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africa

Results for africa

2147 total results found

438 non-duplicate results found.

Author: Ford, Jolyon

Title: Beyond the 'War on Terror': A Study of Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism in the Maghreb

Summary: From the monograph: "[t]his monograph is a preliminary study of the extent to which three North African countries - Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia - have successfully implemented legal and institutional measures to address the threat of terrorism primarily through their national criminal justice systems, pursuant to internationally and regionally agreed obligations and in accordance with internationally accepted standards. This study is part of the multi-year project, "Strengthening the criminal justice capacity of African states to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate cases of terrorism,' which started in 2008. The project is being implemented by the International Crime in Africa Programme (ICAP) of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS)."

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2009. 124p.

Source: ISS Monograph 165: Accessed May 8, 2018 at: https://www.africaportal.org/publications/beyond-the-war-on-terror-a-study-of-criminal-justice-responses-to-terrorism-in-the-maghreb/

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Algeria

Shelf Number: 116681


Author: Hatley, Anne

Title: Identification of Street Children: Characteristics of Street Children in Bamako and Accra

Summary: This report presents the results of a quantitative study of the street children population in two West African cities: Bamako in Mali and Accra in Ghana. The main aim of the study was to develop methodologies for difficult to reach populations, with an additional aim of giving characteristics of the population group chosen.

Details: Oslo: Fafo, 2005. 94p.

Source: Fafo-report 174

Year: 2005

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Labor

Shelf Number: 116372


Author: Nellemann, Christian

Title: The Last Stand of the Gorilla: Environmental Crime and Conflict in the Congo Basin

Summary: Gorillas are under renewed threat across the Congo Basin from Nigeria to the Albertine Rift: poaching for bushmeat, loss of habitat due to agricultural expansion, degradation of habitat from logging, mining and charcoal production are amongst these threats, in addition to natural epidemics such as ebola and the new risk of diseases passed from humans to gorillas.

Details: Arendal, Norway: United Nations Environment Programme, GRID-Arendal, 2010. 86p.

Source: A Rapid Response Assessment

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Hunting

Shelf Number: 118173


Author: Mthembu-Salter, Gregory

Title: Trading Life, Trading Death: The Flow of Small Arms from Mozanbique to Malawi

Summary: In a region apparently awash with weapons and plagued with rising levels of armed crime, Malawi is a welcome exception to these characteristics. In early 2007 there were only 9,320 legally registered firearms in Malawi excluding those used by the security forces, compared to just under 87,000 in Zambia and nearly 4 million in South Africa. Though a country of an estimated 13 million people, in the 5 years between 1996 and 2000 Malawi suffered just 2,161 reported cases of armed robbery. In neighbouring Zambia, for example, where there is a population of only 10 million people, there were 3,168 recorded cases of armed robbery in the 5 years between 1998 and 2002.

Details: Geneva: Small Arms Survey, 2009. 36p.

Source: Working Paper 6

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Robbery

Shelf Number: 115395


Author: Araia, Tesfalem

Title: Report on Human Smuggling Across the South Africa/Zimbabwe Border

Summary: Widespread xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa in May 2008 generated new debates around the issue of border control. This research report adds to and refines this discussion by looking at the land-based human smuggling industry on the South Africa/Zimbabwe border.

Details: Johannesburg: Forced Migration Studies Programme, University of Witwatersrand, 2009. 54p.

Source: MRMP Occasional Report

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Control

Shelf Number: 116371


Author: Akech, Migai

Title: Enforcement of Environmental Crime Laws: A Framework Training Manual for Law Enforcement Agencies

Summary: This manual is intended for national trainers on environmental crime in Eastern and Southern Africa. It seeks to enable such trainers to equip police officers and other actors involved in fighting environmental crimes with knowledge and understanding of the nature of environmental crimes, environmental inspection and investigation, and prosecution of environmental crimes.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2010. 80p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Offenses Against the Environment

Shelf Number: 118608


Author: Global Witness

Title: Loupe Holes: Illicit Diamonds in the Kimberley Process

Summary: The illicit trade in rough diamonds is one of the greatest threats facing the Kimberley Process (KP) certification scheme. The KP was created to halt and prevent the trade in conflict diamonds that cost so many lives during the last two decades. This paper reviews the issues around illicit flows of rough diamonds, particularly in countries facing serious challenges in controlling the artisanal mining sector. It presents the results of a survey assessing how participant countries are enforcing KP controls and monitoring the dismond industry, and puts forward specific reommendations for changing the way the KP is managed and implemented.

Details: Washington, DC: Global Witness Publishing; Ottawa, ONT: Partnership Africa Canada, 2008. 6p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict Diamonds

Shelf Number: 118576


Author: van der Spuy, Elrena

Title: Police and Crime Prevention in Africa: A Brief Appraisal of Structures, Policies and Practices

Summary: This report provides a short appraisal of police services in a select number of sub-Saharan countries regarding their involvement in the prevention of crime. The country case studies included are Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

Details: Montreal: International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, 2008. 83p.

Source: Internet Resource; Draft

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Crime Prevention

Shelf Number: 118679


Author: Fenoff, Roy S.

Title: Africa's Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Epidemic: The Road Ahead

Summary: The production, distribution, and consumption of counterfeit pharmaceuticals represent a particularly dangerous public health risk; estimates of the numbers of counterfeit pharmaceuticals range from 10 to 15 percent of the world drug supply. This report examines the problem of Africa's counterfeit pharmaceutical epidemic.

Details: East Lansing, MI: Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection Program (A-CAPPP), School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, 2009. 20p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counterfeit Medicines

Shelf Number: 118797


Author: Lebeya, Seswantsho Godfrey

Title: Organised Crime in the Southern African Development Community with Specific Reference to Motor Vehicle Theft

Summary: This objective of this study is to analyze the laws used by the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation member countries in fighting motor vehicle theft, transnational organized crime, recoveries, repatriation, prosecution and extradition of offenders. The member countries on which the analysis is done are Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: University of South Africa, 2007. 156p.

Source: Internet Resource; Master of Laws Thesis

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Motor Vehicle Theft

Shelf Number: 119111


Author: Environmental Investigation Agency

Title: Open Season: The Burgeoning Illegal Ivory Trade in Tanzania and Zambia

Summary: Acting as major conduit and exporting countries for illegal ivory from other African elephant Range States, Tanzania and Zambia also have significant illegal domestic ivory markets. These cater for resident migrant workers and tourists seeking souvenirs and provide ivory in large volumes to traders and syndicates for export to destinations such as China and Vietnam. Elephants are being poached from within both countries to supply these markets.

Details: London: EIA, 2010. 13p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Trade

Shelf Number: 119217


Author: ECPAT International

Title: Confronting the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Africa

Summary: The reports presented in this Journal examine the achievements made in recent years in the fight against sexual violence and exploitation of children in Africa.

Details: Bangkok: ECPAT International, 2007. 53p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Prostitution

Shelf Number: 119222


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Title: Cocaine Trafficking in Western Africa: Situation Report

Summary: Although cocaine is not produced in Africa, the rapid increase in seizures suggests that the continent, and in particular its Western region, is growing in importance as a transit area for cocaine trafficking between Latin American countries and Europe. This note reviews recent cocaine seizures in African countries, as well as cocaine seizures originating from African countries and reported by European countries.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2007. 16p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cocaine

Shelf Number: 119238


Author: Struwe, Lars Bangert

Title: For a Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol: A Strategic Analysis of the Somali Pirate Challenge

Summary: Incidents of piracy in the waters off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden have more than doubled to 111 attackes in 2008. Somali pirates thus constitute a grave threat to navigation through the Suez Canal and thereby one of the most vital maritime routes in the world. Pirates are criminals who should be pursued by the local police authority. As such an authority does not exist in Somalia, and as it appears there are no states prepared to intervene to stop the 20-year-old civil war, only the symptoms of piracy have hitherto been treated by combating it at sea. Some progress has been made, but is it necessary to take steps towards a far more permanent, regionally-based solution. The solution suggested in this report is to establish a regionally-based maritime unit: a Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol, to carry out surveillance in the area to secure free navigation and take on tasks such as fishery inspection and environmental monitoring. Such a patrol would comprise elements from the coastal states - from Egypt in the north to Tanzania in the south. The unit would be established with the support of the states that already have a naval presence in the area.

Details: Copenhagen: Danish Institute for Military Studies, 2009.; 44p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 118824


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Title: Cannabis in Africa: An Overview

Summary: This paper summarizes information on cannabis in Africa from the 2006 and 2007 editions of the United Nation's Office on Drugs and Crime's World Drug Report.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2007. 20p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cannabis (Africa)

Shelf Number: 119260


Author: Agostini, Giulia

Title: Understanding the Processes of Urban Violence: An Analytical Framework

Summary: As of this year half of the world’s population is estimated to be living in cities, therefore, an understanding of conflict and violence within an urban space is increasingly important. This paper’s output is an analytical framework, which examines the processes that lead from conflict to violence. Defining violence as the manifestation of distorted power relationships produced by the complex interaction between risk factors, the paper assumes that it is the interaction of these risk factors, which creates the processes that lead to violent outcomes. Risk factors are viewed as existing conditions that could potentially culminate in violence. Based upon a threefold taxonomy of violence, rooted in existing literature, three exemplary cities were chosen and analysed. These cities are Nairobi, Kinshasa, and Bogota, which respectively typify economic, political, and social violence. The cases demonstrate coinciding and context specific processes, with three significant points of overlap being identified: 1 The Primary Nexus: Is envisioned as the point where there is a significant alignment of common processes, and the point at which the potential for violence is extremely high. These processes are: a crisis of governance, unequal access to economic opportunity, economic decline, and the naturalisation of fear and insecurity. 2. Secondary Nexuses: Are the points of overlap between two of the case cities, where the potential for violence is significant, but not as likely as in the primary nexus. 3. Context Specific Processes: Highlight the unique manner in which risks factors interact to produce violence in each of the cities. This analysis led to the production of a two-stage analytical framework. These stages are not mutually exclusive, as an understanding of the first stage is essential for the second stage to be meaningful. The first stage is the contextualisation of the urban environment under examination, in order to understand the interaction between risk factors as they produce the processes leading to violence. While the second stage extracts these processes for the purpose of comparison to the processes that constitute the primary nexus. An alignment of processes should be viewed as an indicator of the high potential for violence within the urban environment being examined, however, processes are understood to be summative in nature, and thus, the more processes present, the more likely it is that violence will occur. In addition to the production of a framework, the analysis demonstrates how the interaction between risk factors creates processes leading to violent outcomes. As a policy conclusion, given that processes are the result of this interaction and that they are difficult to influence or change in and of themselves, a focus on prevailing risk factors is suggested in order to mitigate urban violence.

Details: London: Crisis States Research Center, Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics, 2007. 70p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Urban Areas

Shelf Number: 118435


Author: Standing, Andre

Title: Corruption and Industrial Fishing in Africa

Summary: "Africa’s marine resources are increasingly in demand and are gaining in geo political importance. Competition between key fishing nations for access and control over marine resources is joined by competition between local communities and industrialised foreign fishing fleets. In this context, incentives for a range of illegal activities abound, to which African nations often have weak capacity to respond. The author describes key areas of concern relating to corruption and the exploitation of marine resources in African countries by foreign fishing fleets. Policy reforms that may reduce incentives and opportunities for corruption in fisheries management are also discussed."

Details: Bergen, Norway: CHR. Michelsen Institute, 2008. 29p.

Source: Internet Resource; U4 Issue 2008:7

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Fishing

Shelf Number: 119373


Author: Zavala, Diego E.

Title: Understanding Violence: The Role of Injury Surveillance Systems in Africa

Summary: "This working paper applies a public health approach to engaging with injury prevention and identifies several public health methods for collecting data pertinent to violence control. The paper documents findings from a multinational project undertaken in 2007-2009 in five African countries (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia). This pilot project involved the creation of an injury surveillance system in five hospitals, one in each country. The analysis of the project offers valuable insight into what is required in order to successfully implement and sustain a hospital-based injury surveillance system under challenging circumstances. This paper is designed for a broad audience interested in armed violence prevention and reduction and it specifically speaks to African decision-makers, development practitioners, and medical professionals."

Details: Geneva: Geneva Declaration Secretariat, 2009. 52p.

Source: Internet Resource; Working Paper

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Violence

Shelf Number: 119394


Author: Dietrich, Christian

Title: Hard Currency: The Criminalized Diamond Economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its Neighbours

Summary: Central Africa's main diamond exporters - Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), and the Republic of the Congo - are among the least developed countries in the world. Diamonds are one of the most easily obtained, most easily transported forms of hard currency, for state and non-state actors alike. Inadequate controls in neighbouring and regional transit countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and South Africa, and in trading countries like Belgium, Israel and India, along with secrecy within the industry, make diamonds - licit or illicit - easy to sell. The correlation between poverty, instability, protracted warfare, violence and diamonds suggests that the region is afflicted, rather than blessed by its diamond wealth. The report links the illicit diamond trade to the wars in the wars in Angola and the Congo, along with other conflicts in Central Africa.

Details: Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada, 2002. 60p.

Source: Internet Resource; The Diamonds and Human Security ProjectOccasional Paper #4

Year: 2002

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Trade

Shelf Number: 119403


Author: Edwards, Louise

Title: Common Standards for POlicing in East Africa

Summary: Policing that provides safety and security but also upholds and promotes human rights is vital for achieving development goals, including economic growth and democracy. At both an international and regional level, extensive efforts have been made to construct a framework for policing that promotes a rights-based approach to security to encourage and support democratic governance and development. This report reviews the framework as it applies to the five countries of the EAC (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) in order to understand and articulate the standards that are common to policing across these countries.

Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative; Cape Town, South Africa: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, 2010. 86p.

Source: Internet Resource

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Administration

Shelf Number: 119442


Author: Oomes, Nienke

Title: Diamond Smuggling and Taxation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Summary: This paper provides an overview of diamond mining in sub-Saharan African countries, and explores the reasons for substantial differences in their tax rates and fiscal revenues from the sector, which mainly arise from differences in the incentives for smuggling. In a theoretical model, we show that optimal diamond tax rates increase with the degree of competition among diamond buyers, as well as with the corporate share of diamond production, which is confirmed by the data. We then discuss policies to increase revenue, including by enhancing mining productivity, stimulating the exploration of new areas, reducing barriers to entry, and attracting investment into value-adding downstream operations.

Details: Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund, 2003. 23p.

Source: Internet Resource; IMP Working Paper; WP/03/167

Year: 2003

Country: Africa

Keywords: Diamond Smuggling

Shelf Number: 119558


Author: Aning, Kwesi

Title: Understanding the Intersection of Drugs, Politics & Crime in West Africa: An Interpretive Analysis

Summary: This paper examines the relationship between drugs, politics and crime in West Africa by using Ghana as a case study, and discusses some of the initiatives in place to curb the international drug trade as it affects West African states.

Details: Santiago, Chile: Global Consortium on Security Transformation, 2010. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource; Accessed August 13, 2010 at: http://http://www.securitytransformation.org/images/wor_docus/45_GCST_Policy_Brief_6_-_Understanding_The_Intersection_Of_Drugs,_Politics_&_Crime_In_West_Africa._An_Interpretive_Analysis.pdf; Policy Brief Series; No. 6

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 119599


Author: Keesbury, Jill

Title: Comprehensive Responses to Gender Based Violence in Low-Resource Settings: Lessons Learned from Implementation

Summary: From 2006-2009, the Population Council undertook a program of technical assistance and research to strengthen the evidence base on gender-based violence (SGBV) programming in sub-Saharan Africa. This project created an active network of implementers and researchers across sub-Saharan Africa, all of whom were charged with developing, implementing and evaluating core elements of a comprehensive, multisectoral model for strengthening responses for survivors of SGBV, especially survivors of sexual violence. The comprehensive model includes health, criminal justice, and psychosocial services required by survivors, and works to strengthen the linkages between these sectors. Seven organizations in six countries (Zambia, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Senegal) partnered with the Population Council to implement the comprehensive model in part or in whole, and an additional thirteen organizations actively participated in the South-South technical assistance network. Based on the experiences of these partners, this document reviews the findings, lessons learned, and promising practices in the provision of comprehensive SGBV services in sub- Saharan Africa. It draws on the data generated by the network partners to identify core issues in the provision of quality, comprehensive care for survivors of SGBV. These findings are intended to serve as a resource for programmers and policymakers throughout the region, and contribute to the emerging evidence-base on such program strategies.

Details: Lusaka, Zambia: Population Council, 2010. 56p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2010 at: http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/2010RH_CompRespGBV.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Sexual Abuse

Shelf Number: 119690


Author: Vogel, Augustus

Title: Navies versus Coast Guards: Defining the Roles of African Maritime Security Forces

Summary: Piracy, illegal fishing, and narcotics and human trafficking are growing rapidly in Africa and represent an increasingly central component of the threat matrix facing the continent. However, African states’ maritime security structures are often misaligned with the challenges posed and need coast guard capabilities and an array of intra-governmental partnerships.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2009. 6p

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 2: Accessed August 30, 2010 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/AfricaBrief_2.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 119708


Author: International Alert

Title: The Role of the Exploitation of Natural Resources in Fuelling and Prolonging Crisis in the Eastern DRC

Summary: For more than a decade, research has stressed the importance of the economic dimension of conflict, and of the economic interests of belligerents. Competition among political, military and business actors for the control of mineral resources in the east of the country is being increasingly recognised as a pivotal factor in assessing the causes of instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This report is based on a thorough review of all the main literature on the subject since the year 2000. It describes and assesses the different categories of actors and the processes, chains and linkages that are involved in mining and trading of minerals in the Kivu provinces and in the territory of Ituri. It also reveals some of the main gaps in the information on the issue that is needed to develop and refine more effective peace-building strategies by national and international interveners.

Details: London: International Alert, 2009. 87p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 3, 2010 at: http://international-alert.org/pdf/Natural_Resources_Jan_10.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Trade

Shelf Number: 118599


Author: Global Financial Integrity

Title: Illicit Financial Flows From Africa: Hidden Resource for Development

Summary: This paper presents an analysis of the volume and pattern of illicit financial flows from African countries over a 39-year period from 1970 to 2008. The paper makes a contribution given that existing research on long-term trends in the pattern of illicit flows from African countries is rather scanty. The classification of African countries used in this paper differs from that in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook; here, Egypt and Libya (members of the African Union) are included under North Africa while the group of CFA Franc countries is distributed along a geographical basis. The paper presents estimates of illicit financial flows from Africa and its various regions and economic groupings during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and the most recent nine-year period 2000-2008 for which data are available. We find that illicit flows have not only grown on a decennial basis, cumulatively they have come to far exceed the continent’s outstanding external debt at the end of 2008. The statistical analysis of long-term trends brings out some interesting regional disparities in the pattern and growth of such flows. Utilizing the World Bank Residual model and the IMF Direction of Trade Statistics, illicit outflows from Africa across the 39-year period are estimated at US$854 billion. The authors point out that data limitation significantly understates the problem. Making various adjustments to the estimate suggests that the volume of illicit flows over the period 1970 to 2008 may be closer to US$1.8 trillion. We argue that this staggering loss of capital seriously hampers Africa’s efforts at poverty alleviation and economic development.

Details: Washington, DC: Global Financial Integrity, 2010.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2010 at: http://www.gfip.org/storage/gfip/documents/reports/gfi_africareport_web.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corrupt Practices

Shelf Number: 119790


Author: Overseas Development Institute

Title: Increasing Visibility and Promoting Policy Action to Tackle Sexual Exploitation In and Around Schools in Africa

Summary: Sexual exploitation and sexual violence in or around schools is a serious and pressing problem throughout West Africa2 that necessitates greater policy attention. In a global report on all settings (not just schools), the World Health Organization estimates that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under 18 years have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence around the world. This, combined with the fact that such violence is generally carried out by offenders known to the child (relatives and authority figures, including teachers and school authorities), provides a hint of the magnitude of the problem of school-based sexual violence. Examining what little quantitative information exists for West Africa reinforces this. According to a 2006 survey of 10 villages in Benin, 34% of school children interviewed confirmed that sexual violence occurs within their schools and 15% of teachers acknowledged that sexual harassment takes place within the school and yet rarely are such incidences reported or perpetrators held accountable. In Ghana, a study conducted in 2003 suggested that 6% of the girls surveyed had been victims of sexual blackmail over their class grades, 14% of rape cases had been perpetrated by school comrades, while 24% of boys in the study admitted to having raped a girl or to have taken part in a collective rape (UNICEF Bureau Regional Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre 2008). As the 2006 United Nations Study on Violence against Children (hereafter UNVAC) demonstrated, the long-term consequences of such high incidence of sexual abuse and exploitation are profound; above all sexual exploitation at and around schools compromises the rights to education, freedom from oppression and equality as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. For girls, sexual exploitation also undermines gender equality and prevents girls and women from obtaining equal educational and public sphere opportunities - as outlined in Millennium Development Goal (MDG). Being denied access to quality education, or feeling intimidated in or en route to the classroom, can also reinforce poverty by lowering school attendance rates. This not only threatens the achievement of MDG 2 (universal primary education) (Action Aid 2004), but also in the longer term risks lowering human development levels and potential contributions to broader national development goals as students are discouraged from pursing their studies and thereby progressing to higher education and qualified employment. Sexual abuse may also result in serious health effects, such as the transmission of sexual infections, particularly HIV, unwanted pregnancies and psychological trauma. This briefing paper seeks to raise awareness of the problem of sexual exploitation in and around schools in the West African region. It also highlights problems with regards to limited evidence and explores policy implications. It aims to support Plan’s regional ‘Learn Without Fear’ campaign and contributes evidence to the global debate on sexual exploitation in and around schools and children in general.

Details: Dakar, Ponty, West Africa: Plan International, 2008. 31p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2010 at: http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/Rapport_plan_LWF_web_(3).pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Rape

Shelf Number: 119831


Author: Arieff, Alexis

Title: Sexual Violence in African Conflicts

Summary: Civilians in Africa’s conflict zones — particularly women and children, but also men — are often vulnerable to sexual violence, including rape, mutilation, and sexual slavery, carried out by government security forces and non-state actors, including, rebel groups, militias, and criminal organizations. Some abuses appear to be opportunistic, or the product of a larger breakdown in the rule of law and social order that may occur amid conflict. However, sexual violence has also been employed by combatant groups as a tool of war, seemingly designed to wreak damage on entire communities. While such abuses are by no means limited to Africa, weak justice systems in many African states can mean that victims have little legal redress; survivors are also often shunned by their families and communities. Sexual atrocities have been reported in many African conflicts over the past two decades, including in Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. The issue has been particularly salient in eastern DRC, where security forces, rebel organizations, militias, and other armed groups have inflicted sexual violence upon the civilian population on a massive scale. This report provides a detailed case study of DRC and an index of active U.S. programs there. Multiple U.S. government agencies and implementing partners contribute to efforts to prevent and respond to sexual violence in African conflicts. Agencies and departments include the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense, among others. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has taken the lead on the Obama Administration’s initiative to address the issue, through speeches, official travel, public remarks, writings, and actions at the United Nations. In August 2009, Clinton traveled to Goma, in eastern DRC, where she pledged $17 million to support U.S. government efforts to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence in that country. The pledge includes $10 million in Economic Support Funds (ESF) for “programs and activities to assist victims of gender-based violence” in DRC provided by the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-32). The 111th Congress has repeatedly expressed interest in the issue of sexual violence in African conflicts and support for programs to address it through legislation, hearings, and other congressional actions. Potential issues for Congress include the authorization and appropriation of targeted assistance programs; oversight of Administration and multilateral policies; and oversight of coordination between U.S. government agencies and international donors.

Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2009. 27p.

Source: Internet Resource: CRS Report to Congress, R40956: Accessed October 13, 2010 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40956.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Rape

Shelf Number: 119929


Author: de Andres, Amado Philip

Title: West Africa Under Attack: Drugs, Organized Crime and Terrorism as the New Threats to Global Security

Summary: This paper provides an overview on the current situation in West Africa with regard to drug trafficking (cocaine, heroin and hashish), organized crime (from human trafficking to diamond trade and its link with terrorism financing) and terrorism.

Details: Madrid: UNISCI, 2008. 26p.

Source: Internet Resource: UNISCI Discussion Paper, No. 16: Accessed October 12, 2010 at: http://www.ucm.es/info/unisci/revistas/UNISCI%20DP%2016%20-%20Andres.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 119931


Author: McGuire, Peter L.

Title: Narcotics Trafficking in West Africa: A Governance Challenge

Summary: West Africa is one of the most impoverished, underdeveloped, and instability prone regions in the world. Many of the nation-states in the region are empirically weak: they lack the capacity to deliver public goods and services to their citizens, do not claim effective control over their territories, are marked by high levels of official corruption, and are plagued by political instability and violent conflict. Since 2004 the region has faced an unprecedented surge in illicit narcotics (primarily cocaine) trafficking, raising fears within the international community that foreign (largely South American) trafficking groups would engender escalated corruption and violence across the region. This paper examines the effect that the surge in narcotics trafficking has had on governance and security in the region, paying particular attention to the experience of Guinea-Bissau and neighboring Republic of Guinea (Guinea-Conakry), two West African states that have been particularly affected by the illicit trade. The central argument presented is that narcotics trafficking is only one facet of the overall challenge of state weakness and fragility in the region. The profound weakness of many West African states has enabled foreign trafficking groups to develop West Africa into an entrepôt for cocaine destined for the large and profitable European market, sometimes with the active facilitation of high-level state actors. Thus, simply implementing counter-narcotics initiatives in the region will have a limited impact without a long-term commitment to strengthening state capacity, improving political transparency and accountability, and tackling poverty alleviation and underdevelopment. Without addressing the root issues that allowed for the penetration of trafficking groups into the states of the region in the first place, West Africa will remain susceptible to similar situations in the future, undermining the region’s nascent progress in the realms of governance, security, and development.

Details: Boston: Boston University, The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, 2010. 40p.

Source: Internet Resource: The Pardee Papers, No. 9: Accessed October 13, 2010 at: http://www.bu.edu/pardee/files/2010/03/Pardee_Paper-9-Narcotics-Trafficking.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cocaine

Shelf Number: 119953


Author: Ford, Harry

Title: Evaluating the Operational Effectiveness of West African Female Police Officers’ Participation in Peace Support Operations: The Case of Ghana and Nigeria

Summary: This paper examines the capacity of West African police services to enhance the recruitment, training and deployment of female police officers on Peace Support Operations. In particular, the study seeks to critically evaluate the current organizational structures of the Ghanaian and Nigerian Police services and their deployment of female police officers in peace support operations. The study therefore, seeks to address two broad questions. First, how can West African states increase the number of female police officers on peace support operations? Secondly, how can these countries improve their respective training procedures of female police officers to become increasingly effective on peace support operations? This paper prioritizes Ghana and Nigeria as empirical case studies because they contribute a relatively high number of female police officers both towards UN and AU operations within Africa and abroad. More importantly, both countries have begun increasing the number of female civilian police officers’ numbers after the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325 on gender mainstreaming, which poignantly illustrates the impact of the resolution, and the desire of West African countries to empower women to become greater participants in the areas of peace and international security.

Details: Accra, Ghana: Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, 2008. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: KAIPTC Occasional Paper No. 23: Accessed October 21, 2010 at: http://www.kaiptc.org/_upload/general/WAFP_PaperFinal_HarryFord.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Female Police Officers

Shelf Number: 120045


Author: Graham, Lauren

Title: Ending the Age of Marginal Majority: An Exploration of Strategies to Overcome Youth Exclusion, Vulnerability and Violence in Southern Africa

Summary: As part of its focus on human security, the Southern Africa Trust (the Trust) has sought to understand the extent of youth violence and crime in the SADC region, as well as the underlying or contributing factors that can explain the levels of youth violence. To this end, it commissioned research on the extent and drivers of youth violence and the possible interventions that might be necessary to deal with this and related challenges, within a holistic understanding of the issue. The research involved a review of literature pertaining to youth and violence in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as a fieldwork component, which sought to assess youth violence in more detail within five selected countries – the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The findings from both of these components were also shaped by inputs from three stakeholders – One Voice Mobilisation, the Southern Africa Youth Movement (SAYM), and the Youth Development Network (YDN) – during two stakeholder consultation meetings held at different points in the research and data analysis process. In many respects this research is a starting point for understanding youth violence regionally. It is the first study of this type in the SADC region and the exploratory work begun in this research process should be complemented with further research that can establish regional trends more fully. What became clear in the research process was the complexity of youth violence, particularly when a holistic approach is taken to the issues that underpin its manifestation. Rather than providing quick answers about what might provide the most appropriate programming or policy interventions, the research uncovered a range of debates and issues that need to be taken into consideration in designing policy and programme initiatives in respect of youth violence.

Details: Midrand, South Africa, Southern Africa Trust, 2010. 195p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 23, 2010 at: http://www.southernafricatrust.org/docs/Youth_violence_civic_engagement_SADC_2010-Full.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Juvenile Offenders

Shelf Number: 120058


Author: Antonowicz, Laetitia

Title: Too Often in Silence: A Report on School-Based Violence in West and Central Africa

Summary: Corporal punishment, sexual violence and bullying are some of the areas explored in this joint report by Plan, ActionAid, Save the Children Sweden and UNICEF on school-based violence in West and Central Africa. Aimed at policy makers, education and child protection programmers, as well as educators, children and communities, the report: looks at the context and causes of violence in and around schools, its nature, and its impact on students - and more broadly on communities and nations; synthesises evidence on the prevalence, frequency and intensity of school-based violence; and proposes key actions to tackle the problem. Although countries in West and Central Africa have ratified international conventions that protect children’s rights to non-violent education, national provisions to fulfill these rights are often inadequate. The report gives a set of recommendations to strengthen and accelerate interventions against violence in schools across the region.

Details: Yorr, Dakar-Senegal: UNICEF West and Central African Regional Office; Dakar Ponty, Senegal, Plan West Africa: Regional Office; Dakar-Fann, Senegal: Save the Children Sweden: Regional Office for West Africa; Johannesburg, South Africa: ActionAid International, 2010. 64p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 2, 2010 at: http://plan-international.org/files/global/publications/campaigns/Too_often_in_silence_English.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Bullying

Shelf Number: 120167


Author: Giessen, Eric van de

Title: Peace Park Amid Violence? A Report on Environmental Security in the Virunga-Bwindi Region

Summary: This study is carried out for the Institute for Environmental Security (IES) within the framework of the Horizon 21 Programme. This programme has been designed to draw political attention to environmental security, in order to prevent conflict, instability and unrest. The Horizon 21 Programme integrates the disciplines of science, diplomacy, international law, finance and education. It aims to provide policy-makers with a methodology and the policy tools to tackle environmental security risks in time in order to safeguard essential conditions for sustainable development. In this context, IES currently works on Prototype EnviroSecurity Assessments. It is the objective of these assessments to come up with recommendations to international decision makers on the protection of specific eco-regions. These recommendations should be based on a profound analysis of perceived trends, opportunities and threats. The final report will integrate thematic maps, based on remote sensing data (observations and forecasts), alongside policy, legal, financial and educational aspects. The mountain gorilla habitat is one of the three Prototype EnviroSecurity Assessment case studies. This specific report contributes to the EnviroSecurity Asssessment by providing an outline of the socio-economic and political situation in the region. It will look into environmental insecurity, being an important factor in explaining the violent conflicts in this region, both in the past and nowadays. The special aim of this report is to make an analysis of threats and opportunities for the protection of the Virunga-Bwindi region.

Details: The Hague: Institute for Environmental Security, 2005. 46p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 8, 2010 at: http://www.envirosecurity.org/espa/PDF/IES_ESA_CS_Africa_Supplement.pdf

Year: 2005

Country: Africa

Keywords: Offenses Against the Environment

Shelf Number: 120204


Author: Mulugeta, Kidist

Title: Piracy Off the Somali Coast

Summary: The aim of this brief is to determine the threat of piracy in the coastal waters of Somalia. The brief in divided into five parts. The definition and historical development of worldwide piracy will be examined in the first section. The second part explores the causes and consequences of piracy in Somalia. Herein, the danger of maritime Piracy to international navigation will be investigated. The third part examines the international response in combating and controlling this threat. The fourth part analyzes major challenges encountered in combating piracy. Finally, various possible options for combating maritime piracy will be forwarded.

Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: InterAfrica Group, Center for Dialogue on Humanitarian, Peace and Development Issues in the Horn of Africa, 2009. 17p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 2, 2010 at: http://interafricagroup.org/pdf/Human%20Security%20Program/Briefing13%20on%20Piracy%20off%20the%20Socali%20coast.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 120347


Author: Raidt, John

Title: Advancing U.S., African, and Global Interests: Security and Stability in the West African Maritime Domain

Summary: This report presents the analysis and recommendations of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center in cooperation with the On the Horizon Project to advance U.S. strategic interests in West Africa. Unaddressed problems of poor governance, severe poverty, widespread public corruption, and growing insecurity from the presence of criminal and militant enterprises engaged in theft, terrorism, trafficking, piracy, poaching, and pollution will continue to punish local populations and create conditions of instability that undermine public order from greater levels of armed confl ict and mass migration and threaten the reliable flow of oil from the region. As noted in a recent United Nations report, the “combination of coups from the top and insurgencies from below render West Africa in the opinion of the UN the least politically stable region in the world.” While this report focuses on the maritime domain, the Atlantic Council approaches the regional security challenges from a broad perspective. Security issues are holistic and must be addressed as such. The dynamics and consequences of insecurity in the maritime domain are part of a wider, more complex political and security dynamic encompassing rule of law, governance, public capacities, and economic and human development across geographic, societal, and national domains. Just as the causes, manifestations, and consequences of insecurity are comprehensive, so too must be the preventatives and remedies. This document provides a broad strategic-level analysis and corresponding recommendations for action that can, and we believe should, be supported and implemented by U.S. and allied policymakers, African leaders, and key stakeholders.

Details: Washington, DC: Atlantic Council, 2010. 88p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 1, 2011 at: http://www.acus.org/files/publication_pdfs/3/advancing-us-african-global-interests-security-stability-west-africa-maritime-domain.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 120632


Author: Nordas, Ragnhild

Title: Sexual Violence in African Conflicts

Summary: This policy brief summarizes key findings from a pilot study of conflict-related sexual violence in conflicts in 20 African countries, encompassing 177 armed conflict actors – state armies, militias, and rebel groups. The study finds that, in Africa, sexual violence is: 􀂃 Mostly indiscriminate 􀂃 Committed only by some conflict actors 􀂃 Often committed by state armies 􀂃 Often committed in years with low levels of killings 􀂃 Often committed post-conflict The present study forms part of a larger research initiative on Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict (SVAC). The aim of the SVAC project is to collect data that may be used to facilitate the prevention of sexual violence. To achieve this goal, the SVAC research group recommends: (a) that the pilot presented here be extended to the global level, (b) that future research focus on the location and timing of sexual violence; and (c) that increasing attention be paid towards policies of preventing sexual violence in conflict as well as post conflict situations.

Details: Oslo: Centre for the Study of Civil War, Peace Research Institute, 2011. 4p.

Source: Internet Resource: CSCW Policy Brief 01, 2011: Accessed February 22, 2011 at: http://www.prio.org/sptrans/2085163435/SVAC_policy_brief_Sexual%20Violence%20in%20African%20Conflicts.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Sexual Assault

Shelf Number: 120845


Author: Kyle, David

Title: Migration Merchants: Human Smuggling from Ecuador and China

Summary: Human smuggling is a phenomenon that further blurs the already fuzzy boundaries between economic migrant and refugee, legal and illegal immigrant. Many state policy-makers and NGOs are concerned that if they admit immigrants or refugees who use human smugglers, this will encourage smugglers to further break immigration laws. This paper questions the assumption that illegal migrants are like any other illegal commodity crossing state borders. Kyle argues that most migrant smugglers are social bandits who may be considered unsavory and even dangerous by their home societies, but not as "criminals." Even states that are "victims" of human smugglers do not uniformly paint them as criminal and evil. In contrast to common thieves and smugglers, there is a highly politicized historical dimension to both the motivations of social bandits and to those who see them as either criminals (i.e., transnational organized crime) or "freedom fighters." Although migration research has a significant role to play in the understanding of transnational social banditry, current migration theory does not sufficiently explain the sharp rise in human smuggling around the world, especially in terms of how it conceptualizes "demand." To illustrate these points, special attention is given to emigration from Ecuador to the United States and Spain, including the organization of illicit "migrant export schemes.”

Details: San Diego, CA: Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California, San Diego, 2001. 29p.

Source: Internet Resource: CCIS Working Paper 43: Accessed March 15, 2011 at: http://www.ccis-ucsd.org/PUBLICATIONS/wrkg43.PDF

Year: 2001

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling (Ecuador and China)

Shelf Number: 121011


Author: Vogel, Augustus

Title: Investing in Science and Technology to Meet Africa’s Maritime Security Challenges

Summary: A growing number of Africa’s security challenges – narcotics trafficking, piracy, illegal fishing, and armed robberies, among others – take place at sea. Illicit actors exploit Africa’s maritime space given its expansiveness and the limited number of vessels African governments can field to interdict this activity. In this Africa Security Brief, Augustus Vogel argues that technology can dramatically improve Africa’s maritime security coverage. However, to do so will require engaging Africa’s scientists who can guide and sustain these efforts. This will yield not only security but environmental and meteorological benefits for the continent.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2011. 6p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 10: Accessed March 15, 2011 at: http://www.ndu.edu/press/lib/pdf/ACSS-Research-Papers/ACSS-10.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 120917


Author: Caldwell, Stephen L.

Title: Maritime Security: Updating U.S. Counterpiracy Action Plan Gains Urgency as Piracy Escalates off the Horn of Africa

Summary: As GAO reported in September 2010, the U.S. government has made progress in implementing its plan for countering piracy, in collaboration with industry and international partners. However, piracy is an escalating problem, and the U.S. government has not updated its plan as GAO recommended. The United States has advised industry partners on self-protection measures, contributed leadership and assets to an international coalition patrolling pirate-infested waters, and concluded a prosecution arrangement with the Seychelles. Many stakeholders credit collaborative efforts with reducing the pirates' rate of success in boarding ships and hijacking vessels, but since 2007 the location of attacks has spread from the heavily patrolled Gulf of Aden--the focus of the Action Plan--to the vast and much harder to patrol Indian Ocean. Also, from 2007 to 2010 the total number of reported hijackings increased sevenfold, and, after dropping in 2008 and 2009, the pirates' success rate rebounded from 22 percent in 2009 to almost 30 percent in 2010. In addition, the number of hostages captured and the amount of ransom paid increased sharply, and pirate attacks have grown more violent. The Action Plan's objective is to repress piracy off the Horn of Africa as effectively as possible, but as pirate operations have evolved, changes to the plan have not kept pace. The United States has not systematically tracked the costs of its counterpiracy efforts and is unable to determine whether counterpiracy investments are achieving the desired results. According to a statement by an NSS official, the United States is reviewing U.S. piracy policy to focus future U.S. efforts. These recent steps are encouraging because the growing frequency and severity of piracy off the Horn of Africa provides a renewed sense of urgency for taking action. GAO's September 2010 report found that U.S. agencies have generally collaborated well with international and industry partners to counter piracy, but they could take additional steps to enhance and sustain interagency collaboration. According to U.S. and international stakeholders, the U.S. government has, among other things, collaborated with international partners to support prosecution of piracy suspects and worked with industry partners to educate ship owners on how to protect their vessels from pirate attack. However, agencies have made less progress on several key efforts that involve multiple U.S. agencies--such as those to address piracy through strategic communications, disrupt pirate finances, and hold pirates accountable. For instance, the departments of Defense, Justice, State, and the Treasury all collect or examine information on pirate finances, but none has lead responsibility for analyzing that information to build a case against pirate leaders or financiers. In September 2010, GAO recommended that the NSC identify roles and responsibilities for implementing these tasks, and develop guidance to ensure agency efforts work together efficiently and effectively. In March 2011, an NSS official stated that an interagency policy review will examine roles and responsibilities and implementation actions to focus U.S. efforts for the next several years. It is too early to assess this effort's effectiveness in bolstering interagency collaboration in U.S. counterpiracy efforts. GAO is not making new recommendations in this statement. GAO previously recommended that the NSC (1) update its Action Plan; (2) assess the costs and effectiveness of U.S. counterpiracy activities; and (3) clarify agency roles and responsibilities. A National Security Staff (NSS) official provided a statement that an interagency group is reviewing U.S. piracy policy, costs, metrics, roles, and responsibilities. Agencies also commented to clarify information in this statement

Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2011. 21p.

Source: Internet Resource: GAO-11-449T: Accessed March 16, 2011 at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11449t.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Hijackings of Ships

Shelf Number: 121026


Author: Rauch, Janine

Title: Police Reform in Post-Conflict Africa: A Review

Summary: The objectives of this Report are to describe and analyze trends in police transformation in selected post-conflict countries in Africa. The Report was intended inform a workshop to be held on the development of democratic policing in post-conflict countries in Africa. It was envisaged that the workshop would involve police practitioners, researchers and civil society representatives from a range of African and donor countries. More explicitly the aims of the workshop were to:  Enable sharing of experiences of post-conflict police reforms in Africa  Develop a shared analysis of post-conflict police reforms in Africa  Identify good practices and lessons learned from various experiences of police reform  Encourage restructuring and democratisation of police organisations in Africa  Facilitate networking and co-ordination between role-players in police reform in Africa  Identify - with the current research Report as a basis - future research needs and potential interventions in the field of police reform in Africa. Select case-studies: With the above-mentioned objectives in mind, the Report focuses on state police organisations1 in a number of post-conflict countries in Africa. The range of countries surveyed, and the depth of data-gathering, was shaped by both time and budget constraints. The research conducted for the Report comprised a desk-top study in which access to English-language, electronic-source material in particular, proved critical. The limitations associated with a desk-top review include the lack of complete up-to-date information, the absence of the personal intuitive grasp of issues that only an onthe- spot observer possesses, a problem in establishing the real priorities facing complex social and political processes, and a lack of corroborative evidence that comes from face-to-face interviews with key informants. This research needs to be augmented by other research strategies in future. In our view, targeted interviews with both security sector practitioners and development agencies involved in reform efforts during in-country field visits are likely to yield more substantive details about current efforts at police reform in Africa and their outcomes. We therefore propose future primary research in those directions. Research themes: In order to facilitate comparative analysis the discussions for each country are organised around the following main themes:  Historical and political context of policing  Imperatives for integration/amalgamation of police organisations  Demilitarisation and civilianisation  Political control and independence of the police organisation and leadership  Oversight and accountability arrangements  Mechanisms for transitional justice and their impact on police reforms  The role and impact of donors on police reform processes  The management and co-ordination of donors and technical assistance during the reform process. As will become clear from the country-specific case studies, lack of detail prohibited the formulation of definitive comments on some of the themes. However the identification of gaps in the information that has been made possible through this research does serve a useful purpose in defining a future research agenda. The choice of countries surveyed in the draft report has been influenced by the priorities of the contracting agencies on the one hand, and the researchers’ assessment of the feasibility of the research on the other.  Category A contains an in-depth case study of the wide-ranging process of police reform which has been undertaken in South Africa over the past fifteen years. The details contained in this case study are much more comprehensive than in any of the other case studies. In part, this is a function of the fact that police reform in South Africa has been well-documented. Also, police studies, as an academic field in South Africa, is much more advanced than elsewhere on the continent. The South Africa case is furthermore enriched by an ‘insider’ perspective provided by a former senior SAPS police commissioner.  Category B comprises brief descriptions of selected aspects of police reform in eight countries: Angola, DRC, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. The coverage of each of these countries varies according to the availability of information to the research team.  The list of Category C countries includes Chad, Ethiopia, Liberia, Sudan and Tanzania. On these countries, significantly less research material was available. Although most of the states researched for this report can be described as undergoing some significant form of transition, not all of them emerge from overt conflict. Nigeria, for example, is emerging from a history of military dictatorship, while Kenya has changed from a one-party state to multi-party democracy. Even where there are recent histories of conflict, these case studies have shown a wide variation in the nature of those conflicts – from institutionalized racism in apartheid South Africa, to genocide in Rwanda, and various types of civil war in Liberia, Mozambique and Angola. In all the cases examined for this report, state policing is primarily organised at the national (federal) level, albeit with various forms of regional policing and regional political control and oversight. This is characteristic of police organisations in Africa, but differs markedly from police organisations in large democracies such as India and the US. The types of reforms that are canvassed in these case studies are generally those which are applied to large, national police organisations – working with national organisations can, for instance, facilitate standard-setting, training and donor co-ordination. It is worth noting that in many of the cases described in this report, the processes of police reform are currently under way, or about to commence. Although we have emphasised some of the increasing similarities in the processes of police reform in post-conflict African states, there is potential for varied trajectories in the near future. The cases of Liberia, DRC and South Sudan, for instance, are likely to differ from each other in many respects. Included in this report are eight of the largest (in terms of population size and/or land mass) countries on the African continent. In Africa, large states perform poorly. Stated differently, in Africa big states exhibit `varying conditions of dysfunctionality.’ Understanding the links between size and dysfunctionality is important for purposes of grasping the particular developmental challenges which big states in Africa confront. Such developmental challenges have a bearing on the prospects for state-building more generally. Such challenges will also impact on the prospects for building the coercive institutions of the state such as the public police - the very subject of this research enquiry.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Democracy in Africa (IDASA), 2006. 164p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2011 at: http://www.idasa.org/media/uploads/outputs/files/Police%20Reform%20-%20Full%20report.pdf

Year: 2006

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Administration

Shelf Number: 121042


Author: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum

Title: An Audit of Police Oversight in Africa

Summary: This audit is provided to give insight into the diversity of police oversight on the African continent and the challenges it faces. Through this publication APCOF also seeks to raise awareness on the importance of policing oversight in the ongoing efforts to promote reform or transform police agencies into organisations that are effective and efficient but also respectful of peoples’ and human rights. The field is dynamic and this audit should be seen as a work in progress. The audit was undertaken over a period of two years as four separate studies into police oversight in the Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern African regions. The report is structured to provide a brief background to the country and its political and legal system, an overview of the police and the oversight mechanisms over the police.

Details: Cape Town, South Africa: African Minds, 2008. 128p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2011 at: http://www.africanminds.co.za/books/An%20Audit%20of%20Police%20Oversight%20in%20Africa.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Accountability

Shelf Number: 121227


Author: Ajayi, Titilope

Title: State Responses to Women’s Security Challenges: An Assessment of Ghana’s Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit – Lessons for Nigeria

Summary: Violence against women (VAW) is violence that is committed against women because they are women. It affects an estimated 1 in every 3 women worldwide (United Nations, 2006), depriving them of ‘their ability to achieve their full potential by threatening their safety, freedom and autonomy’. VAW has important health, social, and economic consequences for survivors, their families, and the communities and countries where they live (World Health Organisation, 2009). In the face of high levels of VAW and sexual victimization in Nigeria, much of it perpetrated with impunity by security officials, the blatant dearth of state-sponsored support services has contributed to low levels of reporting and unequal access to justice. Civil society has advocated actively against this and provided support in the form of counselling, shelters, hotlines, training and other activities intended to enhance police capacity to handle VAW. The impact that has been made, such as the creation of a gender violence desk in the Ilupeju police station in Lagos, Nigeria, is limited due to a lack of resources and inadequate government support. For this reason, there is a need for more targeted and coordinated interventions within the framework of national level policy support that would be best provided by a national domestic violence (DV) bill that has been pending since 2003. Gender desks exist in some police stations in Nigeria. Yet uneven knowledge of their status and mandate, even among police personnel, calls into question their effectiveness and relevance. This disparity, juxtaposed with UNIFEM’s praise for the desks as a useful tool for addressing VAW, indicates that the issue needs to be revisited and leads this paper to recommend the reorientation and reintroduction, as appropriate, of VAW units within the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and set out guidelines for this project. Women’s police stations and units created within police stations to handle VAW are relatively recent and increasingly popular international phenomena recommended by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) as appropriate and effective tools for combating VAW. In Africa, these units currently exist in Namibia (1993), South Africa (1995), Sierra Leone (2001), Lesotho (2003), Liberia (2005), and Tanzania (2008) with mandates to eradicate gender based violence (GBV), including against children, regardless of where it occurs. Established in 1998, the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) is one of a few in Africa set up exclusively to handle cases of VAW. Although it is not perfect and this approach is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution to the scourge of VAW, there are important lessons to be learned from DOVVSU’s experiences. In light of prevailing high rates of VAW in Nigeria, and as a complement to ongoing police reform efforts there, there is a strong case for establishing a similar unit within the NPF. This report distils these lessons in an effort to assist the NPF in tackling Nigerian women’s security challenges in a more coherent and lasting manner. Section two discusses some common ‘causes’ of VAW while section three outlines the general context of security in the countries under study. Sections four and five examine state and non-state responses to VAW in both countries with a focus on what has driven and sustained the DOVVSU in Ghana. A final section sets out guidelines for improving the NPF’s response to VAW based on lessons from Ghana.

Details: Santiago de Chile: The Global Consortium on Security Transformation (GCST), 2011. 27p.

Source: Internet Resource: New Voices Series, No. 11: Accessed April 4, 2011 at: http://www.securitytransformation.org/images/publicaciones/200_New_Voices_Series_11_-_State_Responses_to_Womens_Security_Challenges.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Domestic Violence (Africa)

Shelf Number: 121240


Author: Commins, Stephen

Title: Urban Fragility and Security in Africa

Summary: Estimates are that more than half of all Africans will live in cities by 2025. This rapid pace of urbanization is creating a new locus of fragility in many African states - as evidenced by the burgeoning slums around many of the continent's urban areas. The accompanying rise in youth unemployment, urban violence, and organized crime pose new challenges with direct implications for the shape and composition of Africa's security sector.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2011. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 12: Accessed April 6, 2011 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ASB-12_Final-for-Web.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Organized Crime

Shelf Number: 121258


Author: Shabangu, Themba

Title: A Comparative Inquiry Into the Nature of Violence and Crime in Mozambique and South Africa

Summary: The degree and type of violence that offenders use when committing crime is worrying and unexplainable. Offenders rape females during house robberies or carjacking. They shoot infants who cry during house robberies. They use guns and weapons to commit acquisitive and interpersonal crimes. The use of violence and weapons, especially in instances where the victim is neither resisting nor posing any danger to the offender, serves to increase fear of crime and insecurity. When this report was being compiled South Africans and policy-makers knew that crime is high. President Zuma and the Minister of the Police publicly stated that the government must reduce crime, violent crime in particular. This report, however, looks beyond the premise that reducing crime is the priority. Citizens are far more afraid of violence that threatens their lives, there is therefore an equally urgent need to develop interventions to reduce violence in general. This research centres on the assumption that the drivers for violence are different from those for crime. Accordingly, these phenomena, violence and crime, must be understood and managed separately. The interventions and skills required to prevent and reduce violence are different to those that must be employed to address crime. Another assumption that has driven this research is the knowledge that South Africans exposed to violence that was used to maintain the apartheid regime is being neither addressed currently nor was it managed during transitional period leading to the 1994 elections. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission provided a platform for offenders to disclose and to seek forgiveness from victims. It however did not address the effects of the apartheid violence on South Africans. The government and the South African society did not put in place public programs to assist South Africans exposed to state violence, alternatively to educate them about alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. As a result of the failure, violence has now become part of the societal culture. It manifests itself increasingly in relationships (domestic violence), crimes against privately owned property (car jacking, house robberies) and during public demonstrations (service delivery protests, xenophobia etc). Mozambicans also faced the same challenge as South Africans. Government has not put in place mechanism and institutions to assist citizens to cope with the effects of the civil war that raged for years. Unlike South Africa, where the truth and reconciliation process was put in place, Mozambicans have not gone through a similar process. The gap exists in both countries and feeds violence and crime. The primary purpose of this research is to interrogate the phenomenon of increasing levels of criminal violence in Africa, particularly during transitional period, by drawing on intellectual resources from different field such as criminology and psychology (see findings on chapter 5) and from perpetrators of violent crime serving time at Correctional Centres in South Africa and Mozambique. The specific issues that this research seeks to fulfil are: • To understand what triggers violence during the commission of crimes. • To investigate the variables that coalesce within violent perpetrators. • To clarify triggers and variables that coalesce to cause violence that can be addressed through interventions of criminal justice agencies and other agencies responsible for ensuring safety and security. • To establish areas for further in-depth research to assist decision-makers. This research was carried out in order to contribute to the body of evidence that seeks to explain the use of violence during criminal activities. It aims to explain the historical origins, motivating factors, the surrounding psychology and the use of violence when committing crime. The ultimate objective is to start debate and discussion that will lead to the review or confirmation of policies that will hopefully reduce both the general level of violence and its criminal application. South Africa and Mozambique are the foci of this study. A number of reasons such as, their geographical proximity, historical political, poverty and huge black population influenced this choice. These two countries have historical and developmental differences. They have different colonial legacies, have undergone political transition and are at different development stages. South Africa is a former British colony, achieved a peaceful transition to democracy and has the highest GDP per capita compared to Mozambique. Mozambique, on the other hand, is a former Portugal colony; the transition to democracy was violent and it experienced a protracted civil war. The colonial masters did not invest in Mozambique’s education or other infrastructure. By contrast, South Africa experienced a much larger degree of colonial investment. Some regions of South Africa have first-world infrastructure and communities benefitted (and still do) from education, albeit unequal in terms of quality. Other racial groups, specifically blacks and coloured racial groups continue to receive poor quality education as exemplified by the matriculation pass rates and school finishing rate. Some of the regions suffer from high levels of poverty. South Africa, like Mozambique, has high levels of illiteracy. By examining these contrasts and similarities, this report aims to reach a better understanding of the triggers of violence and crime-related violence in particular. One common feature between South Africa and Mozambique is that the state sponsored violence was committed in individuals’ private spaces and not in the bush. The violence was therefore intertwined with all aspects of their lives. They were not safe either walking on the street or even in their own homes. Ordinary warfare separates the “home space and the war space”.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa), 2011. 120p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 11, 2011 at: http://www.idasa.org/media/uploads/outputs/files/comparing_crime_in_mozambique_and_south_africa.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Victims of Crimes

Shelf Number: 121298


Author: Baker, Bruce

Title: Nonstate Policing: Expanding the Scope for Tackling Africa’s Urban Violence

Summary: Worsening urban violence is placing increasing demands on Africa’s police departments. African police forces are typically woefully underresourced, inadequately trained, unaccountable, and distrusted by local communities, leaving them ineffective in addressing these security challenges. Nonstate or community-based policing groups often enjoy local support and knowledge, accessibility, and effectiveness. Accordingly, collaborative state-nonstate policing partnerships represent an underrecognized vehicle for substantially expanding security coverage in Africa’s urban areas in the short term at reasonable cost.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2010. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 7: Accessed May 3, 2011 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AfricaBrief-7.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Communities and Crime

Shelf Number: 121592


Author: van Kooten, G. Cornelis

Title: Protecting the African Elephant: A Dynamic Bioeconomic Model of Ivory Trade

Summary: International trade in ivory is banned in order to protect the African elephant. The trade ban is supported by some range states, because it is seen as an effective means for protecting a 'flagship' species, but is opposed by states, mainly in southern Africa, because populations exceed the carrying capacity of local ecosystems. Issues concerning the ivory trade ban are addressed in this paper using a dynamic partial-equilibrium trade model that consists of four ivory exporting regions and a single demand region. Results indicate that a trade ban might not be successful in maintaining elephant populations, even if it leads to a stigma effect that reduces demand and increases the marginal costs of marketing ivory. Results suggest that the species will survive only if non-market values are taken into account. Surprisingly, however, the interaction between tourism benefits and marginal compensation from rich countries can lead to the demise of elephants in some regions where this would not be the case otherwise. Finally, elephant populations are even projected to crash if range states can operate an effective quota scheme, even one that excludes poaching. In the final analysis, however, free trade in ivory and effective institutions that translate numbers of elephants into monetary payments may be the best hope for the elephant.

Details: Selected paper presented at the American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meetings at Long Beach, CA, July 23-26, 2006. 50p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 9, 2011 at: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/21206/1/sp06va02.pdf

Year: 2006

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cartels

Shelf Number: 121690


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Title: Counter-Piracy Programme: Support to the Trial and Related Treatment of Piracy Suspects

Summary: The UNODC counter-piracy programme (CPP) began in 2009 with a mandate to help one country - Kenya - deal with an increase of attacks by Somali pirates. That mandate has now widened and the UNODC CPP is working in six countries in the Somali Basin region. The CPP has proved effective in supporting efforts to detain and prosecute piracy suspects according to international standards of rule of law and respect for human rights. But Somali criminals are outpacing international efforts to stem the menace. The root causes of piracy are found on land and tackling them requires security on the ground. As long as piracy is so lucrative and other economic options so bleak, the incentives are obvious. The CPP focuses on fair and efficient trials and imprisonment in regional centres, humane and secure imprisonment in Somalia, and fair and efficient trials in Somalia. The efforts of UNODC and its multilateral partners have had considerable success across the criminal justice sector. Kenya is currently trying 69 suspects, having convicted 50, and Seychelles, despite its tiny size, has undertaken 31 prosecutions and already convicted 22 suspects. Mauritius has declared that it too will assist in the prosecution of pirates. These countries, as well as Tanzania and Maldives, continue to be assisted by UNODC with judicial, prosecutorial and police capacity building programmes. Prisons and other buildings have been supplied in some countries as well as office equipment, law books and specialist coast guard equipment. The Executive Director of UNODC, Mr Yury Fedotov, has called for support to expand his office's regional programme to even more countries; to enable Somalia to upgrade its prisons and courts; and ensure that Somali pirates convicted in other countries can serve their sentences in their home country. With some 740 men currently in detention in 13 countries UNODC is addressing an urgent situation, given that long-term imprisonment places a "very substantial burden" on prosecuting countries. Sentences generally range from 5 to 20 years, although sentences of up to more than 33 years have been handed down. Somalia's prison system has been chronically under-funded and its capacity to prosecute and imprison pirates needs to be urgently strengthened. UNODC has already started this work by completing work on a new prison in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. By building up weak institutions in the parts of Somalia where we can work, UNODC is helping to address the problem within a rule-of-law framework, and also beginning to build pride and capacity in Somalia's own institutions. "It is clear that the only viable long-term solution to the Somali piracy problem is to restore law and order in Somalia (including in its waters)," Mr. Fedotov said. "It is also clear that this solution is some years off and will require concerted and coordinated international effort." Piracy is feeding off the instability, weak governance and poverty that plague Somalia. By strengthening the rule of law to combat piracy, the UNODC also helping Somalia to rebuild a more just and stable society for all its citizens.

Details: Nairobi, Kenya: UNODC Regional Office in Eastern Africa, 2011. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 17, 2011 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/easternafrica/piracy/20110209.UNODC_Counter_Piracy_February_Issue.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 121733


Author: Robson, Paul

Title: Ending Child Trafficking in West Africa: Lessons from the Ivorian Cocoa Sector

Summary: This report finds that trafficking of children to cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire still occurs. The research found significant numbers of young people in Mali and Burkina Faso who had worked as children in cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire in the last five years. The practices occur in the context of large-scale movements of people within the region including the trafficking of children to other agricultural activities and to other sectors.

Details: London: Anti-Slavery International, 2010. 37p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2011 at: http://www.antislavery.org/includes/documents/cm_docs/2011/c/cocoa_report_for_website.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Labor

Shelf Number: 121740


Author: Born Free Foundation

Title: Inconvenient But True: The Unrelenting Global Trade in Elephant Ivory. Report Prepared for the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES 3rd-15th June 2007,The Hague

Summary: The illegal trade in elephant ivory (and in some cases the legal trade) continues to seriously threaten many wild elephant populations. The Species Survival Network (SSN) Elephant Working Group database on elephant ivory seizures contains records indicating that between 1998 and 2007 at least 176,695kg (176 tonnes) of ivory was seized. This represents the death of more than 26,674 elephants. Since CoP13 alone, 47,225.92kg of ivory have been seized, an increase of 48% as compared to the interval between the 12th and 13th meetings of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP12 and CoP13). Despite these alarming statistics, there are proposals at CoP14 calling for the resumption of a legal commercial trade in ivory which, in effect, represents a lifting of the ivory trade ban. Although CoP14 Proposals 4 and 5, submitted by Botswana and Botswana/Namibia respectively, imply that illegal ivory trade is no longer a significant enough threat to African elephant populations to warrant retention of the ban, in reality the evidence clearly shows otherwise. This report presents a compilation of this evidence — ivory prices and seizures of illegal ivory are on the increase, there are burgeoning domestic ivory markets and elephant populations are under threat.

Details: London: Born Free Foundation; Washington, DC: Species Survival Network, 2007. 56p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2011 at: http://www.ssn.org/Meetings/cop/cop14/Other/SSN_CoP14_ivory_report.pdf

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Trade (Africa)

Shelf Number: 121745


Author: Ploch, Lauren

Title: Piracy Off the Horn of Africa

Summary: Pirate attacks in the waters off Somalia and the Horn of Africa, including those on U.S.-flagged vessels, have brought renewed international attention to the long-standing problem of maritime piracy. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), at least 219 attacks occurred in the region in 2010, with 49 successful hijackings. Somali pirates have attacked ships in the Gulf of Aden, along Somalia’s eastern coastline, and outward into the Indian Ocean. Using increasingly sophisticated tactics, these pirates now operate as far east as the Maldives in good weather, and as far south as the Mozambique Channel. Hostage taking for ransom has been a hallmark of Somali piracy, and the IMB reports that more hostages, over 1,180, were taken at sea in 2010 than any year since records began; over 86% of those were taken by Somali pirates. The increase in pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa is directly linked to continuing insecurity and the absence of the rule of law in war-torn Somalia. The absence of a functioning central government there provides freedom of action for pirates and remains the single greatest challenge to regional security. The lack of law enforcement capacity creates a haven where pirates hold hostages during ransom negotiations that can last for months. Some allege that the absence of Somali coastal security authorities has allowed illegal international fishing and maritime dumping to go unchecked, which in turn has undermined coastal communities’ economic prospects, providing economic or political motivation to some pirates. The apparent motive of most pirate groups, however, is profit, and piracy has proven to be lucrative. Somalia’s “pirate economy” has grown substantially in the past two years, with ransoms now averaging more than $5 million. These revenues may further exacerbate the ongoing conflict and undermine regional security. The annual cost of piracy to the global economy ranges between $7 and $12 billion, by some estimates. The U.N Security Council has issued a series of resolutions since 2008 to facilitate an international response, which is coordinated by a multilateral Contact Group. The Council has authorized international navies to counter piracy both in Somali territorial waters and ashore, with the consent of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and has also authorized, as an exemption to the U.N. arms embargo on Somalia, support for the TFG security forces. Counter-piracy patrols by multinational naval forces near Somalia are intended to compliment mariners’ self-protection measures. Increased patrols and proactive efforts by ships have reduced attacks in the Gulf of Aden, but the U.N. Secretary-General warns that “while the effectiveness of naval disruption operations has increased and more pirates have been arrested and prosecuted, this has not stopped piracy. The trend of the increased levels of violence employed by the pirates as well as their expanding reach is disconcerting.” Some suggest that a perception of impunity exists among pirates and financiers; nine out of ten Somali pirates apprehended by naval patrols are reportedly released because no jurisdiction is prepared to prosecute them. The United States has sought to prevent, disrupt, and prosecute Somali piracy through a range of interagency and multilateral coordination and enforcement mechanisms. The Obama Administration has initiated a new “dual track” policy toward Somalia, where some contend that international efforts to build a credible central authority have failed. Congress has examined options to address piracy both diplomatically and militarily. Congress appropriates funding and provides oversight for policy initiatives with implications for piracy in the region, including maritime security assistance to regional governments, support to peacekeeping operations in Somalia, and funding for U.S. Navy operations. Congress continues to debate options for addressing pirate safe havens and improving the prospects for prosecution of pirate suspects.

Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2011. 47p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 24, 2011 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40528.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Hijacking of Ships

Shelf Number: 121821


Author: Boyce, Paul

Title: An Exploratory Study of the Social Contexts, Practices and Risks of Men Who Sell Sex in Southern and Eastern Africa

Summary: The aim of the research presented in this report was to explore the social contexts, life experiences, vulnerabilities and sexual risks experienced by men who sell sex in Southern and Eastern Africa, with a focus on five countries; Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe (an in particular with research activities in the Kenya and Namibia). As well as seeking to better understand differing and similar socio-cultural scenarios and personal life stories of male sex workers in these countries a key and specific aim was to improve terms for representation of male sex workers in relevant regional organizations, particular within the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA)2 – members of which participated in and supported this research process. The findings of this research reaffirm the need for specific male sex worker representation within ASWA as well as the need for specific social support, health education and HIV prevention programmes for male sex workers in the region more widely. Additionally, the needs of transgendered sex workers were also highlighted by the research process. These are not specifically developed in this report, as findings from this aspect of the research are currently being analyzed and developed in association with relevant collaborating organizations. Nonetheless a critical outcome of the research overall was to stress the need for renewed efforts to respect and develop gender sensitivity in health, social welfare and HIV prevention services for sex workers throughout the region and to include and consult with transgender people in such processes.

Details: Oxford, UK: Oxfam GB, 2011. 41p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 7, 2011 at: http://www.irinnews.org/pdf/Exploratory%20Study%20of%20the%20Social%20Contexts,%20Practices%20and%20Risks%20of%20Men%20Who%20Sell%20Sex%20in%20Southern%20and%20Eastern%20Africa.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Male Prostitutes

Shelf Number: 122006


Author: Knerr, Wendy

Title: Parenting and the Prevention of Child Maltreatment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Interventions and a Discussion of Prevention of the Risks of Future Violent Behaviour Among Boys

Summary: This review aims to answer the following question: Are parenting interventions in low- and middle-income countries effective at reducing harsh and abusive parenting, increasing positive parenting behaviours, improving parent–child relationships or reducing child conduct problems? It will provide an overview of the broad issue of child abuse and neglect and the types of parent- or primary carer-focused interventions which either explicitly or implicitly aim to prevent them. It will include conclusions from high-quality systematic reviews of reviews of interventions from high-income countries; information about interventions with a strong evidence base in high-income countries, which have been implemented but not rigorously trialed in low- or middle-income countries; and discussion about the ‘active ingredients’ of evidence-based parenting interventions that have been shown to prevent or reduce abuse and neglect. In addition the review will analyse and discuss issues related to effective cultural adaptation of parenting interventions from one setting or population to another, and will also include a brief case study of an intervention from a middle- or low-income country, or an intervention with a strong evidence base from a high-income country which has been implemented but not trialed in a low- or middle-income country.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Sexual Violence Research Institute, South African Medical Research Council, 2011. 72p,

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 1, 2011 at: http://www.svri.org/parenting.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect

Shelf Number: 122235


Author: Organization of American States

Title: Hemispheric Report: Evaluation of Progress in Drug Control: Fifth Evaluation Round

Summary: The Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) is an instrument designed to measure the progress of actions taken by all member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) to combat the global drug problem. The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), as an OAS specialized agency, implemented this Mechanism in 1998, pursuant to a mandate from the Second Summit of the Americas held in Santiago, Chile in 1998. The MEM, as a diagnostic tool, has evolved to become an instrument which promotes cooperation to support member states in effectively addressing the drug problem. It catalyzes hemispheric cooperation, promotes dialogue among government authorities, and precisely channels assistance to areas requiring greater attention. It has become one of the primary achievements in implementing hemispheric mandates to strengthen multilateral cooperation. The country evaluation reports are based on the information provided by countries in response to a Questionnaire of Indicators. They are drafted by the Governmental Expert Group (GEG), a multi-disciplinary group composed of experts from the 33 OAS member states who have been designated by their country. Each functions independently from his/her government, and experts do not participate in the evaluation of their own countries. The GEG conducts its analysis using the information supplied by countries through their designated National Coordinating Entities (NCE), which are responsible for liaising with national organizations to gather data for completion of the questionnaire. The methodology used in the MEM process includes establishing dialogue with countries to analyze the information provided and to prepare national evaluative reports with conclusions and recommendations. Each country reviews and comments on the content of the evaluation, ensuring an open, participatory process. The MEM, therefore, allows member states to identify their strengths, weaknesses, progress, setbacks and shortcomings, and assists them in adjusting their policies and procedures in order to respond more effectively to the challenges posed by the international drug problem. The Hemispheric Report that follows provides a comprehensive review of the Fifth Evaluation Round reports, covering the period 2007-2009. The source of information is the MEM National Reports, approved by the CICAD Commissioners at the forty-eighth regular session of CICAD in Washington, D.C. in December 2010. The Hemispheric Report addresses the collective progress of the CICAD member states in confronting the drug problem from a hemispheric perspective, mirroring the structure of the Hemispheric Drug Strategy, which provides guidelines for integrated, coordinated and cooperative hemispheric action. Each chapter is based on the Fifth Evaluation Round national reports1, as well as contributions from the GEG and the Executive Secretariat of CICAD. The content of the Hemispheric Report was approved at the forty-ninth regular session of CICAD, in May 2011.

Details: Washington, DC: Organization of American States, 2011. 53p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 1, 2011 at: http://www.cicad.oas.org/MEM/Reports/5/Full_Eval/Informe%20Hemisferico%20-%205ta%20Ronda%20-%20ENG.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction

Shelf Number: 122240


Author: Salahub, Jennifer Erin, ed.

Title: African Women on the Thin Blue Line: Gender-Sensitive Police Reform in Liberia and Southern Sudan

Summary: African Women on the Thin Blue Line explores how women in civil society and their female counterparts in the police are experiencing police reform processes in two conflict-affected African contexts: Liberia and Southern Sudan. It highlights the challenges of fully integrating a gender perspective into police reform as well as the many opportunities and strengths of such an approach. Two case-study chapters focus on the perspectives of Liberian and Southern Sudanese women themselves based on interviews and focus group discussions. Targeted policy recommendations are featured at the end of the book and draw on the women's perspectives and analysis conducted by The North-South Institute and our research partners in these developing countries.

Details: Ottawa: North-South Institute, 2011. 94p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2011 at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/reliefweb_pdf/node-394234.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Female Police Officers (Liberia and Southern Sudan

Shelf Number: 122357


Author: Osiro, Deborah

Title: Somali Pirates Have Rights Too: Judicial Consequences and Human Rights Concerns

Summary: The international community’s counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia has had limited success, despite a proliferation of initiatives and resources. Although the large military presence has increased the number of piracy suspects that are being brought to trial, it has not reduced the number of pirates taking to the high seas. Rather, the increased militarisation and the strategies designed to bypass human rights obligations vis-à-vis the Somali pirates has undermined the credibility of the counter-piracy initiatives. The regional piracy prosecutions in Kenya, in particular, have raised various human rights issues, such as the failure to observe due process and the lack of appropriate jurisdiction. This paper highlights the fact that the strategy of enforcing legal accountability for pirates at sea but not for those on shore breeds a disregard for the human rights of a very vulnerable group of people, and results in an increase in piratical activities

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2011. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 224: Accessed August 23, 2011 at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Full_Report_1860.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Rights

Shelf Number: 122470


Author: Cadman, Mike

Title: Consuming Wild Life: The Illegal Exploitation of Wild Animals In South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia: A Preliminary Report

Summary: The illegal killing of wild animals poses an urgent threat to their survival and involves enormous cruelty, untold suffering, pain and death for individual animals, family groups and social networks. The raison d’etre for this report was, therefore, to attempt to get an overview of the current scale of illegal killing of wild life in South Africa and the southern African region more broadly. This Report represents the groundwork – a foundation to build on. The need for further research is extensive. However, this preliminary investigation clearly reveals a startling picture – one of enormous suffering, an inability by state agencies to adequately monitor the illegal killing of wild animals, a lack of centralised statistics and data, an uncoordinated response from authorities, insufficient enforcement and a general way of thinking that promotes killing instead of protection and respect. South Africa and its neighbours have flourishing illegal wild animal markets and in South Africa, particularly, this is compounded by its geographical location and relatively sophisticated infrastructure. Indeed, poaching is taking place in an increasingly organised scale. Africa has seen the unprecedented annihilation of wild animals as a result of poaching and it is being fuelled by the profits that are made by commercial wildlife traffickers (often to satisfy consumer demand abroad) and uncontrolled commercial exploitation. This is part of a global problem which according to Interpol is worth some US$12 billion a year. Throughout Africa, money is the driving force of this illegal trade and it is motivated by greed and aided by corruption, inadequate ranger staffing, public attitudes to wildlife, lack of public awareness, lack of data and lack of adequate law enforcement. There are three general categories of consumptive use of wild animals: commercial trophy hunting, illegal poaching (including subsistence hunting), and commercial farming. Nearly all illegal poaching is commercial. For purposes of this report ‘poaching’ is defined as hunting wild animals for food and entrepreneurial exploitation, including the bushmeat trade for local and urban trade, trafficking (locally and cross-border) and trade in live animals and body parts. The traditional medicines market is an important component in the illegal wildlife trade. The killers come in a variety of forms: they may be local people, they may be using snares, they maybe using guns or they may be the lowest link in a massive international mafia chain of wildlife trade that is today almost as big as the drug trade. Poachers are thus often highly organised armed gangs and hardened criminals. Methods of poaching include: shooting, snaring (using wire, cables etc.), gin traps, poisoning and the use of packs of dogs. It is generally believed that wild animals are safe in Reserves. However, research has revealed that many of the reserves in southern Africa are heavily targeted by armed poachers. Of concern is that in some instances the park rangers themselves are poaching. A recent research study undertaken by Professor Greg L. Warchol shows “numerous instances of rangers poaching for bushmeat, elephant ivory and rhino horn. In a Kruger National Park-sanctioned ‘culling’ effort, rangers authorised to kill 120 impala illegally killed an additional 60 for sale to a local butcher shop. One Kruger ranger was arrested for shooting 20 white rhinos and another admitted to killing at least 46 over 12 years to pay his gambling debts.” Poaching, trafficking and the bushmeat trade continue to thrive and expand in the region because there are flawed efforts to combat it. In particular, it is as a result of: 􀂃 The ‘sustainable’ and consumptive use context, i.e., the belief that animals are a resource to be used rather than protected. An illegal activity occurs within a framework where the same activity (killing for food or for profit), is legal. The key to this problem is that animals are seen as property, whether the property of the landowner, of governments or of rural communities. This commodification of sentient beings implies their exploitation. 􀂃 Inadequate leadership from government – insufficient priority is being given to wildlife crime. Protecting wildlife is often viewed as a low priority. 􀂃 Poor conceptualisation and implementation of non-consumptive poverty relief and development projects. 􀂃 Wildlife laws are too weak, ambiguous and contradictory. 􀂃 Prosecutors and magistrates are often unfamiliar with wildlife laws. 􀂃 Strong enforcement and compliance is lacking. 􀂃 Low levels of staffing and capacity. 􀂃 Lack of effective anti-poaching strategies, nationally and regionally. 􀂃 Effective public awareness-raising is wanting. This report strongly indicates that urgent action is needed. It is imperative that authorities in the region address this grave situation and take effective steps to prevent wildlife crime and protect wild animals in the region so as to: 1. Create and coordinate long-term programmes and strategies at a national and regional level; 2. Reduce national demand; 3. Mitigate poaching activities; 4. Expose the extent of poaching and trade; 5. Gather intelligence for future analytical reports and to identify enforcement priorities; 6. Determine what animals are being targeted. Animal Rights Africa therefore recommends that governments in the region need to implement the following strategies: 􀂃 Establish national and regional Wildlife Crime Databases. 􀂃 Review policies and legislation. 􀂃 Review policy of ‘sustainable use’ and consumptive use. 􀂃 Ensure that legislation and judicial systems support prosecutions and higher penalties. 􀂃 Build capacity, increase numbers, train and support rangers. 􀂃 Forge partnerships; between government agencies, with NGOs and intergovernmentally. 􀂃 Actively seek participation of civil society. 􀂃 Promote public awareness and education which is aimed at protecting and respecting animals in the wild. 􀂃 Investigate non-consumptive ways of addressing hunger.

Details: Animal Rights Africa; Zwe African Wild Life, 2007. 43p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2011 at: http://www.animalrightsafrica.org/Archive/Consuming_Wild_Life_290307_final.pdf

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Trade

Shelf Number: 122568


Author: Hamood, Sara

Title: African Transit Migration Through Libya to Europe: The Human Cost

Summary: This report seeks to shed light on the experiences of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants temporarily residing in and passing through Libya en route to the EU. The report examines the experiences of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in Libya. It also analyzes the notion of protection for refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya both from a legal perspective and as understood by refugees and asylumseekers themselves. It further tracks the journeys of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, originating from Egypt, Sudan and the Horn of Africa, from their countries of origin to the ultimate destination of the EU. Finally, it outlines and analyzes the cooperation between the EU and Libya on migration issues.

Details: Cairo: American University in Cairo, Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, 2006. 86p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2011 at: http://www.migreurop.org/IMG/pdf/hamood-libya.pdf

Year: 2006

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 122569


Author: Aning, Kwesi

Title: ECOWAS and Conflict Prevention in West Africa: Confronting the Triple Threats

Summary: West Africa’s relative stability following a period of violent and protracted conflicts in the 1990s is under increasing attack from a range of existing and emerging threats. The emergence or in some cases re-emergence of certain trends, namely armed sub-state groups, small arms flows and the narcotics trade could erode the stability that the region currently enjoys. Despite progress in consolidating democracy over the past two decades, a series of recent military coups has raised questions about the state of the democratic structures that are currently in place. More generally, much of the region is still waiting for a ‘democratic dividend’: despite the return to civilian rule and holding of periodic elections, the social and economic well being of the vast majority of people in the sub-region remain dire. The near simultaneous assassination’s of President Joao Bernado Vieira of Guinea Bissau and the country’s Chief of Staff, General Tagme Na Waie in 2008 was a glaring reminder of West Africa’s troubled past. Although a military takeover in Guinea (Conakry) was foreseen if and when the oft expected death of its long-term leader happened, the occurrence of a coup d’etat in December 2008, against the inept and incompetent regime following the death of President Lansana Conté, was nonetheless an unsettling development. There is no doubt that the re-emergence of coup d’etats is a manifestation of the weaknesses of the democratic systems that have been established; highlighting the need to ensure that democracy transcends the holding of periodic elections. At the heart of the problem is the growing abuse of power by civilian authorities. For instance, the issue of term limits has proved to be contentious as several civilians Heads of State have attempted to change their national constitutions to prolong their stay in power often in defiance of public opinion. Recent attempts by Niger’s President, Mamadu Tandja to change the country’s constitution to allow him a third term is a glaring manifestation of this troubling pattern. Meanwhile, the emergence of al-Qaeda affiliated groups, primarily in the Sahel constitutes a new form of transnational threat with wider global consequences. The activities of groups such as al-Qaeda in the Maghreb pose serious security threats to countries in the Sahel and beyond. Organized crime is also running rampant in the region. Outsiders find it hard to distinguish between criminal groups that are engaged in smuggling contraband items including hard drugs, groups with terrorist links and those with a political agenda. Establishing the differences between these groups is one of the hardest challenges confronting national, regional and international actors in their efforts to combat the multiple threats to stability in West Africa. These developments, coming against the backdrop of the current global economic and financial crisis has placed tremendous pressure on national governments as they struggle to cope with the dire effects of the crises and responding to these threats. The challenges are compounded by the shifting priorities of donor countries, some of whom have been forced to scale back their assistance due to the impact of the financial meltdown on their national budgets. It is against this backdrop that this paper addresses three critical transnational challenges, referred to as the “triple threats” confronting West Africa: governance, drug trafficking and small arms and light weapons (SALW). The combined effect of these threats could undermine the security and stability of the entire sub-region. The paper argues that understanding the broad dynamics and impacts of poor governance, the proliferation of SALW and drug trafficking is critical to maintaining regional stability as a whole.

Details: New York: New York University, Center on International Cooperation, 2009. 22p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2011 at: http://www.cic.nyu.edu/peacekeeping/conflict/docs/bah_ecowas.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Contraband

Shelf Number: 122576


Author: Reeve, Richard

Title: Human Security in the Mano River Union: Empowering Women to Counter Gender-Based Violence in Border Communities

Summary: Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has been one of the major legacies of the 14-year (1989-2003) regional conflict in the Mano River Union (MRU). In response, in 2008 International Alert and its partners designed an initiative targeting war-affected communities in nine border areas of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. This Human Security in the MRU project has challenged knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning SGBV in order to reduce perpetration and the stigmatisation of survivors, and provided information, counselling and advocacy in order to guide men and women through prevention and redress actions. This report aims to capture the experiences of the project in the context of work in three interlinked but quite specific country contexts. It looks at the extent of SGBV and domestic violence as experienced in the target communities, details the challenges and best practices of project staff in their attempts to raise awareness and change attitudes and practices, and analyses the particular challenges of providing security and accessing justice (statutory or customary) in the various target communities. It concludes with a series of recommendations for the improved provision of security and justice for women, girls and other vulnerable groups within the MRU.

Details: London: International Alert, 2010. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 12, 2011 at: http://www.international-alert.org/sites/default/files/publications/201005HumanSecurityManoRiverUnionEN.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Domestic Violence

Shelf Number: 122062


Author: DevTech Systems, Inc.

Title: Safe Schools Program Final Report

Summary: The World Health Organization estimated 150 million girls and 73 million boys were victims of sexual violence in 2002, many of these acts occurring on the way to or at school. The Global School-based Health Survey found that between 20 and 65 percent of children aged 13-15 said that they had been verbally abused or bullied in the past 30 days. Only 50 percent of countries have policies banning corporal punishment in school and despite these policies, corporal punishment is still practiced in many school settings. The Safe Schools Program (Safe Schools) was a five-year initiative (2003-2008) funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Office of Women in Development and implemented by DevTech Systems, Inc. (DevTech). The goal of Safe Schools was to reduce school-related gender-based violence in selected schools in Ghana and Malawi to support the longer-term goal of improving educational outcomes and reducing negative health outcomes for schoolchildren. Changes in student and teacher knowledge, attitudes and practices toward school-related gender-based violence were used to measure progress toward reducing gender violence. Safe Schools was one of the first programs to systematically use a gender approach to identify the relationship between the traditional definition of gender roles and the types of abuse and violence that both girls and boys suffer from and perpetrate in schools. School-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) was defined as any form of violence or abuse in and around schools that is based on gender stereotypes or that targets students on the basis of their sex. It results in sexual, physical or psychological harm to girls and boys.

Details: Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development, 2008. 66p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 15, 2011 at: http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/cross-cutting_programs/wid/pubs/Safe_Schools_Final_Report_9_24.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Gender

Shelf Number: 122732


Author: Whiteneck, Daniel J.

Title: Piracy Enterprises in Africa

Summary: Piracy has a long history in all areas of Africa, and the navies of nations affected by that piracy have a long history of counterpiracy operations all around the continent. This report examines the background and development of piracy off Somalia and in the Gulf of Guinea, with a specific look at how recent activities have been organized and how they sustain themselves as ongoing criminal concerns. The ‘piracy enterprise’ consists of several elements, including recruitment of people, finance, intelligence and knowledge of the maritime space, shipping patterns, and the vulnerabilities of targets, as well as tactics and operations, internal organization, connections to the local communities, and the creation of ‘safe havens’ ashore. Piracy in Somalia has evolved from the simple model of coastal residents accosting fishing vessels in Somali waters and extorting payments at gunpoint, to complex criminal pirate groups staging and deploying multiple action groups to seize large commercial ships far out at sea, seize them, take them back to a safe home port, and hold them for months for negotiated ransoms. This paper looks at how the current enterprise is structured and its evolution from humble beginnings. Across the continent, pirates in the Gulf of Guinea are engaged in what can best be described as a crime wave of 'robbery at sea' attacks. A small number of recent attempted attacks have mimicked the more sophisticated tries on commercial vessels and tankers, but the mainstay of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has been ‘smash and grab’ night strikes on ships at anchor or oil platforms. While this is a different type of piracy/robbery, using the enterprise model reveals much about how it works, why it has not evolved like in Somalia, and what vulnerabilities it has.

Details: Alexandria, VA: CNA Analysis & Solutions, 2011. 66p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 19, 2011 at: http://www.cna.org/sites/default/files/OTA%20Piracy%20Enterprises%20in%20Africa%20D0023394%20A2.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 122783


Author: Gunther, Michael J.

Title: A Cooperative Strategy of 21st Century Seapower: 200 Years of Repressing Piracy and Still Missing the Boat

Summary: Piracy on the high seas is increasing. This is especially true for the waters off the African coast, which are some of the most dangerous in the world. The violence and negative economic aspects of piracy present challenges to international security and stability, especially for African coastal nations. Repressing piracy is a complicated process that requires coordination and cooperation among national and international military and nonmilitary agencies. Joint Interdiction Planning and Homeland Defense Doctrine address piracy repression but fail to provide adequate guidance and processes to successfully complete the operation. The only threat response plan that could be used to address acts of piracy is the national-level Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) plan. To succeed at repressing piracy around Africa, the regional Geographic Combatant Commander must build a regional command and control structure capable of executing all phases of piracy repression, advocate the development of new joint doctrine, and promote implementation of regional interagency threat response plans. This paper will analyze the abilities of U.S. maritime forces to successfully create and maintain security on the high seas around Africa from piracy as outlined in "Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower." The analysis examines strategic guidance provided in the "National Strategy for Maritime Security," evaluates the law of the sea, assesses threat response plans, and analyzes AFRICOM's role. Finally, the paper concludes that improvements are required to the existing process to successfully combat piracy around Africa.

Details: Newport, RI: Joint Military Operations Department, Naval War College, 2008. 26p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 7, 2011 at: http://dodreports.com/pdf/ada484354.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 123004


Author: Transparency International

Title: The East African Bribery Index 2011

Summary: Burundi has retained the top position as the most bribery prone country in East Africa, according to the East African Bribery Index 2011. Burundi has a bribery prevalence level of 37.9% up from 36.7% in 2010, while Uganda and Tanzania have been ranked second and third at 33.9% and 31.6% respectively, both up from 33% and 28.6% in 2010. Kenya recorded a slight improvement at 28.8% down from 31.9% in 2010. Rwanda is once again ranked fifth with a bribery prevalence of 5.1% down from 6.6% last year. Methodology The East African Bribery Index is a governance tool developed to measure bribery levels in the private and public sectors in the region. The survey was conducted among 12,924 respondents selected through random household sampling across all the administrative regions in the five countries between February and May 2011. The respondents were asked to mention institutions where they were required to pay bribes or where bribes were expected as a condition to access services, and if the service sought was delivered upon payment or refusal to pay the bribe. KEY FINDINGS Institutional rankings The police, revenue authorities and the judiciary across the different countries were poorly rated in the regional aggregate index. All the police institutions in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi appeared in the list of the ten most bribery prone institutions in East Africa. Uganda Police lead the pack of the most bribery prone institutions in the region, followed by the Burundi Police, Customs/Revenue Authority – Burundi, Kenya Police and Uganda Revenue Authority in that order. For the second year running, the survey did not record enough bribery reports to formulate an index for Rwanda. The bribery reports recorded for most of the institutions were statistically insignificant to form a reliable basis for ranking. The survey also sought to establish the sectors most affected by bribery. The law enforcement sector emerged the most bribery prone sector in Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda. The health and education sectors were also ranked adversely in comparison to the other sectors. Bribery incidence across genders The survey also analysed bribery payments in the water, education and health sectors according to gender. In Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, there were higher instances of women experiencing bribe demands or expectations in the health sector and similarly paying a bribe than the men. In the water and education sectors, more bribes were demanded from and paid by the men than women in the three countries. Male respondents were more likely to experience a bribery situation as well as pay a bribe in the different sectors in Burundi. Reporting of corruption cases Reporting of corruption cases was low in all the five countries. Burundi recorded the lowest number of people forwarding corruption complaints with only 3.2% reporting corruption incidents. Only 7.1 % of the respondents in Kenya reported incidents of corruption compared to 10.8% last year; 9.9% and 6.9% forwarded corruption complaints in Uganda and Tanzania respectively while 16% filed complaints in Rwanda. Corruption perception Rwanda retained the most positive outlook in this regard. Only 2.4 of the Rwandan respondents described the country as extremely corrupt compared to 36.8% in Tanzania, 44% in Kenya, 51.3% in Uganda and 53.1% in Burundi. In terms of the public’s perception on the government’s commitment to tackle graft, Rwanda topped once again with 93% of the respondents saying that their government is sufficiently committed to the cause. This perceptual judgment was most adverse in Uganda where 61% of the respondents believe their government lacks the commitment to confront corruption. 45.4% and 47.3% held the same view in Kenya and Burundi respectively. Next steps The commitment shown by the East African countries to attract foreign investments and promote trade in the region may face challenges if corruption and other forms of public inefficiencies are not tackled. Improving governance practices therefore becomes an urgent imperative if the East African countries are to achieve developmental objectives and realise full economic and political integration. Confronting corruption occupies the core of such a response. The bribery index is a snapshot of corruption in a region or country and is not institution-specific. Therefore, in order to understand the extent and scope of corruption in an institution, an institutional integrity study to identify systematic weaknesses that may predispose the organisation to corrupt practices is necessary. The TI national chapters and contacts (partners) in the five East African countries thus welcome partnerships with public institutions aimed at comprehensively identifying and strengthening internal systems and procedures to curb corruption.

Details: Berlin: Transparency International, 2011. 73p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2011 at: http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases_nc/2011/2011_10_20_east_african_bribery_index_2011

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Bribery

Shelf Number: 123165


Author: Leggett, Ted

Title: Organized Crime and Instability in Central Africa: A Threat Assessment

Summary: This study was undertaken to inform programme development efforts in the context of UNODC’s regional programme approach. The Great Lakes region of Central Africa is a region of vast natural resources – and great potential – with a tragic history. Remarkable progress has been made in some countries, while others are only now beginning to find their feet. Many of the problems facing the region stretch back to colonial times, but the current situation is best explained by reference to more recent events. By some estimates, over five million people died during the eight-country conflict known as the Second Congo War which started in 1998, making it one of the deadliest conflicts since World War II. The human impact has been tremendous: communities have been displaced, weapons disseminated, the population traumatized, and the economy decimated. Although the formal hostilities ended in 2002-2003, violence has continued to afflict the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Smouldering grievances, often highly local ones, were again stirred to a blaze. Ethnic tensions in Ituri, a region in Orientale province, stretch back many decades, but violence surged again after the end of the war. The Kivu provinces experienced continuing bouts of extreme brutality fuelled by competition for land and resources, as well as by ethnic grievances. Today, however, the DRC is in a state of transition. Deaths due to disease and malnutrition, tied in part to the displacement caused by violence, continue, but the World Bank estimates that there were only 610 battlefield deaths in 2008. Though no one is declaring victory yet, it appears that the scale of the conflict has substantially declined. The violence that remains, however, is a potent mix of interpersonal violence and the continuing presence of armed groups across the Eastern DRC, much of which is connected to the exploitation of natural resources. The violence is preventing the region as a whole from benefiting from development opportunities that would come with stability.

Details: Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2011. 112p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 4, 2011 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Central_Africa_Report_2011_web.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Exploitation of Natural Resources

Shelf Number: 123225


Author: Partnership Africa Canada

Title: Diamonds Without Borders: An Assessment of the Challenges of Implementing and Enforcing the KP Certification Scheme

Summary: In 2010, Israel (the Chair of the KPCS) prioritized strengthening KPCS efforts to combat diamond smuggling. In support of this priority, PAC worked with Israel, Canada and the United States to conduct multi-stakeholder consultations in four West African countries and to organize an Enforcement Seminar during the KPCS Intersessional in Tel Aviv (June 2010). The results of these activities can be found in this report on diamond smuggling, which was presented to the KPCS Plenary in November 2010.

Details: Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada, 2010. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 8, 2011 at: http://www.pacweb.org/Documents/diamonds_KP/Diamonds_Without_borders-Nov2010_Eng.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Diamond Smuggling

Shelf Number: 123261


Author: Collier, Paul

Title: Murder by Numbers: Socio-Economic Determinants of Homicide and Civil War

Summary: Deliberate killing is a common part of the defining features of both homicide and civil war. Often, the scale of killing is also similar: most countries have homicide rates that exceed the threshold of one thousand combat-related deaths during a year that is the standard criterion for civil war. What is clearly different is the organization of killing: the perpetrators of homicide are usually individuals or small groups, whereas rebellion – the direct cause of a civil war - requires a cohesive group of at least several hundred killers. Beyond this, the motivation for the two types of killing may differ systematically, although evidently both homicide and rebellion have many different motivations, including error and irrationality. In this paper we investigate whether the socio-economic determinants of homicide and civil war are similar, and then explore potential inter-relationships between them. We compare our existing model of the risk of civil war with a new model of the homicide rate. We find that there is a ‘family resemblance’ between the two types of killing, but surprising differences. Furthermore, we turn to the inter-relationships between homicide and the risk of civil war. Specifically, we ask whether a high rate of homicide makes a country more prone to civil war, and whether a civil war makes a country more prone to homicide. Our results indicate that higher homicide rate do not increase the risk of war but that civil wars generate a legacy of increased post-conflict homicide rates.

Details: Oxford, UK: Centre for the Study of African Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, 2004. 25p.

Source: Internet Resource: Centre for the Study of African Economies Working Paper Series (CSAE WPS/2004-10): Accessed November 9, 2010 at: http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/workingpapers/pdfs/2004-10text.pdf

Year: 2004

Country: Africa

Keywords: Homicide

Shelf Number: 123272


Author: Andres, Amado Philip de

Title: West Africa Under Attack: Drugs, Organized Crime and Terrorism as the New Threats to Global Security

Summary: Drug trafficking in West and Central Africa is nothing more that the most visible symptom of a much deeper and destabilizing disease which is slowly but progressively affecting the bodies of African states and institutions. This paper provides an overview on the current situation in West Africa with regard to drug trafficking (cocaine, heroin and hashish), organized crime (from human trafficking to diamond trade and its link with terrorism financing) and terrorism.

Details: UNISCI, 2008. 26p.

Source: Internet Resource: UNISCI Discussion Papers, No. 16: Accessed November 19, 2011 at: http://www.ucm.es/info/unisci/revistas/UNISCI%20DP%2016%20-%20Andres.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 123398


Author: Uwazie, Ernest E.

Title: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Africa: Preventing Conflict and Enhancing Stability

Summary: Backlogged court dockets in Africa, often requiring claimants to wait years, are common. The resulting perception that justice cannot be attained through official channels is a potential catalyst for intergroup violence and political instability. Alternative Dispute Resolution is an increasingly popular complement to official legal channels to resolve less serious disputes in a timely manner through mediation while enhancing claimants’ sense of justice. Establishing legislation supporting Alternative Dispute Resolution as well as broadening the number and caliber of mediators can expedite the adoption of this mechanism.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2011. 6p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 16: Accessed November 22, 2011 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/AfricaBriefFinal_16.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Courts (Africa)

Shelf Number: 123419


Author: Ellery, Frances

Title: Out from the Shadows: Sexual Violence Against Children with Disabilities

Summary: Children with disabilities are among the most marginalised in the world. The issue of sexual violence against them is largely ignored: shrouded in taboos and far from a political priority, very little research has been conducted on this issue. Sexual violence is just one tragic consequence of the structural and social discrimination facing children with disabilities. Many live in relative isolation, have little interaction with people in whom they could confide; and are uninformed about their rights. This is compounded by their acute lack of access to education and other services, including reporting mechanisms, which rarely accommodate their individual needs. Perpetrators of sexual violence enjoy almost total impunity. In many cases, perpetrators are part of the family or community upon which the child is dependent and, therefore, hold great power over them. Children with disabilities also face insurmountable barriers to accessing legal and judicial systems. The few cases that are officially reported rarely reach a court hearing or result in an appropriate sentence. As a consequence, survivors are deterred from speaking out, which in turn perpetuates their vulnerability. This new report by Handicap International and Save the Children is based on first-hand research in four African countries: Burundi, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania (Zanzibar). Researchers interviewed adults with disabilities who had been abused as children, as well as carers, lawyers, judges, police, social workers, teachers and members of disabled people’s organisations. This evidence is supported by a global literature review. Handicap International and Save the Children have created a set of recommendations, developed in consultation with children, young people and professionals working on this issue around the word. We hope they will be taken forward by governments, donors and civil society organisations, communities, and children and young people.

Details: London: Save the Children, 2011. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 23, 2011 at: http://www.handicap-international.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/BF443E7C-570C-4DB9-AB69-56E3B278DD35/0/OutFromTheShadows_2011.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Sexual Abuse (Africa)

Shelf Number: 123432


Author: Addo, Prosper

Title: Cross-Border Criminal Activities in West Africa: Options for Effective Responses

Summary: The aim of this paper is to explore particular cross-border crimes in West Africa, and recommend options for effective responses. In doing this, it seeks to (a) identify and discuss the different categories of cross-border crime; (b) examine the actors involved in these crimes and their modes of operation; (c) review efforts aimed at curbing cross-border criminal activities by looking at levels of staate collaborative processes and regulatory frameworks; and finally (d) recommend effective options for government and civil society action on the issue.

Details: Accra, Ghana: Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, 2006. 23p.

Source: Internet Resource: KAIPTC Paper No. 12: Accessed January 27, 2012 at: http://www.kaiptc.org/Publications/Occasional-Papers/Documents/no_12.aspx

Year: 2006

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Security (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 123788


Author: Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer

Title: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana

Summary: "Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana" is a four and a half year project spearheaded by the Payson Center for International Development at Tulane University and financed by the U.S. Department of Labor. As part of the Tulane-USDOL contract, Tulane studies progress made towards the elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (WFCL) and Forced Adult Labor (FAL) in the cocoa sector of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana and towards meeting obligations under the Harkin-Engel Protocol, a voluntary agreement against the WFCL and FAL signed in September 2001 by the Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) and the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and witnessed by the congressional offices of U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.). Since the start of the Tulane-USDOL collaboration in October 2006, Tulane has implemented several representative population-based household surveys of child labor in the cocoa sector, examined efforts by the international cocoa/chocolate industry and the governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to establish child labor monitoring, certification and verification systems, studied remediation activities and other interventions against the WFCL and FAL in the cocoa sector financed by the cocoa/chocolate industry and trained government officials in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana to remediate the WFCL and monitor the number of children working in this sector. Tulane's research findings are reported in annual reports to the U.S. Congress, which are also made available on Tulane's project Website.

Details: New Orleans, LA: Tulane University, 2011. 154p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 5, 2012 at http://www.childlabor-payson.org/Tulane%20Final%20Report.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Exploitation

Shelf Number: 123976


Author: Yikona, Stuart

Title: Ill-gotten Money and the Economy: Experiences from Malawi and Namibia

Summary: Over the last 20 years, the international community has significantly stepped up its efforts to prevent, detect, and deter money flows related to criminal activities and terrorism financing. Since the early 2000s, this drive has extended to developing countries, with most of them introducing anti-money laundering (AML) policies. The primary driver behind this is law enforcement; these policies are aimed at detecting and tracing flows of ill-gotten money, which would enable authorities to fight and prevent crime and recover assets of crime, corruption, and tax evasion. Insufficient attention has been paid to the economic side of ill-gotten money and the efforts to combat such flows, particularly in developing countries. Why is it critical for them, and what is the case for combating the flows of ill-gotten money in countries severely constrained by a lack of resources and limited technical capacity to implement a full AML-framework? Moreover, why are ill-gotten proceeds relevant to the issue of economic development? What is the magnitude of the ill-gotten money flows from activities that generate such flows? Added to this are concerns that anti-money laundering policies may at times actually jeopardize certain development objectives, such as access to finance for poor people. The core objective of this study is to introduce economics into the international debate about anti-money laundering, and to introduce the idea of the usefulness and effectiveness of such policies. We also hope that we might be able to bridge the gap between the law enforcement and economist communities. Indeed, the 2011 World Development Report (WDR) on conflict, security, and development provides us with a critical framework to think through the link between organized crime and development from an economic perspective. The study focuses on two developing countries: Malawi, a low-income country, and Namibia, a middle-income country. The central questions asked are: Why are “proceeds of crime” relevant for economic development? Do “proceeds of crime” and related policy responses help or harm economic development? One critical step in such analysis is to obtain a better understanding of the magnitude of the domestic or cross-border sources of ill-gotten money in a country: how it is recycled through the economy and across its borders or spent and invested. Only then is it possible to discuss the economic effects of the circulation and allocation of ill-gotten money in developing countries and the economic impact of the underlying activities. While not intended to be exhaustive or definitive, this study is meant to contribute to a better understanding and quantification of the issues relevant to the proceeds of crime and economic development. For practical and operational purposes, and to be grounded in country specifics, this study only focuses on Malawi and Namibia. However, it is hoped that the approach developed in this study will be useful to other developing-country governments in identifying the main sources and magnitude of the flows of ill-gotten money, and the main recycling patterns and their effects on the economy. Such a framework will help governments in developing countries to systematically analyze the potential impact of AML and design and prioritize AML policies. The findings presented in this study are based on an extensive literature research; World Bank discussions with numerous public- and private-sector officials and representatives of the Governments of Malawi and Namibia during a Bank mission in November 2010; and workshops conducted in both countries in February 2011 to obtain feedback on the preliminary findings. In conducting this study, the team adopted an interactive approach. This was critical because mobilization of local expertise is essential not only in establishing a complete picture of current and future AML challenges, but also in designing policy considerations that subsequently are widely supported.

Details: Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2012. 114p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2012 at: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/10/31/000386194_20111031015900/Rendered/PDF/651760PUB0EPI100money09780821388877.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 124132


Author: Standing, Andre

Title: Making Transparency Work in Africa's Marine Fisheries

Summary: Global problems facing the marine fisheries sector, including overfishing and the marginalization of the small-scale sector, are leading to increased international awareness of the need to improve transparency in fisheries governance. This Issue paper considers the situation in Africa, where access to information on commercial fisheries and related investments, including foreign aid for fisheries development and marine conservation, are generally lacking. It suggests improving transparency may lead to important gains, such as reducing corruption, improving the effectiveness of aid, and combating illegal fishing. However, the extent to which transparency can make a difference in these areas depends on a number of conditions, including the strength of mediating organisations, the strength of accountability mechanisms, and whether there are robust means to allow for ‘principal-led’ transparency. The paper reflects on the value of establishing a dedicated transparency initiative for marine fisheries inspired by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

Details: Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Issue 2011:11) 35 p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 29, 2012 at: http://www.u4.no/publications/making-transparency-work-in-africa-s-marine-fisheries/

Year: 0

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 124320


Author: Downie, Richard

Title: A More Strategic U.S. Approach to Police Reform in Africa

Summary: U.S. strategic stakes in Africa have expanded in the last 15 years, with growing awareness among policymakers and the American public that developments in Africa can have direct and significant impact on U.S. economic, political, and security interests. The last decade has seen strong bipartisan support for initiatives that seek to accelerate African development, institution building, and security sector capacities. Within that period, however, few policymakers have chosen to emphasize the vital role that Africa’s police can play in delivering—or undermining—this agenda. Overseas police support is a component of both Security Sector Reform and democratic institution building, yet the U.S. security agenda has largely focused on bolstering militaries while democracy strengthening efforts have tended to favor nonsecurity institutions. Civilian policing has tended to fall through the cracks. CSIS convened a working group of experts from the U.S. Congress, government, universities, and the nonprofit sector to discuss the challenge of police reform in Africa and come up with recommendations for the U.S. administration to tackle it more effectively. This report details the working group’s exchanges and recommendations.

Details: Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2011. 30p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 2, 2012 at: http://csis.org/files/publication/110414_Downie_PolicyReformAfrica_Web.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Reform

Shelf Number: 124340


Author: Gaanderse, Miranda

Title: The Security Sector and Gender in West Africa: A Survey of Police, Defence, Justice and Penal Services in ECOWAS States

Summary: This report, published in English and French, aims to systematically document the status of gender integration in the security sectors in 14 Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The report is designed to be a resource for people working in, or with, security sector institutions; for those interested in governance and development in West Africa; and for those involved in gender-related issues. It combines information gathered by in-country researchers, interviews, document analysis and desk research. Much of the data in this report has never before been published or compared across countries in the region. The survey is guided by the following two questions: Are security sector institutions providing adequate response to the different security and justice needs of men, women, boys and girls? What steps have been taken to create internally equitable, representative and non-discriminatory institutions? The report contains three main sections: an introduction, a summary and analysis of findings, and individual country profiles. The introduction provides background on the survey rationale, methodology and research challenges. The summary and analysis of findings offers a cross-country and cross-institution analysis of the survey findings, and includes a list of recommendations. The 14 extensive country profiles present easy-to-read yet detailed information structured by 101 indicators on national governance, police services, armed forces and gendarmerie, the justice system and penal services. The report can be downloaded as a single document in English and French, or in individual sections.

Details: Geneva: DCAF (Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces), 2011. 267p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 23, 2019 at: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/141906/00_Complete_West%20Africa_gender_survey.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Administration of Justice

Shelf Number: 124352


Author: Odera, Tonny Moses

Title: Guidelines for Assisting Victims of Human Trafficking in the East Africa Region

Summary: The human trafficking phenomenon affects virtually every country in the world. In East Africa, victims of human trafficking suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against themselves and their families and sometimes death. Although women and children have been identified as the main victims trafficked within and outside the region for mostly domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, young boys are increasingly being trafficked for purposes of forced labour in agriculture, fishing, mining and street begging. Although Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have in the last few years enacted relevant legislation against human trafficking, implementation of the law is still limited and fragmented. Additionally, the lack of institutionalized coordination efforts among partners in the region makes it difficult for partners to offer protective services to victims effectively. This handbook aims at providing partners in the region with a step by step procedure for assisting victims of trafficking. The guidelines were developed through a consultative process through a Regional Task Force comprising of government and civil society representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. These guidelines also benefit from provisions of existing international standards and policy frameworks as well as counter trafficking legislation in the respective countries and can be used in other regions within Africa and beyond.

Details: Geneva: International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2011. 64p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2012 at http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/free/GuidelinesforAssistingVictims_EN_A5.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Trafficking (East Africa)

Shelf Number: 124404


Author: Madeira, Luis Filipe

Title: The international cocaine trade in Guinea-Bissau: current trends and risks

Summary: This paper analyses the international, West African and national conditions that fuel the spread of the international drugs trade in West Africa, particularly in Guinea-Bissau, and examines the impact of the international cocaine trade at a social, economic and governance level in this small West African country. Although drug trafficking has a long history in West Africa, over the past five years the region has increasingly attracted international attention as a new hub for the illicit cocaine trade between Latin America and Europe. In the case of Guinea-Bissau, that attention has been all the greater for a number of reasons: a) the visibility of the authorities’ involvement in trafficking, causing international agencies and the media to dub it the “world’s first narco-state”; b) the amount of drugs seized on its territory and the increasing presence of South Americans, to whom this type of activity is attributed; and lastly c) because the country is totally dependent on aid and uses the media attention given to drug trafficking as an argument for keeping aid flowing into the country. Following significant seizures of cocaine in 2006 and 2007, the trade appeared to go into decline in 2008 and 2009, for which the authors outline four possible scenarios, the most likely being that it is continuing but through the employment of other less visible methods, with the traffickers having made only a temporary tactical retreat. Both the global operation of the cocaine market and a number of specific national conditions favour the development of drug trafficking in West Africa and especially Guinea-Bissau. At the systemic level, the enforcement of the global drug-control system tends to push traffickers to select transit routes through states that are already weakened by internal conflict, poverty or both. In recent years, the Latin American drug cartels appear to have shifted their attention to supplying the lucrative European market by developing networks in West Africa, focused around Ghana in the south and Guinea-Bissau in the north. From there the drugs are smuggled into Europe on commercial flights by mules. At the same time, by paying local collaborators in both cash and cocaine, the traffickers are creating a local consumer market for the drug. The geography of Guinea-Bissau, with its myriad of coastal islands, makes it the perfect destination for unloading drugs that have been transported by sea, often from Brazil or Venezuela. The virtual collapse of the country’s administration, the inadequacies of the police and justice sector, impunity, endemic corruption and widespread poverty create fertile conditions for the flourishing of the cocaine trade which, in turn, has further adverse consequences at the social, economic and governance levels. The presence of resourceful and potentially violent South American cartels in Guinea-Bissau has aggravated a situation that was already unsustainable, and drug-related incidents are on the rise. After reporting the involvement of the military and their civilian allies in drug trafficking, several journalists and activists have had to flee the country or go into hiding. Drugs have been discovered at military bases, and seizures made by the police have disappeared after being confiscated by the military. Senior government officials have also reportedly received death threats when seeking to investigate cocaine seizures. The influence that cocaine-trafficking is having on the country’s economy is not yet clear but, as it gains in importance, it is likely to soon generate more wealth than traditional legal activities and thus be more attractive to the local population. The extent of the impact will depend on whether Guinea-Bissau’s role in the trafficking chain is predominantly active or passive. At the social level, domestic drug use is growing, with the resultant addiction and violent crime; addiction to cocaine, and especially crack, is reportedly rampant. Guinea-Bissau lacks the material resources, expertise and experience to address these problems. From a long-term perspective, the attraction of the drugs trade for disenfranchised youth may also undermine social control mechanisms that prevent crime and violence. So far, however, Bissau’s youth, though faced with unemployment and few opportunities, have shown little desire to go down that route. Nevertheless, the consequences of globalisation, the food crisis and the inability of external aid to respond to such problems could quickly change the situation. The authors argue that, in the long term, in order to tackle the enormous challenges that the drug trade poses in route countries, a less securitizing agenda needs to be put in place globally, and the prohibition-based international consensus should be debated and reconsidered. In the meantime, a number of shorter-term measures need to be taken urgently to halt the negative effects of this activity at international and national level. These include improving the coordination of efforts at national, sub-regional, regional and international level, reforming the country’s institutions, supporting civil society, rehabilitation initiatives and conducting further research to gain an accurate understanding of the scale of the problem.

Details: Oslo, Norway: The Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre (Noref), 2011. 18p.

Source: Noref Working Paper: Internet Resource: Accessed March 14, 2012 at http://www.peacebuilding.no/var/ezflow_site/storage/original/application/7563aa361160ef275ddd4f0812c6f41e.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cocaine (Guinea-Bissau)

Shelf Number: 124539


Author: Muggah, Robert

Title: More Slums Equals More Violence: Reviewing Armed Violence and Urbanization in Africa

Summary: The majority of the world’s population today live in cities. The uncontrolled development of informal settlements in many cities has led to the expansion of slums and shantytowns. In Africa figures show that in 2005 approximately 40 percent of the population live in urban areas with this number estimated to rise to 50 percent by 2030. Even more alarming, more than half of Africa’s urban populations reside in slums. The concentration of the poor in cities and the peripheries is expected to continue, with dramatic increases in pace and scale in developing regions such as Africa. Residents of sprawling slums and shantytowns are exposed to heightened exposure and risk of criminal violence, narcotics and communicable illnesses, all of which constitute potent determinants of armed violence. Because they are often located outside the reach of formal policing institutions, impoverished slums are less able to enforce the regulation of the trade and use of weapons, including firearms. There is an estimated 30 million small arms and light weapons on the African continent, of which approximately 80 percent are in civilian hands, it is likely that marginalized areas of Africa’s urban landscape will become home to ever-growing arsenals. As the scale and distribution of urban armed violence in Africa evolves, some agreement on the types of risk factors contributing to its onset and spread on the continent have been identified. These include: Structural factors such as limited education, under- and unemployment, income inequality and uncontrolled urban planning. Proximate factors include segregation and urban density, cultures of masculinity, limited faith in public security, informal social organizations such as gangs and militia, and arms availability.4 There is also a strong link between countries emerging from war and the onset of urban violence – usually of a political and criminalise form. This is usually accompanied by the erosion of emerging democratic and development institutions.5 It is important to remember that there is ‘neither a simple nor a necessary causal link between urbanization and armed violence’.6 This paper explores some of the links between urbanization and armed violence within the African context, examining the nature and impact of particular aspects of armed violence such as firearm homicides and the emergence of criminal gang activity and vigilantism. The paper also considers possible approaches to reduce urban armed violence, drawing on lessons learned in other developing regions.

Details: Geneva: United Nations Development Programme, 2007. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: UNDP/Geneva Declaration Working Paper; Accessed March 30, 2012 at: http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/regional-publications/Armed-Violence-and-Urbanization-in-Africa.pdf

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Violence

Shelf Number: 113573


Author: Livingston, Stephen

Title: Africa’s Evolving Infosystems: A Pathway to Security and Stability

Summary: Political instability and violence in Africa are often the products of rumor and misinformation. Biased newspapers and radio programming, for example, are commonplace conduits of politically divisive causes. Against this backdrop, remarkably innovative uses of emerging information technologies have been adapted to substantially strengthen transparency, accountability, and security. Africa’s civil society networks now have unprecedented opportunities to develop security-monitoring programs, provide information needed for effective health care, create banking services, and provide farmers with market information. These evolving innovations are often organic to Africa and therefore optimized to serve the immediate needs of the communities from which they originate. While new information technologies can facilitate less-than positive purposes, including crime and politically motivated violence, on the whole they are enhancing human security and sustainable economic development across Africa. In this ACSS Research Paper, Steven Livingston explores precisely how such technologies impact the lives of urban citizens and remote villagers alike and identifies ways to amplify the positive potential of Africa’s evolving infosystems.

Details: Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 2011. 57p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Center for Strategic Studies Research Paper No. 2: Accessed March 30, 2012 at: http://africacenter.org/2011/02/africas-evolving-infosystems-a-pathway-to-security-and-stability/

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Communication

Shelf Number: 124776


Author: Transparency International

Title: Daily Lives and Corruption: Public Opinion in Southern Africa

Summary: Public views on corruption are of critical importance. They offer significant insight into how corruption affects lives around the world. Transparency International believes it is crucial to present the public’s perspective on corruption – for it is they who suffer its direct and indirect consequences. At the same time, Transparency International encourages the public to play an active role in stopping corruption and improving governance. To this end, this survey also probes public willingness to engage in the fight against corruption. Between 2010 and 2011, more than 6000 people were interviewed in six Southern African countries – the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe – on their views of corruption levels in their countries and their governments’ efforts to fight corruption. This report also examines the frequency of reports of bribery in different sectors and institutions, and the reasons respondents paid bribes during the last year. It also investigates public willingness to engage in the fight against corruption.

Details: Berlin: Transparency International, 2011. 33p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 5, 2012 at: http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/36561_daily_lives_and_corruption,_public_opinion_in_southern_africa.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Bribery

Shelf Number: 124845


Author: ESSAM (Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group)

Title: Report on Cash Courier-Based Money Laundering

Summary: In general, there are three main methods by which criminal organisations and terrorist financiers move illicit money for laundering purposes. These are (i) the use of the financial system (ii) the physical movement of money (iii) the use of fraudulent trading arrangements. The Financial Action Task Force Special Recommendation IX on Cash Couriers obliges countries to put in place measures to detect the physical cross-border transportation of currency and bearer negotiable instruments, including a declaration system or other disclosure obligations. The Special Recommendation also requires countries to ensure that their competent authorities have the legal authority to stop or restrain currency or bearer negotiable instruments that are suspected of been related to terrorist financing or money laundering or that are falsely declared or disclosed Countries should also ensure that effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are available to deal with persons who make false declarations and disclosures. In cases where the currency or bearer negotiable instruments are related to terrorist financing or money laundering, countries should also adopt measures, including legislative ones which would enable the confiscation of such currency or instruments. This study used of a detailed questionnaire to gather information on the current practices of cash courier-based money laundering and the financing of terrorism in the ESAAMLG region. The information focused on the ability of the ESAAMLG member countries to detect and combat cash couriers for AML/CFT purposes. This study concludes that cash courier based money laundering is an activity that is present in virtually all ESAAMLG member countries. All ESAAMLG member countries are predominantly cash-based economies and have porous borders, and thereby making the region more vulnerable to cash- courier-based money laundering. Most ESAAMLG member countries have limited or no legislation in place to combat cash couriers and the associated money laundering and terrorist financing risks. There is a general shortage of technical expertise and resources required to deal with cash courier based money laundering and terrorist financing. There is a critical need for training and awareness raising to enhance skills and experience to combat cash courier based money laundering, Looking ahead, there appears to be a number of steps that could be taken within the ESAAMLG member countries to enable national authorities to cope with and combat cash courier based money laundering and terrorist financing. These measures can be grouped into legislative, effective institutional arrangements, awareness raising, training, and improving domestic, regional and international cooperation.

Details: Mombasa, Kenya: ESAAMLG Typologies Working Group, 2008. 63p.

Source: Internet Resource: WGTP doc.1 r (2008): Accessed April 10, 2012 at: http://www.esaamlg.org/userfiles/Cash_Courier_Report.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Money Laundering (Africa)

Shelf Number: 124915


Author: The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)

Title: Violence Against Children in Africa: A Compilation of the main findings of the various research projects conducted by the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) since 2006

Summary: This compilation highlights the main findings of the various research reports produced by the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) on violence against children. Most of the studies involve direct interviews with children and young adults and are designed to result nationally representative and quantitative estimates on physical, sexual and psychological violence. The compilation, we believe, will lessen the burden of reviewing the bulk of reports and enables the International NGO Advisory Council to glean the main results relatively easily. For details on each of the studies, the researchers can still go into each of the respective reports which have also been made available through the link (http://www.box.net/shared/dxczumnolf) to serve as reference materials. The compilation contains all the studies carried out after 2006 as a follow up to the UN Secretary General‟s Study on violence against children. It highlights the scale and extent of all forms of violence against children in a number of countries in Africa almost in all settings: home and family, schools, care and justice systems, places of work and the community. For easier navigation, the document has been organized into three sections. The first part contains information on the prevalence of violence against children and particularly in relation to different forms of physical, psychological and sexual violence experienced by children. The second part focuses on harmful traditional practices affecting children in the African continent. The third and final part covers violence experienced by the most vulnerable groups of children. In this part, we have included the findings of our surveys on violence against children with disabilities, which is a new attempt in the African context.

Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: The African Child Policy Forum, 2011. 39p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 24, 2012 at http://www.africanchildforum.org/site/images/stories/ACPF_violence_against_children.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect (Africa)

Shelf Number: 125054


Author: Keesbury, Jill

Title: Comprehensive Responses to Sexual Violence in East and Southern Africa: Lessons Learned from Implementation

Summary: Worldwide, an estimated 1 in every 3 women will experience some form of sexual or gender-based violence (SGBV) in their lifetime. Defined broadly, SGBV includes all forms of physical, psychological, economic and sexual violence (SV) that are related to the survivor’s gender or gender role in a society or culture. Recent population-based surveys demonstrate that SGBV is common in the East and Southern Africa region and cuts across nationality, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. SGBV affects a large proportion of women across the region; for example, 47 percent of Zambian women report ever experiencing physical violence and 59 percent of Ethiopian women report suffering SV (Figure 1). In many cases the perpetrator is known to the survivor, and intimate partners (such as husbands and boyfriends) are frequently identified as the perpetrators. Other data indicate that girls in the region frequently experience coerced sexual initiation which is often viewed as a normal part of relationships. Women and girls who suffer SGBV are more likely to be infected with HIV, other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and experience other reproductive health problems. Research indicates that the risk of HIV infection following forced sex is likely to be higher than following consensual sex, especially among children. This increased risk is especially pronounced in the high HIV-prevalence settings of sub-Saharan Africa Data from Demographic and Health Surveys have shown that women who have suffered violence are twice as likely to have an STI than women who have not. Moreover, a woman’s risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) is increased if she discloses her HIV status to a partner, particularly in a discordant relationship. Studies from across the world have found that girls and young women who previously experienced sexual coercion are significantly less likely to use condoms, and more likely to experience genital tract infection symptoms, unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion. Women who experience IPV are more likely to use contraception secretly or prevented from using it, and are more likely to become pregnant as adolescents. Women who are abused during pregnancy are more likely to suffer depression, bleeding, and poor maternal weight gain. Over the past decade, many African countries have begun to recognize the importance of both preventing SGBV and responding to the needs of SGBV survivors at a national level. However, in the absence of a strong, regionally-relevant evidence base, these national programs have tended to adopt strategies that have proven successful in the high resource settings of Europe and North America. The feasibility and sustainability of such approaches is not well-established in countries where access to with limited financial and human resources. Many countries in Africa have recognised that they must address SGBV if they are to make progress toward human development goals, including significant reductions in poverty, HIV incidence, and maternal and infant mortality by 2015. Organizations have tried various approaches to SGBV response, including preventing and reducing occurrence, linking to existing HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health services, and strengthening the capacities of the police, judicial, and social services sectors to improve psychosocial support and legal actions. However, countries typically have concentrated on one or two sectors that focus on adult survivors’ immediate needs without formal mechanisms for coordination or follow-up, or overarching national policies to hold all relevant sectors accountable. Until recently, there has been very little evidence in the region on how to effectively address SGBV taking into account local resource, cultural, and political realities. Since 2006, the Population Council has provided technical assistance and conducted research to strengthen the evidence base on SGBV programming in sub-Saharan Africa. These activities have created an active network of partners from across sub-Saharan Africa, who are developing, implementing and evaluating core elements of a comprehensive, multisectoral response model (see Figure 2). This model incorporates the overlapping and complementary responsibilities of three core sectors: health, police and justice, and social service sectors. It also recognizes that survivors require access to all services, but that it may not be feasible, appropriate, or cost-effective to deliver all services in one location.

Details: Lusaka, Zambia: The Population Council, 2011. 8p.

Source: Policy Brief from Population Council: Internet Resource: Accessed April 24, 2012 at http://www.svri.org/SGBVPolicyBriefPhase1.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Female Victims (Africa)

Shelf Number: 125059


Author: Paralegal Advisory Service Institute

Title: Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems in Africa: Survey Report

Summary: The aim of this survey is to provide a snapshot of access to legal aid in Africa. The purpose is to provide practitioners and policymakers with accurate and contemporary data to inform the development of legal aid strategies. The survey was conducted as part of the implementation of Economic and Social Council resolution 2007/24, entitled “International cooperation for the improvement of access to legal aid in criminal justice systems, particularly in Africa”. The laws governing legal aid recognize a lawyer-centred model. However, the numbers of practising lawyers in African countries are low in proportion to the overall population. Further, the large majority of these lawyers reside in urban areas, whereas the majority of the population live in rural or peri-urban areas. Thus, most people live outside of the reach of lawyers who can provide them with legal aid services. While the laws respect a right to legal aid, State budget allocations to legal aid are minimal in many countries. Access to legal aid is not available at all stages of the criminal justice process. It is particularly rare at police stations and is only sometimes available in prisons and in the lower courts. There is an absence of any national strategy to provide people with “primary justice” services in the same way as there is, for instance, to provide primary health-care services. A “patchwork” of non-State actors operating individually, or in some cases in networks, provides supplementary services. The consequences of this situation are several. On the “supply” side, the absence of a mechanism to push cases through the criminal justice system contributes to delays in the process and increasing case backlogs in the courts, as well as to high remand populations in prison. This contributes significantly to prison overcrowding, which is a problem in many African countries. On the “demand” side, the absence of affordable legal aid services increases poor people’s sense of social exclusion and powerlessness. Traditional dispute resolution mechanisms become, by default, the only option for most people, in particular in rural areas.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2012. 82p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2012 at: http://www.ipjj.org/fileadmin/data/documents/reports_monitoring_evaluation/UNODC_AccessToLegalAidinAfricaSurveyReport_2011_EN.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Assistance to the Poor

Shelf Number: 125148


Author: Haas, Hein de

Title: Irregular Migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and the European Union: An Overview of Recent Trends

Summary: Media and dominant policy discourses convey an apocalyptic image of an increasingly massive exodus of desperate Africans fleeing poverty and war at home trying to enter the elusive European “El Dorado” crammed in long-worn ships barely staying afloat (Pastore et al., 2006). The migrants themselves are commonly depicted as victims recruited by “merciless” and “unscrupulous” traffickers and smugglers. Hence, the perceived policy solutions—which invariably boil down to curbing migration—focus on “fighting” or “combating” illegal migration through intensifying border controls and cracking down trafficking and smuggling-related crime. Although there has been an incontestable increase in regular and irregular West African migration to Europe over the past decade, available empirical evidence dispels most of these assumptions. First, irregular migration from Africa to Europe is not as new as is commonly suggested. Illegal sea crossings of the Mediterranean by North Africans have in fact been a persistent phenomenon since Italy and Spain introduced visa requirements in the early 1990s. The major change has been that, in particular, since 2000, sub-Saharan Africans have started to join and have now overtaken North Africans as the largest category of irregular boat migrants. Second, it is a misconception that all or most migrants crossing the Sahara are “in transit” to Europe. There are possibly more sub-Saharan Africans living in the Maghreb than in Europe. An estimated 65,000 and 120,000 sub-Saharan Africans enter the Maghreb yearly overland, of which only 20 to 38 per cent are estimated to enter Europe. While Libya is an important destination country in its own right, many migrants failing or not venturing to enter Europe prefer to stay in North Africa as a second-best option. Third, the majority of West Africans enter Europe legally. In recent years, the total annual increase of the registered West African population in the EU has been around 100,000. The total number of successful irregular crossings by sub-Saharan Africans should be counted in the order of several tens of thousands, according to our estimates 25,000 to 35,000 per year, which is only a fraction of total EU immigration of 2.6 million in 2004. The majority of migrants enter Europe legally and subsequently overstay their visas. Fourth, despite a recent increase, West African migration to the EU is still relatively modest in comparison with migration from North Africa and Eastern Europe. There are an estimated 800,000 registered West African migrants in the main European receiving countries compared to 2,600,000 North Africans. Moroccan immigrants alone outnumber all West African immigrants in Europe. Rather than a desperate response to destitution, migration is generally a conscious choice by relatively well-off individuals and households to enhance their livelihoods. Likewise, the common portrayal of irregular African migrants as victims of traffickers and smugglers is inconsistent with evidence that the vast majority of migrants move on their own initiative. Trafficking is relatively rare, and smugglers are usually not part of international organized crime but locally based passeurs operating alone or in small networks. Since the 1990s, European states intensified border controls and have attempted to “externalize” these policies by pressuring certain North African countries to clamp down on irregular migration and to sign readmission agreements in exchange for aid, financial support, and work permits. While failing to curb immigration, these policies have had a series of unintended side effects in the form of increasing violations of migrants’ rights and a diversification of trans-Saharan migration routes and attempted sea crossing points. In practice, it seems almost impossible to seal off the long Saharan borders and the African and European coastlines, if European and African governments are willing to do so. Notwithstanding public discourses stressing the need to “combat illegal immigration”, European and African states seem to have little genuine interest in stopping migration because their economies have become dependent on migrant labour and remittances, respectively. In fact, there is a growing discrepancy between restrictive migration policies and the demand for cheap migrant labour in Europe and Libya. Unless exceptional circumstance arise, it is therefore likely that migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and Europe will continue. This explains why increasing border controls have rather led to the swift diversion of migration routes and an increase in the risks, costs, and suffering of the migrants involved rather than a decline in migration. As long as no more legal channels for immigration are created to match the real demand for labour, and as long as large informal economies will exist, it is likely that a substantial proportion of this migration will remain irregular.

Details: Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2008. 68p.

Source: Internet Resource: IOM Migration Research Series, No. 32: Accessed May 4, 2012 at: http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/serial_publications/MRS-32_EN.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Security

Shelf Number: 125157


Author: Picarelli, John T., ed.

Title: International Organized Crime: The African Experience

Summary: In December of 2010, an international group of experts gathered in Courmayeur, Italy to focus their energies on the issue of transnational organized crime in Africa. Three observations led ISPAC and NIJ to believe that this was the best time to hold this meeting. The first was the growing evidence that transnational organized crime is a significant problem for all of Africa. In 2008, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report that stated that 221 tons of cocaine transited West Africa annually, with a profit of $2 billion. Nongovernmental organizations have estimated that there are more than 500 human trafficking syndicates that enslave some 38,000 victims in South Africa alone. Frequent stories on piracy in the Horn of Africa and, increasingly, the Gulf of Guinea demonstrate further the growing challenge transnational criminal organizations pose to African countries. Second is the increasing attention that transnational organized crime in Africa is drawing from nation-states within Africa and around the globe. As this book demonstrates, Africa has a diversity of transnational criminal markets, including mainstays such as drug trafficking and human smuggling but also specialized markets such as financial fraud and illegal poaching. Criminal markets perpetrate significant economic, political and social harms on African states and citizens, drawing additional concerns for those states struggling to develop robust economic and governance structures. Thus while African states are working together to combat the threats transnational organized crime poses to their citizens, they also recognize that Africa serves as a transit zone through which illicit goods and services flow from one continent to another. Organizations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the European Union and UNODC have noted the growing importance of West Africa as a transit zone for drugs from South America destined for European markets. The President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency James Victor Ghebo, captured this sentiment in remarks before the 2010 ECOWAS Seminar on Transnational Organized Crime and Human Security in West Africa when he stated, “These crimes committed across our borders have the notable feature of being inspired and controlled by criminal rings and cartels both within and outside our geopolitical area.” Discussing the gravity of the situation, he noted that “I cannot overemphasize the importance and urgency of governments and institutions, both local and abroad, coming together sooner rather than later to fight this threat.” One last impetus for this meeting is the growing recognition among a number of nation-states that the time has come to update and expand the tools and programs employed to combat transnational organized crime. While states have come together to ratify and implement international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, states have more recently undertaken steps to enact new strategies to confront transnational organized crime. A good example is the 2011 U.S. Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, which captures the pervasive threat and the comprehensive nature of the response required to meet it. The strategy details the social, financial, political and international threats that transnational organized crime poses to all nations and their citizens. The strategy lays out concrete legislative, enforcement, regulatory, economic and diplomatic goals that the United States will take in conjunction with bilateral, multilateral and private sector partners. The document mirrors those that the United Kingdom and other countries have issued recently.

Details: Milan, Italy: ISPAC (International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council of the United Nations, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme), 2010. 159p.

Source: Selected papers and contributions from the International Conference on "International Organized Crime: The African Experience": Internet Resource: Accessed June 7, 2012 at http://ispac.cnpds.org/download.php?fld=pub_files&f=internationalorganizedcrimetheafricanexperience.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption (Africa)

Shelf Number: 125333


Author: International Rescue Committee

Title: Let Me Not Die Before My Time: Domestic Violence in West Africa

Summary: Domestic violence knows no boundaries, and many of the stories and findings included in this report could describe the experiences of women in virtually any country. Too often, women’s subordinate status allows violence to occur in silence and prevents women from seizing opportunities. For this report, the IRC has chosen to focus on West Africa in order to demonstrate how this global problem becomes acute in post-conflict countries, keeping women from leading their societies to peace and prosperity. The destruction of war creates a particularly dangerous situation for women that the humanitarian community can no longer ignore. The International Rescue Committee has carried out programs for women in West Africa for over a decade and witnessed a rocky but progressive transition to peace in the region. Yet women are still not safe. Across Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone, years after the official end of these countries’ brutal wars, women are being intimidated, threatened and beaten with shocking frequency. And even though the focus of the humanitarian community has often been on armed groups, the primary threat to women in West Africa is not a man with a gun or a stranger. It is their husbands. This report aims to bring attention to a problem that is standing in the way of women and their empowerment in a region where women’s leadership is so needed. The international community has begun to wake up to the threats women and girls face in wartime and after. While this awareness has opened a window for critically important programs, efforts to keep women and girls safe have overwhelmingly focused on the public side of violence—risks faced outside the home. Over 60% of assault survivors whom the IRC assists in West Africa are seeking help because of violence committed by an intimate partner. It is time for the humanitarian community to confront the violence occurring behind closed doors and ensure that in countries transitioning to peace, that peace extends to the home. This report calls for more attention to be paid to domestic violence as a humanitarian issue that is common, devastating and often unreported. It argues that donor responses, in terms of both the scale of programming and the approaches used, have been mismatched to the needs women express. Too often, the scarce resources provided for programs treat violence against women and girls as a one-time occurrence, requiring discrete interventions to heal wounds or prosecute perpetrators.

Details: New York: International Rescue Committee, 2012. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 13, 2012 at http://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/resource-file/IRC_Report_DomVioWAfrica.pdf?q=domesticviolencereport

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Domestic Violence (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 125347


Author: Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation

Title: Fighting Terror Through Justice: Implementing the IGAD Framework for Legal Cooperation Against Terrorism

Summary: East Africa and the Horn face a number of transnational security threats, including terrorism, transnational crime, and piracy. In recent years, particularly following the July 2010 attacks in Kampala, al-Shabaab has been increasingly viewed as a threat not only to Somalia, but to the greater subregion. Tourism has declined and shipping costs have risen due to the threat of piracy from Somalia. Lawless pockets where government reach is weak, together with rampant corruption, have turned the region into a major transit point for black market financial flows and various forms of illicit trafficking. Terrorism and transnational crime increasingly threaten security in the subregion of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Because of their transnational nature, no individual IGAD member state will single-handedly be able to deal effectively with these threats. As the IGAD Security Strategy adopted in December 2010 makes clear, effective cooperation will be crucial to winning the struggle against terrorism and to ensuring that other forms of transnational crime do not similarly jeopardize the IGAD subregion’s growth, prosperity, and stability.

Details: New York: Center on Global Counterterrorism Coooperation, 2012. 76p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 28, 2012 at: http://www.globalct.org/images/content/pdf/reports/TaskForce_Report_May2012.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 125426


Author: Latour, Stephanie

Title: Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo Case Study

Summary: Wild game meat, or ‘bushmeat’, has been the most important source of protein in the Congo Basin forests of Central Africa for millennia (Wilkie & Carpenter, 1999; Bakarr, et al., 2001). Human population density was very low over most of this long period, but over the last century population growth has been rapidly increasing with the introduction of modern health care and better nutrition (Bennett, 2008). Roads are penetrating previously inaccessible forests to prospect for oil and minerals or to log for timber (Wilkie, et al., 2000; Laurance, et al., 2006). These new roads and economic activities attract farmers and hunters. Agricultural interventions such as cocoa, coffee and oil palm plantations in the name of economic development degrade the forest and attract even more people (World Bank, 2011). Hunting methods have changed radically over the past few decades with the introduction and spread of military weapons, dramatically increasing bushmeat offtake (Barnes, 2002; Fa & Brown, 2009). All of these factors impact negatively on biodiversity in general and on mammals in particular (Nasi, et al., 2008). Central Africa presents a radically and rapidly changing dynamic for elephants. Range fragmentation is pushed by human population growth and by the expansion of extractive activities into remaining wilderness areas. Associated corruption and disregard of established laws by government officials and the populace contribute to the uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources. In addition, persistent conflict in the region and subsequent spread of arms, facilitate the killing of elephants and the marketing of their products. A growing body of evidence indicates that Africa is facing a dangerous resurgence in illegal elephant killing following a relative lull of over a decade since 1990 with the commencement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) international trade in ivory moratorium. News reports, announcements by Interpol and TRAFFIC, amongst others, report increasing numbers of ivory seizures, including some of the largest ever recorded. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was implicated in more ivory seizures between 1989 and 2009 than any other country in Africa. There is also evidence to suggest that the DRC is the source of some of the ivory found in large consignments destined for Asian markets through Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (Milliken, et al., 2009). News reports to date have focused almost exclusively on the illegal trade in ivory, implying that this is the primary economic driver. An unacknowledged issue is the trade in elephant bushmeat. Elephant bushmeat is potentially a major economic bonus, and available to actors who may have little access to the proceeds from ivory. In addition, the consumption and trade of elephant meat may reflect underlying human-elephant conflict, with retaliatory killings or ‘authorized’ culls being a source of meat. In many Central African countries, exaggerated claims of elephant crop raiding are used as a pretext for state sanctioned killing and distribution of meat. Permissions for the killings, and the meat windfall, are used by local politicians to gain popular support (John Hart, in litt., 2010). Wildlife laws in Central Africa permit the harvesting of administratively culled elephants. While elephant meat may be a by-product of the ivory trade, it could also be a primary driver of elephant deaths in certain localities and of particular concern for conservation, given that elephants with small or no tusks can be targeted. While ivory networks target large tusk accumulations intended for export, and thus focus on the last remaining subpopulation concentrations – usually in protected areas – elephant bushmeat can be attractive and even profitable when the number of elephants to be killed are far fewer, and the value of the acquired ivory is almost negligible. An initial assessment of the existing Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (CITES-MIKE) programme’s carcass database, pertaining to information collected between 2001 and 2009, indicates that the demand for elephant meat, especially in the Central African subregion, may be an important factor underlying the illegal killing of elephants (CITES, 2010). The dynamics, scale and impact of the trade in elephant meat are not well understood and more information is required, both to improve the information in MIKE and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) and to assist with the development of appropriate policy and management strategies. The IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) has been charged by MIKE with implementing a Introduction 13 project to investigate the linkages between the elephant meat trade and larger social and economic dynamics at play, including, but not limited to, ivory trade, logging (legal and illegal), mining, infrastructure development, global economic trends, law enforcement at the national and international level, and community forest governance. The project was carried out in four Central African countries. This report presents an account of the results of the DRC case study, which focuses on the Okapi Faunal Reserve as an example of an elephant poaching and product trafficking site. Objectives of the study The objective of the study is to enhance knowledge of contemporary elephant bushmeat market dynamics, patterns and trends in north-eastern DRC and determine the impact of elephant meat trade on the Okapi Faunal Reserve (OFR) population. Within this overall objective the study aims to collect information on: 1. who is involved in killing elephants for meat and ivory respectively; 2. the methods and work effort of those involved; 3. the transport methods and routes used for trafficking meat and ivory; 4. the final destination of meat and ivory and identification of the consumers; 5. the commodity chain of meat and ivory respectively and the social networks involved; 6. the economics of the trade: prices, quantities, frequency, etc.; 7. the quantities of meat and ivory that are obtained annually from OFR; 8. attitudes and motivation related to killing elephants of those involved in the trade: the hunters, transporters/ middlemen, vendors and consumers; 9. the relationship and functioning of elephant meat trade within the broader context of bushmeat trade in general; 10. the influence of external factors on the killing of elephants and trade in their products, for example, logging (legal and illegal); mining; infrastructure development; law enforcement at the national and international level; community forest governance; and economic trends that affect demand.

Details: Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2011. 53p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 3, 2012 at: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/SSC-OP-045-003.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Bushmeat

Shelf Number: 125461


Author: Stiles, Daniel

Title: Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa: Summary Report

Summary: An initial assessment of the 2001-2009 carcass database of the CITES Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme suggests that the trade in elephant meat, especially in the central African subregion, may be an important factor underlying the illegal killing of elephants. The dynamics, scale and impact of the trade in elephant meat are not well understood and more information is required, both to improve the information in MIKE and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) and to assist with the development of appropriate management solutions. In the forested countries of the central African subregion, a complex and interconnected variety of development activities take place, such as timber harvesting, mining, building of supporting infrastructure (e.g. roads, schools, clinics) and the inflow of foreign nationals. These attract an influx of immigrants seeking work, both national and foreign, who depend heavily on bushmeat for protein. With little law enforcement capacity and weak governance structures, there is a very real threat to many local elephant populations. At present the primary factors and dynamics in the illegal offtake of elephants in Central Africa and, in particular, the use of not only ivory but also meat, are assumed but not well understood. A deeper knowledge of the scale and extent of the killing and how the ivory and meat markets are interlinked is urgently needed. Therefore gaining greater understanding of these trade dynamics could help to ascertain the key drivers behind the loss of elephants and other species. African elephant range States of the Central African subregion comprise Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Republic of Congo (ROC), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. CITES MIKE has requested the assistance of the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) to implement the ‘Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa Project’. Objectives The overall objective of the study is to enhance knowledge of contemporary elephant meat market dynamics, patterns and trends in Central African countries by undertaking an elephant meat trade impact study. The results aim to establish a baseline data set of variables that can subsequently be monitored to assess trends in meat and ivory trade at the site level. The findings of this study also aim to offer contributions to satisfy elements in CITES Decision 13.11 ‘Bushmeat’, Decision 14.78 (Rev. CoP15), which concern updating information relating to the status of elephant conservation and the data that MIKE is collecting, and Decision 15.74, which is an evaluation of the need to revise CITES Resolution 10.10 (Rev. CoP 15) ‘Trade in Elephant Specimens’.

Details: Gland, Switzerland: International union for Conservation of Nature, 2011. 102p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 5, 2012 at: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/ssc_op_045.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Bushmeat

Shelf Number: 125468


Author: Kishor, Sunita

Title: Women’s and Men’s Experience of Spousal Violence in Two African Countries: Does Gender Matter?

Summary: A large body of global research documents the high prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women across the world and the resulting socioeconomic costs and reproductive and other health consequences for societies, women, and their children (United Nations 2006; Watts and Zimmerman 2002; Campbell 2002). In this literature, IPV is accepted as gender-based, directed disproportionately at women because of their gender. A contrary body of predominantly US-based research argues that IPV is not necessarily gender-based, and that women are as aggressive as men, or even more aggressive, in committing violence against their partners (Archer 2000, 2002; Straus 1990, 1993; Gelles and Straus 1988; White et al. 2000). The debate about gender symmetry challenges us to document the prevalence of IPV experienced by men in developing country settings and to examine how men’s experience of IPV compares and contrasts with IPV experienced by women in its extent, severity, frequency, and health consequences. To better understand the role of gender in IPV outside the developed world, this report compares the experiences of married men and married women with spousal violence, the most common form of IPV, using data from two sub-Saharan African countries, Ghana and Uganda. In these two countries, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) asked nationally representative samples of women and men about their experience and perpetration of spousal violence using similar questions. Specifically, this paper addresses the following questions: 1. Are the extent, patterns, and severity of the experience of spousal violence similar between men and women? 2. Does the relationship between the experience of and the perpetration of spousal violence differ between men and women? Are women and men equally likely to be victims as well as aggressors of violence? 3. Do the correlates of the experience and perpetration of violence differ between men and women? When these identified correlates are held constant, is gender still a significant predictor of experience and/or perpetration of violence? 4. Is the association between experience and/or perpetration of spousal violence and selected health outcomes similar for men and women? The analysis finds that spousal violence is relatively common among both women and men in the two countries studied, but finds no evidence of gender symmetry: In Uganda, almost half of married women have experienced spousal physical violence compared with almost one-fifth of married men; and in Ghana, 19 percent of married women have experienced such violence compared with 10 percent of married men. Although women are clearly not the only victims of spousal violence, they are consistently and significantly more likely than men to experience all forms—physical, sexual, and emotional—of such violence. Further, the violence that women experience at the hands of their husbands is more common, more severe, and more likely to result in injuries than the violence that men experience from their wives. Men are significantly more likely than women to report that they have perpetrated violence against their spouse. Few women in both countries report perpetrating violence (6to 7 percent), and well-over half of these women who report perpetrating spousal violence also report experiencing it, suggesting that they are in mutually violent marriages. For men, the pattern is much different: More than 40 percent of men in Uganda and 16 percent in Ghana report perpetrating violence against their wives, and among these men who perpetrate violence about one-third in both countries also report experiencing spousal violence. These results demonstrate that, in these two countries, men are significantly more likely to be the aggressors, and women the victims, of spousal physical violence, and that the spousal violence experienced by women is much more syndromic in nature than the violence experienced by men. The study finds that the most consistent correlates of experience and perpetration of spousal violence were whether the respondent’s father beat his/her mother and whether the respondent’s spouse drinks alcohol and gets drunk. After controlling for other characteristics, both parental IPV and spousal alcohol use were associated with increased odds of perpetrating violence for both sexes and in both countries. These same factors were also associated with higher odds of experiencing spousal violence for both women and men in Uganda and for women in Ghana. Due to sample-size constraints, results were not statistically significant for men in Ghana. In a model pooling data for women and men, controlling for all other factors including parental IPV and partner alcohol consumption, women still had significantly higher odds of experiencing violence and lower odds of perpetrating violence compared with men. In examining associations between spousal physical violence and poor health and behavioral outcomes, controlling for background characteristics and associated factors, the report finds that in both countries, women who experienced spousal violence had significantly higher odds of having a self-reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) or STI symptom and of having experienced pregnancy loss (miscarriage or abortion) compared with women who did not experience spousal violence. In Ghana, experience of violence was also associated with higher odds of having a child who died and having a child who is stunted. Ugandan women who perpetrated violence had higher odds of self-reported STIs and Ghanaian women who perpetrated violence had higher odds of pregnancy loss; finally, women in Ghana had a higher number of children ever born and a higher lifetime number of sexual partners, on average, if they had both experienced and perpetrated violence compared with women who had done neither. Men in both countries who had both perpetrated and experienced spousal violence had higher odds of reporting STIs or STI symptoms; additionally, Ugandan men who perpetrated spousal violence, whether or not they had also experienced spousal violence, had higher odds of having had a non-spousal partner in the past 12 months and having paid for sex, and a higher number of children ever born. Ugandan men who only perpetrated spousal violence had a higher lifetime number of sexual partners, as well as higher odds of having had a child who had died, than men who had not perpetrated violence. Ghanaian men who perpetrated violence had higher odds of having had a child who is stunted and lower odds of having used a condom at last sexual intercourse with their most recent sexual partner. (Note: For men information related to children is based on their wives’ reports). In sum, experiencing violence for women is associated with several poor health outcomes for themselves and their children; whereas for men, perpetrating spousal violence is particularly associated with higherrisk sexual behaviors and some poor health outcomes for their children. The findings of this report are unambiguous in demonstrating that the level, intensity, and severity of spousal violence against women are much greater than they are against men; that women are much more likely to be the victims and men the aggressors, even after controlling for other relevant factors; that when men do experience violence it is much more likely to be in a mutually violent relationship, while women are much more likely to be only the victims of violence; and that women and the children of women who experience violence are more likely to experience poor health outcomes than men or the children of men who experience violence. Nonetheless, it is important to note that when women are perpetrators of violence, their male partners do suffer at least some of the same health consequences as suffered by women victims. Based on the findings of this report, it is recommended that elimination of violence against women should remain the highest priority. Nonetheless, programs that are working to reduce violence and its negative health consequences should also take into consideration the fact that not all men are only perpetrators of spousal violence; some are also victims.

Details: Calverton, MD: ICF International, 2012. 99p.

Source: Internet Resource: DHS Analytical Studies No. 27: Accessed July 19, 2012 at: http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/AS27/AS27.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Domestic Violence

Shelf Number: 125675


Author: Cook, Nicolas

Title: Conflict Minerals in Central Africa: U.S. and International Responses

Summary: “Conflict minerals” are ores that, when sold or traded, have played key roles in helping to fuel conflict and extensive human rights abuses, since the late 1990s, in far eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The main conflict minerals are the so-called the “3TGs”: ores of tantalum and niobium, tin, tungsten, and gold, and their derivatives. Diverse international efforts to break the link between mineral commerce and conflict in central Africa have been proposed or are under way. Key initiatives include government and industry-led mineral tracking and certification schemes. These are designed to monitor trade in minerals to keep armed groups from financially benefitting from this commerce, in compliance with firm-level and/or industry due diligence policies that prohibit transactions with armed groups. Congress has long been concerned about conflicts and human rights abuses in the DRC. Hearings during successive congresses have focused on ways to help end or mitigate their effects, and multiple resolutions and bills seeking the same goals have been introduced. Several have become law. The most extensive U.S. law aimed at halting the trade in conflict minerals, specifically the 3TGs, is Section 1502 of Title XV of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203). Among other ends, Section 1502 requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue rules mandating that SEC-regulated businesses that use conflict minerals in their products: • report if they obtained their mineral supplies from the DRC or nearby countries; • be permitted to label as “DRC conflict free” products that they can credibly demonstrate do not incorporate minerals sourced in a manner that directly or indirectly finances or benefits armed groups in DRC or adjoining countries; • publicly report to the SEC on those of their products which do incorporate minerals that are not “DRC conflict free”—and which may not be labeled as such—and on diligence measures used to obtain these minerals. Section 1502 raises complex rule design, compliance, cost estimate, and implementation questions, and Section 1502 advocates and critics—many politically influential—have been urging the SEC issue rules favorable to their respective views and interests. The complexity of the matters at issue and diversity of interests affected have prompted the SEC to repeatedly delay issuance of a final rule, although it is expected to act on the matter in mid-August 2012. Key rulemaking issues under debate include: • timing and a possible phase-in of rule implementation; and • what due diligence standards are to be used. There is widespread support for use of due diligence guidelines developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in eventual Section 1502 rules, both to ensure complementarity between U.S. and international conflict mineral trade abatement efforts, most of which employ the OECD guidelines, and to enable these schemes to mature. The State Department has provided to Congress a strategy aimed at breaking the link between mineral trade and conflict and, together with the U.S. Agency for International Development, is implementing programs in central Africa to support tracking and certification schemes; local small-scale mining communities; anti-mining labor abuse efforts; and related ends.

Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2012. 38p.

Source: Internet Resource: CRS Report R42618: Accessed August 7, 2012 at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42618.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict Minerals (Africa)

Shelf Number: 125897


Author: Sterck, Olivier

Title: Who Benefits from Customary Justice? Rent-seeking, Bribery and Criminality in Sub-Saharan Africa

Summary: In many Sub-Saharan countries, customary and statutory judicial systems co-exist. Customary justice is exercised by clan leaders or local courts, and based on restorative principles. By contrast, statutory justice is mostly retributive and administered by magistrates’ courts. As the jurisdiction of the customary and the statutory systems often overlap, victims can choose which judicial system to refer to, which may lead to contradictions between rules and inconsistencies in judgments. In this essay, we construct a model representing a dual judicial system. We show that the overlap of competence encourages rent-seeking and bribery, and yields to high rates of petty crimes and civil disputes. We recommend the subsidization of the statutory judicial system, as it efficiently improves deterrence and incapacitation in the dual judicial system while minimizing corruption of customary judges. We illustrate our theoretical predictions by discussing the functioning of the Ugandan dual judicial system.

Details: Louvain-la-nueve, Belgium: Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales de l'Universite catholique de Louvain, 2012. 33p.

Source: Discussion Paper 2012-15: Internet Resource: Accessed August 8, 2012 at http://sites.uclouvain.be/econ/DP/IRES/2012015.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Bribery (Sub-Saharan Africa)

Shelf Number: 125938


Author: Courouble, Marianne

Title: More Ivory than Elephants: Domestic Ivory Markets in Three West African Countries

Summary: Surveys of African ivory markets in 1999 identified Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Dakar (Senegal) and Lagos (Nigeria) as the most significant ivory carving centres in West Africa (Martin and Stiles, 2000). This report serves to update the situation in these three countries and to assess whether or not any progress has been made in establishing effective control of their domestic ivory markets. The following results stem from field surveys which were conducted by two researchers between 11th-30th June 2002.

Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC International, 2003. 83p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2012 at: www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_mammals24.pdf

Year: 2003

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 125984


Author: Namyalo, Doreen

Title: The abolition of the death penalty and its alternative sanction in East Africa: Kenya and Uganda

Summary: This research paper focuses on the application of the death penalty and life imprisonment as an alternative to it across the East Africa region. Its aim is to provide up-to-date information about the laws and practices relating to the application of the death penalty in Kenya and Uganda, including an analysis of the alternative sanctions to the death penalty and whether they reflect international human rights standards and norms. This paper takes a country-by-country approach and focuses on: The legal framework of the death penalty and its alternative sanction (life imprisonment); Implementation of the sentence, including an analysis of fair trial standards; Application of the sentence including an analysis of the method of execution, the prison regime and conditions of imprisonment; Statistical information on the application of the death penalty/life imprisonment; Criminal justice reform processes; and, Abolitionist and reform movement in each country. This paper provides detailed and practical recommendations tailored to each country to bring it in line with international human rights standards and norms.

Details: London: Penal Reform International, 2012. 65p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2012 at http://www.penalreform.org/files/East%20Africa%20research%20report%20on%20death%20penalty%20and%20life%20imprisonment.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Capital Punishment (Kenya) (Uganda)

Shelf Number: 126128


Author: Lacher, Wolfram

Title: Organized Crime and Conflict in the Sahel-Sahara Region

Summary: For the past decade, increasing instability in the Sahel and Sahara region has been a source of growing concern in Europe and the United States. Western governments have worried that the weakness of state control in the area would allow al-Qaeda in the Islamist Maghreb (AQIM) and other jihadist organizations to expand their influence and establish safe havens in areas outside government control. Such fears appear to have been vindicated by the recent takeover of northern Mali by AQIM and organizations closely associated with it. Western governments have focused heavily on AQIM’s presence, providing technical assistance in an attempt to strengthen the capacity of the security sectors and justice systems to combat the group. But Western governments have underestimated, if not ignored, the destabilizing impact of organized crime in the region. AQIM itself is in part a criminal network, kidnapping Western nationals with the double aim of extorting ransoms and freeing the group’s imprisoned members. And up until Mali’s military coup of March 2012, state complicity with organized crime was the main factor enabling AQIM’s growth and a driver of conflict in the north of the country. Actors involved in organized crime currently wield decisive political and military influence in northern Mali. As they have in the past, Sahel governments will be tempted to use organized crime as a political resource by allowing their allies to benefit from criminal activities—which has clear implications for policy. Concentrating on capacity building in the judicial and security sector is the right approach only if governments stand behind efforts to combat criminal networks. Donors should thus focus more on political engagement, encouraging strategies that make the political accommodation of influential players contingent upon their disengagement from the illicit economy and commitment to containing drug and weapons smuggling. This will be especially difficult in Mali, where the government will have to strike deals with local forces, including temporary alliances with at least some of the north’s criminal networks, to gain back control of the territory. The challenge is ensuring that a settlement of the conflict there does not consolidate the power of criminal networks and expand their ability to operate. But with few alternative sources of income in the region and none that can rival the gains to be made from criminal activity, taking strong steps to break up criminal networks could do more harm than good. The best external actors can do is to help incrementally weaken the networks in Mali’s north by developing a coherent international approach to limiting ransom payments, one of AQIM’s main sources of funding, and to help strengthen regional cooperation.

Details: Washignton, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2012. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 18, 2012 at: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/sahel_sahara.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Crime and Conflict

Shelf Number: 126371


Author: Nainar, Vahida

Title: Litigation Strategies for Sexual Violence in Africa

Summary: This paper is a manual that examines the different legal options available to a victim/survivor of sexual violence or a rights group on her behalf. Although these legal options serve the overall goal of justice, they have different requirements of documentation, need different levels of victim participation and focus on a specific aspect of the remedy. The Manual aims to provide an overview of the legal options available to women to pursue justice for sexual violence and discusses the legal strategies that influence the choice of any given option. The overview of the legal options at the domestic level are provided by laying out laws and systems typical of the three broad types of legal systems in Africa – the common law system, the civil law system and Islamic law. For options at regional and international levels, the Manual lays out the basics of various regional and international human rights mechanisms and the instruments applying international humanitarian and criminal law. From a discussion of the practical possibilities or impediments at the domestic level; the decisions of the regional and international human rights mechanisms; and the judgments of the regional and international courts and tribunals emerge strategies that women and victims of sexual violence may employ in their pursuit of justice, with varying degree of potential success.

Details: London: The Redress Trust, 2012. 98p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 25, 2012 at: http://www.uianet.org/sites/default/files/VAWManual27Aug2012_1.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Rape

Shelf Number: 126446


Author: Arimatsu, Louise

Title: Conflict Minerals: The Search for a Normative Framework

Summary: The belief that the armed conflicts in the mineral-rich eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been perpetuated by the income from the illicit trade in these minerals has brought together a broad coalition of interests linked by a common objective: to regulate ‘conflict minerals’. This has generated a wave of initiatives, strategies and regulations involving the trade in minerals; many of these seek to prevent armed conflict while others are aimed more broadly at contributing to the maintenance of peace and security through greater transparency and good governance measures. These ambitious programmes of action, whether at international, regional or domestic levels, have raised difficult questions including how to distinguish between legal and illegal trade within an unregulated economy compounded by the existence of armed conflict. A fully regulated mining sector has the potential to offer huge rewards for local communities and the state, but whether the regulation of conflict minerals can achieve its avowed aim as a conflict-prevention strategy remains to be seen. There is an overriding need for governments to ensure that any measures adopted, whether legally binding or not, take into account any potential unintended consequences that are likely to have an adverse impact on the very communities that the measures are intended to protect.

Details: London: Chatham House, 2012. 38p.

Source: Internet Resource: International Law Programme Paper IL PP 2012/01: Accessed September 25, 2012 at: http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/International%20Law/0912pparimatsu_mistry.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict Minerals (Africa)

Shelf Number: 126450


Author: Atta-Asamoah, Andrews

Title: Addressing the 'Conflict Minerals' Crisis in the Great Lakes Region

Summary: The year 2011 heralded the convergence of various initiatives seeking to curtail the financing of conflict in the Great Lakes region through the illegal exploitation of minerals. The combined effect of seeking to comply with the various processes has had significant implications at the national, regional and international levels by altering the dynamics of mineral exploitation in the region in both positive and negative ways. The positive impact has been in the area of the immense contribution of the initiatives to increased awareness of the role of illegally exploited minerals in financing conflict in the region and the need for various stakeholders to exercise responsibility in the sourcing and trading of minerals so as not to inadvertently fuel insecurity. On the flip side, however, this increased awareness has led to the labelling of minerals from the region, particularly gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten, as potential conflict minerals. While this has been important in boosting efforts at minimising conflict financing through the exploitation of minerals, the ‘conflict mineral’ label associated with the region has led to interrupted demand for minerals from the Great Lakes, the closure of some businesses dealing with the purchase and export of minerals, the loss of employment and a reduction in income within the local economy, and ultimately threatens to negatively reinforce the crisis created by the various conflicts in the region if nothing is done to stem the trend of unintended consequences. Against this background, this policy brief aims at providing a framework for responding to the unintended consequences of existing initiatives in the Great Lakes region. It details the areas of immediate impact of these initiatives, their overall impact on the trends of insecurity in the region and ways of addressing the issues in the short to medium term.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2012. 4p.

Source: ISS Policy Brief No. 35: Internet Resource: Accessed October 1, 2012 at http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ISS_AddressingtheConflictMineralsCrisisintheGreatLakesRegion.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict Minerals (Africa)

Shelf Number: 126542


Author: Utas, Mats

Title: Urban Youth and Post-Conflict Africa on Policy Priorities

Summary: Youth in urban areas of post-war African countries lead lives that are not very different from non-post-war societies. In fact it is often hard to separate battle-hardened ex-combatants from street-hardened urban youth in general. In this context, youth is a social category of people living in volatile and dire life conditions rather than a group defined by age. It is people who are no longer children, but who have yet to become social adults, people who have been marginalized into what they see as a chronic state of youthhood. It is the number of social youth, not the number of an age-categorized “youth bulge”, that poses a danger for stability in many African countries. This way of defining youth demands special efforts and raises special concerns when international donor communities create and implement youth-specific projects in post-conflict areas. Related to that, this policy note reflects on number of issues that will help improve the results of such projects through knowing and using existing social structures, including gender relations, the problems of social elites and the advantages of utilizing already existing systems of labor training.

Details: Uppsala, Sweden: The Nordic Africa Institute, 2012. 4p.

Source: Policy Notes 2012/4: Internet Resource: Accessed October 8, 2012 at http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:556625/FULLTEXT02

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Conflict

Shelf Number: 126641


Author: Shaw, Mark

Title: Leadership Required: Drug Trafficking and the Crisis of Statehood in West Africa

Summary: Beginning in the middle of the last decade, the international community was alerted to the fact that drug trafficking in West Africa was in danger of spawning a series of near ‘narco-states’: countries whose economies, politics and social structures were being infiltrated and distorted by the drug trade. Some seven years later, after an inadequate and uncoordinated response to that call to arms, the inevitable has happened. Where previously cocaine trafficking was one of the most important challenges the subregion faced, this has compounded exponentially, deepening a crisis of statehood that may be difficult to reverse. The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has just started the first phase of a year-long research project funded by the National Endowment for Democracy on the relationship between statehood and illicit trafficking in West Africa. Recent interviews conducted on the ground in the subregion highlight unequivocally that current attempts at solving drug trafficking throughout West Africa have not achieved their stated objectives. Of more importance, however, is that they bring to the fore the seeming absence of political will – either nationally or internationally – to address the problem. This policy brief aims to remind any actor or institution that is serious about democracy, sustainable development and human security that a ‘business as usual’ approach to the problem of trafficking in West Africa should not be accepted. This is no longer an issue of crime, law enforcement, or security, but strikes at the core of the human rights, democratic and humanitarian foundations upon which global governance rests.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2012. 6p.

Source: ISS Policy Brief No. 37: Internet Resource: Accessed October 14, 2012 at http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/No37Oct2012Drugs.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 126697


Author: Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children

Title: Prohibiting Corporal Punishment of Children in West Africa: Progress Report 2012

Summary: There are some of the alarming statistics in a new regional report published by the Global Initiative in collaboration with Save the Children and Plan International. But the report – Prohibiting corporal punishment of children in West Africa: progress report 2012 – also documents active campaigns at national and regional West Africa Report covers levels, growing faith based support for prohibition, and significant and immediate opportunities for law reform to prohibit corporal punishment across the region. Intended as a tool to provoke and support advocacy to prohibit and eliminate corporal punishment, the report provides information on the human rights imperative for law reform and the work of the treaty monitoring bodies in relation to West African states, details of ratification of human rights instruments and acceptance of relevant communications and complaints mechanisms in the region, a state-by-state analysis of the legality of corporal punishment in the home, schools, penal system and care settings, and individual country reports for every West African state.

Details: London: Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2012. 21p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 22, 2012 at http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/pdfs/reports/West%20Africa%20Report%202012%20EN.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corporal Punishment (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 126782


Author: Sekgwama, Jackson John

Title: Recommendations for Making Anti-Poaching Programs more Effective in the Southern African Region Through the Analysis of Key Variables Impacting upon the Poaching of Elephants in Botswana

Summary: The escalation of poaching in Botswana forced the leadership to deploy its military in addressing this problem. The use of the military in the fight of poaching experienced multiple challenges both at operational and tactical level. The military was deployed in this campaign as a quasi-political decision, thought to be a quick remedy to the poaching dilemma in Botswana. The quasi-political aspect has omitted creation of a national strategy that could comprehensively address the poaching dillema in Botswana and the southern African region, especially that most of the poachers originated from outside the country. Although on one hand it could be argued that the BDF is positively addressing the poaching problem, on the other, it could also be argued that the lack of a clear policy on anti-poaching has hampered the mission. The inefficiency of these campaigns is demonstrated by continued poaching activities in Botswana. This experience has resulted in the realization that Botswana needs to rethink and redefine its national strategy on anti-poaching in order to increase the effectiveness of the intervention means and ways. The national instruments of power need to be comprehensively integrated, synchronized, and harmonized with a view to provide unity of effort in the operational environment to achieve the end state. Once developed, Botswana then needs to work with its neighbors (Zambia and Zimbabwe) in order to ensure that its strategy is effective.

Details: Fort Leavenworth, KS: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2012. 108p.

Source: Internet Resource: Master's Essay: Accessed November 27, 2012 at: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA562969

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching (Botswana, Africa)

Shelf Number: 127011


Author: Patel, Tricia

Title: War Against Poaching in Africa: Learning from our mistakes

Summary: The African elephant and rhino have long struggled to maintain their populations, which saw a devastating decline during the 1980s. With commercial poaching running rampant, the eye of the international community fell upon the lack of conservation policies implemented in African nations. Elephants and rhinos became icons of the conservation movement and more significantly, the keystones of Africa’s wildlife safari industry. As a result of declining populations, trade in both animals was regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Despite the value they have to conservationists in the West, the reality is very different for those living next door to these animal populations. Southern African countries have fought hard against a total ban on trade in ivory, for it has the potential to generate much-needed revenue and fund conservation programs. Opponents fear resurgence in commercial poaching for ivory and vehemently resist any relaxation of the ivory ban and their concerns are well founded. Where elephant populations have stabilized, the black rhino has not been so lucky. As a result, non-governmental organizations have tried to implement conservation programs to combat tourism. However, a distinction is rarely made between subsistence poachers who hunt for food and commercial poachers who hunt for economic gain. Additionally, local communities are often misunderstood and portrayed as the enemies of wildlife, but commercial poachers pose a greater threat to wildlife. With the elephant and rhino populations continually being devastated by poaching, some governments have taken extreme anti-poaching measures, even if they come at the cost of fundamental human rights. This paper serves to analyze the differences between subsistence and commercial poaching in the context of African elephant and rhino populations, as well as evaluate previous conservation methods taken with respect to both forms of poaching. First, a history of CITES is provided, along with the relevant regulations that have governed and continue to govern both, the elephant and rhino. Then a comparison of subsistence poaching (including trade in bushmeat), and commercial poaching is discussed, as well as the motivating factors behind both. Additionally, previous conservation methods and anti-poaching strategies are evaluated against recent proposals and subsequent legal repercussions are suggested. It is important to understand the lack of international consensus regarding the elephant and rhino and CITES regulations so that the diverging interests may be better understood. Furthermore, it is necessary to understand the extreme measures that have previously been taken by governments and conservation organizations, so that the same mistakes are not made again.

Details: Unpublished Paper, 2010. 39p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 28, 2012 at: http://www.elizabethburleson.com/Poaching%20in%20Africa%20by%20Tricia%20Patel.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching (Africa)

Shelf Number: 127017


Author: Horowitz, Jonathan

Title: Counterterrorism and Human Rights Abuses in Kenya and Uganda: The World Cup Bombing and Beyond

Summary: East Africa has emerged in recent years as a focus of both transnational terrorism and Western-backed counterterrorism efforts. Governments have a responsibility to combat terrorism in a lawful manner. But as this report documents, counterterrorism tactics and operations in East Africa have led to a variety of human rights violations. Governments in the region have cited the need to fight terrorism as a pretext to crack down on political opposition, human rights defenders, and lawful expressions of dissent. This report looks at how the governments of Kenya, Uganda, the United States, and the United Kingdom responded to the 2010 World Cup bombing in Kampala, Uganda. The counterterrorism actions that followed the bombing were characterized by human rights violations, including allegations of arbitrary detention, unlawful renditions, physical abuse, and denial of due process rights. In examining these abuses and the parties responsible for them, the report argues that Kenya, Uganda, and the Western countries that support them must thoroughly investigate the alleged abuses, and must pursue counterterrorism activities that do not entail human rights violations.

Details: New York: Open Society Foundations, 2012. 46p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 7, 2012 at: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/counterterrorism-human-rights-abuses-kenya-uganda-20121127.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counterterrorism

Shelf Number: 127142


Author: Thompson, Jill

Title: Rape Sentencing Study: Statutory Sentencing Provisions for Rape, Defilement, and Sexual Assault in East, Central, and Southern Africa

Summary: In the past ten to twelve years, several countries in East, Central and Southern Africa have responded to the problem of violence against women and children by amending outdated criminal laws relating to rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Legislative reforms have ranged from minor changes to existing penal code provisions, to major overhauls of sexual offences law. Changes have included redefining and/or adding new offences; making sexual offences gender neutral; putting in place evidentiary and procedural protections for victims; and increasing penalties for sexual crimes. As part of the reform process, several countries in the region have enacted mandatory minimum sentences for sexual offences such as rape and “defilement.” These have generally emerged in response to public outcry over high rates of sexual violence - particularly against children, and the widespread perception among the public and some lawmakers that perpetrators were not being adequately punished for these crimes. Proponents argued that high mandatory sentences would have a deterrent effect on sexual violence, and that victims would be more likely to report if they believed that perpetrators would be sent to jail. Others argued that statutory minimums would ensure appropriate retribution and lead to greater consistency in sentencing. A further rationale was found in the HIV epidemic - high sentences were viewed by many as necessary to curb the spread of HIV to women and children from sexual assault.

Details: Lusaka, Zambia: Population Council, 2012. 40p.

Source: Legislative Review: Internet Resource: Accessed December 16, 2012 at http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/2012RH_RapeSentencingStudy.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: AIDS (Disease)

Shelf Number: 127214


Author: Humphris, Rachel

Title: Refugees and the Rashaida: Human Smuggling and Trafficking from Eritrea to Sudan and Egypt

Summary: Eritreans have been seeking asylum in east Sudan for more than five decades and the region now hosts more than 80,000 refugees. East Sudan has also become a key transit region for Eritreans who are on the move to Egypt, the Sinai desert and Israel. According to UNHCR statistics, the number of Eritreans crossing the border from Sinai to Israel has increased from 1,348 in 2006 to 17,175 in 2011.1 Coupled with this dramatic growth in numbers, the conditions on this route have caused growing concern. Testimonies from Eritreans who arrive in Israel have increasingly referred to torture, extortion and kidnapping at the hands of human smugglers and traffickers.2 Recent testimonies also seem to indicate an escalation of these practices in Sinai and east Sudan. The smuggling route from Eritrea to Israel is long, complex and involves many different actors. As such, it cannot be examined in its entirety in a single paper. This analysis consequently focuses on the movement of people from Eritrea to east Sudan, and from east Sudan to Egypt.

Details: Geneva: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2012. 25p.

Source: New Issues in Refugee Research Paper No. 247: Internet Resource: Accessed December 22, 2012 at http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/UNHCR_RefugeesandtheRashaida.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Conflict (Eritrea) (Sudan) (Egypt)

Shelf Number: 125257


Author: Lindsey, P.

Title: Illegal Hunting and the Bushmeat Trade in Savanna Africa: Drivers, Impacts and Solutions to Address the Problem

Summary: In this report, the term ‘bushmeat’ is used to denote meat from wild animals that have been hunted illegally, which aside from being used for personal consumption, is often sold commercially. The bushmeat trade has long been recognized as a severe threat to wildlife populations in the forests of West and Central Africa and is considered a conservation crisis in that biome. Far less attention has been focused on the issue in African savannas, perhaps due to a misconception that illegal hunting for bushmeat in the biome is primarily for subsistence and is largely sustainable. However, there is a growing body of research conducted in the Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania, and from sporadic studies elsewhere that contradict that perception. This report summarizes a workshop on illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade in the savanna biome organised and sponsored by Panthera, the Zoological Society of London and Wildlife Conservation Society. Growing concern over the impacts of illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade, particularly on large carnivores populations in Southern and East Africa, motivated the workshop. Large carnivores are particularly sensitive to the impacts of illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade and can act as a barometer of the severity of the problem, and also act as a basis from which to catalyze conservation action. Key experts gathered at the workshop to identify the drivers of illegal hunting and the bushmeat trade and the interventions necessary to address the issue. Hunting of wildlife is regulated in most African countries through wildlife legislation and permitting systems which specify restrictions on the times and places that hunting is permitted, the species that may be hunted and the hunting methods that may be used. The large majority of hunting for bushmeat contravenes one or more such restrictions. Snaring is the most common illegal hunting method and is particularly undesirable from a conservation perspective as it is highly effective, difficult to control, unselective in terms of the genders or species of animals captured, wasteful, and has severe animal welfare implications due to the manner of capture and confinement, and frequent incidents of severe, non-lethal wounding of wildlife. Other common bushmeat hunting methods include the use of rifles, muzzle-loaders, shotguns, dogs, fire, and in some cases, gin traps, pitfall traps and poison.

Details: London and New York: Panthera, Zoological Society of London/Wildlife Conservation Society, 2012. 74p.

Source: Internet Resource: accessed January 25, 2013 at: http://www.panthera.org/sites/default/files/bushmeat%20report%20v2%20lo_0.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Bushmeat Trade

Shelf Number: 127405


Author: Keesbury, Jill, Onyango-Ouma, W.

Title: A Review and Evaluation of Multi-Sectoral Response Services (One-Stop Centers) for Gender-Based Violence in Kenya and Zambia

Summary: While data are very limited on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Africa, estimates suggest that SGBV is a major health, human rights, and development issue in the region, as it is globally. Approximately half of the women aged 15-49 (48%) in Zambia have experienced physical violence, and one in five women have experienced sexual violence (Zambia DHS, 2007). In Kenya, 39% of women aged 15-49 have ever experienced physical violence since the age of 15, and one in five (21%) reported sexual violence. Given complicated stigma and reporting issues, it is likely that these national Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) underestimate the true prevalence and incidence of violence. Children are not immune to this epidemic. A global school-based survey found that 31% of girls and 30% of boys aged 13-15 in Zambia had been forced to have sex (Brown et al., 2009). Results of the study based on responses from males and females aged 18 to 24 indicate that lifetime exposure to childhood violence is exceedingly and unacceptably high in Kenya. Nearly one in three females and one in five males experience at least one episode of sexual violence before reaching age 18 – an experience that can shape their futures in terms of their attitudes towards violence, their adoption of risky behaviors and their emotional health. The figures for physical violence were even more startling, with two in three females and three in four males suffering at least one episode of physical violence. This was defined as slapping, pushing, punching, kicking, whipping, or being beaten with an object (UNICEF et al., 2012). An increasingly popular strategy for addressing SGBV is through the establishment of 'one-stop centers‘ (OSCs), which provide integrated, multi-disciplinary services in a single physical location. The basic services of the OSC model in low resource settings in East and Southern Africa comprise health care (including psychosocial support), police and justice sector responses, and ongoing social support (Population Council, 2008; Keesbury & Askew, 2010). These are often provided within the context of a health facility due to the highly medicalized nature of the initial response services. Although a number of variations exist, at the core of this approach is a system of integrated medico-legal and counseling services. This system can either be physically co-located or can consist of a referral network that links the sectors. The goals of this assessment were two-fold: First, to assess the effectiveness of different OSC models in terms of health and legal outcomes for survivors, and the cost-effectiveness of these models; and second, to identify lessons learned in OSC implementation with recommendations for both start-up and scale-up. The assessment was conducted in three sites in Zambia and two in Kenya using a comparative case study approach to address the objectives. Three distinct OSC models were examined to determine the core strengths and weaknesses of each. Each OSC was considered as a "case" and multiple data sources were triangulated to assess their individual effectiveness, as well as the comparative effectiveness across sites. Fieldwork took place in Zambia from July-August 2011 and in Kenya from September-December 2011. Data were collected through: facility inventories (including cost data); client record reviews; court transcript reviews; and key informant interviews with survivors and local stakeholders.

Details: Nairobi, Kenya: Population Council, 2012. 89p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2013 at: http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/2012RH_SGBV_OSCRevEval.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Sexual Abuse

Shelf Number: 127461


Author: Animal Rights Africa

Title: Under Siege: Rhinoceroses in South Africa

Summary: Trophy hunting in the 19th century devastated rhinoceros populations in Africa. By the 1920s there were fewer than a hundred of the southern white rhinoceroses left in the Umfolozi region in KwaZulu-Natal. Preservation, overt protection and habitat and range expansion strategies led to the growth in the number of rhinoceroses in South Africa and brought them back from the brink of extinction. An important component of these strategies was the prohibition of hunting. There is now a completely different situation at play, where the hunting, poaching and trade of rhinoceroses, both illegal and legal, are once again not only severely impacting on the species but also causing untold suffering and death for the individuals involved. Rhinoceros poaching has reached a 15-year high in Africa and Asia and there are therefore justifiable concerns about the current protection and management of these animals in South Africa as well as the need for public discourse and involvement. South Africa is currently entrusted with over 90% of the world’s population of white rhinoceroses, but at the same time it has become abundantly clear that not only are rhinoceroses in South Africa facing one of their worst threats ever as a species, but they are literally under siege. According to the Department of Environment rhinoceroses poaching in South Africa has reached the highest levels in decades. In the short space of 19 months, poaching of rhinoceroses in South Africa has accelerated to a rate almost six times higher than that of the previous eight years and at the same time a report by international conservation bodies claims the country has become the conduit of most of the rhinoceros horns leaving the African continent. The threats rhinoceroses are facing are linked to South Africa’s current uncompassionate conservation policies of overt consumptive use and trade and inadequate policing, enforcement measures and resources to protect rhinoceroses. And as with elephants the trade, sale and hunting of rhinoceroses in South Africa is driven by commodification, commercialisation and profit rather than by compassion or robust science.

Details: Animal Rights Africa, 2009. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 5, 2013 at: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/125/1255419687.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching (Africa)

Shelf Number: 127517


Author: Environmental Justice Foundation

Title: Dirty Fish: EU Hygiene Standards facilitates illegal fishing in West Africa.

Summary: • Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) or ‘pirate’ fishing is devastating marine environments and stealing from some of the poorest people of the world. IUU is the term given to any fishing activity that contravenes national or international laws, such as: banned fishing gears; targeting protected species; operating in protected or reserved areas or at times when fishing is prohibited; or operating without any form of permit or license to fish. IUU fishing vessels cut costs to maximise profits and use a variety of means, including ‘flags of convenience’ to avoid detec- tion and penalty for wrongdoing. • Globally, pirate fishing accounts for US$10 – 23.5 billion a year, representing between 11 and 26 million tons of fish. It is driven by the enormous global demand for seafood, and threatens the future of world fisheries. The impacts are social, economic, and environmental, and in many cases IUU operators specifically target poor developing countries. • Investigations by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) have demonstrated the direct links between pirate fishing in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, the illegal operators, and the Asian and European seafood markets, the largest in the world. • South Korean and Chinese vessels dominate the pirate fishery in West Africa, in clear contravention of those countries’ international responsibilities to ensure that the vessels flagged to them operate legally. • Investigations show that many South Korean and Chinese pirate fishing vessels carry import numbers designated by the European Commission, specifically the Food and Veterinary Office of the Directorate-General of Health and Consumers (DG Sanco). The DG Sanco number infers that the vessel has met supposedly strict EU hygiene standards, and is therefore allowed to export fish to the European Union. EJF investigations reveal that fish is handled and packed in extremely unhygienic conditions; • There appears to be no coordination between the EU’s DG Sanco and the Directorate-General of Fisheries and Mari- time Affairs (DG Mare) to ensure that known IUU vessels are identified, and then barred and/or eliminated from DG Sanco lists. Vessels that fish illegally do so to minimize costs associated with legal fishing methods. Lack of official licenses and proper safety equipment, unsanitary conditions and appalling crew conditions have all been documented by EJF aboard IUU vessels. • Sierra Leone is desperately vulnerable to pirate fishing - as a result of recent civil war, struggling economy and dependency on fish. 70% of the population live on less than one dollar a day and the country is ranked by the United Nations as bottom of 179 countries on its Human Development Index, one of the poorest in the world. Foreign illegal fishing vessels are stealing around US$29million of fish from Sierra Leone each year; in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, the total value of illegal fish is approximately US$1billion. Fishing is a vital source of income for the Sierra Leonean men and women – around 230,000 people are engaged in traditional fish capture, and fisheries represents around 10% of GDP. Fish is also a crucial component of food security, contributing 80% of the total animal protein to the country. • IUU fishing is devastating marine environments – bottom trawl nets catch everything in their path, and only those species considered commercially valuable are kept; the remainder, around 75% of the total, is discarded dead. IUU is a growing threat to marine species including turtles and sharks, as well as commercial fish species and juvenile fish needed to replenish stocks.

Details: London: Environmental Justice Foundation, 2009. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2013 at:http://ejfoundation.org/sites/default/files/public/report-dirty%20fish.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Fishing (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 127685


Author: Environmental Justice Foundation

Title: Pirate Fishing Exposed: The Fight Against Illegal Fishing in West Africa and the EU

Summary: Global losses due to Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) or “pirate fishing” are estimated to be between US$10 billion and US$23.5 billion per year. West African waters are estimated to have the highest levels of IUU fishing in the world, representing up to 37 percent of the region’s catch. Along with the economic losses, pirate fishing in West Africa severely compromises the food security and livelihoods of coastal communities. In Sierra Leone, fish represents 64 percent of total animal protein consumed in the country, and an estimated 230,000 people are directly employed in fisheries. IUU vessels compromise the health of fish stocks and the marine environment. Ninety percent of vessels documented by EJF in West Africa are bottom trawlers, which drag heavy trawl equipment along the seabed, resulting in damage to the bottom habitat and high levels of by-catch, including vulnerable marine life such as sharks and turtles. Pirate fishing vessels also benefit from lower costs, thereby severely undermining legitimate fishing operators. By fishing in inshore areas reserved for local fishers, they also displace artisanal fishers into riverine areas where fish breed, resulting in further damage to the marine environment and the depletion of fish stocks. Between 1st January 2010 and 31st July 2012, EJF’s community surveillance project in southern Sierra Leone received 252 reports of pirate fishing by industrial vessels in inshore areas. EJF’s local staff filmed and photographed 10 different vessels operating illegally, transmitting the evidence to the Sierra Leone Government and European authorities. Nine out of 10 of the vessels are accredited to export their catches to Europe. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), nations are required to monitor and control fishing vessels flying their flag. EJF investigations show that many industrial fishing vessels are out of control: fishing well inside exclusion zones, attacking local fishers, refusing to pay fines, covering their identification markings, using banned fishing equipment, transhipping fish illegally at sea, refusing to stop for fisheries patrols, bribing enforcement officers, fleeing to neighbouring countries to avoid sanctions, and committing labour violations. EJF has documented the extensive use of Flags of Convenience (FoC), whereby a fishing operator buys a flag from a State that lacks the ability or willingness to monitor its activities. This report demonstrates how flag brokers actively assist unscrupulous fishing operators to “flag hop” between FoC registries and hide their ownership of vessels. Twelve percent of large-scale fisheries vessels flagged to the top 13 FoC registries are owned by European Union (EU) companies, while no information is available on the owners of a further 17 percent of FoC vessels. The consequent inability to identify the true owners of fishing vessels is hampering attempts to hold those profiting from pirate fishing to account. The EU Regulation to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (No. 1005/2008), which came into force on 1st January 2010, attempts to deter pirate fishing by requiring all consignments of fish imported into Europe to be accompanied by a catch certificate, validated by the vessel’s flag State. The Regulation threatens to impose import restrictions on fishing vessels that operate illegally and on countries that fail to effectively monitor and control their fishing fleets. This report contends that despite the Regulation’s implementation across the EU, millions of euros worth of illegally-caught fish entered Europe through the Spanish port of Las Palmas in 2011. Following the submission of evidence gathered at sea by EJF, 1,100 tonnes of fish was seized in March 2011 in Las Palmas and held for four months whilst an unprecedented international investigation was carried out. Crucially, the seafood in question was eventually released when the flag States involved declared the catches were legal, highlighting a fundamental short-coming in the regulation which relies on flag States to verify the legality of the catch, despite some flag States clearly being unable or unwilling to monitor the location or activities of their flagged vessels. A lack of communication and coordination between the EU and coastal States in West Africa further compromises the process of verifying fishing licences and catch certificates. Ninety percent of global seafood catches occur in coastal State waters, however there are still few mechanisms for these States to feed in information and respond to enquiries in cases of suspected IUU fishing. In addition to fish destined for the EU market, EJF has documented increasing volumes of illegal catches that are transhipped at sea onto large refrigerated cargo vessels destined for East Asia. In one incident, EJF infiltrated an illegal transhipment in the Guinea and Sierra Leone border area but was unable to prevent the fish from being imported into South Korea (referred to as “Korea” in this report) due to the lack of international cooperation and inadequate port State controls. Evidence presented in this report clearly demonstrates that both flag States and port States must do more to combat IUU fishing, and notes that coastal States are also an important actor in this. An Al Jazeera investigation, in collaboration with EJF, documented attempts by IUU vessel operators to bribe local officials in order to carry on IUU activities and avoid punishments. All vessels identified by EJF operating illegally in Sierra Leone had fisheries observers on board, but in every case they were unable to stop the vessels breaking the law and were sometimes forcibly prevented from communicating with coastal State authorities. Investigations show that compliance with Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) rules across the region is inadequate. This is also facilitating IUU fishing. For example, Guinea does not currently have a functioning VMS. This lack of Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) in Guinea, combined with a recent crackdown on illegal fishing in Sierra Leone, has led many vessels to relocate there. Crew on board an illegal fishing vessel interviewed by EJF in June 2012 described Guinea as the easiest place in the region to fish illegally. The lack of a Unique Vessel Identifier (UVI) enables unscrupulous operators to change their vessels names or “flag hop” to avoid detection and sanctions, making it difficult for coastal countries to ascertain whether vessels have histories of IUU fishing and whether vessels are managed by legitimate operators. For example, Kummyeong 2, documented by EJF as fishing illegally in Sierra Leone in December 2011, was identified three months later in Guinea operating under a new identity. This report contends that the rights and responsibilities of local communities and stakeholders are too often ignored and that their full engagement in sustainable fisheries management can have important results. For example, EJF’s community surveillance programme and the subsequent investigations have led to over US$500,000 in fines and a dramatic reduction in illegal fishing activity in Sierra Leone’s Inshore Exclusion Zone (IEZ). Investigations are ongoing by the EU to determine possible sanctions for vessels identified fishing illegally by EJF. Korea has agreed to implement new monitoring procedures for its fishing boats, as well as investigating the illegal activities identified by EJF. As pirate fishing continues to destroy marine environments and blight the lives of coastal communities in West Africa, there is an urgent need for governments, international organisations, and the seafood industry to address this issue.

Details: London: Environmental Justice Foundation, 2012. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed FEbruary 22, 2013 at: http://ejfoundation.org/sites/default/files/public/Pirate%20Fishing%20Exposed.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fishery Law and Regulations

Shelf Number: 127700


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Title: Transnational Organized Crime in West Africa: A Threat Assessment

Summary: Key Findings • The flow of cocaine through West Africa appears to have declined to about 18 tons, down from a peak of 47 tons in 2007. These 18 tons would be worth US$1.25 billion at wholesale in Europe, providing West African traffickers with substantial income. • Modes of conveyance for cocaine from South America to Europe via West Africa have shifted over time in response to enforcement efforts. Much of the cocaine headed to West Africa today comes from Brazil, where Nigerian crime groups are exporting the drug. Recently, these groups have been moving into containerized consignments and maritime shipping, adopting these methods in addition to their traditional methods of air couriering and postal shipments. From West Africa, an increase in the use of Benin as a departure point for air couriers has been noted. • Methamphetamine production in the region is a growing concern, with two methamphetamine laboratories detected in Nigeria in 2011-2012. The main market for West African-made meth is East Asia, and to a lesser extent, South Africa. The income from trafficking West African-made methamphetamines to East Asia is remarkably high for such a new flow, but the long-term prospects are limited in light of competition from producers located in the destination markets. • Due to the economic downturn, the flow of smuggled migrants from West Africa to Europe has declined in recent years. The prominence of the many routes has shifted significantly, with routes moving eastwards. • Given the number of weapons still circulating from past conflicts in the region, there is very little need to import large numbers of weapons into West Africa. Most of the illicit flow of weapons in the region is diverted or stolen from licit national stocks held by to 20,000 firearms from Libya does represent a serious threat to stability in the region, a threat that appears to have been realized in northern Mali. • The prevalence of fraudulent medicines is highest not in the markets where profits would be the greatest, but in those where chances of detection are lowest. At least 10% of the imported medicines circulating in West Africa are fraudulent, posing a grave threat to public health and safety. • Maritime piracy has generated renewed attention in the Gulf of Guinea, with 22 pirate attacks occurring off the coast of Benin in 2011. In 2012, Togo became the new hotspot for attacks on petroleum tankers. These vessels are attacked because there is a booming black market for fuel in West Africa. • Unless the flows of contraband are addressed, instability and lawlessness will persist, and it will remain difficult to build state capacity and the rule of law in the region. Each of these flows requires a tailored response, because the commodities involved respond to distinct sources of supply and demand.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2013. 68p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 27, 2013 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tocta/West_Africa_TOCTA_2013_EN.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cocaine

Shelf Number: 127736


Author: Marenin, Otwin

Title: Policing Reforms and Economic Development in African States: Understanding the Linkages: Empowering Change

Summary: The notion that economic development in African states requires minimal levels of security has become widely accepted in the international development community. Reforming nonfunctioning policing systems is an important step toward achieving security, yet the experience of changing policing systems in Africa is disappointing. Only South Africa and a few post-conflict states (Sierra Leone, Liberia) have achieved some measure of success. Many of the political, social, and economic contextual conditions that would support reforms of policing are absent. Recommendations on what policies could work, drawn from the general policing reform literature and African case studies, are suggested.

Details: Helsinki, Finland: United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), 2013. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: WIDER Working Paper No. 2013/013: Accessed March 5, 2013 at: www.wider.unu.edu

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Economic Development

Shelf Number: 127826


Author: Shetret, Liat

Title: Mapping Perceptions of Violent Extremism: Pilot Study of Community Attitudes in Kenya and Somaliland

Summary: The greater Horn of Africa subregion faces a number of security and development challenges. These are further amplified by conditions of endemic sociopolitical and economic marginalization, political instability, and weak institutional capacity. The history of violent conflict in the subregion has offered an enabling environment for numerous domestic and subnational militant groups, many of which have engaged in acts of terrorism throughout the subregion for more than a half-century. Over the past few years, the international community has increasingly sought to develop effective measures and on-the-ground programming to prevent terrorism and counter violent extremism. Some multilateral organizations and donor countries have prioritized providing support for countering violent extremism (CVE) to certain developing countries and regions and their respective diasporas, which are perceived as being particularly vulnerable to violent radicalization and terrorist sympathies, support, or recruitment. In light of the general state of underdevelopment and fragility that characterizes the subregion, ongoing instability in Somalia, and heightened concern over the threat posed by the al-Qaida–affiliated, Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabaab, the greater Horn of Africa subregion has come to be a main geographic focus of such assistance. ABOUT THIS PROJECT This report presents the findings of a pilot demonstration project of the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation (CGCC) titled “Assessing Community Attitudes Towards Violent Extremism and the Impact of International Prevention Programming,” undertaken in Kenya and Somaliland. In accordance with the core objectives of the project, this report offers insight into understanding • how local community members perceive relevant international actors and their interventions in coastal Kenya and Somaliland, • how these community members perceive the extent and impact of violent extremism, and • how relevant international actors are contributing or can best contribute to context-sensitive CVE programming in partnership with local communities. The pilot demonstration project was designed and implemented throughout 2012. It was led by the CGCC East Africa team, based in New York, along with researchers from Integrity Research and Consultancy; the Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance (KMYA), an independent nonprofit organization based in Nairobi that works to empower youth across Kenya through capacity building, community dialogue, and civic development; and the Observatory of Conflict and Violence Prevention (OCVP), an independent academic institution based in Hargeisa, Somalia, that conducts research, analysis, and community training on issues of safety and security. As part of this pilot project, the project team spoke with a variety of community stakeholders in parts of Kenya and Somaliland to capture firsthand their perspectives on security and insecurity, including violent extremism and terrorism. The views expressed over the course of this project were compiled into a “perceptions mapping.” Additionally, the project team compiled a short film portraying local anecdotal perceptions on violent extremism in Kenya.

Details: Goshen, IN: Center on Global Counterterrorism Coopoeration, 2013. 60p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 7, 2013 at: http://www.globalct.org/images/content/pdf/reports/Jan2013_MPVE_PliotStuday.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremist Groups (Kenya, Somaliland, Africa)

Shelf Number: 127858


Author: Milledge, Simon

Title: Rhino Horn Stockpile Management: Minimum standards and best practices from east and southern Africa

Summary: This document presents recommended practices for rhino horn stockpile management and is based upon best examples of management currently employed throughout east and southern Africa. A wide variety of rhino horn stockpile management policies and practices are found throughout Africa. In this regard, there is no single correct method, and for certain issues there is no need to reinvent the wheel when trying to recommend particular aspects of stockpile management. However, without exception, every rhino range State could benefit from the lessons learnt and best practices from neighbouring countries. During 2001 to 2003, TRAFFIC reviewed the rhino horn stockpile management practices employed throughout east and southern Africa. Based upon this regional review, a stakeholder workshop was held in 2004, which was attended by government officers directly responsible for managing all of the largest horn stockpiles in Africa, including Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal province, Limpopo province, Mpumalanga province, North West Parks and Tourism Board, and Kruger National Park), Swaziland and Zimbabwe. This document is the main outcome from the workshop, consolidating available knowledge and summarizing recommended best practices for all aspects of horn stockpile management. It covers the collection of horns from the field, measuring and marking, registration, storage and security, audits and reconciliation, and several other important components of stockpile management for both State and privatelyowned horns. This document contains recommended minimum standards that should be implemented in all countries, as well as optimal practices for those striving for the best possible benchmark. It is hoped that any nation wishing to improve any or all of the above ingredients for stockpile management may refer to this document.

Details: Dar es Salam, Tanzania: TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa, 2005. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 21, 2013 at: www.traffic.org

Year: 2005

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 128056


Author: Blanc, J.J.

Title: African Elephant Status Report 2007: An Update from the African Elephant Database

Summary: The AESR 2007 presents the latest information on elephant population estimates and range at the site, national, regional and continental levels. This edition presents some important new features. New tables assist in interpreting the possible reasons why estimates have changed since the previous edition; comparisons are made for methodologically comparable estimates at the regional level; and a system for prioritizing has been developed to guide governments and funding agencies in planning future surveys.

Details: Gland, Switzerland: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of nature and Natural Resources, 2007. 276p.

Source: Internet Resource: http://www.african-elephant.org/aed/pdfs/aesr2007.pdf#nameddest=intro

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 128057


Author: Daly, B.G.

Title: Perspectives on Dehorning and Legalised Trade in Rhino Horn as Tools to Combat Rhino Poaching

Summary: This report presents the proceedings of a workshop held to assess the use of legal trade in rhino horn as a tool in combating poaching as well as a detailed assessment of the efficacy of dehorning as a deterrent to poaching.

Details: Johannesburg: Endangered Wildlife Trust, 2011. 58p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 22, 2013 at: http://www.ewt.org.za/programmes/LPP/20110301%20RhinoWorkshopReport[1].pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching (Africa)

Shelf Number: 128088


Author: Sandbrook, Chris

Title: Linking Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: the case of Great Apes An overview of current policy and practice in Africa

Summary: The International Institute for Environment and Development IIED has coordinated an international network of conservation, development and indigenous/local community rights organisations who are interested in improving their understanding of, and sharing their experience in, the links between biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction. The Poverty and Conservation Learning Group (PCLG) works by collecting, analysing and disseminating information that can help shape better policy and practice – through its web portal (www.povertyandconservation.info), through workshops and symposia, and through occasional publications. Since 2009 the PCLG has received additional support from the Arcus Foundation to help achieve three goals: 1. To promote ongoing learning and dialogue on poverty-conservation linkages at the international level. 2. To increase attention to mainstreaming poverty concerns within conservation policy and programmes – particularly at the national level – and to build better and stronger linkages with existing initiatives that are focusing on development policy. 3. To introduce a great ape component to PCLG - by including ape-specific elements within our core networking and information dissemination activities and by focusing our mainstreaming efforts on conservation policies, programmes and locations that are relevant to great ape conservation. This report is the third PCLG output supported by the Arcus Foundation grant. The purpose of this report is to document current efforts to link great ape conservation and poverty reduction in the African, ape range states. It is intended to provide a quick inventory of which organisations are working in which countries and using which approaches in order to highlight potential areas of collaboration and/or potential sources of experience and lessons learned. It is also intended to highlight other initiatives that are intended to link environmental management with social concerns - poverty reduction, governance, economic development - with a view to encouraging greater linkages between these initiatives and those that are focussed on conservation. Following this report we are planning the following activities: 1) A learning event for ape conservation organisations to share experiences on their attempts to link conservation and poverty reduction. This would improve their effectiveness and efficiency, where so many conservation organisations still carry out development oriented interventions uninformed by previous experiences elsewhere, both good and bad. 2) South-South learning exchanges / events around key issues where knowledge gaps are the major problem. Examples emerging include (i) experience of other species-based programmes in addressing poverty reduction; (ii) community-based monitoring approaches;, (iiii) human wildlife conflict mitigation strategies and experiences with compensation, and (iv) REDD / carbon mechanisms that accommodate biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation. 3) Establishment of multi-stakeholder learning groups in selected countries, potentially building on existing groups where there is interest, and using models of good practice. These might include the IIED-supported Forest Governance Learning Groups (FGLG) and Environmental Mainstreaming Learning and Leadership Groups. 4) Facilitating a high-level workshop in at least one country to encourage mainstreaming of biodiversity into development policy / practice – in coordination with the UNDP/UNEP Poverty Environment Initiative.

Details: The Poverty and Conservation Learning Group, 21010. 94p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 23, 2013 at: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G02770.pdf

Year: 1010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Biodiversity

Shelf Number: 128104


Author: Blake, Stephen: Wildlife Conservation Society

Title: Central african Forests: Final Report on Population Surveys (2003-2004)

Summary: In 1997, at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Conv ention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Parties resolved to establish a monitoring system across the entire range of the African and Asian elephants [Resolution Conf. 10.10]. It was intended that this system would facilitate decision -making by the Parties regarding the protected status of elephants. This was also the first attempt to provide a systematic and detailed assessment of the impact of the Parties’ decisions to allow, restrict, or suspend trade in a particular species (and/or its parts and derivatives). The monitoring system, now known by its acronym MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants), was endorsed at the 41 st meeting of the CITES Standing Committee in February 1999, and between 1999 and 2001 a Pilot Program, funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Conservation Society was implemented in central Africa to assess the feasibility of full scale implementation of the program in forest ecosystems (Beyers et al. 2001). During implementation of the pilot program and in the light of some lessons already being learned, the goals and structure of the MIKE program was discussed again at the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2000, which led to a revision of Resolution Conf. 10.10, and the objectives previously agreed were broadened to include ‘establishing an information base to support the making of decisions on appropriate management, protection and enforcement needs’ and ‘building capacity in range States’. The MIKE program currently has the following aim: ‘To provide information needed for elephant range States to make appropriate management and enforcement decisions, and to build institutional capacity within the range States for the lo ng-term management of their elephant populations.’ More specific objectives within this aim are: (1) ‘To measure levels and trends in the illegal hunting of elephants’, (2) ‘To determine changes in these trends over time’, and (3) ‘To determine the factors causing such changes and to assess to what extent observed trends are related to CITES changes in listings or ivory trade resumptions’ (www.cites.org/eng/prog/MIKE). The MIKE program plans to achieve these objective through a site-based system of collecting data on elephant population trends, the incidence and patterns of illegal killing, and the effort and resources employed in detecting and preventing illegal hunting and trade. The MIKE program is also charged with developing and using a standardized methodology for data collection and analysis. The pilot project, which focussed on three sites, the Lope Ituri, and Odzala protected areas in Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) demonstrated that implementation of MIKE in forests was indeed feasible, and a fullscale program involving 55 sites across Africa was initiated thereafter. The plan is to repeat surveys in each site every 2–3 years. Within the range of forest elephants in central Africa 11 sites were chosen, each based around a protected area. This document reports on progress made toward achieving forest elephant population surveys during 2003-2004 at six MIKE sites in five nations within the range of forest elephants in central Africa (Figure 2). Sites included were Salonga, Bangassou, Dzanga - Sangha, Nouabalé -Ndoki, Boumba Bek, and Minkebe. An elephant inventory was also planned for Mont Alen in Equatorial Guinea, though for funding reasons this site was eventually excluded.

Details: Washington, DC: Wildlife Conservation Society, 2005. 122p.

Source: Internet Resource: Long Term System for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE): Accessed March 25, 2013 at: http://www.cites.org/common/prog/mike/survey/central_africa_survey03-04.pdf

Year: 2005

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 128125


Author: Born Free Foundation and the Elephant Working Group of the Species Survival

Title: The Tip of the Tusk

Summary: The data provided in this report, a compilation of the information collected since 1998, provides compelling evidence that the illegal ivory trade is thriving, and that elephants continue to be poached for their ivory. Analysis of the data shows that between 1998 and 2004 at least 95.3 tonnes of ivory have been reported seized and, in addition, more than 12,591 elephants (Asian and African) have been reported poached. Ninety-five tonnes roughly represents the ivory of more than 15,000 dead elephants. However, it is widely accepted that not all illegal ivory in trade is seized and not all poached elephants are found and reported; hence these figures represent just the ‘tip of the tusk’ in terms of the scale of illegal trade in ivory and level of elephant poaching. Indeed, Born Free Foundation has received many reports involving poaching and trade, that for one reason or another could not be included. For example, we have information concerning more than 19,420 pieces of seized ivory which were either unweighed, or where weights were not reported. There are also a significant number of countries from which no information was received (identified in Appendix A). Recent surveys investigating the availability and volume of ivory found in the markets located in Africa, Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan have also demonstrated that an ivory industry is still thriving. The threat that illegal trade brings, particularly to those elephant populations which are under the greatest pressure, such as those in Asia and West and Central Africa, is of grave concern to all those involved in the protection and conservation of elephants.

Details: Horsham, UK: Born Free Foundation; 2004. 45p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 26, 2013 at: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/files/reports/IvoryReport.pdf

Year: 2004

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 128135


Author: Environmental Investigation Agency

Title: Stop Stimulating Demand: Discussion of ivory trade mechanism may itself spur consumer-demand & poaching

Summary: The campaigning Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is calling on international policy-makers to Stop Stimulating Demand for critically endangered species. THE determination by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to develop a decision-making mechanism (DMM) for a process of future trade in ivory was adopted in 2007 before the escalation of the current crisis facing elephant populations across most of their range. Having started a year later in 2008, this process is now taking place against a backdrop of the highest levels of poaching and illegal ivory trade for decades and is set to con-tinue unless urgent action is taken by the 16th Meeting of the Confer-ence of the Parties to CITES (CoP16) in March 2013.

Details: London: EIA, 2013. 4p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 28, 2013 at: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Ivory-trade-mechanism-briefing-FINAL.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 128159


Author: Cirelli, Maria Teresa

Title: Wildlife Law in the Southern African Development Community

Summary: There is a wide variety of interests to be balanced in wildlife management. These interests range from the conservation of biodiversity and specific endangered species and their habitats, to control of human-wildlife conflicts, the creation of valuable opportunities in eco-tourism or hunting tourism in response to the needs and respect of the traditions of local populations depending on hunting and other wildlife uses. As a consequence, the enactment of effective legal frameworks for sustainable wildlife management, which are able to contribute to poverty reduction and food security and at the same time protect wild animals, is a challenging task. Since 2007, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) have launched an international dialogue on obligations and standards on wildlife management, with a focus on instruments for the legal empowerment of the poor. The initiative started with a review of the relevant legislation Western and Central Asia, which led to the publication of a set of principles on how to develop effective national legislation on sustainable wildlife management (www.fao.org/Legal/prs-ol/lpo75.pdf). A series of studies on the wildlife legislation in other regions of the world, also published on the FAO website, followed (http://www.fao.org/Legal/prs-ol/paper-e.htm). Two of these studies concern altogether twenty-seven countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper draws upon the information contained in those studies, focusing on SADC countries. Some warnings must preliminarily be given regarding the analysis that has been carried out in the studies. Although efforts have been made to ensure the completeness of the legal research, some existing legal instruments may be missing, because they were not identified or not accessible. Another inherent limitation of desk reviews of legislation is that critical information which generally rests beyond the legal texts may not be available. An adequate evaluation of legal frameworks should involve consideration many factors, such as overall government objectives and their degree of implementation (e.g., decentralization), existing administrative practices at various territorial levels and their effectiveness, experience in the implementation of existing legislation (e.g., provisions which have remained dead letter, procedures which are bypassed in practice), local customs, public perception of the role of law and authority, economic and social needs, and gender issues. This type of analysis has obviously not been possible for all countries. Part I of this paper starts with an overview of the international legal instruments related to wildlife management, including those adopted at the regional level (Part I, chapter 1). The following chapter focuses on selected themes (institutions and other stakeholders, tenure arrangements, management planning, conservation and utilization), commenting on some of the legal trends identified through country studies, including good practices as well as gaps and contradictions that have emerged (Part I, chapter 2). Common trends are then analyzed, and accompanied with suggestions for the drafting of legal provisions that may help in ensuring that sustainable wildlife management benefits the most vulnerable members of society, in particular indigenous and local communities (Part I, chapter 3). An overview of the legal framework applicable to wild animals in each of the fifteen SADC countries is presented in Part II. The presentation describes the relevant provisions that are currently in place, whether they are included in legal instruments exclusively concerning wildlife or in legislation addressing related subjects, such as environment, protected areas or forestry.

Details: Budapest: International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation; Rome: FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010. 136p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2013 at: http://www.cic-wildlife.org/fileadmin/Press/Technical_Series/EN/9.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Wildlaw Laws

Shelf Number: 128180


Author: Smeaton, Emilie

Title: Struggling to Survive: Children Living Alone on the Streets in Tanzania and Kenya

Summary: Children living alone on the streets are often referred to as ʻstreet childrenʼ both in general discourse and within literature describing aspects of their lives and policy or practice responses to meet their needs. This report does not refer to children who live on the streets or participated in the research as ʻstreet childrenʼ as this term can be used in a range of ways, for example to describe children who live on the streets with their families, work on the streets or spend time on the streets but return to their family home. The term ʻstreet childrenʼ also emphasises the role of the streets when, as the findings of this report reveal, inherent to these childrenʼs lives are their experiences prior to coming to the streets and in environments away from the streets. These children are first and foremost children and have the same rights as any other children to a life free from risk or harm where they can develop and reach their potential. Therefore they should not be labelled by where they live but recognised as individual children with diverse characteristics and needs. The children that this research addresses live full-time on the streets and do not return home at night to live with their family or other carers. There is a significant body of research addressing children and youths who live on the streets in different parts of the world. It is important to recognise that there is considerable diversity in the experiences of children who live on the streets dependent upon personal circumstances and characteristics alongside the environments where they live. The voices of children who live on the streets is lacking from a number of research studies addressing their lives and recommended responses to meet their needs. With this in mind, Railway Children made a strategic decision to undertake qualitative research in Tanzania and Kenya. The findings of the research will support the expansion of Railway Childrenʼs work in these two countries and the development of a programme of work aiming to meet the needs of children living alone on the streets ensuring positive outcomes for these children. The aims of the research were to: n capture, in their words, the experiences of children in Tanzania and Kenya, who live alone on the streets for four weeks or more whilst under the age of 16; n present an up-to-date and realistic perspective of what it means to be alone and on the streets in Tanzania and Kenya; n provide a robust evidence base addressing the lives and experiences of children living alone on the streets in Tanzania and Kenya; n identify a range of policy and practice recommendations to meet the needs of children who live alone on the streets in Tanzania and Kenya. It is important to outline that the focus of the research was to gain the views and experiences of children who are particularly vulnerable and marginalised such as those who have never received any services and are not known to service providers, or those who are known to service providers but whose cases are particularly complex and current service provision has not been able to meet their needs. However, children who were away from home for four weeks or more but have accessed services also participated in the research as it was important to include their views and experiences of the services available. For example, a small number of the children who participated in the research have stayed in centres for children who live on the streets or have been supported to return to their families.

Details: Sandbach, UK: Railway Children; Mwanza, Tanzania: Railway Children Africa, 2011? 91p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2013 at: http://www.railwaychildren.org.uk/media/26247/_struggling_to_survive__-_children_living_alone_on_the_streets_of_tanzania___kenya_-_full_report.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Protection

Shelf Number: 128264


Author: Thornton, Allan

Title: Lethal Experiment: How the CITES-approved ivory sale led to increased elephant poaching

Summary: The CITES process in 1997, and subsequently, has been plagued by a lack of transparency, mismanagement and inadequate consultation with elephant range states (the majority of which opposed downlisting). The CITES ivory experiment has failed. Elephant poaching levels have risen in a number of range states since 1997. The CITES international monitoring system to monitor the illegal killing of elephants (MIKE) was not in operation prior to the decision and is non-functional. Japan is a thriving market for illegal ivory, with an inadequate system for controlling imports and sales within the country.

Details: London: Environmental Investigation Agency, 2000. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 9, 2013 at: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Lethal-Experiment.pdf

Year: 2000

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 128334


Author: Roe, Dilys

Title: Community Management of Natural Resources in Africa: Impacts, Experiences and Future Directions

Summary: Across sub-Saharan Africa, natural resources remain central to rural people’s livelihoods. Local norms and customs shape people’s everyday forms of resource use. In contrast, the commercial uses of natural resources often remain highly centralized, conditioned by government policies of the colonial and post-colonial eras. During the past several decades, there has been a shift from this predominantly centralized natural resource management towards more devolved models known very broadly as Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM). CBNRM models work to strengthen locally accountable institutions for natural resource use and management, enabling local groups of people to make better decisions about the use of land and resources. Because it involves the transfer of authority over natural resources to local communities, including of potentially valuable resources such as wildlife and timber, CBNRM is often about major institutional reforms and fundamental changes in power. This pan-African review of the impacts, challenges, and future directions of CBNRM highlights the diverse range of forms of community involvement in natural resource management that have emerged across the continent during the past twenty years. CBNRM means different things to different actors in different places across sub-Saharan Africa. In much of western and central Africa, CBNRM is interpreted by government authorities, donor agencies, and NGOs as benefit-sharing or outreach between national parks and adjacent communities. In such instances communities are not empowered as authorized local resource managers but are involved principally as passive recipients of benefits controlled elsewhere. This form of outreach and benefit-sharing is also a characteristic of some protected area management in East African countries. In Southern Africa, CBNRM is most clearly defined in terms of the devolution of rights to make management decisions, and capture benefits, in relation to resources located on communal lands. In all instances CBNRM involves some degree of co-management of resources between central authorities, local government, and local communities which share rights and responsibilities through diverse institutional arrangements. The various forms of CBNRM and their many locally-specific adaptations have greatly diversified approaches to natural resource governance in sub-Saharan Africa. Some notable ecological, economic, and institutional achievements have been documented.

Details: London: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 2009. 207p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 1, 2013 at: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/17503IIED.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Community Participation

Shelf Number: 128597


Author: Law Library of Congress, Global Legal Research Center

Title: Wildlife Trafficking and Poaching

Summary: This report describes the regulatory framework relating to wildlife trafficking and poaching in seven African jurisdictions: Botswana, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, and Tanzania. Included in the report are discussions of laws that criminalize poaching and trafficking in wildlife, the penalties imposed for such crimes, and the state institutions tasked with enforcing the laws. The executive summaries for the individual countries contained in the report are provided below. Botswana Botswana has a robust regulatory regime governing the conservation and management of its wildlife. This regime bans poaching as well as trade in animals, trophies, meat, and articles made out of trophies without the proper permits or in violation of the terms of a license or permit. Violation of any of the applicable laws entails various forms of penalties including fines, prison terms, forfeiture of tools used in the commission of a crime as well as the fruits of the crime, and revocation of licenses. Offenses involving certain vulnerable animals and recidivism result in greater penalties. Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) possesses an extensive and well-developed legislative framework for the protection of wildlife, particularly pertaining to elephants and ivory products. Hunting activities are permitted under certain circumstances in certain areas of the country with prior authorization from the central government. Penalties range from fines to imprisonment, and enforcement is entrusted to a number of different government agencies. Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has in place a comprehensive legislative framework that criminalizes poaching; dealing in illegal trophies; and importing, exporting, and transferring trophies in violation of substantive and procedural legal requirements. The framework includes penalties for the violation of these provisions, consisting of fines, prison terms, and forfeiture of the instruments and effects used in the course of committing the crimes. Several government agencies share enforcement powers and, in some cases, citizens’ organizations are permitted to collaborate with government agencies in the performance of their enforcement duties. Kenya Kenya has in place a comprehensive legislative framework that criminalizes not only wildlife poaching but also importing, exporting, dealing in, and transferring illegal animal trophies. Penalties for violations of the substantive laws and required legal procedures consist of fines, prison terms, and forfeiture of tools used in committing a crime, as well as the fruits of the crime themselves. While certain aspects of enforcing the substantive laws are shared across several government institutions, it is the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), an institution with full prosecutorial powers, that bears the primary responsibility for wildlife law enforcement. Mozambique Specific laws regulate hunting in Mozambique. Those laws permit hunting in determined areas, require hunters to obtain a license, and protect some animals. Violations of the regulations are punishable with a fine and compensatory measures aimed at repairing the damage caused. The Penal Code punishes with three days in prison and a fine a person who hunts in areas where hunting is not permitted, uses prohibited means, or enters into areas for the purpose of hunting without the consent of the owner. Wildlife trafficking, however, is not criminalized. Storage or transportation of, or trade in, forest and wildlife resources requires an authorization and must follow the conditions established by law. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for the administration, management, and monitoring of activities involving the use of forest and wildlife resources and their ecosystems in the national territory. South Africa Pursuant to the South African Constitution, legislative jurisdiction regarding the conservation and management of wildlife in South Africa is a concurrent function of the national and provincial governments. The applicable national legislation, the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) prohibits certain activities defined as “restricted activities,” including hunting, selling, transferring, importing, or exporting any threatened or protected animals without a permit. In addition, it imposes further restrictions with regard to particularly vulnerable animals, including absolute bans on hunting and certain hunting methods. Enforcement of the NEMBA and its subsidiary legislation is primarily the function of the Environmental Management Inspectorate, an organization made up of a network of national, provincial, and municipal government officials. The inspectorate enjoys wide-ranging authority, including inspection, search and seizure, and arrest powers. The South African Police Service (SAPS) also performs some key enforcement functions. Tanzania Tanzania has a highly fragmented national wildlife management and conservation regulatory regime in which three different laws control poaching: the Wildlife Conservation Act (WCA), the National Parks Act (NPA), and the Forest Resources Management and Conservation Act (FRMCA). All three criminalize poaching and prescribe an assortment of penalties for poaching-related offenses, which are by and large tied to the types of animals involved in the offending. With regard to the issue of trafficking, the WCA appears to be the sole controlling legislation. The enforcement mechanisms for these laws are divided across several organizations that cover specific areas of the country. These include the Wildlife Authority, the Forest Authority (Zanzibar), and the Board of Trustees of the Tanzania National Parks. While all three have sweeping search, seizure, and arrest authority, only the latter two enjoy prosecutorial powers.

Details: Washington, DC: Law Library of Congress, 2013. 62p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 8, 2013 at: http://www.loc.gov/law/help/wildlife-poaching.php/wildlife_trafficking_and_poaching-2013-008667.PDF

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 128681


Author: Obot, Isidore S.

Title: Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependence in West Africa

Summary: The main objective of this policy brief is to assess the state of drug demand reduction (prevention of use and treatment for dependence) in West Africa and analyze responses to the problem of drug demand in the region. The discussion draws from a diverse array of available information from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), research published in peer-reviewed journals, and reports and other materials from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The focus is on illicit drugs though the perspective taken in this brief questions the value of the distinction often made between licit and illicit drugs when addressing dependence on psychoactive substances. This persistent false dichotomy ignores several issues: i) the reality that licit substances such as tobacco and alcohol are usually the first drugs to which young people are exposed; ii) a high proportion of dependent persons use both legal and illegal substances; and iii) dependence on legal drugs is associated with very high health burden and social harm often surpassing the harm attributable to illicit substances.

Details: Accra, Ghana: West Africa Commission on Drugs, 2013. 17p.

Source: Internet Resource: WACD Background Paper No. 2: Accessed May 22, 2013 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Prevention-Treatment-of-Drug-Dependency-in-West-Africa-2013-04-03.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 128772


Author: Aning, Kwesi

Title: Drug Trafficking And Threats to National and Regional Security in West Africa

Summary: In less than one and a half decades West Africa has become a major transit and repackaging hub for cocaine and heroin flowing from the Latin American and Asian producing areas to European markets. Drug trafficking is not new to the region; the phenomenon rapidly expanded in the mid-2000s as a result of a strategic shift of Latin American drug syndicates towards the rapidly growing European market, leading UNODC to state in 2008 that ‘…the crisis of drug trafficking … is gaining attention. Alarm bells are ringing …West Africa has become a hub for cocaine trafficking. This is more than a drugs problem. It is a serious security threat.” West Africa presents an ideal choice as a logistical transit center for drug traffickers: its geography makes detection difficult and facilitates transit; the region boasts well-established networks of West African smugglers and crime syndicates; and a vulnerable political environment creates opportunities for operation. In some countries, civil wars, insurgency operations, and coups have led to diminishing human capital, social infrastructure and productive national development assets. They have also generated instability, with an increase in the number of armed groups operating in the region and an increase in flows of small arms and light weapons (SALW). Instability in the Middle East has also seen flows of heavier weapons entering through the Sahel region. As in the case of Mali, drug traffickers have often availed of this instability to further their own interests. While violence on the scale of Latin American drug trafficking is yet to manifest itself, the potential for the drug trade to become a source of violent political competition in some countries nonetheless exists. More recently and as reports on drug use in the region increase, experts have highlighted the human security threats posed by drug trafficking, for which institutions and policy makers are particularly ill prepared to respond to. One of the main challenges lies in the fact that the predominant approach to drug trafficking in the region to date has been based on the international narcotics control regime which is centered on stemming the supply of drugs through law enforcement efforts. Limited focus has been placed on the health and developmental aspects of the spillover effects of drug trafficking, which over time could constitute a greater security threat to West Africa than currently acknowledged. This background paper examines the impact of drug trafficking on national and regional security in West Africa. The first sections provide an overview of the main security threats that drug trafficking is perceived to pose to states and the sub-region, including the links between drug trafficking and terrorism. Subsequently, the paper provides an overview of how the incidence of drug trafficking and perceived threats are being articulated in policy circles; and the nature of UN, AU and ECOWAS policy responses to drug trafficking and the security threats it poses. In the final section, the paper identifies knowledge gaps in the existing literature on drug trafficking in West Africa.

Details: Accra, Ghana: West Africa Commission on Drugs, 2013. 15p.

Source: Internet Resource: WACD Background Paper No.1: Accessed May 22, 2013 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Drug-Trafficking-and-Threats-to-National-and-Regional-Security-in-West-Africa-2013-04-03.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 128773


Author: Brown, David E.

Title: The Challenge of Drug Trafficking to Democratic Governance and Human Security in West Africa

Summary: International criminal networks mainly from Latin America and Africa—some with links to terrorism—are turning West Africa into a key global hub for the distribution, wholesaling, and production of illicit drugs. These groups represent an existential threat to democratic governance of already fragile states in the subregion because they are using narco-corruption to stage coups d’état, hijack elections, and co-opt or buy political power. Besides a spike in drug-related crime, narcotics trafficking is also fraying West Africa’s traditional social fabric and creating a public health crisis, with hundreds of thousands of new drug addicts. While the inflow of drug money may seem economically beneficial to West Africa in the short-term, investors will be less inclined to do business in the long-term if the subregion is unstable. On net, drug trafficking and other illicit trade represent the most serious challenge to human security in the region since resource conflicts rocked several West African countries in the early 1990s. International aid to West Africa’s “war on drugs” is only in an initial stage; progress will be have to be measured in decades or even generations, not years and also unfold in parallel with creating alternative sustainable livelihoods and addressing the longer-term challenges of human insecurity, poverty, and underdevelopment.

Details: Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 2013. 105p.

Source: Internet Resource: The Letort Papers: Accessed May 23, 2013 at: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubid=1151

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 128785


Author: Bury, Steven E.

Title: Analysis of West African Drug Trafficking: The Dynamics of Interdiction and State Capacity

Summary: Illegal drug trafficking through West Africa has grown dramatically in the last decade, capturing the attention of U.S., European, and U.N. policymakers. Most countries in West Africa have struggled to adapt to the challenges drug trafficking has presented. A few countries, like Ghana, have made a more concerted and successful effort to confront the problem. This thesis seeks to test the hypothesis that variations in counternarcotics interdiction success Ghana and Guinea-Bissau can be explained by the level of state capacity and the ability to absorb international counternarcotics partnerships to deal with the problem. The findings of this study suggest the success of Ghana relative to Guinea- Bissau is explained by higher level of initial state capacity and its ability to absorb international assistance. The government of Guinea-Bissau, on the other hand, is caught in an incapacity trap that has thwarted its efforts towards narcotics interdiction. Efforts at international partnership in Ghana have a foundation of state capacity to build upon and a viable partner whereas in Guinea-Bissau assistance efforts have been relegated to correcting the utter lack of capacity in an environment of political-military instability where a viable partner in the War on Drugs has not yet emerged.

Details: Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, 2011. 75p.

Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 30, 2013 at: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a543911.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Law Enforcement

Shelf Number: 128854


Author: Baffa, Tsegaye D.

Title: African Standby Force Police Roster System: Proposed features, operations and processes

Summary: Despite its wide support a standardised roster system for the African Standby Force (ASF) has not yet been established. Drawing on the experiences of maintaining civilian rosters for peacekeeping operations, this paper specifies the proposed features and functions of the ASF police roster system. It also proposes the relevant standards, procedures and tools of the roster data operations and sharing; provides insights into the processes of the system’s creation, operationalisation and management; and outlines the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders in the establishment and operation of the system. The paper can inform and assist in the establishment and operationalisation of a standardised, integrated database system that enables systematic capturing, maintenance, updating and sharing of information on the capabilities, training, deployment and performance of the ASF police personnel.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2013. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Paper 247: Accessed June 1, 2013 at: http://www.issafrica.org/publications/papers/african-standby-force-police-roster-system-proposed-features-operations-and-processes

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Management

Shelf Number: 128903


Author: United Nations Children's Fund. Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary on Violence against Children

Title: Protecting Children from Harmful Practices in Plural Legal Systems with a Special Emphasis on Africa

Summary: Across regions, millions of children continue to suffer from various forms of harmful practices, including female genital mutilation, early and forced marriage, breast ironing, son preference, female infanticide, virginity testing, honour crimes, bonded labour, forced feeding and nutritional taboos, accusation of witchcraft, as well as a great number of other less known practices. Harmful practices may be traditional or emerging, but generally have some cultural, social or religious underpinning. Common for most harmful practices is that they have devastating consequences on the child’s life, development, health, education and protection. The UN Study on Violence against Children urged states to prohibit by law all forms of violence against children, including harmful practices. This recommendation is a key priority for the mandate of the Special representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children as well as for Plan International. To advance progress in the implementation of this recommendation, they co-organized an expert consultation, in June 2012. This thematic report was informed by those important discussions.

Details: New York: UNICEF, 2012. 51p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 6, 2013 at: http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/publications_final/SRSG_Plan_harmful_practices_report_final.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect

Shelf Number: 128966


Author: Corcoran, Su

Title: Evaluating Outcomes: Retrak’s use of Child Status Index to measure wellbeing of street-connected children

Summary: Retrak’s vision is a world where no child is forced to live on the street. The child is always at the centre of our work and therefore measurements of organisational impact must place the progress of the child at the centre of assessment. In establishing a system of measurement to effectively and consistently monitor the changes in the lives of children as a result of Retrak’s work, the Child Status Index (CSI) has been adapted to apply to the context of children connected to the street. This paper is the initial review of the findings of the CSI in the pilot period, 2011 and 2012, as a measurement of child wellbeing and a tool for tracking children’s progress along their Retrak journey to establish the impact of Retrak’s programmes in both Ethiopia and Uganda. The CSI, developed by Measure Evaluation1, allows Retrak to trace the progress of the child along the Retrak journey, as they transition from the street to family homes, and comprises of a system of indicators to assess the multidimensional wellbeing of the individual child. The CSI assessments were conducted with cohorts of children on streets who access Retrak’s drop-in centres (baseline); at the point of reintegration with their families (placement); and again at intervals of approximately six months during follow-up with the child and their family (follow-up within six months of placement, between six months and one year of placement, and more than one year since placement). Each indicator of wellbeing on the CSI is given a score between one and four. Children scoring one or two, a deprivation score, for any indicator are considered to be at risk in that domain of wellbeing. Retrak’s aim is to ensure that children’s wellbeing improves after their placement at home, and continues to progress, and that they become deprivation free. Summary of findings This pilot study has demonstrated that Retrak’s reintegration programmes contribute to improvements in children’s wellbeing. Through analysing children’s wellbeing on their journey with Retrak in both Ethiopia and Uganda it is possible to show that: • The wellbeing of the children improved across all areas of wellbeing during their time in Retrak’s reintegration programmes. Family reintegration programmes with street children are successful. We have shown that such programmes are able to overcome children’s prevalent deprivations in shelter, care, abuse and exploitation and legal protection experienced when they are living alone on the street at an increased level of vulnerability. • Performance and access to education were areas of wellbeing which were slow to improve at the placement and follow up level. This could be partially a result of the national education systems and its ability to support the successful reintegration of vulnerable children into the classroom. • In Ethiopia, wellbeing in the areas of emotional health and social behaviour were also slow to improve at placement and follow-up. Much of this is to do with the survival traits developed by the children to help to combat stigmatisation while on the streets. • In Uganda it was shown that wellbeing in the areas of food security, shelter and legal protection were of concern at all stages of a child’s journey with Retrak. Analysing the data collected for each child reflecting their life on the street, highlights the following trends: • Street-connected children and youth in Ethiopia, over 14 years old, have more deprivations than those under 14; and all new arrivals to the street in Ethiopia have fewer deprivations than those who have spent a number of months there. The longer a child spends in the street the more deprivations they experience. • In Uganda children aged 14 or 15 years have fewer deprivations than those aged 13 years and younger. Unlike the Ethiopia data, those aged 14 years and younger when they migrated to the street have fewer deprivations than those children aged over 14 years. • There is a relationship between the level of schooling achieved by the children in Ethiopia and the number of deprivations they experience: the longer the child spends in school before migrating to the street the lower the number of deprivations on average. • There appears to be little distinction between region of origin and level of deprivation for both countries. In Uganda the data showed that children on the streets of Kampala and originating from Kampala and the surrounding district are just as disadvantaged as their peers from further afield, showing that their proximity to their family is of little benefit. Recommendations This pilot study has demonstrated that reintegration programmes contribute to improvements in children’s wellbeing and that the Child Status Index is an extremely useful tool to monitor reintegration programmes through tracking children’s wellbeing. In addition, this study has shown that the risks children face on the streets vary according to age, education and other variables.

Details: Retrak, UK: Retrak; 2013. 43p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 18, 2013 at: http://www.retrak.org/uploaded/Retrak%20Research%20Evaluating%20Outcomes%20May%2013.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Protection

Shelf Number: 129016


Author: Kar, Dev

Title: Illicit Financial Flows and the Problem of Net Resource Transfers from Africa: 1980-2009

Summary: This report analyses the volume and pattern of recorded and unrecorded capital flows to and from Africa and its various regions and country groups over the period 1980-2009. It also provides the main trends of resource transfers; it does not provide an analysis of the reasons underlying the flows. Further analysis on the dynamics of the flows will need to be based on indepth, country-specific work. For the purposes of this study, recorded “capital flows” are financial and non-financial transactions recorded in the balance of payments, whereas unrecorded capital flows primarily involve the “flight” of capital. The report assumes that unrecorded capital flows are illicit in nature and involve the transfer of money earned through corruption, kickbacks, tax evasion, criminal activities, and transactions of certain contraband goods. Likewise, legal funds earned through legal business but transferred abroad in violation of exchange control regulations also become illicit. More specifically, net recorded transfers (NRecT) are based fully on recorded balance of payments items. The narrow version of this measure, NRecT Narrow, is simply equal to the Financial Account Balance, whereas the broad measure, NRecT Broad, is equal to the Financial Account Balance plus the sum of net current and net capital transfers. Net resource transfers (NRT) are calculated by the difference between NRecT and illicit financial flows (IFF), which also have two versions, normalized (conservative) and non-normalized (robust). Hence, there are four alternate measures of NRT, corresponding to the version of recorded transfers and outflows of illicit capital. These concepts are important as they enable a comparison of NRecT against unrecorded outflows of illicit capital. Results indicate that Africa was a net creditor to the world, as measured by the net resource transfers, to the tune of up to US$1.4 trillion over the period 1980-2009, adjusted for inflation. While there were brief periods in the early 1980s and the 1990s, when Africa received small net resource transfers from the rest of the world, the continent has been a net provider of resources to the world with estimates of real NRT ranging from US$597 billion to US$1.4 trillion, depending on the definition used for the transfers (NRecT, Narrow or Broad, and IFF, normalized or non-normalized). The most optimistic estimate of NRT (or lowest negative NRT of US$597 billion) involves broadly defined recorded transfers net of conservatively estimated illicit outflows (BroadNRTNorm), while the most pessimistic scenario (negative transfers amounting to US$1.4 trillion) involves narrowly defined recorded transfers net of robust estimates of illicit outflows (NarrowNRTNon-norm). If we focus on recorded transfers, that is, not taking account of illicit outflows, we find that, according to the NRecT Narrow measure, there were net inflows to Africa over the period 1980-1999 and a sharp reversal to net outflows in the period 2000-2009. The NRecT Narrow measure shows that African countries received resources amounting to 2.3 percent of GDP in the 1980s and just under 1.0 percent of GDP in the 1990s. However, the continent became a net lender of resources to the world over the decade ending 2009. This sharp reversal from net inflows over the earlier two decades to net outflows over the last decade was mainly due to outflows associated with reserve accumulation, reflecting African countries’ desire to self-insure against financial crisis. The recorded outflows from Africa in the past decade were not evenly distributed across regions. They were largely driven by outflows from North Africa. Considering the period 2000-2009 alone, some US$30.4 billion per annum flowed out of Africa with 83 percent of such outflows originating from North Africa. Within Sub-Saharan Africa, the results from the NRecT Narrow measure were mixed. West and Central Africa experienced considerable outflows, which swamped resource transfers into other regions over the decade ending 2009. NRecT Narrow losses from the West and Central regions were mainly driven by outflows related to repayment of loans and trade credits, rather than reserve accumulation. The distribution of gains and losses of transfers among African countries was asymmetrical, resulting in a net loss of transfers from Africa. The top five countries that gained transfers (NRecT Narrow) over the period 1980-2009 are South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, and Cote d’Ivoire, while Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Botswana, and Egypt lost such transfers. The volume of transfers lost from the latter five countries far outstripped those gained by the former five. The broader measure of recorded transfers (NRecT Broad) alters the long-run developments in net recorded transfers owing to the impact of current and capital transfers (which principally include remittances and debt relief). Based on the broad measure, Africa’s transfers (NRecT Broad) increased from an average inflow of about US$27 billion per annum in the 1980s and 1990s before declining to US$8.7 billion in the last decade ending 2009. The broad measure does not show that Africa swung from net debtor to net creditor to the world in the 2000s mainly due to substantial current and capital transfers such as remittances, migrant transfers, debt forgiveness and write-offs, and other non-financial transfers which provided off-setting effects. Every region of Sub-Saharan Africa received resources on a net basis throughout the three decades, based on the broad measure of transfers, with the largest gains going to the West and Central Africa region. West and Central Africa received the most resources over the 30-year period, in terms of GDP, increasing from 5.2 percent of GDP per annum in the 1980s to 5.7 percent in the 1990s, before declining to 2.3 percent in the last decade. Recorded transfers were mainly driven by remittances and debt forgiveness, rather than net foreign direct investments. Country resource endowment matters when transfers are measured on a broad basis. For instance, non-fuel exporters came out ahead of fuel-exporters in attracting net recorded transfers measured on a broad basis. Debt-relief also helped low-income countries to recapture some of the resources. Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) experienced a modest increase in transfers over the three decades. On an average per annum inflation-adjusted basis, resource inflows to HIPC countries increased from US$14.0 billion in the 1980s to US$14.3 billion in the 1990s, before jumping to US$20.8 billion over the last decade ending 2009. North African countries dominated the top gainers over the 30-year period, based on broad categorization of net recorded transfers. Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, and Ghana were the top five gainers of broad-based recorded resource transfers over the 30-year period 1980-2009; Libya, Algeria, Gabon, Botswana, and Angola were the top five losers of recorded transfers. Illicit financial flows (IFFs) were the main driving force behind the net drain of resources from Africa of US$1.2 - 1.3 trillion on an inflation-adjusted basis. IFFs grew at a much faster pace over the 30-year period 1980-2009 than net recorded transfers, even accounting for the net inflows arising from the broad net recorded transfers. Illicit outflows were dominated by outflows from Sub-Saharan Africa, especially from West and Central Africa. Illicit outflows from Sub-Saharan Africa outstripped those from North Africa by over two times in nominal terms while in real terms, three African regions—West and Central Africa at US$494.0 billion (37 percent), North Africa at US$415.6 billion (31 percent), and Southern Africa at US$370.0 billion (27 percent)—account for 95 percent of total cumulative illicit outflows from Africa over the 30-year period. (See Chart 4 and Table 1). In terms of the volume of illicit financial flows, Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa led the regional outflows. In West and Central Africa, outflows were largely driven by Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, and Cote d’Ivoire in that order of magnitude while North Africa outflows were dominated by Egypt, Algeria, and Libya respectively. Outflows from Southern Africa were mainly driven by South Africa, Mauritius, and Angola. The study concludes by offering policy recommendations with respect to (i) initiatives to restrict the absorption of illicit financial flows, (ii) policies to curtail illicit financial outflows from Africa, and (iii) policies to boost net recorded transfers by improving the business climate. To ensure greater effectiveness, it is imperative that there is policy alignment between African countries and “absorbing” countries in addressing the issue of illicit financial flows.

Details: Tunis-Belvedère, Tunisia; African Development Bank: Washington, DC: Global Financial Integrity, 2013. 84p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 21, 2013 at: http://www.gfintegrity.org/storage/gfip/documents/reports/AfricaNetResources/gfi_afdb_iffs_and_the_problem_of_net_resource_transfers_from_africa_1980-2009-web.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Financial Crimes (Africa)

Shelf Number: 129037


Author: UN-Habitat

Title: Strategy Paper on Urban Youth in Africa: A Focus on the most vulnerable groups

Summary: This strategy paper has been developed in the context of UN-Habitat’s Safer Cities Programme, and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). It forms part of UN-Habitat’s work on urbanization, the inclusive city, the problems of urban youth, and issues of governance and youth participation. It is in keeping with the Millennium Development Goal of achieving a significant improvement in the lives of urban slum dwellers by 2020. Since the beginning of the 1990’s, the population of urban youth living in poverty, and youth crime and crime by minors in cities in the developing world have increased significantly. As part of the Safer Cities initiative, UN-Habitat has undertaken a number of exploratory surveys and studies in African cities which focus on the plight of youth in the correctional system, and those at risk of criminalization and victimization, such as street children. Through its Urban Management Programme, it has worked in collaboration with local partners on the development of youth junior councils and youth participatory mechanisms. In June 2002, in collaboration with the Government of South Africa, UN-Habitat initiated an international conference held in Nelson Mandela Metropole, on the development of citizenship among youth in conflict with the law in Africa. That conference brought together representatives of national governments, cities and municipalities, civil society organizations working with youth at risk, as well as youth leaders, criminal justice personnel, the research community and United Nations agencies. Its aim was to provide tools to support initiatives concerned with youth at risk, and young offenders, to elaborate a strategy on youth at risk, and to establish a network of cities and public and private organizations working with such youth. The conference resulted in a Declaration, and a Platform for Action, both of which focus both on the problems of the most vulnerable youth in African cities.

