Humanitarian Action and Peacebuilding: Incompatible or Complementary?
This chapter examines the changing role of humanitarian organizations in Africa’s conflict zones and how humanitarianism has become a highly contested space on the battlefield. Through an analysis of several ongoing peace operations in Africa, this chapte
- PDF / 5,265,061 Bytes
- 433 Pages / 433.701 x 612.284 pts Page_size
- 98 Downloads / 189 Views
The State of Peacebuilding in Africa “On the 50th anniversary of the Organization of African States (OAU) in 2013 the Africa Union (the OAU reborn) pledged itself to creating a conflict-free Africa. That aspiration still remains unrealized, and this study explains why. In looking back at the past 50 years of the continent’s history it identifies why Africa is still conflict—prone; in looking to its future it explains what still needs to be done to redeem the AU’s pledge. Written by practitioners as well as academics this is an important work that is constructive in its recommendations, and written in an authoritative and engaging style. This study doesn’t pull its punches. It also carries a warning by its editors that good intentions are not enough; unfortunately, they are all too often supported by unintended consequences.” —Professor Christopher Coker, Director, London School of Economics, IDEAS “‘The State of Peacebuilding in Africa’ is a sophisticated tour de force of recent scholarship on the conceptual, practical and regional aspects of peacebuilding and peacemaking across contemporary Africa. The volume adroitly questions traditional approaches to peacebuilding in the complex and evolving milieu within which African countries operate, and offers a fresh look at how the economic, social, political and cultural factors interact in complex emergencies. The authors use a range of thematic angles and case-study examples to explore and articulate innovative, evidence-driven options for policy wonks and policy makers. This book will bring as much richness to the classroom and project whiteboard, as it would to boardroom.” —Raymond Gilpin, Ph.D., Chief Economist and Head of Strategy, Regional Bureau for Africa, UNDP New York “Far from a period in which narrations of conflict and peacebuilding in Africa were done predominantly by distant spectators and ‘beholders of peace’, this book signals a shift by projecting African-led ideas. Not only does it bring authentically African voices to the fore, it offers African peacebuilding perspectives in a global context. It also privileges first-hand accounts of policy practitioners as well as experts that have engaged meaningfully with peacebuilding processes and activities on the ground in Africa. The editors succeed in connecting the world of academia with that of policy and practice; and they offer a useful model of collaboration among authors from the global North and South while maintaining the prominence of the African accounts at the core of the book. This is a bold attempt to shift perspectives of peacebuilding in Africa from those that are based
on the gaze of distant actors to those which reflect the worldviews of the real ‘owners of peace’.” —Professor Funmi Olonisakin, Vice President & Vice-Principal International Professor of Security, Leadership & Development, King’s College London and Advisory Group of Experts, for the Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture (2015) “Thorough, informative, insightful, and inspiring, this important collection br
Data Loading...
