South Africa: Service Delivery at the Center of Violent Protests

2018 has seen modest levels of political violence and protest events in South Africa relative to preceding years. The decrease in events can be explained by a number of factors, including the absence of elections (election violence), the decrease in student protests at tertiary institutions nationwide and the February 2018 change in leadership from the controversial Jacob Zuma to Cyril Ramaphosa.…

Regional Overview – Africa 28 May 2018

There were important developments in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, the DRC and Somalia on the week of May 20th. In Burkina Faso, the state forces likely thwarted another major attack by Islamist militants in the capital, Ouagadougou.…

The Many Sides of International Peacekeeping in Africa

Of the fourteen United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions currently active around the world, half are based on the African continent. Of these, five—those in Somalia[1], Mali, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo– have ongoing or recently renewed mandates, and a force of over 10,000 personnel, including soldiers and police.…

Violence in Bangui, Central African Republic

Since the beginning of April there has been a dramatic escalation of violence in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic[1]. Most of this activity has been focused in the PK5 or KM5 neighbourhood – a Muslim area that is considered the economic heart of the city.…

Conflict Activity in South Sudan

Following the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement on 21 December 2017, conflict activity in South Sudan has reduced. This period in South Sudan corresponds the dry season, when the conflict is usually expected to resume (ACLED, November 2017), however, the totals of monthly fatalities since the agreement have remained significantly lower than in the same period last year (see Figure 1).…