Details: Nairobi, Kenya: UN-Habitat, 2012. 87p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 21, 2013 at: http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/5647_23903_2472_altedit.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: At-Risk Youth (Africa)

Shelf Number: 129124


Author: Amnesty International

Title: Making Love a Crime: Criminalization of Same-Sex Conduct in Sub-Saharan Africa

Summary: This report provides an analysis of the legal environment and wider context of human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent years have seen increasing reports of people being harassed, marginalized, discriminated against and attacked because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. This is occurring in countries whose legal systems still condone the criminalization of consensual same-sex behaviour, and in countries where the police and justice systems are failing to prevent these crimes from happening. The continued criminalization of consensual same-sex conduct in 38 African countries is a serious cause for concern. The existence and implementation of these laws violates a raft of international and regional human rights norms, and serves to marginalize one group of Africans based on their sexual orientation and gender identity alone. The last decade has witnessed efforts in some sub-Saharan African countries to further criminalize LGBTI individuals by ostensibly targeting their behaviour, or to impose steeper penalties and broaden the scope of existing laws. Uganda has seen repeated attempts since 2009 to introduce the Anti-Homosexuality Bill - a bill which would seek to impose the death penalty for 'aggravated' homosexuality, and which would criminalize anyone in Uganda who does not report violations of the bill's wide-ranging provisions within 24 hours to authorities. South Sudan, on becoming independent in 2008, criminalized consensual same-sex conduct for women and men with up to 10 years' imprisonment. Burundi criminalized same-sex conduct for men and women in 2009 by revising the criminal code to outlaw 'sexual relations with someone of the same sex'. In 2011 and 2012, Nigeria and Liberia respectively introduced bills to toughen penalties for same-sex conduct. And Mauritania, northern regions of Nigeria, the southern region of Somalia and Sudan, retain the death penalty for the same. Laws criminalizing consensual same-sex conduct affect LGBTI Africans on a daily basis. In some countries, like Cameroon, individuals are regularly arrested after having been denounced to authorities as being gay or lesbian. Individuals are usually arrested, charged and sentenced without evidence of same-sex conduct, and sometimes invasive medical examinations are performed in an attempt to obtain 'evidence' of such. Even in countries where anti-homosexuality laws are not routinely implemented, the existence of the laws alone provide opportunities for abuse, including blackmail and extortion, both by police and by non-state actors. Furthermore, the existence of laws that criminalize one group of people based on who they are and who they (are presumed to) have consensual sex with, sends a message to the broader population that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is acceptable, and that human rights do not apply to LGBTI people. This creates an environment in which harassment, intimidation and violence against LGBTI people can flourish, and people can perpetrate such acts with impunity.

Details: London: Amnesty International, 2013. 125p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 28, 2013 at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/making_love_a_crime_-_africa_lgbti_report_emb_6.24.13_0.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Discrimination

Shelf Number: 129201


Author: Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation

Title: Countering Violent Extremism and Promoting Community Engagement in West Africa and the Sahel: An Action Agenda

Summary: On 18–19 April 2013, the governments of Burkina Faso and Denmark hosted a workshop in Ouagadougou on the subject of countering violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel. The workshop was hosted under the auspices of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) and its Sahel Region Capacity Building Working Group, which focuses on community engagement as one of its five workstreams. Convened by the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation (CGCC), the workshop brought together 141 participants from 27 countries, four regional and international organizations, and 28 civil society organizations, providing a forum for discussions that highlighted the drivers of violent extremism in the region and explored practical ways of addressing their impact on regional stability, security, and development. As the workshop participants noted, violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel is fueled by a combination of complex circumstances, including societal conflicts, intercommunal tensions, an underdeveloped sense of citizenship and national loyalty and identity, organized crime, illiteracy, and other challenges related to weak governance, inadequate justice systems, and insufficient service delivery. Violent extremists are exploiting these circumstances and creating what members of the UN Security Council have called an “arc of instability” spanning the Sahara and Sahel. In May 2013, the UN Security Council issued a statement on terrorism in the Sahel that recognized that “terrorism will not be defeated by military force or security forces, law enforcement measures, and intelligence operations alone” and underlined “the need to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, including, but not limited to, strengthening efforts for the successful prevention and peaceful resolution of prolonged conflicts, and also promoting the rule of law, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, good governance, tolerance and inclusiveness.” That statement highlights the need for concerted action from states, civil society, and international partners to work together to build trust with local communities and help them to counter violent extremism. There is no agreed definition of countering violent extremism (CVE) programming although it has been described as efforts to “prevent non-radicalized populations from becoming radicalized. The objective is to create individual and communal resilience against cognitive and/or violent radicalization through a variety of non-coercive means.” CVE programming can also focus on the need to reduce support for or active participation in violent extremist actions through noncoercive means. Therefore, the range of CVE and terrorism prevention programming and the practitioners involved is quite broad. Numerous actors, including bilateral donors, regional and international bodies, states in the region, and civil society organizations, are pursuing a wide range of activities that contribute to countering violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel. In many cases, CVE measures build on existing initiatives and policies to address violence and insecurity and promote good governance and development. By addressing conditions conducive to the spread of violent extremism, these measures can be understood as relevant to countering violent extremism without the need to explicitly label them as CVE measures. In the co-chair’s summary at the workshop’s conclusion, Danish Ambassador to Burkina Faso Bo Jensen highlighted four recurring themes that capture the range of CVE and CVE-relevant programming. 1. Empower local community, government, and traditional leaders to work on conflict prevention and resolution in a region that has been plagued by several prolonged conflicts. 2. Strengthen law enforcement, criminal justice, and security sector actors through training and technical assistance focusing on community engagement, the rule of law, and human rights. 3. Actively engage and support civil society at the regional and international level. 4. Identify and prevent violent extremism by addressing its structural and ideological drivers.5 Building on those four themes and other inputs collected from participants during the meeting, this Action Agenda outlines a range of proposed activities to enhance existing CVE-relevant efforts.

Details: Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, 2013. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 10, 2013 at: http://www.thegctf.org/documents/10299/44331/Action+Agenda+ENG.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Terrorism

Shelf Number: 129607


Author: International Fund for Animal Welfare

Title: Criminal Nature: The Global Security Implications of Illegal Wildlife Trade 2013

Summary: In 2008, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) embarked on an effort to fully understand the true nature of wildlife crime around the world. What we found was shocking, and we chronicled our findings in a report becoming one of the first organizations to assert that the illicit trade in wildlife could be a genuine and increasing threat to national and global security. Since that time, the international trade in endangered species has only grown, making the threat all the more real and menacing. Elephants were killed for their ivory in record numbers in 2011 and 2012, and some rhinoceros subspecies have become extinct or are on the verge of extinction. Rangers are regularly killed by poachers, and some of the world’s poorest countries continue to see their wildlife decimated for the black market in wild animals and parts. Meanwhile, the profits realized from the illegal trade in wildlife have surged to levels once reserved for legally traded precious metals. Criminal and violent groups around the world have become the main actors exploiting this global industry.

Details: Yarmouth Port, MA: IFAW, 2013. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: accessed August 22, 2013 at: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/IFAW-Criminal-Nature-global-security-illegal-wildlife-trade.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 129672


Author: Edwards, Louise

Title: Pre-Trial Justice in Africa: An Overview of the Use of Arrest and Detention, and Conditions of Detention

Summary: Arbitrary arrest and detention, and poor conditions of pre-trial detention are prevalent but underexamined areas of criminal justice practice and reform. Approximately 43.3% of detainees across Africa are pre-trial detainees, with statistics ranging from 7.9% of the total prison population in Namibia, to 88.7% in Libya. These statistics are unlikely to include detainees in police detention facilities, and may therefore be significantly higher. Pre-trial detainees often exist in the shadows of the criminal justice system, as their detention and treatment are not generally subject to the same levels of judicial and other oversight as sentenced prisoners. Overall, pre-trial detainees experience poorer outcomes than sentenced prisoners in relation to conditions of detention, the risk of torture and other ill-treatment, susceptibility to corruption, and experience conditions of detention that do not accord with the rights to life, humane treatment and the inherent dignity of the person. Pre-trial detention has a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable and marginalised, with pre-trial detainees more likely to be poor and without means to afford legal assistance or to post bail or bond. The over-use of pre-trial detention, and conditions of detention that do not accord with basic minimum standards, undermines the rule of law, wastes public resources and endangers public health. This study provides an overview of the challenges to achieving a rights-based approach to the use of arrest and detention by the police across Africa. It sets out the general principles of international law in relation to the procedural safeguards for arrest and detention and minimum standards for conditions of detention, and examines whether, and why, reports of arbitrary arrest and detention, and poor conditions of detention in police facilities persist across the African continent. The paper is structured as follows: - Part A: Introduction and methodology - Part B: The use of arrest - Part C: The use of pre-trial detention in police custody - Part D: Conditions of detention in police facilities - Part E: Conclusion and recommendations. The report concludes with a number of recommendations aimed at promoting a rights-based approach to arrest and detention. Specifically, it proposes that the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) use its mandate to 'formulate and lay down principles and rules' in relation to human rights to adopt a dedicated set of guidelines on pre-trial detention that promotes the implementation of a rights-based approach to arrest and detention across the continent.

Details: Mowbray, South Africa: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, 2013. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: APCOF Policy Paper no. 7: Accessed October 28, 2013 at: http://www.apcof.org/files/8412_Pretrial_TrialJustice_Overview_in_Africa.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arrest and Apprehension

Shelf Number: 131497


Author: Faull, Andrew

Title: Monitoring the Performance of Police Oversight Agencies

Summary: Since the early nineties there have been two important shifts in police oversight across and beyond Africa. The first is the introduction of independent, often investigation-driven bodies to oversee complaints against police agencies. The second has been the introduction of performance driven management strategies across the public service arena, including within police and oversight agencies. These have led to the regular collection and analysis of selected data in attempts to assess the performance of agencies against a set of predefined targets. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime recommends that all complaints against police are reported to an independent oversight agency whether that agency investigates the complaint or not. This allows for the agency to monitor complaints over time in order to identify patterns or underlying causes of misconduct. Subsequent analysis enables agencies to make informed recommendations to the police agencies they oversee and help them learn from their mistakes. Attention to data trends also helps an oversight agency to learn from and improve its own work. It is considered good practice for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) units within police oversight agencies to monitor key indicators and track progress based on these between less frequent large evaluations such as annual audits. By monitoring and analysing trends over time, oversight agencies position themselves to develop understanding of systemic challenges within police agencies. Data generated can help identify particular aspects of police work, particular stations or units, or geographical locations within police precincts that generate high numbers of complaints. Similarly, it can help oversight agencies better understand the experiences and challenges faced by their staff, and try to ameliorate these.

Details: Mowbray, South Africa: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, 2013. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: APCOF Policy Paper no. 8: Accessed October 28, 2013 at: http://www.apcof.org/files/185_MonitoringPerformanceofOversight.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Corruption

Shelf Number: 131499


Author: Global Witness

Title: Logging in the Shadows: How Vested Interests Abuse Shadow Permits to Evade Forest Sector Reforms

Summary: Systematic abuse of small, poorly regulated logging permits in Africa by companies, forest officials and politicians is undermining efforts to fight deforestation and keep illegal timber out of the EU, says a new report by Global Witness. The new report, Logging in the shadows, identifies a largely hidden pattern of abuse across Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana and Liberia, in which permits designed to promote small businesses and meet local needs are being allocated in their hundreds to industrial logging companies. These "shadow permits" open the door to highly lucrative, large-scale logging operations which bypass oversight by the authorities.

Details: London: Global Witness, 2013. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 13, 2013 at: http://www.globalwitness.org/sites/default/files/library/Shadow%20Permit%20Report%202013%20Final_Web_0.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Environmental Crime

Shelf Number: 131652


Author: MacQuarrie, Kerry L.D.

Title: Spousal Violence and HIV: Exploring the Linkages in Five Sub-Saharan African Countries

Summary: Over the past decade a consensus has been growing that intimate partner violence contributes to women's vulnerability to HIV. A diverse body of research has explored this association, mostly in the developing world. Studies based on women who present at health clinics often report a significantly higher prevalence of intimate partner violence among HIV-positive women compared with HIV-negative women. Moreover, six of seven studies using nationally representative samples reported a significant association between some form of violence and HIV status. The usual interpretation is that spousal violence increases the risk of HIV for women. Yet a direct effect on HIV status is unlikely, since there is no apparent direct causal pathway leading from most forms of spousal violence to the acquisition of HIV. This study contributes to an understanding of the relationship between spousal violence and HIV by taking advantage of data from both members of a couple and using discrete, nuanced measures of spousal violence to better specify the associated pathways through which violence influences HIV. We propose a gender-based conceptual framework in which the association between a woman's experience of spousal violence and her HIV status is mediated by two primary pathways: First, the HIV risk behaviors/factors of her husband and, second, her own behavioral and situational HIV risk factors. Both of these factors have been associated with violence experienced by women and perpetrated by men. This study uses data on married couples from six Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in five sub- Saharan countries: Kenya 2008-09, Malawi 2010, Rwanda 2005, Rwanda 2010, Zambia 2007, and Zimbabwe 2010-11. These surveys included HIV testing for both women and men and also the domestic violence module, thus providing a subsample of married or cohabiting couples by their experience of violence and their HIV status. We examine the direct or indirect linkages between spousal violence and women's HIV status. We also explore the association between spousal violence and wives' and husbands' HIV risk factors. Specifically, we include the following factors: lifetime number of sexual partners; STI or STI symptoms in the last 12 months; and for husbands only, non-marital sex in the past 12 months; having paid for sex; alcohol use; and husband's HIV status. We consider several forms of spousal violence (emotional, physical, and sexual violence) and husbands' controlling behaviors. In keeping with the conceptual framework, we develop a series of statistical analyses to test the direct effect of spousal violence on women's HIV status and the role of HIV risk factors as mediators. The results reveal a strikingly common structure of what constitutes violence across the five countries. Five factors emerge in each country: (1) suspicion, (2) isolation, (3) emotional violence, (4) physical violence, and (5) sexual violence. These five factors account for 57 to 66 percent of the variance among the items in each country. Our factor analysis upholds the validity of experts' assignment of the various acts of spousal violence to the categories of emotional, physical, or sexual violence. An important additional insight is that the six items typically categorized as controlling behavior actually represent not one construct, but two separate constructs-suspicion and isolation-which are distinct from emotional, physical, or sexual violence. The study finds a significant association between multiple forms of violence and women's HIV status, after adjusting for wives' and husbands' socio-demographic characteristics but not risk factors. Yet, no single form of spousal violence is consistently associated with women's HIV status in all five countries. A significant relationship is found with women's HIV status for the controlling behaviors suspicion and isolation in Zambia and Zimbabwe; for emotional violence in Kenya, Rwanda and Zimbabwe; for physical violence, in Kenya, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe; and in no country for sexual violence, the least prevalent form of violence among study couples. In Malawi no form of violence is associated with a wife's risk of having HIV. In all five countries both HIV risk factors for women - lifetime number of sexual partners and recent STI or STI symptoms - are significantly associated with their having HIV, after controlling for background characteristics but not for each other. Most of the spousal violence measures are associated with both wives' HIV risk factors in each country. The most prominent predictor of a woman's HIV status is her husband's HIV status, among all the men's factors considered. Numerous husbands' HIV risk factors are associated with their wives' HIV status, but far less consistently than either husbands' HIV status or women's risk factors. The association between the experience of spousal violence and husbands' risk factors, too, is weaker and less consistent than with women's risk factors. Nevertheless, multiple relationships between spousal violence and wives' and their husbands' risk factors on one hand, and between wives' and husbands' risk factors and women's HIV status on the other, suggest that there are several possible mediators between various forms of spousal violence and women's HIV status. Indeed, when either wives' risk factors or husbands' risk factors, or both combined, are added to our models, most spousal violence factors are no longer a significant predictor of women's HIV status. The only form of spousal violence that appears to have a direct net association with HIV is physical violence, which remains significant in all models in Kenya and Zimbabwe. For almost all forms of violence (physical violence being the exception) and in all five countries, any observed significant relationship of spousal violence with a woman's HIV status is explained away by wives' or husband's HIV risk factors. The study provides evidence that there is no direct effect of most forms of spousal violence on women's HIV status, only an indirect effect through selected behavioral and other factors commonly considered to put an individual at high risk of HIV. The finding that sexual violence is not associated with women's HIV status, even before considering any mediating risk factors, deserves further exploration. Similarly, investigation is warranted to ascertain why physical violence continues to be associated with women's HIV status after controlling for these risk factors.

Details: Calverton, MD: ICF International, 2013. 71p.

Source: Internet Resource: DHS Analytical Studies No. 36: Accessed November 13, 2013 at: http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/AS36/AS36.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Family Violence

Shelf Number: 131654


Author: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

Title: Status of African elephant populations and levels of illegal killing and the illegal trade in ivory: A report to the African Elephant Summit

Summary: The IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) works with the two CITES-mandated elephant monitoring systems: the programme for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), managed by the CITES Secretariat, and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), managed by TRAFFIC, to bring together updated and critical information and data on elephants, poaching and the illegal ivory trade in an integrated manner. Consolidated reports, including inputs on Asian elephants from the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, on legal ivory trade by UNEP-WCMC, and implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan, have been provided to the 61st and 62nd meeting of the Standing Committee to CITES. These updates, along with the 2013 report, "Elephants in the Dust" have provided comprehensive and up to date information to elephant conservationists, managers, and policy makers. This update includes data from 2012 on elephant populations, levels of illegal killing, and levels of illegal trade in ivory. The results of this analysis show that levels of poaching and the illegal ivory trade started to increase again in the mid-2000s, following an easing in the 1990s, the rate of increase jumping dramatically from 2009. The overall trend appears to be leveling off in 2012 compared to 2011, but at an unsustainably high level. The MIKE analysis suggests that 15,000 elephants were illegally killed at the 42 monitored MIKE sites in 2012. The estimated poaching rate of 7.4% in 2012 remains at an unsustainably high level, as it exceeds natural population growth rates (usually no more than 5%). Likewise, the ETIS analysis shows a slight leveling off in the bias-adjusted trend for illegal ivory in 2012. However, a number of countries have not yet reported their 2012 seizures. The overall weight and number of large-scale ivory seizures (more than 500kg) in 2013 exceeds any previous year in the ETIS data. These data have not been bias-adjusted, and the increase may reflect enhancement of law enforcement effort, or could signify an increase in overall levels of illegal trade. With the high levels of poaching being observed through the MIKE programme, the amount of illegal ivory in trade should be expected to remain high. Poverty and weak governance in elephant range States, together with demand for illegal ivory in consuming nations, are the three key factors identified by repeated MIKE analyses, including this one, as being most strongly associated with observed poaching trends. Monitoring of elephant populations, apart from at a few well-monitored sites, is sporadic and inconsistent. The low precision of most estimates makes it difficult to detect any immediate repercussion on elephant numbers in the short-term but this does not mean there are no changes. While it remains to be seen whether the situation is stabilizing, it is clear that international cooperation on law enforcement and public awareness is vital. Improved monitoring is also essential to allow informed decision-making. There is a need for continued and improved reporting to the MIKE and ETIS programmes, as well as improved and more frequent monitoring of elephant populations, including carcass counts wherever possible. The new annual reporting requirement for CITES Parties to provide information on national ivory stockpiles will also provide much-needed information.

Details: Geneva: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), 2013. 21p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2014 at

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 131773


Author: Prison Reform International

Title: Alternatives to Imprisonment in East Africa: Trends and challenges

Summary: Prison overcrowding is a serious problem in East Africa. The occupancy rate of prisons in Tanzania is over 145 percent and in Kenya and Uganda it is over 200 percent. The congestion is caused in large part by the excessive use of pre-trial detention: approximately half of those detained at any one time are awaiting justice. Congestion is also caused by the imposition of short terms of imprisonment. A significant number of people, most of whom are living in poverty, are sentenced to prison for a few weeks or even days for offences such as using abusive language, operating a small business without a valid licence, the possession of illicit 'liquor' or simple theft.

Details: London: Prison Reform International, 2012. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2014 at

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Alternatives to Incarceration (East Africa)

Shelf Number: 131780


Author: Tranchant, Jean-Pierre

Title: Making the Urban Poor Safer: Lessons from Nairobi and Maharashtra

Summary: Mumbai and Nairobi have acutely unequal urban development, with respectively 40 per cent and 60 per cent of their urban population living in slums. The most impoverished neighbourhoods are characterised by severe lack of service provision and poor access to employment opportunities. Urban violence is deeply rooted in the multiple vulnerabilities experienced by slum-dwellers, such as lack of steady income, lack of access to amenities and lack of connection to state resources. Yet security provision fails to address violence in this broader social and economic context, while efforts at tackling urban vulnerability often do not address its links with violence and physical insecurity. Issues of under-policing, unemployment or lack of services that shape urban violence are ultimately intertwined with the difficulty faced by slum-dwellers to interact with state authorities. Formal and informal policies need to take these local realities into account while building on local experience of what works best to reduce vulnerability and minimise violence.

Details: Brighton, UK; Institute of Development Studies, 2013. 4p.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Briefing, Issue 47: Accessed January 31, 2014 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3273/PB47%20Final%20Online.pdf;jsessionid=01A352FF603589CC46DBFBAB47B1F49B?sequence=1

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fear of Crime

Shelf Number: 131814


Author: Kartas, Moncef

Title: On the Edge? Trafficking and Insecurity at the Tunisian-Libyan Border

Summary: Tunisia, Libya, and much of the Arab world are in the midst of political and social upheaval widely known as the 'Arab Spring-. Thus far, the tidal wave of change that began in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid on 17 December 2010 has led to the end of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year dictatorship and to the fall of fellow dictator Muammar Qaddafi in Libya, while also setting off government transformations and conflict across the region. The revolutions in Tunisia and Libya have not only changed the political landscapes in both countries, but also affected the informal networks and ties that have long characterized the shared border region of the two nations: the Jefara. Indeed, the revolution in each country has profoundly affected the other and will probably continue to do so. With this understanding, this report investigates how the Libyan armed conflict and its aftermath have affected the security situation in Tunisia, particularly in light of the circulation of firearms and infiltrations by armed groups. As the circulation of Libyan small arms and light weapons in Tunisia cannot be adequately understood without a closer look at the tribal structures behind informal trade and trafficking networks in the border region, this report examines how the Libyan revolution affected such structures in the Jefara. This Working Paper presents several key findings: - Despite the weakening of the Tunisian security apparatus and the ongoing effects of the armed conflict in Libya, the use of firearms connected to crime and political violence has remained relatively low in Tunisia. Even in light of recent assassinations of two prominent leftist politicians and regular armed clashes between violent extremists, the military, and security forces on the AlgerianTunisian border, the use of firearms remains the exception rather than the rule. - In Tunisia, firearms trafficking currently exists in the form of small-scale smuggling. However, larger smuggling operations have been discovered and tied to Algeria-based violent extremist networks-such as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb-which have infiltrated the country. - Since the 1980s, tribal cartels have been in control of informal trade and trafficking in the Jefara. Their continued control rests on the cartels' strategic stance, informal agreements with the government, and their ability to withstand new, Libya-based competitors (both tribal and militia-based).

Details: Geneva: Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of international and Development Studies, 2013. 68p.

Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper no. 17: Accessed April 19, 2014 at: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/F-Working-papers/SAS-WP17-Tunisia-On-the-Edge.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Conflict

Shelf Number: 132077


Author: Reitano, Tuesday

Title: People's Perspectives of Organised Crime in West Africa and the Sahel

Summary: This study assesses community perceptions about illicit trafficking and organised crime in West Africa and the Sahel. Focus groups were conducted in Mali, Niger and Guinea-Bissau. For many of these communities, trafficking and migration are resilience strategies employed in the face of weak governance, corruption, food insecurity and conflict. Communities broadly did not recognise economically motivated trafficking to be criminal acts, although they acknowledged the negative impact of their growing reliance on criminal economies. The discussion groups portrayed a self-reinforcing cycle of poverty, crime and disenfranchisement. Regardless of their frustration with the state, participants highlighted a desire to see their states strengthened to play a positive role in their lives. The study offers new perspectives on the challenges of conflict, governance and state fragility across these regions, and a range of suggestions are proposed.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2014. 20p.

Source: Internet Resource: Paper 254: Accessed April 24, 2014 at: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Paper254.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illicit Trafficking

Shelf Number: 132163


Author: Vira, Varun

Title: Ivory's Curse: The Militarization and Professionalization of Poaching in Africa

Summary: It has been a quarter century since Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) placed all African elephants on Appendix I, thus eliminating commercial trade in elephant ivory. This uniform global prohibition on ivory commercialization demonstrably reduced elephant poaching, helped elephant populations to stabilize, dried up some ivory markets, and essentially made it taboo to acquire elephant ivory. All elephant ivory is bloody ivory. Since then, some southern African countries, namely Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, have relentlessly pursued the reopening of the ivory trade. After exerting significant political pressure, they have succeeded in securing sales of stockpiled ivory to China and Japan. This inexplicable backpedal on the international ivory trade ban has stimulated markets, demand, and ultimately elephant poaching, to supply the trade. Download Ivory's Curse Report Download Acrobat PDF The bloody ivory trade was renewed. In recent years, however, it has been revealed that significant criminal syndicates and organized terrorist gangs have engaged in elephant poaching to acquire ivory, which they sell for arms to ply their deadly activities. Born Free USA, seeking an accurate and complete picture of the depths of this nefarious activity, commissioned C4ADS and its expert defense analysts to examine the military, national security, and localized conflict aspects of elephant poaching and the ivory trade to reveal, in detail, the threats to elephants across Africa. Ivory's Curse: The Militarization and Professionalization of Poaching in Africa was released April 21, and its findings are truly alarming. - From Sudan, government-allied militias complicit in the Darfur genocide fund their operations by poaching elephants hundreds of miles outside North Sudan's borders. - In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, state security forces patronize the very rebels they are supposed to fight, providing them with weapons and support in exchange for ivory. - Zimbabwean political elites, including those under international sanction, are seizing wildlife spaces that either are, or are likely to soon be, used as covers for poaching operations. - In East Africa, al-Shabaab and Somali criminal networks are profiting off of Kenyan elephants killed by poachers using weapons leaked from local security forces. - Mozambican organized crime has militarized and consolidated to the extent that it is willing to battle the South African army and well-trained ranger forces for rhino horn. - In Gabon and the Republic of Congo, ill-regulated forest exploitation is bringing East Asian migrant laborers, and East Asian organized crime, into contact with Central Africa's last elephants. - In Tanzania, political elites have aided the industrial-scale depletion of East Africa's largest elephant population. Born Free USA will use this significant, timely, and shocking report to encourage legislators, conservation authorities, and defense agencies to focus their attention, resources, and efforts on the elephant poaching hotspots we've identified, and exert appropriate pressure at all levels to stop the bloody ivory trade. The scourge of elephant poaching has reached crisis - historically shocking - levels, with an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 elephants poached per year. As a result, certain populations of African elephants are now vulnerable to extinction and may not withstand these poaching thresholds much longer. And, when these elephants disappear, if ivory markets are not eliminated, demand will lead poaching operations further south, attacking the southern African elephant populations, as well. Immediate, robust, and unequivocal action is required if we are to beat back the elephant murderers and ivory profiteers. The brutality of elephant poaching - entire families gunned down, individual animals' faces sawed in two to extract the coveted ivory tusks - should be enough to persuade a global crackdown on the ivory trade. But, the Born Free USA-commissioned Ivory's Curse adds substantial firepower to the argument, and should end the debate. This report should convince anyone who cares about elephants - or the people who are similarly subjected to violence and bloodshed - that the bloody ivory trade must end, once and for all.

Details: Washington, DC: Born Free, 2014. 104p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2014 at: http://www.bornfreeusa.org/downloads/pdf/Ivorys-Curse-2014.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 132183


Author: Anderson, Bradley

Title: Wildlife Poaching: Africa's Surging Trafficking Threat

Summary: Surging demand for ivory and rhino horn, mainly in Asia, has put wild African elephants and rhinoceroses on the path to extinction. More than an environmental tragedy, however, wildlife poaching and trafficking has exacerbated other security threats and led to the co-option of certain African security units. African states need to develop a broad range of law enforcement capabilities to tackle what is effectively a transnational organized crime challenge. Asian and other international partners, meanwhile, must take action to reduce runaway demand for wildlife products.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2014. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 28: Accessed May 7, 2014 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/AfricaBriefFinal_28.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 132269


Author: Reitano, Tuesday

Title: Smuggled Futures: The dangerous path of the migrant from Africa to Europe

Summary: In October 2013, Italy captured international headlines when a boat, carrying hundreds of asylum seekers sunk off its coast, killing over 360 people. The incident reflects the tremendous increase in African migration to Europe in recent years, in part due to the Arab Spring. While Africans have been migrating to Europe for decades, the instability across North Africa and the Sahel, coupled with the erosion of Libya's capacity to control its own borders, has resulted in an unprecedented surge of migrants to Italy in recent years. This surge shows no signs of subsiding. The decision to migrate may be fuelled by a multitude of motivations. Africa has the fastest population growth rate in the world, and although the continent is making momentous economic gains, it has broadly failed to translate these gains into sustainable livelihoods for its youth. Social and economic disparities, conflict, and crime in several countries throughout the continent, many Africans seek out new opportunities across the Mediterranean. It is estimated that in 80 percent of these cases, the journey is "facilitated" by migrant smugglers and criminal groups that who provides a range of services such as transportation, fraudulent identification, corruption of border officials and settlement services. Smugglers in transit countries coordinate with smugglers in source countries to act as guides, escorting individuals across the Sahara Desert, heading towards the coast. Although some smuggling networks are organized criminal structures, many are loosely linked chains of individuals, which make it challenging for authorities to dismantle. Three main smuggling routes characterize the irregular migration to Italy and beyond. The first is the Western route, for which the main source countries are Mali, the Gambia and Senegal. The Western route often connects in the Sahel with the Central Route, for which the source countries are Nigeria, Ghana and Niger. Finally, there is the Eastern route, which sources from Somalia, Eritrea and Darfur in South Sudan, and which tends to cut north through Sudan and Egypt and then along the northern coast of Africa. All of these routes converge in the Maghreb, and in recent years mostly in Libya, for the sea crossing to Italy. The cost of a trip to Italy averages several thousands of dollars, depending on the distance and difficulty of the route, the level of institutional control over the route and on the transit and destination countries' response to the migrants' arrival. It may take years to complete, as many remain in transit hubs along their route to work to afford the next leg of their trip. As a result, many migrants are "stuck" in towns along the way to the coast. In addition to exorbitant prices, migrants endure perilous conditions. As they make their way to the Mediterranean coast, migrants are often travel in overcrowded trucks, facing starvation and thirst before even reaching the coast. Once they reach the Mediterranean, people are packed into boats set for Europe, often embarking without enough fuel to make it to Italy. All too often, migrants drown. If migrants do arrive in Italy, their reception is less than favourable. Many are sent back to Africa. Given the exponential rise of irregular migrants and the humanitarian crises that accompany their failed attempts to reach European shores, EU states, including Italy, are under a growing pressure to restructure and align their immigration and asylum policies and practices. Current efforts to limit migration have only succeeded in shifting migration routes, forcing many seeking refuge to take more dangerous, riskier routes to Europe. Finding solutions to the problem of unmanaged migration cannot be limited to Italian border control but require regional cooperation in both Europe and Africa with governments addressing the root causes of mass migration.

Details: Geneva, SWIT: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2014. 35p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 16, 2014 at: http://www.globalinitiative.net/download/global-initiative/Global%20Initiative%20-%20Migration%20from%20Africa%20to%20Europe%20-%20May%202014.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Asylum Seekers

Shelf Number: 132466


Author: Madsen, Jens Vestergaard

Title: The State of Maritime Piracy 2013

Summary: This report is the latest in a series by Oceans Beyond Piracy tracking the economic and human costs of maritime piracy. For the past three years, OBP has attempted to model the overall impact of Somali piracy on the global economy and on people affected by piracy. In this report, we look at the impact of piracy in 2013. Trends in maritime piracy and armed robbery at sea in 2013 represent a continuation and in some cases an acceleration of issues marked by observers in 2012. The decline in piracy off the coast of Somalia continued, as did attacks, kidnapping, and violence associated with piracy off the West Coast of Africa. Alongside these shifts, the use of armed security aboard ships in the Indian Ocean continued. In recognition of these trends, this report represents an expansion of the scope of the research offered by Oceans Beyond Piracy. Acknowledging the changing face of maritime piracy, this year's report extends the geographic focus of our research to include West African piracy, and compiles both the economic and human costs into one omnibus report. As with previous years, the numbers presented here represent a good-faith effort by Oceans Beyond Piracy and our partners to provide an estimate of the scope and impact of maritime piracy on the maritime community and the other stakeholders impacted by these crimes. Practically, this estimate is limited because of serious challenges relating to the availability of good data on the scope of the problem. This is particularly true in considering piracy and armed robbery at sea off the West Coast of Africa, where the multinational reporting systems supported as a part of the joint effort to address Somali piracy are largely absent. As a result, the information presented here should be considered a studied estimate of the impacts of piracy rather than a definitive and precise report. We welcome comments and constructive suggestions on how to improve our methods used, and as with previous years we have incorporated responses to prior reports into the methods used in this report. Structure of the Report This year's report is broken into four sections. First, we present an overview of what our research has identified as the number of attacks and other key aspects of piracy in 2013. Second, we review the economic and human costs of piracy off the horn of Africa. Third, we do the same for the West Coast of Africa. Finally, we address some of the long-term impacts of piracy.

Details: Broomfield, CO: Oceans Beyond Piracy, 2014. 115p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 17, 2014 at: http://oceansbeyondpiracy.org/sites/default/files/attachments/SoP2013-Digital_0.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Robbery Against Ships

Shelf Number: 132481


Author: Bergenas, Johan

Title: Killing Animals, Buying Arms: Setting the Stage for Collaborative Solutions to Poaching and Wildlife Crime

Summary: Killing Animals, Buying Arms: Setting the Stage for Collaborative Solutions to Poaching + Wildlife Crime," outlines a path forward to combat the serious threat posed by poaching and wildlife crime to international security and economic development. The report, written by Johan Bergenas, deputy director of the Managing Across Boundaries Initiative, is based on ongoing work that Stimson is conducting in East Africa on a wide range of transnational security challenges. This report offers the following recommendations: -- Launching programs in partnership with regional actors against poaching and other wildlife crime, along with improved coordination of U.S. and international security and development assistance. -- Improving cooperation and coordination between government agencies and groups focused on conservation, development and security to fight poaching and wildlife crime. "New partnerships can and should emerge, and resources and know-how can be leveraged within and between governments as defense and homeland security departments, environmental departments, aid organizations, law enforcement agencies and other organizations find unchartered common ground," the report says. -- Using advanced statistical methods and cutting-edge data analysis to map the illicit trade in animal parts worldwide. This would help governments and organizations work together across borders to better understand how poachers operate, making it easier to put the wildlife criminals out of business. -- Increasing work with private sector technology firms to find new and innovative approaches to protect wildlife - including sensors, radars, drones and better training for park and security officials. In recent years, roughly 60,000 elephants and over 1600 rhinos have been slaughtered by poachers. The illegal wildlife trade is a $19 billion/year industry - larger than the illicit trafficking of small arms, diamonds, gold and oil. Some reports suggest that up to forty percent of the funding for terrorism operations is now coming from the illegal wildlife trade.

Details: Washington, DC: Stimson, 2014. 16p.

Source: http://www.stimson.org/images/uploads/research-pdfs/killing_animals_buying_arms_WEB.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 132485


Author: Schultze-Kraft, Markus

Title: Getting Real About an Illicit 'External Stressor': Transnational Cocaine Trafficking through West Africa

Summary: Concerns over West Africa's increasingly prominent role as transhipment point of South American cocaine en route to Europe are mounting. Gathering pace in the mid-2000s, large-scale drug trafficking has been associated with recent episodes of political instability and violence in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Mali. It is also perceived as a serious threat to democratic institutions, governance and development in other, more stable countries of the region, such as Ghana; and as potentially contributing to reversing the hard-won end to the armed conflicts that ravaged Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau and Cote d'Ivoire in the 1990s and 2000s. Yet it is crucial to recognise that cocaine trafficking through West Africa has thus far not resulted in levels of violence comparable to those witnessed in several Latin American drug source and transit countries. The big policy challenge for West Africa is therefore not to curb the flow of cocaine through the region in order to reduce trafficking-related violence, but to effectively tackle the negative impacts - both existing and potential - of the illegal trade on governance and development in the region's weak, unstable and impoverished states. Conventional drug control strategies, oriented towards law enforcement, are not well suited to help with this. Bold new policy responses are called for.

Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2014. 46p.

Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report no. 72: Accessed June 18, 2014 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3966/ER72%20Getting%20Real%20About%20an%20Illicit%20External%20Stressor%20Transnational%20Cocaine%20Trafficking%20Through%20West%20Africa.pdf?sequence=1

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cocaine

Shelf Number: 132504


Author: World Bank

Title: Pirate Trails: Tracking the Illicit Financial Flows from Piracy off the Horn of Africa

Summary: It is estimated that US$339 million to US$413 million was claimed in ransoms between April 2005 and December 2012 for pirate acts off the Horn of Africa. Twenty-first century piracy in this region has developed as a violent criminal act, which not only affects the victims but also has an impact on the region and the global economy. Chapter two describes the context and audience for the study; explains the study's methodological framework, including information on what data sources were available; and identifies the challenges in undertaking the study. Chapter three provides background on the issues of pirate activities off the coast of Somalia and the Horn of Africa, and defines the problem of piracy and its origins. Section two then focuses on understanding the financial flows with respect to piracy activities. Chapter four looks at the ransoms paid to pirates, starting with negotiations of the ransoms and the volume of money involved. Then chapter five focuses on the distribution of proceeds from piracy to the various actors involved in supporting or carrying out pirate activities. Chapter six explores the ways in which proceeds are moved in and out of Somalia. Chapter seven looks at how the financiers invest their proceeds. Following this analysis, chapter eight focuses specifically on investment by piracy financiers in the khat business and real estate. In the final section three, chapter nine of the study concludes with suggested areas for policy and operational engagement within the region and beyond.

Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013. 106p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/16196

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 131623


Author: Oosterom, Marjoke A.

Title: 'It May Approach as Quickly as a Bushfire': Gendered Violence and Insecurity in South Sudan

Summary: The report describes forms of gendered violence at the local level in an insecure state. In post-civil war South Sudan, citizens experience a deep sense of insecurity due to actual incidents of violence in their home areas and to reports they hear about violent conflict elsewhere in the country. This sense of insecurity is exacerbated by the lack of protection from the state and the perceived injustice in the national political settlement. In response to this sense of insecurity, citizens develop protection strategies based on local institutions. These strategies are mainly developed by men. Though women are excluded from the institutions that govern security arrangements, they exercise subtle forms of agency to influence local institutions.

Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2014. 68p.

