Research Areas

Africa Peace and Security

2009-03-03T14:23:17Z

Africa Peace and Security

Africa has been the focus of enormous international attention in the past decade, not least because of the spate of armed conflict since the 1990s, the threats they pose to international peace and security and the obstacles they create for African efforts to achieve regional integration and development. Of the bottom 30 countries on the Human Development Index, 28 are in Africa. The continent accounts for more than 40% of global conflicts; its economy remains weak despite its abundant natural resource endowment; its political institutions are still fragile, in spite of African and international efforts to encourage development of a vibrant civil society; and its social infrastructures remain frail.

CSDG’s work on African peace and security focuses on three inter-related sets of issues. The first concerns new and critical challenges to security in the region. The second relates to the knowledge gap on peace and security of importance to African institutions charged with the maintenance of regional security. The third is the absence of a sound knowledge base and analytical capacity on peace and security among a next generation of African scholars and researchers.

In the last five years, CSDG’s research in this area has concentrated on several issues. One relates to the security and development challenges posed by demographic shifts. In this regard, CSDG is conducting a multi-country study examining the impact of Africa’s rising youth bulge on security and development. A second area of research focus is on conflict over natural resource management and governance in Africa. A third research focus is on the capacity of African regional organisations to manage current conflicts and anticipate future threats to security on the continent. Lastly, CSDG research examines how current trends in global security interact with and impact the African security terrain. CSDG’s on-going study on radicalisation and violence in West Africa is an example

CSDG’s research in this area includes regular engagement with a number of African regional security institutions and policy actors, as end-users. In addition, CSDG engages African scholars and researchers in the design and implementation of its research and as part of core research teams. This approach, as well as CSDG’s African Fellowship programme aimed at building the next generation of scholars and analysts in the field of peace and security are intended to contribute to strengthening research and analytical capacity in this area of work in Africa.

Governance and Security

2009-03-03T14:24:56Z

Governance and Security

CSDG’s work on the governance of security is concerned with how international responses to the problem of insecurity in countries of the Global South can be better tailored to the political context and needs of aid recipients.

Over the past decade, CSDG’s research has addressed a number of different policy challenges including dealing with the scourge of land mines, light weapons proliferation, the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of ex-combatants, enhancement of peace-keeping capacity in Africa, and the development of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), in Afghanistan. The over-arching umbrella for this work, which has been the primary focus of this programme area, is the Security Sector Reform (SSR) policy agenda.

CSDG’s SSR work has evolved through a number of key stages, including: conceptualisation of SSR; support for donor efforts (particularly those of the UK Government, the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the United Nations) to develop policy frameworks and modalities for work in this area; and efforts to translate policy into practice through support for international assistance initiatives in a wide range of countries including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Guyana, Indonesia, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Rwanda.

During this period, the international SSR debate has evolved significantly, from an initial emphasis on understanding ‘why’ SSR is important; to asking ‘how’ donors can deliver SSR assistance effectively, to a now emerging debate around how the wider political conditions necessary for SSR can be created, both at global and national levels. Although it could rightly be argued that the SSR concept is now better accepted in both development and security circles, there remain important challenges in operationalising this policy agenda.

These challenges are being addressed by CSDG in a number of ways: through evidence-based research on SSR (see the Security Decision-making study), support for networking and capacity-building among Southern-based NGOs (see the work of the ASSN and the GFN-SSR); participation in SSR policy initiatives (CSDG support for Monitoring & Evaluation and SSR Out-Sourcing projects with Saferworld), and two major, ongoing SSR initiatives in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Aid Policy and Practice

2009-03-03T14:30:54Z

Aid Policy and Practice