Regional Hub:
Africa

The Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) records major incidents of violence against aid workers. Initiated in 2005, to date the AWSD remains the sole comprehensive global source of this data, providing the evidence base for analysis of the changing security environment for civilian aid operations. The AWSD is a project of Humanitarian Outcomes.

Airwars is a collaborative, not-for-profit transparency project aimed at tracking, assessing and archiving international military actions and related civilian harm claims in conflict zones such as Iraq, Syria, and Libya. Founded in 2014, Airwars has established itself as a leading authority on conflict violence as it affects civilian communities.

Formed in 2003, the African Security Sector Network (ASSN) has established itself as a reputable  network of African security sector reform practitioners on the African continent and internationally. The principal objective of the network is to promote democratically governed and effective security for  the peoples of Africa, and to enhance the capacity of African governments, security institutions,  legislatures and civil society organizations to undertake and own Security Sector Reform (SSR)  programmes and projects.

Developed by the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at the University of Witwatersrand, Xenowatch is a tool to monitor xenophobic violence in South Africa.

Formed in 2016, the Beni Peace Forum (BPF) was created in response to a desire from grassroots civil society organizations working towards peace in Béni, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to have a platform for collaboration and collective effort. BPF is an association working towards peace and development in Béni in particular, and in eastern DRC more broadly. Their mission is to engage in legal activities that create a durable peaceful environment, for which ongoing analysis of the conflict is key.

Front Line Defenders is an Irish-based international organisation, founded in 2001, with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk (HRDs); people who work, non-violently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Front Line Defenders addresses the protection needs identified by HRDs themselves. The organisation has special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and in 2018 Front Line Defenders was awarded the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights.

The Crisis Tracker is a geospatial database and reporting project that tracks armed group activity and conflict-related incidents in the remote region encompassing Haut Mbomou, Mbomou, and Haute Kotto prefectures in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Bas Uele and Haut Uele provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Crisis Tracker data is drawn primarily from a community-based high-frequency (HF) early warning system (EWS) that connects more than 140 communities in eastern CAR and northeastern DRC.

MENASTREAM is an independent risk and research consultancy focusing on North Africa and the Sahel Region, providing intelligence analysis and tailored services to assist clients in understanding their environment and analyzing their needs.

ProtectDefenders.eu is the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism, established to protect defenders at high risk and facing the most difficult situations worldwide. ProtectDefenders.eu is committed to reaching Human Rights Defenders working in remote areas and countries where it is particularly dangerous to work in human rights defense. It focuses on defenders who are especially targeted, including women human rights defenders, defenders of LGBTI rights, land and environmental rights defenders, economic and social rights defenders, defenders of minorities, lawyers, and those fighting for freedom of expression and association.

Sierra Leone – Location Event Dataset (SL-LED) is a database on the Sierra Leone conflict (1991- present) developed by Dr. Kars de Bruijne in the context of the PhD-manuscript Bullets and Bargaining: Rationalist Explanations for Civil War. Since 2012, these data are incidentally updated based on links with ex-combatants and since 2018 new information has been added based on new in-country sources, links with Party Task Forces, and street gangs in Sierra Leone.

Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) works with communities and engages with governments, companies and other stakeholders to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to a healthy environment. SDN’s work currently focuses on the Niger Delta. Niger Delta Watch 2019 was a citizen-led elections observation project reporting on the 2019 Nigerian presidential and governorship elections. The project focused on the Niger Delta states of Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, and Akwa Ibom.

The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding-Côte d’Ivoire (WANEP-CI) was created in 2003 by five organizations: African Union CLUB (AU CLUB), Association for the Safeguarding and Maintenance of Peace (ASMP), Vision of African Women Against Wars (VAFAG), Femmes Côte d’Ivoire Experience (FCIEX), and Positive Africa. The mission is to facilitate cooperation among civil society organizations and institutions in Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa, in order to consolidate the various efforts and promote the regular sharing of information, experiences, and resources on the problems of democracy, good governance, human rights, social justice, humanitarian action, as well as conflict prevention and transformation. The vision is a peaceful and prosperous Côte d’Ivoire where democracy, good governance, respect for Human Rights and social justice prevail for the satisfaction of the basic needs of the people.

The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding-Sierra Leone (WANEP-SL) is a well-established national network of peacebuilding civil society organizations including women’s groups and religious institutions committed to encourage, facilitate, and mobilize local initiatives for peacebuilding, promotion of gender justice, conflict resolutions, and transformation. WANEP-SL is a membership network with 58 registered organizations across the country with a shared responsibility and interest to prevent conflict and build peace.

Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) was established in 2000 by a group of non-governmental and church organizations. ZPP’s core mandate is to monitor the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, and through its national Monthly Monitoring Reports on violence and human rights violations, and other lobby and advocacy activities at all levels, the organisation works towards peace building and human rights.

Zitamar News provides reliable and intelligent daily news and analysis on Mozambique’s economy, politics, and business sectors, with a particular focus on the extractive industry.