As part of the second phase of the New Geopolitics of Peace Operations Initiative, SIPRI co-organized a series of dialogue meetings with diplomats, military representatives and academics in five subregions of Africa: West Africa (Abuja), the Greater Horn of Africa (Addis Ababa), Central Africa (Douala), Southern Africa (Maputo) and Sahel-Saharan Africa (Bamako).
Reports from each of the dialogue meetings are now available for download from the SIPRI website. Each report highlights several key themes that emerged from the regional dialogues.
While African outlooks on these important questions are truly diverse, several key insights emerged. African stakeholders are calling for more comprehensive, robust and long-term peace operations that would play a role in addressing root causes of conflict while also responding to immediate crises. There is also a general consensus that in order for African states and organizations to fulfil their responsibilities to their region and to gain independence from external assistance, more global investment in African capacities will be required in the short term.
SIPRI will produce a final report, which aims to give an overall picture of peace operations in Africa, to be published in late 2016.
The aims of the Initiative are twofold: to improve understanding of how to best prepare peace operations for the diverse security environments in Africa, and to improve international cooperation on peace operations in Africa. The Initiative is funded by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).