Corruption, poverty, human rights… These obstacles to stability and peace in Africa, according to the UN

#Other countries : The UN Security Council on Monday held a debate on peace and security in Africa. The speakers notably identified the various factors which continue to prevent the continent from truly achieving peace and stability, as well as the paths to a solution.

According to the Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General for Africa, Cristina Duarte, two types of factors prevent lasting peace on the continent. On the one hand, there are the so-called “internal” factors, such as corruption, poverty, inequalities or even respect for human rights, which interact with “external” factors such as competition for natural resources, criminality transnational corporation and the proliferation of illicit weapons.

The official, who spoke on Monday before the members of the Security Council, during a debate on peace and security in Africa, particularly highlighted corruption, “which not only diverts funds intended for the provision of services, but delegitimizes the action of the State”. Indeed, she pointed out, corruption “is globally the result of the absence of the state and the lack of capacity”. In some territories, the state is even simply replaced by non-state actors, including criminal and terrorist groups. This is for example the case of the Shabab in Somalia.

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Before her, Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner of the African Union (AU) for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, indicated that some AU Member States had fallen into conflict situations “due to the lack of rule of law and poor socio-economic prospects”. He noted in this regard that “idle young people in particular were tempted by violent extremism and the choice of separatism”.

Duarte also proposed avenues for strengthening peacebuilding and peacekeeping capacities in Africa. These include “building institutions and developing capacities for the delivery of public services, and tackling illicit financial flows”. This would generate an amount of revenue equivalent to official development assistance and foreign direct investment combined.

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The UN SGA also called for the creation of political and institutional capacities, because in many countries, she recalled, “peacekeeping missions were in areas where the state was absent “. According to her, “in this context, enhanced cooperation with national and local authorities, not only from a security point of view but also from the perspective of institution building, might create opportunities to increase the presence of the State and improve the service delivery. Services”.

Finally, for his part, the Chairman of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Muhammad Abdul Muhith, insisted on the association of women, young people and people in vulnerable situations in efforts aimed at strengthening capacities at local, national and regional levels.