On 2–4 September 2025, SIPRI and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) hosted a regional workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, bringing together experts and practitioners to explore the future of conflict management in Africa.
SIPRI co-hosted a virtual event examining the role of artificial intelligence in humanitarian and development efforts across West Africa.
On 10–11 February, the Research and Action for Peace (REcAP) Network, led by the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding in collaboration with SIPRI and the Danish Refugee Council convened its third regional conference in Dakar, Senegal.
On 8 May, SIPRI and the African Development Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding to deepen their collaboration in understanding and addressing fragility, insecurity and climate-related challenges in Africa.
The Research and Action for Peace (REcAP) Network, comprising of SIPRI, the Danish Refugee Council and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, convened a two-day regional conference in Accra, Ghana, on 5 and 6 December.
Today, SIPRI and its partners, launch a new film that summarizes its research on humanitarian protection in the Liptako-Gourma region—comprising the tri-border areas of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
SIPRI, along with its partner, Point Sud, have now concluded a four-year study that aims to understand the daily lives of the Malian population and give them a voice.
The study culminates in both a film, that describes the broader aims and context of the work, as well as the research findings, and a report that summarizes the research results (in French).
Watch the SIPRI Reflection Film below.
Today SIPRI and its partners launch a new series of videos that examine the linkages between climate change and security in West Africa.
On 2 February, SIPRI and its partners launched the Research & Action for Peace (REcAP) Network. The REcAP Network is a collaboration between SIPRI, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, the Danish Refugee Council, and the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Senegal.
Since 2015, the central regions of Mali have become hotspots of insecurity. Jihadist groups, military operations, intercommunal violence, and conflicts between pastoralists and farmers frequently converge, making life difficult and dangerous for the people living there.
Today, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) launches a new Reflection Film that outlines and describes for the first time how SIPRI and its partner in Mali, Point Sud, collect data in central Mali, using quantitative and qualitative research methods, to understand the perceptions of the local population.
On 2 December, SIPRI will host a panel discussion on ‘Local Understandings of Human Security: Evidence from the Field’.
Today, SIPRI launches a new film capturing insights from international and Malian actors on the complexity of the crisis in Central Mali, in an effort to understand the nature of the conflict and ways of addressing it. The film, entitled ‘Understanding and addressing the root causes of conflicts in Central Mali’, provides an overview of SIPRI’s work in Central Mali as part of the three-year ‘Central Mali Project for Security and Development’.
Today, SIPRI launches a new Reflection film, capturing the reactions of key international and Malian actors to the research findings in SIPRI’s latest report on Mali, ‘The Challenges of Governance, Development and Security in the Central Regions of Mali’.
Since 2015, Mali’s central regions of Mopti and Ségou have become insecure hotspots at the confluence of interconnected challenges in terms of governance, development and security.
On 20–21 February, SIPRI and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs co-hosted a thematic and regional consultation on the 2020 review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture.
Despite the deployment of international and regional troops to support national armed and security forces in Mali, instability has escalated and spread across borders throughout the Sahel. The Sahel countries—Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger—share not only historical trajectories, trade routes and communities, but now also a social, economic, political and human crisis. To confront these common challenges, the Sahel countries are seeking ways to combat new threats, which include violent extremism and increasing intercommunal tensions.
Today, SIPRI, the European Union (EU) and Point Sud are pleased to release a new film on governance, security and socio-economic conditions in central Mali. The film is part of a three-year project called ‘Mali-Centre for Security and Development’.
SIPRI, together with the delegation of the European Union (EU) to Mali and Point Sud, convened a forum in Bamako on the topic ‘Governance, Security and Development in Central Mali’.
SIPRI was pleased to participate in the 2019 Almedalen Week in Visby, Gotland (30 June–7 July). This yearly event is considered to be one of the most important political, social and business forums in Sweden.
On 22–23 May, SIPRI, in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Kenya Office (FES Kenya) and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), convened a two-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, to seek ways of better integrating the risks posed by climate change into peace and security processes in the Horn of Africa.
SIPRI has expanded its research on security issues in the Horn of Africa by launching a new series of publications investigating major questions for the future security and stability of the region. Notably, it highlights the increasing importance of geopolitical, commercial and military competition as the driver of foreign military deployments to the region.
Today, SIPRI launches a new Reflection film on the conflict in central Mali, calling for a better understanding of local dynamics in order to resolve conflict and build peace in the region.
On 7–8 February, SIPRI, in cooperation with India’s National Maritime Foundation and the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to India, organized a workshop in Delhi entitled ‘Securing the Maritime Commons: India, the European Union and Indian Ocean Maritime Security’.
On 31 January, Malian civil society members and their partners SIPRI and CONASCIPAL presented the first Civil Society White Book for Peace and Security to help address security challenges for the Malian population.
