English

Le petit commerce de produits vivriers (légumes, fruits etc.) entre la Province du Nord Kivu de la RDC (Goma) et la Province de l’Ouest du Rwanda (Gisenyi) est très important. Le petit
commerce transfrontalier est défini comme « activité commerciale génératrice de revenus dont la valeur des transactions commerciales journalières ne dépasse pas 100 dollars américains (USD) par commerçant ».

La Traversée: Petit Commerce et Amélioration des relations transfrontalières entre Goma (RD Congo) et Gisenyi (Rwanda).

International Alert is seeking to build on previous initiatives to inform and advance EU thinking on the reintegration of ex-combatants into post-conflict societies and economies. This is the second of two briefing papers produced as part of a year-long initiative aimed at reinvigorating the debate on reintegration. Based on research in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal, it discusses why the lessons of past reintegration programmes are not being learned and what implications this has for future EU disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programming.

Full report

This case study, commissioned by International Alert, examines the governance of natural
resources in São Tomé and Príncipe by focusing on the management, oversight and
transparency mechanisms or structures set up to monitor oil revenues since 2007. The study
explores the activities, challenges and social communication strategies of these oil-related
bodies from 2007 through 2009, identifying problems areas and analysing if and how these
problems are linked to larger social dynamics, and how they could be exacerbated by the

Executive summary (English)

Africahas suffered a total of one third of global armed conflicts over the past decade. The bottom 27 countries in the UNDP’s human development index are African and there are an estimated 6.1 million refugees and 20 million internally displaced persons across the continent. Now, more than ever, an effective EU-Africa partnership is required to address the underlying and proximate causes of conflict, insecurity, instability and underdevelopment to effect a demonstrative, positive and sustainable impact on the ground.

Briefing

Private sector activity – including both licit and illicit trade and business – is a significant factor influencing the shape and intensity of many conflicts. With a few significant exceptions, however, there has to date been little effort (from public, private and civil society sectors alike) to engage different types of private sector actor systematically in conflict prevention.

Full report

This report aims to map the small arms control practices in five countries of the Black Sea region (which, for the purposes of the report, include Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine). This is the area which has been serving as one of the hubs for arms proliferation, with both legal and illegal arms transfers taking place.

Full report

This paper summarises current debates on conflict, aid and peacebuilding and suggests that humanitarian agencies can go beyond avoiding negative impacts on conflict (‘Do No Harm’), to contributing positively to conflict transformation and peacebuilding (‘Do Good’) in a way that respects their core mandates and key humanitarian principles. The paper argues that this may be achieved by incorporating a ‘conflict sensitive’ approach in planning and programming. ‘Conflict sensitivity’ can be defined as the capacity of an organisation to:

Full report

THIS REPORT SHEDS analytical light on the complex linkages between economic factors and the conflict in Mindanao, and on the possible role of local business leaders and their associates in communities or other sectors in the country in breaking these links. It also explores options for government in addressing these dynamics.

Full report

This report is an overview of illicit small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation in West Africa, focusing on the implementation of sub-regional control instruments. In this regard, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa (ECOWAS Moratorium) stands out as the main platform on which arms control in the sub-region is based.

Full report

The European Security Strategy (ESS) commits the EU to using a wide range of instruments in order to prevent violent conflict. Its comprehensive nature is one of its strengths, however, greater analysis of how the EU’s “hard” and “soft” instruments will be applied during the implementation of the Strategy is needed. There is the risk that Member States will pay increasing attention to developing military aspects of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, rather than civilian, and preventive responses, without which, military engagement is counter-productive.

Full report

This report documents the processes and outcomes of a needs assessment carried out with women in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria between the 12th and 20th of July 2002. The Niger Delta region has been subject to a three-pronged conflict between communities, oil companies and the Nigerian government, as well as facing conflict within communities.

Full report

The West Africa Programme at International Alert (IA) has been actively working with partners from the region for many years in seeking to transform conflicts in the area through projects that contribute to bringing about social justice and peace. We are very much aware that other actors have also played a role in conflict transformation in the region. This overview is designed to provide an insight into the history of IA’s work there, particularly since the inception of the West Africa Programme in 1998.

Overview

Over the last ten years the states in the region have had different capacities and different motivations to deal with the SALW issues, and understandably have made different levels of progress in addressing them. As post-Soviet transition states have stabilised, their ability to enforce their international obligations with relation to the export of SALW has improved. The restructuring processes in the defence industries of these states as a result of the end of the Cold War have meant that the number of weapons being produced in this area has reduced.

Full report

The goal of this policy briefing is to provide a focused look at the challenges and obstacles to ensuring gender justice and accountability in the context of international peace support operations1 (PSOs) and to provide recommendations for UN and regional peacekeeping bodies (AU, ECOWAS, EU, NATO, OSCE) officials, responsible for peacekeeping in terms of setting policy standards and practice guidelines, as well as those directly involved as military or civilian peacekeepers. It approaches the issue of gender justice (see definition in section (iv)) in PSOs from three angles:

Full report