One year since Russia invaded Ukraine: implications for the Africa-Europe relationship

A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conflict taking a center stage in the EU’s focus, Africa has felt the consequences of the war, while continuing to face wider existing challenges. This article looks further into the implications of the war against Ukraine for the Africa-Europe relationship.

The EU-Africa peace and security partnership. Political and financial stumbling blocks and a few ways forward

The EU-Africa partnership has ebbed and flowed over the years, with the period since 2020 being particularly dynamic. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the response to the war in Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis in Europe, cleavages have been unearthed in the partnership.

Revamping international response to global food insecurity. Building transparent and participatory selection processes and governance in the UN Rome-based Agencies (RBAs)

Three concurrent crises — climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine — have combined to worsen food insecurity and malnutrition around the globe. Extreme climate events are becoming more frequent and severe, magnifying the already higher food prices caused by agricultural supply chain disruptions precipitated first by the pandemic and now by geopolitical turbulence. The Rome Based Agencies are called to provide concrete and effective responses to these multi-crises. This report is the result of an Open Consultation Forum organised with IFAD running candidates in June 2022.

Climate, Conflict and Culture in EU’s diplomacy: Which way forward?

This blog is presenting an interesting combination of  ‘’the three Cs” – Culture, Climate and Conflict – at the forefront of the EU’s diplomacy. The question however arises namely how much can the EU afford to prioritise such complex “value driven” policy agendas in a rapidly changing world with more competition and uncertainty?

Collective investment in trade and digital infrastructure: A new pathway to silencing the guns in Africa

Collective investment in trade and digital infrastructure: A new pathway to silencing the guns in Africa

In this guest contribution for ECDPM, Dr Jide Martyns Okeke argues that collective African leadership and deliberate investments in boosting intra-African trade and digital transformation could accelerate the quest for silencing the guns on the continent.

COVID-19 vaccines: The challenges of protecting Africa’s fragile regions

COVID-19 vaccines: The challenges of protecting Africa’s fragile regions

This briefing note looks at the challenges ahead for large-scale vaccination, as part of our series of looking at the longer term effects of COVID-19 on conflict and fragility in Africa. We ask some of the hard questions about the potential repercussions for highly fragile situations in Africa and what it might mean for the European Union’s role in the global response to the pandemic.

Putting ‘Policy Coherence for Peace’ at the Heart of the EU’s Approach to External Crises and Conflicts

Putting ‘Policy Coherence for Peace’ at the Heart of the EU’s Approach to External Crises and Conflicts

The adoption of the EU’s Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 will bring profound changes to the set-up of the EU’s instruments for crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding in fragile and conflict-affected countries, which aim to improve the EU’s ability to engage in these contexts. However, reforming the EU’s financial instruments alone is not sufficient to address key underlying challenges. What is needed is an overarching strategic framework that puts policy coherence for sustainable peace at the centre of EU crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding.