Progress in tackling africas conflicts africa renewal. Despite efforts made to prevent and end violent conflicts in west africa, the region continues to experience sporadic violence and volatile security challenges. But even when there is coverage of conflicts in africa, the death toll has little to do with the levels of coverage. Notwithstanding this, the knowledge base on the sources or causes of organizational con.
With regard to conflict, the aprm has stated as one of its objectives the prevention and reduction of inter and intrastate conflict. But in much of the rest of the continent we have weak. In this paper the causes and impacts of conflicts in northern region are examined, with particular reference to the konkomba interethnic conflicts. The creation of new nationstates at the time of independence was accompanied urgent calls for nationbuilding by the new african leaders who were well aware of the difficulty in transcending african ethnic and regional loyalties. Major causes of poverty in africa and possible solutions. Since we have looked at some of the causes of conflict in africa, let us come back home and look at some of the sources of conflict in our country. It has been experienced with a number of armed conflicts, ethnolinguistic disputes, religious radicalism where in it catches the attention of most developed nations including us for their strategic interest over the region. It also proffers reasons as to why the conflicts will persist for some time. According to him, conflict is caused by the increase of population in geometrical progression and the. Politics and poverty have also emerged as major causes of civil war in africa. The foregoing does not suggest that there are no specific causes of conflict. As table 3 demonstrates, in 2002, of 63 lowincome countries, 38 are located in subsaharan africa and curiously, these are the countries associated with conflict as table 2 illustrates. Cause of poverty in africa and possible solutionsphoto.
This paper examines african conflicts and the roles of the african union au in conflict resolution, focusing on the recent zimbabwe and kenya conflicts. Major causes of marital problems in africa and their. With the end of the cold war, the relationship between poverty and conflict has become more evident. The history of africa as a continent is replete with conflict. This chapter delves into the critical question of types and causes of conflict, with the view to addressing the common patterns of most conflicts in human society. The aim of the meeting was to explore strategies to better.
Pdf african union, conflict, and conflict resolution in. The root causes of the conflict are political, originating in disputes about party leadership and direction, as well as unresolved divisions in the splm dating back to the countrys independence war with sudan, which saw a split in the thenrebel movement. Most pathetic about these conflagrations is that they have defied any meaningful solution and their negative impacts have retarded growth and development in africa while an end to them seems obscure. This paper analyzes the major causes of poverty in africa and the solution to these causes. Africa as a continent is endowed with enough resources to keep the world moving for years. Conflicts and causes of conflicts in africa project. Causes of conflicts in africa conflicts in africa may be said to have been caused by a multiplicity of factors such as. However, the two modern trends of democracy and economic prosperity elude this region due in large part to persistent conflict and complex sociopolitical dynamics.
Conflict arises for different reasons and there are different types of conflict in human society. Conflicts and causes of conflicts in africa project topics. The relationship between poverty, conflict and development. How minerals fuel conflicts in africa, nicolas berman, mathieu.
In fact, since 1999 most terrorist attacks have been perpetrated by selfproclaimed christians. Because everyone requires a share of the resources office space, supplies, the bosss time, or funding. Into mid2011, the worlds worst food crisis is being felt in east africa, in ethiopia, somalia and kenya. Meaning, causes, impact and solutiondeoti the continent of africa has been highly susceptible to intra and inter statewars. President ellen johnson sirleaf has told several prominent individuals, former executives of economic community of west african states ecowas and a number of former heads of state attending ecowas international conference in monrovia that the root causes of civil conflicts in africa are associated mainly with bad governance, lack of respect for human rights, socio. The main cause of this kind of conflict is power which they want to capture. Being able to identify the specific cause of the conflict youre dealing with will. Download limit exceeded you have exceeded your daily download allowance. One of the leading causes of conflict in kenya is when individuals clash over limited resources such as land and water. Power and bad governance, traditions inherited from colonial rule and the nature of decolonisation, have been a major source of conflict in africa. Marshall 2005 page 2 of 28 numbers of countries experiencing any magnitude event of each of three general types of armed conflict, as well as the annual number of countries experiencing any type or magnitude of armed conflict, for further reference. The causes and dynamics of conflict in subsaharan africa subsaharan africa is a vast land rich in natural resources with great potential for investment and opportunity. Malthus, the eminent economist says that reduced supply of the means of subsistence is the root cause of conflict.
The horn of africa hoa has been mentioned as one of the most disputed regions of the globe. Presumably then, the conflicts are a unique mix of these similarities and differences. North africa was a crucial combat zone during both wars. The followers of the functional approach think that a conflict serves a social function and those who view a conflict as situational, suggest that conflict is an expression under certain situations. When he issued his first major report on the causes of conflict in. Uncertainty, each ethnic conflict has its own unique characteristics and, in different contexts, some of these elements will be more prominent than the others, but all of them are the common denominators necessary for ethnic conflict to occur. This article explores why africa has been largely ignored and what some of the root causes of the problems are. Conflicting needs whenever workers compete for scarce resources, recognition, and power in the companys pecking order, conflict can occur. Conflict is greatest in semidemocracies or governments in transition and least among established democracies and authoritarian regimes.
Conflict is defined as the underlying issue in dispute between or among parties and conflict resolution as the elimination of causes of the underlying conflict. Many post war conflicts, such as that in uganda, had a some root cause in this scramble for africa as a documentary called uganda rising notes. Conflict resolution in african countries politics essay. Various theories have been formulated to explain the cause of international conflicts, the process and the cycle they go through as they go through as they progress to war and finally some of the approaches to resolve them. The scramble for africa, a 10 minute clip from the documentary uganda rising, mindset media, 2006. Critical factors in the horn of africas raging conflicts. It can also be said to be an incompatibility, as of two things that cannot be simultaneously fulfilled.
The first step in dealing with conflict is identifying the specific cause of the conflict. It situates the question of conflict within the context of the northern region of ghana and defines conflict as a. Conflict over natural resources has made africa the focus of international attention, particularly during the last decade. From oil in nigeria and diamonds in the democratic republic of congo, to land in zimbabwe and water in thehorn of africa, the politi. The major challenge to ending conflict in west africa can be attributed to the poor understanding of the fundamental causes of the conflict. One may even assert that the major current that runs through africa. Common to many conflicts is the unsatisfactory nature of interstate borders. Read conflicts in africaintroduction to learn more.
Conflict sources many factors cause conflict in subsaharan africa, some direct, others indirect. The root causes of conflicts in the horn of africa. This has prompted the insinuation that africa is the home of wars and instability. Darfur made a rare appearance on the radar of western concern in 2004 at a time when the known death toll from conflict there was still 80 times smaller than that in the drc. Root causes of violent conflict in developing countries. Invariably, conflicts in west africa have been notably fuelled by multiple interrelated causal factors including poverty, human rights violations. A major cause of african conflicts has been ethnicity, and it has continued to be so. Since marriage is so important in the eyes of god, the enemy, that is satan, tries all possible ways to ensure this first institution god started does not function well. Poverty has been worsened by hivaids epidemic, political instability, cultural conflict and ethnic cleansing. Also, other major causes of conflict among construction professionals in nigeria include differences in professionals experience, differences in. African countries share similarities but are also different. Colonial production, extraverted and coercive as it already was, was ruthlessly reorganized to produce record amounts of primary agricultural and mineral commodities for the imperial armies and economies.
One of the leading causes of internal and interstate conflicts is the unacceptable nature of intercountry borders. In its analysis, the paper examines several variable factors that can help in the explanations of the relationship between pcd in africa. South africa and conflict resolution in africa 27 that made the negotiated settlement possible do not exist elsewhere shillinger 2009, solomon 2010. The continent of africa has been highly susceptible to intra and inter state wars and conflicts. This paper establishes the relationship between poverty, conflict and development pcd in analysing instability in the african continent. Conflict can be defined as a clash or disagreement often violent between opposing groups or individuals. Economics of civil conflicts in africa, which was held at the uneca, addis. An instrumental variables approach, journal of political economy 112 4, 119144. There have been a number of separatist movement causing attempts of secession such as katangain zaire, biafra in nigeria and others in sudan ethiopia and somalia. Understanding africas contemporary conflicts africa portal. North to south, east to west and central is conflict and wars. The causes of conflicts in africa are many and they frequently recur, including major causes of potential tensions and conflicts, which could perhaps be summarised and classified below. A literature search indicates the following to be prominent direct or indirect causes. The unequal international trade,corporate interests, bad governance, and the immense burden of debt have crippled the development potentials and trapped the continent under poverty and conflicts.
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