Publications /
Annual Report
Book / Report

Back
African Peace and Security Annual Conference – APSACO : COVID-19 AND SECURITY IN AFRICA
May 20, 2021

The fourth edition of the African Peace & Security Annual Conference (APSACO) was held on September 23-25, 2020 under the theme ‘COVID-19 & Security in Africa.’ The three-day event, organized by the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), was composed of two panels and two workshops:

- Panel 1: The Security Sector in Africa During and After the COVID-19 Health Crisis

- Panel 2: The Privatization of Violence in Africa: Non-State Armed Groups and Private Security

- Workshop 1: Human Security Index in Africa

- Workshop 2: Global Peace Index

As has become the trademark of PCNS conferences, APSACO gathered experts from different parts of the world, fields, and professions – from the military and political world to academics and the civil society – to ensure a broad and fruitful conversation. This report presents and summarizes the chairs’ and speakers’ interventions and the main issues tackled during the conference. More information on the participants, the agenda, and other details is annexed to this document.

RELATED CONTENT

  • May 4, 2021
    The Sahelian states of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso continue to face unprecedented violence arising from multidimensional conflicts. According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (2019), “the Sahel has experienced the most rapid increase in activity by militant groups of any region in Africa in recent years. Violent events involving extremist groups in the region have doubled every year since 2015”. In addition to the presence of multiple violent extremist organizations (VEO ...
  • April 20, 2021
    سيخصص برنامج حديث الثلاثاء حلقته لهذا الأسبوع إلى تحليل ومناقشة تمدد التنظيمات الإرهابية بإفريقيا وتداعياتها على الأمن القاري باستضافة عبد الحق باسو، باحث بارز بمركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد. إن توالي الأزمات تؤثر على الأمن بالقارة الإفريقية بالإضافة إلى تنامي نشاط الجماعات الإرهاب...
  • Authors
    March 24, 2021
    Tillabéri region of Niger is witnessing unprecedented level of ethnic-based violence. The January 2 massacre caught the national and international actors’ attention, however; the event was preventable. Accessing communities through ethnically charged and other exploitative language has proved to be a game changer for the expansion of violent extremist organizations (VEOs) expansion since 2012. The failure of national and international actors to recognize the seriousness of the situa ...
  • Authors
    Sabine Cessou
    January 4, 2021
    Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso… L’insécurité fait tache d’huile au Sahel, menaçant de s’étendre aux pays du Golfe de Guinée. Le terrorisme a entraîné la formation de milices d’auto-défense communautaires, et ainsi créé des « friches » sécuritaires dans tout le Sahel, du Bassin du lac Tchad à la région du Liptako-Gourma. Les budgets consacrés à la défense augmentent, contrairement à ceux qui soutiennent le capital humain, santé et éducation. Dans un contexte de croissance démographique so ...
  • Authors
    December 22, 2020
    “When I got home late that night, the house was dark and Michelle was already asleep. After taking a shower and going through a stack of mail, I slipped under the covers and began drifting off. In that luminal space between wakefulness and sleep, I imagined myself stepping toward a portal of some sort, a bright and cold and airless place, uninhabited and severed from the world. And behind me, out of the darkness, I heard a voice, sharp and clear, as if someone were right next to me, ...
  • December 16, 2020
    President Trump may not enact his threatened US drawdown of troops from the Sahel, but President Biden will still face pressure to end America’s “forever wars” and reduce the number of American lives and treasure lost to fighting terrorism in Africa. If the United States pulls back from...
  • Authors
    November 19, 2020
    In October 2014, Burkina Faso entered a new era when a social uprising resulted in the overthrow after 27 years of President Blaise Compaoré. The uprising was triggered by Compaoré’s attempt to amend the constitution so he could run for another term. In late 2015, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré was elected and sworn as a new president with high hopes for a new Burkina Faso. Corruption, democratic reforms, poverty, and economic development dominated President Kaboré’s inauguration speech ...
  • September 24, 2020
    With regards to human security in Africa, this panel will highlight the evolution of organized crimes in Africa while exploring the privatization of security under international Law: • Exploitation of the COVID-19 health crisis by extremist groups • Evolution of organized crime in Afric...
  • September 24, 2020
    S'agissant de la sécurité humaine en Afrique, ce panel s'intéressera à l'évolution de la criminalité organisée en Afrique tout en se penchant sur la privatisation de la sécurité au regard du droit international : • Exploitation de la crise sanitaire due à la COVID-19 par des groupes ext...