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  •  A man is setting fire to rifles (disarm).
    The blue helmets’ tin(y) enemy - The UN Security Council and Small Arms and Light Weapons Proliferation in Africa
    The United Nations Security Council has the primary responsibility for upholding peace and security in the world. Its agenda reflects the world’s biggest fires that need to be extinguished. When holding the monthly rotating presidency, both Kenya in October and Mexico in November 2021 dedicated signature events to highlighting one conflagration in particular: the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW). Mexico highlighted the threat to international peace and Kenya convened a briefing on illicit SALW and their impact on peace support operations. What makes this topic so prominent on the global agenda for peace and security, and what puts Africa in the spotlight?
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • A boy kicks a soccer ball up the street during lockdown in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg.
    Ten reasons to keep your eyes on Africa in 2022
    The discovery of the Omicron Coronavirus in South Africa, another military coup in Sudan, and a deepened conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region made headlines in 2021. But what does 2022 have in store? We asked our researchers what they will be keeping their eyes on in the coming year.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Three researchers sitting oppposed a man and woman in an interview situation.
    Agriculture development projects weak on women's empowerment
    Two development interventions in rural Zambia have shown limited results on women’s empowerment. Special attention to gender equality will not succeed unless projects are economically profitable for farmers, argues NAI researcher Bridget Bwalya Umar.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Historical photos of Ovaherero and Nama prisoners of war in concentration camps in display at the museum Alte Feste
    German compensation to Namibia puts pressure on other former colonial rulers
    Long ignored, colonial crimes are now in the spotlight. Germany is leading the way in admitting its guilt but it remains unfinished business, according to NAI researcher Henning Melber.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • A tuk-tuk full of people drives off with a poster in support of incumbent presidential candidate of the National People’s Party (NPP) Adama Barrow, in Banjul on November 29.
    Another term for the Gambia’s ‘accidental president’?
    On 4 December, the Gambia will hold its first presidential election since Gambians ended the 22-year authoritarian rule of Yahya Jammeh at the polls five years ago. However, a deal between incumbent President Adama Barrow and the party of the exiled Jammeh have cast doubts over Barrow’s dedication to democracy and national reconciliation.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Exemplebild
    What makes me tick: Jesper Bjarnesen on why empathy is key for migration research
    We've asked NAI scholars why they chose a career as a researcher and what motivates them in their work. Jesper Bjarnesen talks about how his childhood upbringing in Zambia got him interested in migration issues and that empathy is key for an anthropologist.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Exemplebild
    Transformations of Rural Spaces in Mozambique
    With contributions from both Mozambican and non-Mozambican scholars of multi-disciplinary backgrounds and approaches, this book provides a range of new perspectives on how Mozambique has been characterized by profound changes in its rural communities and places.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Man sits in in front of screens in a smelter control room.
    There Used to be Order: Life on the Copperbelt after the Privatisation of the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines External link, opens in new window.
    In this book, Patience Mususa considers social change in the Copperbelt region of Zambia following the privatization of the large state mining conglomerate, the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM), in the mid-1990s.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Residents of Lankien, Eastern Bieh State, welcome a 100-day extension to the peace process in 2019.
    Historical tensions behind South Sudan’s nation-building problems
    Ten years after becoming an independent nation in 2011, South Sudan remains caught in a web of political instability and underdevelopment. The lack of a common national identity which makes people say, “We are South Sudanese!” is one factor behind the difficulties in building the new state, according to NAI Senior Researcher Redie Bereketeab.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Open air remote learning by radio during pandemic school closure.
    Covid reveals flaws in the protection of girls in Uganda
    Rates of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are high in Uganda, by both global and African comparison, and the Covid-19 pandemic has made things even worse. Breaking the cultural, religious and social norms that perpetuate and trivialise SGBV is key to improve the situation. However, there are also other measures, such as communication channels for reporting and following up on SGBV, safe shelters and support for girls threatened by perpetrators, and improved sexual education in schools.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Liisa Laakso’s mother Eila Kuistio in the Finnish women’s voluntary defence organisation Lotta Svärd in air control duty during the Continuation War.
    What makes me tick: Liisa Laakso's peace focus reflects her family history
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Books on display.
    5 literary awards in 2021 to African writers - books available in our library
    African literature has been prominent in this years literary awards. Here is a list of authors with links to our library collections.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • A woman washes her hands before voting at a polling station in Accra, Ghana.
    Slow-going towards gender equality in Ghana
    Those who were expecting the 2020 election in Ghana to be a game changer for gender equality have reasons to be disappointed. The political scene is still a hostile place for women and an affirmative action bill is only taking baby steps in parliament.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Election of new non-permanent members of the Security Council: Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Viet Nam took office on January 1, 2020.
    Advancing women, peace and security in the UN Security Council: Critical choices for elected member states
    While the permanent five members (P5) of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) receive the bulk of the attention, how the ten elected members (E10) act, and the issues they raise, can have a lasting effect. On June 11, 2021, at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, five countries—Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—were elected to the UNSC for the 2022-2023 term, joining the five elected the previous year. All five referred to Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in their election promises. Yet, there is a limited understanding of E10 strategies and effects on the promotion of WPS in the Council.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues during her first research project in Luanda, Angola.
    What makes me tick: Cristina U Rodrigues on her special relationship with Luanda
    We've asked NAI scholars why they chose a career as a researcher and what motivates them in their work. Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues talks about how, working as a researcher, she has developed a new relationship with her home city, Luanda.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • ExempA supporter waits for the arrival of Colonel Assimi Goita, new president of the transitional government in Mali.
    Constitutional coups have often preceded military ones
    When democratic means have been exhausted, the only way to achieve political change appears to be through military takeover. According to NAI researcher Jesper Bjarnesen, this is one reason for recent coups d’état in West Africa.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Ethiopia's first female President Sahle-Work Zewde recieves a book of the Constitution from former President Mulatu Teshomea at the Parliament in Addis Ababa on October 25, 2018
    Flawed federal system leads to mistrust in Ethiopia
    Ethiopia has a unique federal system that goes far in ensuring equal rights for all ethnic groups in the country. However, according to researcher Asnake Kefale at Addis Ababa University, because of design flaws the system also contributes to mistrust and territorial disputes between groups.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • Internally Displaced Persons in the capital of South Sudan relocate to a cleaner, drier location across town, under the protection of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
    Researcher: The norms of peace-making cannot be imposed
    An overreliance on “the hardware” of leadership – the technical aspects – at the expense of “the software” – inclusive conversation – underlies many of the difficulties with building peace and democracy on the African continent, according to Funmi Olonisakin, professor of security, leadership and development at King's College London.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • A dust-covered miner at a gold mine.
    Insecurity in Burkina Faso – beyond conflict minerals: The complex links between artisanal gold mining and violence
    As artisanal gold mining in Burkina Faso has increased in recent years, so have violent attacks by non-state armed groups. The assumption that there is a natural causal link between the two is, however, too simplistic. The escalating violence should rather be seen as a result of long-term trends, such as state disengagement, a growing dependence on gold and the gradual privatisation of security. To curb the violence, we recommend that policy makers avoid a repressive approach to artisanal mining and rethink the governance of the sector, in consultation with miners and rural communities.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se

  • NAI researcher Papa Sow on field work.
    What makes me tick: Papa Sow on migration within Africa
    We've asked NAI scholars why they chose a career as a researcher and what motivates them in their work. Papa Sow talks about the need for more research on people´s movement on the African continent.
    Read the full article at nai.uu.se