(Bamako, 31 January 2019) — Today, Malian civil society members and their partners SIPRI and CONASCIPAL present the first Civil Society White Book for Peace and Security to help address security challenges for the Malian population.
SIPRI has produced a series of interview films spotlighting people’s perceptions of security in Mali. A range of voices from the country’s different regions are represented—all of which belong to members of the Monitoring Groups for Peace and Security (MGPS) within the SIPRI–CONASCIPAL peacebuilding and civil-society strengthening programme in Mali.
SIPRI and its partner organization CONASCIPAL held the third National Forum of Civil Society for Peace and Security in Mali.
SIPRI, in cooperation with the European Union delegation in Mali, assembled representatives from two regions of central Mali to map security concerns and discuss ways to improve the development and security situation.
SIPRI is pleased to announce the publication of a new Insights Paper, entitled ‘Central Mali: violence, local perspectives and diverging narratives’.
SIPRI launched the inaugural meeting of the Malian Women’s Network for Security Council Resolution 1325 on 23 and 24 November 2017 in Bamako with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in Mali and in partnership with the Malian National Coalition of Civil Society for Peace and the Fight Against the Proliferation of Light Weapons (CONASCIPAL).
Dr Jaïr van der Lijn, Head of the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme, featured on a panel discussion on peacekeeping arrangements between intergovernmental organisations at the recent Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, 13–14 November 2017.
SIPRI is pleased to announce the publication of a new Insights paper informed by an in depth study on security perceptions in Mali.
SIPRI Associate Senior Fellow Sten Hagberg presents results from a study on secuity in Mali.
SIPRI presents the findings of the report African Directions: Towards an Equitable Partnership in Peace Operations.
SIPRI's partner organization in Mali, CONASCIPAL, produce short-film on peacebuilding work in Mali
SIPRI and its partner organization CONASCIPAL launched the preliminary results of their security perception mapping study, covering the whole of Mali.
SIPRI and CONASCIPAL set up the Civil Society White Book Committee in Mali which will present policy options and concrete recommendations for long-standing stability in the country.
SIPRI release a new report as part of the New Geopolitics of Peace Operations II initiative.
More than a year after the peace agreement in Mali, SIPRI is pleased to announce the continuation of its onsite work in Mali in partnership with the Bamako-based organization CONASCIPAL (National Coalition of Civil Society for Peace and the Fight against the Proliferation of Small Arms). The work closely involves Malian civil society organizations to help build a durable and stable peace in the country.
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.
On November 16-18, SIPRI organized a regional dialogue meeting in Bamako, Mali on the future of peace operations and conflict management in Northern Africa. This was the fifth and final regional meeting in the series organized within the project New Geopolitics of Peace Operations II: African Outlooks on Conflict Management. The project aims to better understand how to prepare peace operations for the diverse security environments in Africa, while promoting local and international dialogue on the future of peace and security.
15 September 2015, Bamako, Mali
The impact of the Malian crisis, which began in January 2012 with a surge of armed violence in northern Mali, is felt across the country. While a peace accord was signed on 15 May and 20 June 2015, its implementation is faced with serious challenges. Achievement of a lasting peace will require commitment and contributions from a number of actors at all levels of Malian society.
On September 16–18 Malian traditional leaders and women’s associations met in Bamako to discuss their contributions to a lasting peace in Mali.
On 20 February in Bamako, Mali, SIPRI and its Malian partner organization, Conascipal, held a consultative round table meeting with government representatives and civil society groups about the causes of the political and security situation in Mali, and the challenges involved in building peace in the country.
SIPRI and CONASCIPAL held a seminar to launched the report: Causes et manifestations des conflits au Mali: Une perspective de la socété civile.
This consultative round table produced further insights into existing perceptions and perspectives on the causes, manifestations and possible solutions to the political and security crises in Mali.
In light of civil society's important role in peacebuilding, SIPRI has been supporting a process together with CONASCIPAL to develop a strategic vision for civil society contributions to peace and national unity in Mali. CONASCIPAL presented this strategic vision, Vision Stratégique de la Société Civile por la Paix et l’Unité National au Mali, at a seminar in Bamako, Mali.
This 3-day national forum initiated a process of reflection on the capacity of traditional authorities, religious leaders and associations of women to contribute to peacebuilding in Mali.
The forum brought together around 110 participants, including government representatives and academics. The 3 days of presentations addressed the following topics:
This seminar constituted a formal launch of the project in Mali as well as a networking occasion for civil society organizations involved in the project.
In addition to launching the project, the purpose of the seminar was to provide a comprehensive analysis of the political and security situation in Mali and to have feedback on this analysis from Malian civil society organization representatives, policy-makers and academics. The seminar had around 50 participants and was followed by a press conference.