the surrounding communities and prioritize those conflicts that require action, analyze the prioritized conflicts, and identify potential solutions through which Development Board and its partners can address these conflicts. The findings of the workshop, as well as those from consultations with conservationists and communities, form the basis of the conflict analysis presented below and will contribute to the development of a conflict resolution strategy for Nyungwe National Park. Read more

Report of the Secretary General: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence [A/66/657]

The report covers the period from December 2010 to November 2011 and includes: information on parties to conflict credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for acts of rape or other forms of sexual violence; highlights major outcomes of missions and political engagements undertaken by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict; and describes key initiatives taken by the UN to address conflict-related sexual violence. Read more

The Causes of Stability and Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa: An Analytic Survey

We have updated and greatly expanded our analysis of the metrics that can cause political instability and unrest in the Gulf and Middle East. The report focuses on underlying forces and causes at a time when political crisis -- and serious security issues -- dominate the region. These political dynamics and unrest are, however, only part of the story. The trends in demographics, economics, internal security and justice systems, governance, and social change show how much other factors affect both the region and individual nations, and will remain sources of violence and instability until they are dealt with. They show how basic data on the size of given economies, per capita incomes, populations, and population growth rates also contribute to instability. Finally, they illustrate the critical role of governance, social change, and justice systems in shaping and dealing with each nation’s problems. Read more

Sudan: No End to Violence in Darfur: Arms Supplies Continue Despite Ongoing Human Rights Violations

In the last twelve months, as other developments in Sudan overshadowed international attention on Darfur, the region has seen a new wave of fighting between armed opposition groups and government forces, including governmentbacked militias. The fighting has shifted during 2011 away from former epicentres of the war near the border with Chad and elsewhere, to eastern Darfur in particular. This has included targeted and ethnically motivated attacks on civilian settlements, and indiscriminate and disproportionate aerial bombings that have contributed to the displacement of an estimated 70,000 people from their homes and villages. This briefing describes some of these events; the types of arms in use by those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law; and the suppliers of those arms to Sudan. These arms have in some cases been supplied to Sudan barely 12 months before their use in Darfur. Critically, this briefing shows that the governments whose exported military equipment have over the years turned up at the site of serious human rights violations in Darfur -- including Belarus, the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation -- continue to supply those kinds of equipment to Sudan on a regular basis. Read more

Violence, Identity Mobilization and the Reimagining of Biafra

The events leading to the Nigeria Civil War marked the triumph of force and violence over dialogue and negotiation as a means of conflict resolution. The success of the Nigerian state in imposing a military solution on the preceding political crisis, and then suppressing the ensuing Biafran rebellion, has had a lasting effect on state–society relations. As a result, the state has not refrained from using violence at the slightest provocation against competing and conflicting ethno-religious groups. The tendency of the state to exercise domination through the deployment of violence implies an ongoing crisis of state hegemony rather than a resolution of civil unrest. This article argues that state violence was more important than ethnic divisions in triggering the secessionist attempt of Biafra, and has continued to create rather than resolve ethnic divisions across the country. The emergence in post-Civil War Nigeria of regimes that perpetrated or permitted mass violence against restive social groups remains critical to understanding the contemporary rise of ethno-nationalist movements and waning allegiance to the Nigerian state, particularly among the Igbo. The aim of the article is to underscore the understated salience of state violence in the debates on identity and citizenship in multi-ethnic societies. Read more

Protection of Health Care in Armed and Civil Conflict: Opportunities for Breakthroughs

During recent uprisings in Bahrain, Syria, and Libya, security forces obstructed access to health facilities; harassed, arrested, and prosecuted medical personnel; and even assaulted patients within hospitals. In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where drug-related violence has escalated over the past three years, criminal organizations have killed and abducted health workers and interfered with patient care inside hospitals. As a result of the insecurity, doctors and nurses have fled, and 60 percent of the city’s clinics have closed, jeopardizing the health of individuals in a city of 1.5 million people. In some areas of the city there are no clinics left at all, and night and weekend services have been severely compromised. Assaults like these have long been part of the landscape of armed and civil conflict. They jeopardize the lives and well-being not only of those directly attacked but of others who may never be able to access the health care they need. Yet, for decades, a paucity of regular reporting on the frequency, dynamics, and impacts of these assaults; lack of attention to strategies to prevent attacks; and absence of accountability mechanisms for those who perpetrate assaults has allowed these assaults to continue with impunity. Read more