Africa

Enhancing Security and the Rule of Law: How can gender be better
integrated into the priorities of the UN Peacebuilding Commission?

library: 

062007EventReportEnhancingSecurity.pdf

The UN Peacebuilding Commission: A Chance to Build Peace More Effectively
The Case of Burundi

October 2006

library: 

102006ReportBurundi.pdf

On 9th August 2010, Alert convened business leaders from Acholi and Lango sub-regions of Northern Uganda for a meeting titled “Business and Peace in Uganda: Lessons from Sri Lanka and Kenya” aimed at exploring the role of the private sector in ensuring a peaceful electoral process in the 2011 presidential and parliamentary election in Uganda.

International Alert recently facilitated two discussion fora in Northern Uganda’s districts of Amuru and Kitgum, which brought together stakeholders from different sectors of Uganda’s society and local communities to promote peacebuilding as part of the economic recovery of Northern Uganda.

In Amuru, the discussion focused on creating an understanding between oil companies and local communities; while in Kitgum, participants discussed how local business leaders can be key stakeholders in building peace at the local level.

During a recent community meeting in the north-western Liberian town of Vahun, in Lofa County, International Alert has been able to ascertain the positive impact its project on human security and gender-based violence has had on the communities in this part of Liberia.

Earlier this month, International Alert organised a three-day seminar for civil society aimed at exchanging information and increasing transparency in the management of oil revenues in the island state of São Tomé and Príncipe.

International Alert recently attended the 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women which undertook a 15-year review and appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA).

In partnership with the Eastern Africa Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), Alert organised a panel discussion to present the preliminary results of a joint research project on the nature and impact of women’s political participation currently being carried out in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

In February this year, International Alert organised an awareness campaign around the West African island of Príncipe aimed at informing those living in rural areas about forthcoming oil extraction. The island state of São Tomé and Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea is the second smallest country in Africa and one of the poorest countries in the world.

International Alert recently conducted research into perceptions of security and access to justice among stakeholders in three districts of Lofa County in northwest Liberia, as part of its EC-funded Initiative for Peacebuilding (IfP) project. The eruption of communal violence in Voinjama while Alert’s team was visiting the county seat provided a stark reminder of the fragility of peace in Liberia and the challenges of security provision in a remote and sensitive region.

International Alert recently published a report on Refugee return to eastern DRC, a discussion document that explores and warns of the dangers posed by the issue of returning refugees from Rwanda to North Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Members of the Chamber of Commerce from São Tomé and Príncipe recently met in Príncipe to discuss the role of the private sector as the country prepares to join the ranks of the oil-producing countries of Africa.

The meeting, which took place at the Príncipe Cultural Center on 20th April, was attended by seven representatives of the national Chamber of Commerce and over 45 members of the Chamber of Commerce of the island of Príncipe.  

International Alert recently published a report examining women’s representation in parliament in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Drawing on local views, Women, elections and violence in West Africa provides an assessment of the current state of women’s political participation in the two countries ahead of their forthcoming elections in 2011 and 2012.

December 2008 saw International Alert, in partnership with the Government of Liberia, host the largest peace and cultural festival held yet in the West African republic of Liberia. Taking place on a large football field in the centre of the capital Monrovia, and attended by between 30–40,000 people on both days, this was the fourth consecutive festival that Alert has organised in Liberia since the end of the civil war only six years ago.

International Alert recently took part in a meeting with ten Dutch INGOs and representatives from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss local governance in the DRC.

In 2006, elections were held in the DRC amid high hopes that they would bring about positive change for Congolese people and mark a turning point after decades of weak and unaccountable governance, which remains a primary driver of this country’s instability.