Source: Internet Resource: IDS Research Report No. 78: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3957/RR78.pdf;jsessionid=BB5D6A1B9E29683AE2C242C949081B69?sequence=1

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Gender-Related Violence

Shelf Number: 132507


Author: West Africa Commission on Drugs

Title: Not Just in Transit: Drugs, the State and Society in West Africa

Summary: This report examines the increase in drug trafficking and consumption in West Africa and their impact on the state and on society. It concludes with recommendations on how the region can respond humanely, effectively and preemptively to these problems. In an increasingly interconnected world, West Africa has become an attractive destination for transnational organized crime. Drug cartels have collaborated with local partners to turn the region into a significant transit route to Europe and North America for illicit drugs produced in South America and Asia. West Africa has long produced cannabis, mainly for local consumption, but is now also becoming a producer and exporter of synthetic drugs such as amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS). The drugs trade is currently valued at hundreds of millions of dollars in West Africa, a region where the majority of the countries are still among the poorest in the world. The growth in drug trafficking comes as the region is emerging from years of political conflict and, in some countries, prolonged violence. This instability has left a legacy of fragile state institutions and weak criminal justice systems that are vulnerable to infiltration and corruption by organized crime, and are hard pressed to keep up with the quickly adapting skills of the traffickers. The growth of trafficking has been accompanied by increasing local consumption of illicit drugs. In the absence of reliable data, it is not possible to report exactly how many people are affected and how many of those who use drugs are dependent. But there is little doubt that consumption is increasing and that the region is neither prepared nor equipped to deal with the problem.

Details: Geneva SWIT: Kofi Annan Foundation, 2014. 64p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 20, 2014 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/WACD_report_June_2014_english.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Cartels

Shelf Number: 132535


Author: Baker, Raymond

Title: Hiding in Plain Sight: Trade Misinvoicing and the Impact of Revenue Loss in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda: 2002-2011

Summary: Illicit flows of capital through developing countries due to trade misinvoicing is one of the most pressing challenges facing policymakers in these countries. The global figure for illicit financial outflows from developing countries is approximately $542 billion per year on average (over a 10-year time series), and trade misinvoicing makes up close to 80 percent of this or $424 billion. Capital flight, facilitated by a global network of secrecy jurisdictions and complex, opaque corporate and account structures, robs governments and societies of needed revenue for domestic investment in the private sector, infrastructure development, and the provision of vital social services. This translates into lost opportunities, lost jobs, and lost potential. This study explores the economic and the policy side of the issue of trade misinvoicing using case studies of Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda. Data on illicit flows for these five countries demonstrate the varying magnitudes, sources, and consequences of trade misinvoicing at the country level and provide hope and warning to other developing countries. We find that trade misinvoicing is a significant source of illicit outflows and inflows of capital in each country, resulting in billions of dollars of lost investment and hundreds of millions of dollars in unrealized domestic resource mobilization. The sources of trade misinvoicing varied across the cases, as did the policy environment in which this misinvoicing occurs. However, we also find significant facets of this issue that apply to all the countries, particularly with regards to customs invoice review procedures and access to on-the-spot information. These challenges represent opportunities for the five countries to improve their economic systems and accountability mechanisms through greater transparency.

Details: Washington, DC: Global Financial Integrity, 2014. 72p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 26, 2014 at: http://www.gfintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Hiding_In_Plain_Sight_Report-Final.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corporate Crime

Shelf Number: 132540


Author: Gupte, Jaideep

Title: Understanding 'Urban Youth' and the Challenges they Face in Sub-Saharan Africa: Unemployment, Food Insecurity and Violent Crime

Summary: Much of Africa is urbanising fast and its young population is projected to constitute the largest labour force in the world. While urbanisation can be linked closely with economic development, we also know that it is the least developed countries that have younger populations than the rest of the world. This duality implies that understanding the nature of risks and vulnerabilities faced by urban youth, how they are impacted by them, as well as how they respond to and may be resilient against them, continue to be important questions for furthering development in sub-Saharan Africa. A key conceptual debate surrounds how the category of 'youth' is understood, as several definitions of the term exist, ranging from age bands to social or cultural framings. In this paper we look to review how the various definitions of 'youth' relate to three dominant discourses about poverty and vulnerability in urbanising Africa: (1) food insecurity; (2) unemployment/joblessness; and (3) violence/insecurity. By doing so, we seek to identify if and when these are responsive to youth needs and practical in terms of policy efforts aiming to reduce poverty and vulnerability in urban areas.

Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2014. 26p.

Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report no. 81: Accessed July 3, 2014 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/4122/ER81%20Understanding%20Urban%20Youth%20and%20the%20Challenges%20they%20face%20in%20Sub-Saharan%20Africa%20Unemployment,%20Food%20Insecurity%20and%20Violent%20Crime.pdf;jsessionid=04480EA1517A659737664826FCEF0713?sequence=1

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Juvenile Delinquency

Shelf Number: 132615


Author: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Title: Unholy Alliances: Organized Crime in Southern Africa

Summary: This report is drawn from a seminar in March 2014, hosted by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. The seminar brought together 20 experts from think tanks, NGOs, independent journalists, academia and the private sector who are working on organized crime in the countries of Southern Africa. Under Chatham House rules, the participants shared their experience and insights through a series of case studies and discussion over two days. The objective of the meeting was to serve as a platform to better understand and assess the way that organized crime is engaging with governance, democracy, statehood, human security and development. By bringing together policymakers, practitioners and analysts dealing with these challenges, the Global Initiative hopes to develop a working network among relevant actors and share information that, in turn, can translate into more effective strategies to combat transnational organized crime in the region, or potentially more broadly. The meeting was the first such effort by the Global Initiative and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation to examine the organized crime challenges of a specific region, and part of a vision to host similar regional meetings across Africa and in other zones of fragility. While the experiences, trajectories and contexts of each country, and the prevalent organized crime flows and structures with which it is grappling are different, a number of key themes emerged over the course of the meeting. Evolution of organized crime in post-colonial Africa: Participants noted that while organized crime and corruption have been a feature of statehood in Africa before and since decolonisation, the scope and scale of the problem are now at unprecedented levels. Efforts to promote stability, state consolidation and development all require dealing explicitly with organized crime and its impacts. Defining organized crime in Africa: Longstanding controversies of the relevance of organized crime to the African context have stymied an effective understanding of the significant growth of the phenomenon on the continent. Analytical tools that focus excessively on using seizure data to capture the extent and nature of criminal flows have overlooked the ways in which organized crime impacts on citizens and the state, which is essential in an African context. There remains a dearth of tools and resources available to assess, prioritise and address key issues, and while organized crime continues to evolve, our capacity for analysis, policymaking and program design lag behind.

Details: Geneva, SWIT: The Initiative, 2014. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 9, 2014 at: http://www.globalinitiative.net/download/global-initiative/Global%20Initiative%20-%20Unholy%20Alliances%20-%20Organized%20Crime%20in%20Southern%20Africa%20-%20June%202014.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 132634


Author: Allouche, Jeremy

Title: Cross-border Violence as an External Stress: Policy Responses to Cross-border Dynamics on the Border between Cte dIvoire and Liberia

Summary: One of the key issues identified in the new policy literature on external stress is the incidence of cross-border violence and the current lack of efficient and permanent mechanisms supported by international organisations, governments and civil society to deal with the violence. The focus of this research is the border region between Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia. The protracted violence which has affected the region for many years stems from the internal conflicts which afflicted both countries at different times, and which had regional dynamics and implications. Western Cote d'Ivoire acted as a proxy battleground in the first Liberian civil war (1989-96), and the region is the birthplace of the military and political crisis that affected Cote d'Ivoire from 2002 onwards. An inaccessible and neglected region, it has acted as a training ground and base for rebel groups and security forces, and it is local people who have borne the brunt of the insecurity. In 2012-13 the region experienced a resurgence of cross-border violence linked to the 2011 electoral and political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire. Some accuse the political elite loyal to former Cote d'Ivoire president, Laurent Gbagbo, who are based in Ghana, of funding military incursions by militants and Liberian partners in the west of Cote d'Ivoire to destabilise the region. Animosity between different communities and the limited capacity of security forces to provide safety to the people perpetuates the precarious situation.

Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2014. 34p.

Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report No. 77: Accessed July 11, 2014 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/4026/ER77%20Cross-border%20Violence%20as%20an%20External%20Stress%20%20Policy%20Responses%20to%20Cross-border%20Dynamics%20on%20the%20Border%20between%20Cte%20dIvoire%20and%20Liberia.pdf?sequence=1

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Security

Shelf Number: 132662


Author: Csete, Joanne

Title: Telling the Story of Drugs in West Africa: The newest front in a losing war?

Summary: Key Points - The emergence of significant drug trafficking routes in West Africa, particularly of cocaine from Latin America to European markets, has drawn a great deal of attention from global drug authorities, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the government of the United States, which sees West Africa as a setting for replicating drug-control interventions used in Latin America. - UNODC and US reports have used limited data on drug seizures, drug consumption and drug-related terrorism in West Africa to weave a narrative of a region 'under attack' by unscrupulous drug dealers and seized by rapidly increasing problematic drug use. - These authorities sometimes admit that these data are sketchy, but they nonetheless use this information to make broad generalisations about the urgent need for more policing and other 'drug war' measures. - Though the link between drug trafficking and terrorism in West Africa is not very well established, the US also energises its arguments for repressive drug interventions in West Africa by highlighting this connection. - West Africa undoubtedly has significant drug-related problems that merit an energetic response. - It is, however, legitimate to question whether the hyped-up narrative that has been constructed of a lethal problem is meant to justify placement of military, surveillance and anti-terrorism hardware and software in the region at a time when the US-led 'war on drugs' is losing support within many Latin American countries. Rather than the simple replication of often harmful and ineffective policy interventions applied in Latin America, the response to illicit drugs in West Africa should benefit from a careful reflection about what has and has not worked in other parts of the world.

Details: Swansea, Wales, UK: Swansea University, Global Drug Policy Observatory, 2013. 18p.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief 1: Accessed July 31, 2014 at: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/GDPO%20West%20Africa%20digital.pdf%20FINAL.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 132855


Author: Emmert, James A.

Title: Poaching and counterpoaching in Sub-Saharan Africa : a strategy for engagement, development, and protection

Summary: The purpose of this thesis is to define the poaching problem in sub- Saharan Africa, to provide for the development of solutions, and to illustrate the significance of the problem to both Africa and the United States. This objective is achieved by illustrating the similarities between poaching and insurgency, developing a typology for the classification of different forms of poaching, and applying an insurgency/counterinsurgency model to these scenarios. Additionally, by addressing the negative effects poaching has on economic, political, and social issues we demonstrate that poaching is a problem that extends beyond the loss of selected animal species. Through the application of our model to actual cases of poaching, we demonstrate the utility of drawing upon insurgency theory for providing solutions to the poaching problem. As a result, this thesis offers an atypical approach for systematically conceptualizing and implementing effective counter-poaching strategies. After developing a framework for analytically thinking about the poaching problem, we make recommendations regarding the role of specific US forces within a comprehensive strategy of engagement. Finally, we comment on the importance of defining strategies whose methods of implementation are aligned with the desires, limitations, and capabilities of the host nation.

Details: Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, 1997. 79p.

Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed August 6, 2014 at: http://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/8826

Year: 1997

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 132900


Author: WildAid

Title: Rhino Horn Demand

Summary: The rhinoceros has existed for over 50 million years, and modern rhino species have been in existence for over 15 million years. Many rhino species are extinct, and only five species remain today. Today, the global rhino population has fallen from an estimated 75,000 in the early 1970s to less than 30,000. Several hundred thousand rhinos once roamed across Africa. Between 1970 and 1995, the black rhino population declined from 65,000 to 2,410. All rhino species are critically endangered, except the Southern White Rhino subspecies, which recovered from less than 100 in the early 1900s to 20,400 individuals today.

Details: San Francisco, CA: WildAid, 2014. 7p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 12, 2014 at: http://www.wildaid.org/sites/default/files/resources/WEBReportRhinoHornDemand2014.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 133025


Author: KidsRights

Title: Minors Not Miners. Hazardous Child Labour, with a focus on gold mining in Burkina Faso

Summary: An estimated 115 million children from 5 to 17 years old work in hazardous conditions across the world. Hazardous child labour is classed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as one of the worst forms of child labour. The ILO describes it as "work in dangerous or unhealthy conditions that could result in a child being killed, or injured and/or made ill as a consequence of poor safety and health standards and working arrangements". The ILO estimates that some 22,000 children are killed at work every year. Those who survive can develop health problems later in life due to poor working conditions while their bodies and minds are still growing and developing. They also suffer from the lack of an education, as few manage to attend school when working long hours in harsh conditions. The ILO has set the minimum age for hazardous work at 18, a convention which has been ratified by 166 member countries including Burkina Faso. Poverty is one of the main drivers of hazardous child labour. Families are left with no other choice but to send their children to work. Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world, suffering from recurring droughts. It was drought which first forced families into gold mining in 1980, and the gold rush spread quickly. Gold has now become Burkina Faso's number one export commodity, and small-scale mining sites are to be found throughout the country, employing children as young as six years old. Small-scale artisanal mining is difficult to monitor or regulate. Small groups or families find a remote site and start digging; it's low-tech and illegal. The smaller the operation, the more likely it is to involve children. Because of their size and agility, they are useful in the narrow tunnels and shafts underground. They're cheap to employ, and don't ask questions or stand up for their rights. Working in hot, cramped goldmines leaves children with serious respiratory conditions, hearing and sight problems, and joint disorders. Exposure to mercury can lead to serious physical and neurological disorders. Temporary mining sites lack sanitation, health services and regular access to clean water. Schools, if accessible at all, are often kilometers away. Malnutrition is common among child miners, along with a host of diseases. Some 3 million children in Burkina Faso remain unregistered from birth, and invisible to the authorities. The country's legal minimum age for hazardous work is 18, and there is a special government directorate for child labour. However, small-scale gold-mining remains prolific and difficult to regulate. UNICEF estimated in 2012 that 20,000 children were working in mines in five of Burkina Faso's 13 regions. Due to the illegitimate feature of small scale mining it is expected to be far more widespread in Burkina Faso society. Immediate action and enhancing the monitoring of children working under hazardous conditions in the gold mines is desperately needed. School education is one of the most powerful tools in the fight against child labour in the mines. Children can learn the skills to lift them out of poverty, while they grow and develop in a safe environment. Globally, the effort needs to be continued to ensure that all children attend school until the minimum age for work. In order to stop children working in hazardous conditions in gold mines, the government of Burkina Faso must increase the number of labour inspectors and ensure continuous support for programmes offering alternatives to children withdrawn from the mines. Economic opportunities for families need to be enhanced, and awareness raised in mining communities about the safety risks and health consequences for children working in gold mines.

Details: Amsterdam: KidsRights Foundation, 2014. 26p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 13, 2014 at: http://www.kidsrights.org/Portals/1/About%20us/KidsRights%20Report-Minors%20Not%20Miners%20digitaal%20def.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Labor (Burkina Faso)

Shelf Number: 133035


Author: KidsRights

Title: Not So Sweet: Hazardous Child Labour, with a focus on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast

Summary: An estimated 115 million children from 5 to 17 years old work in hazardous conditions across the world. Hazardous child labour is classified by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as one of the worst forms of child labour. The ILO describes it as "work in dangerous or unhealthy conditions that could result in a child being killed, or injured and/or made ill as a consequence of poor safety and health standards and working arrangements". The ILO estimates that some 22,000 children are killed at work every year. Those who survive can develop health problems later in life due to poor working conditions while their bodies and minds are still growing and developing. They also suffer from the lack of an education, as few manage to attend school when working long hours in harsh conditions. The ILO has set the minimum age for hazardous work at 18, a convention which has been ratified by 166 member countries, including Ivory Coast. Since the cocoa bean was first introduced to Ivory Coast in the late 19th century, it has played a crucial role in the country's economy. Ivory Coast now accounts for 35% of the world's cocoa production. Around 900,000 farmers grow the bean, and 3.5 million people depend on it for their livelihoods. The most recent data shows that an estimated 819,921 children worked in the 2008/2009 harvest season. Most cocoa farms are small, family-run operations which struggle to survive on tiny, unstable proceeds. Only 3% of the final retail price reaches the cocoa producers, and global prices are volatile. "Cocoa farming is very labour intensive," reports the Cocoa Initiative, "and producers face strong pressures to keep labour costs down. At peak times all family members, including children, are involved". Fairtrade certification of chocolate helps to ensure a fair price for farmers, but less than 10% of the world's chocolate so far meets the standard. In Ivory Coast, certification schemes are not applied industry-wide, and should be given priority by the government. Agriculture is identified as one of the three most hazardous sectors worldwide; the ILO deems it too dangerous for workers under the age of 18. Heavy agricultural work puts children at risk of lifelong disability; machinery at risk of injury; toxic substances at risk of poisoning. Still, 59% of the worlds child labourers work in agriculture; that's 98 million children. In 2012 the government of Ivory Coast adopted the National Action Plan Against Trafficking, Exploitation and Child Labour (2012-2014). Around 3,364 children - mostly boys - have been trafficked from neighbouring countries and forced into hazardous labour in the cocoa plantations. But the majority of children working in the cocoa industry are working informally with their own families, making intervention difficult. It remains a challenge to reduce the number of children working under hazardous conditions in the cocoa sector. The number of children working in the cocoa sector in Ivory Coast remains high and current and accurate date are not available. More data is urgently needed if hazardous child labour in Ivory Coast is to be properly addressed. Good quality, accessible education is vital in the fight against child labour. Schooling in Ivory Coast is not compulsory, and fees make it impossible for many, as well as patchy provision, along with the seasonal nature of work on the cocoa plantations. The government needs to make education compulsory, and freely accessible to all children. Globally, the effort needs to be continued to ensure that all children attend school until the minimum age for work. Economic opportunities for families need to be enhanced, and awareness raised in farming communities about the safety risks and health consequences for children working in the sector.

Details: Amsterdam, NETH: KidsRights Foundation, 2014. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 22, 2014 at: http://www.kidsrights.org/Portals/1/About%20us/KidsRights%20Report-Not%20So%20Sweet-digitaal%20-website.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Labor (Ivory Coast)

Shelf Number: 133081


Author: Vira, Varun

Title: Out of Africa: Mapping the Global Trade in Illicit Elephant Ivory

Summary: Today, the ivory trade is operating at its highest level since the 1989 commercial ivory trade ban was approved by Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). 2013 appears to have been the worst year on record, with nearly 50 tons of ivory seized that were linked to organized criminal networks. African elephants are unlikely to sustain this rate of slaughter throughout much of their range. On August 27, 2014, Born Free USA and data analysts at C4ADS released a new groundbreaking report, Out of Africa: Mapping the Global Trade in Illicit Elephant Ivory which focuses on the ivory supply chain and the trafficking of ivory from the bush in Africa to retail markets tens of thousands of miles away in Asia. Out of Africa reveals that, between 2009 and June 2014, there were more than 90 large-scale ivory seizures, collectively weighing almost 170 tons, which bear the hallmarks of international organized crime. At a 10% interception rate, this would amount to approximately 229,729 elephants killed and trafficked in fewer than six years.

Details: Washington, DC: Born Free USA, 2014. 59p.

Source: Internet Resource: http://a362a94f6d3f5f370057-c70bddd8faa4afe1b2ec557b907836d0.r4.cf1.rackcdn.com/Out-of-Africa-2014.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 133157


Author: Kriegler, Anine

Title: Using social network analysis to profile organised crime

Summary: Social network analysis avoids some of the limitations of existing approaches to mapping organised criminal networks. It focuses on fluid interactions among individuals and determines social structures empirically, rather than relying on theoretical classifications thereby avoiding some of the pitfalls in traditional thinking about organised crime. However, it requires significant technical skill, time, and pre-existing expertise to generate and interpret an analysis. It also fails to account for the underlying social forces that may be crucial to network formation and functioning. It is a complex process that requires law enforcement and crime intelligence to partner with external researchers.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2014. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief 67: Accessed September 11, 2014 at: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/PolBrief57.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Crime Analysis (Africa)

Shelf Number: 133275


Author: Goga, Khalil

Title: On the margins: The city of Cape Town and organised crime

Summary: This policy brief explores how the design of the city has affected the way criminal networks impact on governance in Cape Town. It does not purport to be comprehensive, but serves as an initial starting point for further study by highlighting some of the additional themes identified in broader research on crime and governance in contemporary African coastal cities.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2014. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief 60: Accessed September 11, 2014 at: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/PolBrief60.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Criminal Networks

Shelf Number: 147958


Author: Onwuka, Chioma Joy

Title: The Situation of Medicines Counterfeiting in Africa

Summary: This background document aims to show the current situation of poor quality medicines in Africa with a particular emphasis on medicines counterfeiting. It discusses the extent of the problem, the impact of low quality medicines and strategies in place to curb them as well as barriers that have been faced in fighting medicines counterfeiting. There is a dearth of information on the real extent of medicines counterfeiting in Africa. However, the few documented evidence as included in this background document which may serve as useful baseline show that the problem of poor quality medicines, particularly medicines counterfeiting is on the increase and that almost a half of medicines in some regions of Africa may be counterfeit. This increase in medicines counterfeiting is linked to a variety of causes among which include the chaotic nature of most pharmaceutical markets in Africa, leaky supply chain systems, scarcity and/ or erratic medicines supply, high cost of medicines, vested interests both on the part of the regulatory officials and the counterfeiters, weak laws and lack of enforcement of existing laws, high level of corruption, low literacy rates and a lack of coordinated response from key stakeholders such as the health professionals to this illicit crime. The increased diversion of such medicines as anti-malarials from the public to the private sector as revealed in a study by Roger Bate show that this may constitute a significant opportunity for trade in counterfeit medicines (Taylor, 2010) It is difficult to link death or lack of response to treatment to medicines counterfeiting especially in Africa where there is significant under reporting and where other factors such as contamination of drinking water supply, disease complication, malnutrition, failure to complete the course of treatment or even a belief in curses or the supernatural are more likely to be linked to death. However, its impact is obvious when it causes easily observable mass tragedies. Available evidence show that the negative impacts of medicines counterfeiting is enormous. Medicines counterfeiting undermines the ability of Research and Development (R&D) based companies to invest in future innovations, reduces public trust in health care providers and may lead to importation of costlier branded medicines which may be perceived by the patients as been more potent. It causes wastage of scarce resources especially in most of the African countries where patients are forced to pay out of pocket for these ineffective medicines. It also presents a huge loss to the genuine manufacturers who continually spend more to develop technologies to thwart medicines counterfeiting. The health risks arising from the use of counterfeited medicines cannot be under estimated. Its effect ranges from treatment failures, development of adverse drug reaction, increased disease severity, development of complication, development of drug resistance to even deaths. Significant steps have been taken to fight medicines counterfeiting by some African governments and their regulatory bodies, health professional organisations and international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and INTERPOL. However, there remains a need to ensure a zero tolerance to medicines counterfeiting as it appears that curbing this illicit crime is primary to any significant improvements that may be made in the millennium development goals. Health professionals are uniquely positioned in this fight and must rise up to the challenge to increase the awareness of this problem and implement definitive strategies towards curbing it.

Details: Ferney Voltaire, France: World Health Professions Alliance WHPA, 2010. 65p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 11, 2014 at: http://www.whpa.org/Background_medicines_counterfeiting_in_Africa_Chioma_Jo_Onwuka11-2010.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counterfeit Medicines (Africa)

Shelf Number: 133280


Author: Alemika, Etannibi E.O.

Title: The Impact of Organised Crime on Governance in West Africa

Summary: There are several types of organised criminal activities and operatives in West Africa. These activities include drug trafficking, advanced fee and internet fraud, human trafficking, diamond smuggling, forgery, cigarette smuggling, money-laundering, arms manufacture, arms trafficking, and armed robbery as well as oil bunkering . Transnational organised criminal activities often involve collaboration among domestic and foreign criminal groups. Organised criminal groups infiltrate governments, businesses, political and economic systems. They undermine the effectiveness of these systems, sometimes through corruption and violence. It is imperative that enough effort is given to the understanding of the impact of organised crime on governance in West Africa. Aim and scope of study In this study, the following issues are addressed: - Variety and trends of organised crime in West Africa; - Impact of organised crime on peace, stability, development and the rule of law; - Transnational linkages of organised crime; and - Linkages between state institutions/politics and organised crime. The focus of the study is different from the prevalent approach to the subject and reports on organised crime in West Africa, which have been more concerned with drug trafficking, human trafficking and scams directed at European and North American countries. Inadequate attention has been paid to other forms of organised crime. More significantly, there has been a lack of attention to the impact of organized crime on the fragile political, economic and social systems of the region. The responses by international, regional and national actors involved in developing and implementing measures against organised crime emphasise developing the capacity of law enforcement and judicial officials to enable effective interdiction and enforce the law. However, experience over the past two decades in many parts of the world indicates that reliance on law enforcement alone may not be an effective and sustainable enough approach. A broader understanding of actors, modes of operation, networks, of the nexus between organised crime and political systems, and the impact of organised criminal activities and actors on the economies and societies of West African countries is a prerequisite for developing a comprehensive and effective response to the activities of criminal networks.

Details: Abuji, Nigeria: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Regional Office Abuja, 2013. 106p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 12, 2014 at: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/nigeria/10199.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Criminal Networks

Shelf Number: 133292


Author: Schbley, Ghassan

Title: Piracy, Illegal Fishing, and Maritime Insecurity in Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania

Summary: Long coastlines, porous borders, a lack of government capacity, weak enforcement mechanisms, corruption, and other factors have enabled illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing to thrive in Somalia's waters. The same factors have allowed other transnational threats to develop in Somalia-and spread further south into Kenya and Tanzania. This study, which draws on extensive field research along the East African littoral, identifies and analyzes linkages between piracy and IUU fishing. In addition, the report examines the role of the maritime sector in facilitating the illegal movement of drugs, weapons, and people through the region. This study also highlights the role of small vessels in a system that transports terrorists from al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda's East Africa affiliate, to and from Somalia.

Details: Arlington, VA: CNA Analysis & Solutions, 2013. 38p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 12, 2014 at: http://www.cna.org/sites/default/files/research/IIM-2013-U-005731-Final3.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Security

Shelf Number: 133298


Author: Berman, Nicolas

Title: This Mine is Mine! How minerals fuel conflicts in Africa

Summary: This paper studies empirically the impact of mining on conflicts in Africa. Using novel data, we combine geo-referenced information over the 1997-2010 period on the location and characteristics of violent events and mining extraction of 27 minerals. Working with a grid covering all African countries at a spatial resolution of 0.5 x 0.5 degree, we find a sizeable impact of mining activity on the probability/intensity of conflict at the local level. This is both true for low-level violence (riots, protests), as well as for organized violence (battles). Our main identification strategy exploits exogenous variations in the minerals' world prices; however the results are robust to various alternative strategies, both in the cross-section and panel dimensions. Our estimates suggest that the historical rise in mineral price observed over the period has contributed to up to 21 percent of the average country-level violence in Africa. The second part of the paper investigates whether minerals, by increasing the financial capacities of fighting groups, contribute to diffuse violence over time and space, therefore affecting the intensity and duration of wars. We find direct evidence that the appropriation of a mining area by a group increases the probability that this group perpetrates future violence elsewhere. This is consistent with "feasibility" theories of conflict. We also find that seccessionist insurgencies are more likely in mining areas, which is in line with recent theories of secessionist conflict.

Details: Oxford, UK: Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford, 2014. 62p.

Source: Internet Resource: OxCarre Research Paper 141: Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://www.oxcarre.ox.ac.uk/files/OxCarreRP2014141.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict-Related Violence

Shelf Number: 133306


Author: Fantaye, Demessie

Title: Regional approaches to maritime security in the Horn of Africa

Summary: This study, commissioned by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), seeks to unravel the dynamics and impact of maritime security in the Horn of Africa region. It also has the objective of assessing the strengths and weaknesses, synergies and contradictions of existing initiatives and programmes related to maritime security in the region. Ultimately, the study aims to identify the components of a distinctly African and specifically regional approach to maritime security issues. Methodologically, the study is based on a review and analysis of the literature. Furthermore, the author carried out a series of interviews with officials of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, IGAD Security Sector Programme (IGAD, IGAD-ISSP) and the Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL). The author also relied on field notes and data gathered from research visits to Somalia (Puntland) to study Somali piracy in 2009 and 2010. The study argues that efforts to improve maritime security in the Horn of Africa region have assumed a pattern in terms of which the concerns and perspectives of the developed world have tended to overshadow the agenda of the states in the region. This dichotomy is revealed, for instance, in the interpretation of the sources of maritime insecurity, the focus of initiatives and the informal division of tasks concerning maritime security that has emerged in the region. While as far as the international community is concerned the primary concern is maritime piracy, actors in the region have a more complex and structural view of maritime insecurity in the Horn of Africa. This has led to a situation in which immense resources and efforts have been directed to the fight against piracy, while other sources of maritime insecurity have been sidelined. The initiatives against maritime piracy have been characterized by duplication of effort and competition between different agencies and entities. While it is undeniable that the efforts against piracy have achieved impressive results, regional initiatives have received negligible support. States in the region and the primary regional organization have sought repeatedly to articulate a distinct agenda and set of interests in the sphere of maritime security but they have also had to adapt to the circumstances. More specifically, the governments in the region have cooperated with international initiatives and in the process garnered resources and benefits derived from the global focus on piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2014. 42p.

Source: Internet Resource: FES peace and security series ; 16: Accessed September 17, 2014 at: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/aethiopien/10880.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime (Africa)

Shelf Number: 133332


Author: Engel, Ulf

Title: The African Union, the African peace and security architecture, and maritime security

Summary: The content of African maritime security as an emerging policy field is contested. It can be located anywhere between traditional security politics (i.e. related to piracy, maritime terrorism and unregulated fishing), developmental and environmentalist concerns as well as efforts to regain economic sovereignty over African territorial and offshore waters. As a result, since approximately 2005, the institutional place of maritime security in continental politics has been in flux. This paper traces the origins of the debate on maritime security in Africa. The main concern here is to examine the relationship between the nascent African Peace and Security Architecture on the one hand and maritime security and safety politics on the other from both an institutional and a political perspective. Maritime security represents one of a number of peace and security-related policy fields in-the-making that also allows for insights into the division of labor emerging among various stakeholders, such as the AUC, RECs, and AU member states - and the related challenges of policy coordination and harmonization.

Details: Addis Ababa : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2014. Addis Ababa : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2014. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: FES peace and security series ; 13: Accessed September 18, 2014 at: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/aethiopien/10878.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime (Africa)

Shelf Number: 133377


Author: Blum, Constanze

Title: Cross-border flows between Nigeria and Benin : what are the challenges for (human) security?

Summary: This publication seeks to examine the concrete security challenges resulting from the cross-border exchanges between Benin and Nigeria. This border has received increased attention due to fears of a spread of Boko Haram activities towards the neighbouring countries as well as regionally operating transnational organized crime networks that are often associated with terrorist activities. Taking into account the cultural and geographic landscape of this border region, which represents a key transport route in the ECOWAS context, the nature of cross-border activities will be presented and their impact on security will be assessed. This paper argues that a more holistic approach is needed when designing border and security policies. It shows that cross-border movements and exchanges between the two countries are manifold but mainly peaceful in nature as well as economically important for the borderland communities. More efficient border management as well as bilateral infrastructure development should be at the heart of the efforts to make the border region between Nigeria and Benin an economically viable and safer environment. This publication aims to stimulate the debate on the concept of human security. This is an alternative approach to a state-centered security concept that is still widely represented in sub-Saharan Africa today.

Details: Abuja : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Regional Office, 2014. 14p.

Source: Internet Resource: FES peace and security series ; 15: Accessed September 18, 2014 at: Accessed September 18, 2014 at: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/nigeria/10883.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Control

Shelf Number: 133384


Author: Borges Coelho, Joao Paulo

Title: African approaches to maritime security : Southern Africa

Summary: Joo Paulo Coelho highlights the maritime dimension of regional security. He points out that maritime security involves many aspects of conflict germane to Africa as its governance is too weak to absorb the challenges of globalised maritime trade such as piracy, pollution, the illegal trafficking of humans, drugs and weapons, and resource management. He argues that, if these issues are not properly addressed in a comprehensive maritime security framework, some could develop into hard security threats, while others could jeopardise the economies, environments, and public health of countries and societies in the region. Piracy should therefore not merely be regarded as a maritime event to be contained at sea, but as a symptom of broader problems such as extreme poverty and political instability. In line with this approach, the author argues that maritime insecurity is always created ashore, and is too serious to be dealt with by the security sector alone. This study is part of a series of three regional studies on African Approaches to Maritime Security published by the FES peace and security network.

Details: Maputo : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Mozambique, 2013. 21p.

Source: Internet Resource: FES peace and security series ; 12: Accessed September 18, 2014 at: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/mosambik/10671.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 133385


Author: Feakin, Tobias

Title: The new frontiers of Islamist extremism: Understanding the threat that al-Qaeda affiliates pose to African security

Summary: Over the past decade various groups that had been operating with a predominantly nationalistic agenda have increasingly become aligned with al-Qaeda in name, ideology, methodologies of attack and tactics. A new jihadism is spreading across Africa. This paper examines three groups- Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. All of these groups are separate from the al-Qaeda core. They haven't taken up the al-Qaeda model because they've been told to, but they're emulating it. They're all looking to become dispersed, decentralised movements that frame local grievances in the language of the global jihad. For the international community, the danger lies not so much in the immediate threat to Western targets from African Islamists, but in the potential future creation of a failed state that would provide a base for training and radicalising large numbers of Islamists. The proven capacity of AQIM, Boko Haram and al-Shabaab to train and share fighting and bombmaking skills with new recruits, and then deliver those recruits into intensive front-line fighting roles in areas such as Syria and Iraq, will be the groups' most immediate international impact. There are no clear solutions for African states combating the Islamist groups but any solution will necessarily be complex. Unfortunately, if the situation's allowed to continue, there is danger that we'll see a rise in instability in the regions where the groups operate, and in their growth and ambition.

Details: Barton, ACT, Australia: Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 2014. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Special Report: Accessed September 25, 2014 at: https://www.aspi.org.au/publications/the-new-frontiers-of-islamist-extremism-understanding-the-threat-that-al-qaeda-affiliates-pose-to-african-security/SR71_AQ_in_Africa.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremist Groups (Africa)

Shelf Number: 133413


Author: Holmer, Georgia

Title: Inclusive Approaches to Community Policing and CVE

Summary: Summary - Accountable and effective policing institutions are key to stability in volatile environments, especially societies transitioning from conflict or authoritarian rule. From a development or peacebuilding perspective, community policing can aid in reform of security institutions and give civil society an active role in the process. - Community policing-simultaneously an ethos, a strategy, and a collaboration-helps promote democratic policing ideals and advance a human security paradigm. - Challenges to implementing such programs in transitional societies are considerable and tied to demographic and cultural variations in both communities and security actors. Developing trust, a key to success in all community policing, can be particularly difficult. - Challenges are also unique when dealing with marginalized communities and members of society. Neither a police service nor a given community are monolithic. How police interact with one segment of a community might be - might need to be- completely different than how they approach another. - Community policing programs designed to prevent violent extremism require a common and nuanced understanding between the community and the police as to what constitutes violent extremism and what is an effective response. When they agree, they can develop effective joint solutions to mitigate the threat. - Key competencies can be grouped into four categories: those important to success for any community policing programs, those relevant to efforts to reform the security sector, to promote women's inclusion in security, or to prevent violent extremism. These objectives often overlap.

Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2014. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Special Report 352: Accessed September 25, 2014 at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR352_Inclusive-Approaches-to-Community-Policing-and-CVE.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Community Policing (Africa)

Shelf Number: 133414


Author: Botha, Anneli

Title: Radicalisation and al-Shabaab recruitment in Somalia

Summary: Effective counter-radicalisation strategies should be based on an empirical understanding of why people join terrorist organisations. Researchers interviewed former al-Shabaab fighters and identified a complex array of reasons for why they joined the organisation. Interviewers developed a profile of typical al-Shabaab recruits and identified factors facilitating their recruitment, including religious identity, socioeconomic circumstances (education, unemployment), political circumstances and the need for a collective identity and a sense of belonging. The reasons for al-Shabaab's rise are discussed and recommendations are made to the Somali government, countries in the region and international organisations and donors on how to counter radicalisation and recruitment to al-Shabaab.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2014. 18p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 266: Accessed October 6, 2014 at: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Paper266.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremism

Shelf Number: 133566


Author: Lacher, Wolfram

Title: Challenging the Myth of the Drug-Terror Nexus in the Sahel

Summary: The rise of extremist activity in the Sahel-Sahara region from 2005 onwards has gone in parallel with the growth of drug trafficking networks across the area. But are these two developments related - and if so, how? The alleged involvement of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Movement for Monotheism and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) in drug smuggling is being taken for granted by many media outlets. Malian and French government officials have increasingly resorted to dismissing their adversaries in northern Mali as 'narco-jihadists'. This paper reviews the evidence for the links between drug smuggling and extremist activity in the Sahel-Sahara region. While it demonstrates that such links clearly exist, the paper argues that the widespread talk of a drug-terror nexus in the Sahel is misleading, for several reasons. First, much of the evidence presented as basis for such claims can either be easily debunked, or is impossible to verify. Second, rather than the two extremist groups as such, involvement in drug trafficking appears to concern individuals and groups close to, or within, MUJAO and AQIM: within both groups, members are driven by multiple and, at times, conflicting motivations. Third, numerous other actors are playing an equally or more important role in drug smuggling, including members of the political and business establishment in northern Mali, Niger and the region's capitals, as well as leaders of supposedly 'secular' armed groups. Fourth, the emphasis on links between drug trafficking and terrorism in the Sahel serves to obscure the role of state actors and corruption in allowing organized crime to grow. Fifth, the profits derived from kidnap-for-ransom played a much more significant role in the rise of AQIM and MUJAO.

Details: West Africa Commission on Drugs, 2013. 17p.

Source: Internet Resource: WACD Background Paper No. 4: Accessed October 8, 2014 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Challenging-the-Myth-of-the-Drug-Terror-Nexus-in-the-Sahel-2013-08-19.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking (Africa)

Shelf Number: 133595


Author: Behrendt, A.

Title: Tradition and rights: female genital cuttings in West Africa

Summary: This publication examined the practice of female genital cutting in West Africa, looking at prevalence, the types of excision, and the age at which it is performed. As noted, the reasons why it is carried out are many and complex; including a perceived need to control female sexuality and to initiate girls into womanhood. The justification for the practice stems from the very heart of a society's social and cultural norms and is inextricably linked to the construction of female identities. Female genital cutting has it roots in profound beliefs that deserve to be, and need to be dealt with sensitively and from a perspective of understanding in order to engage communities in a constructive dialogue about changing societal norms and abandoning the practice. Societal norms can not be overturned from one day to the next. Legislation against the practice of female genital cutting is necessary, but as our research has shown, it is not sufficient. There should, however, be no doubt that female genital cutting is harmful and can leave girls and women facing a lifetime of physical and mental consequences that may never be overcome. Plan has worked with the issue of female genital cutting since 1996 when it first began a program in Mali. In line with the organisation's mission, it has adopted a participatory approach in its work to assist communities to abandon the practice. Together with local partners much has been done to develop "enabling environments" rooted in the local context, where dialogue about the abandonment of the practice can take place. This work has transformed female genital cutting in Mali, for example, from being a completely taboo subject to one that can - at least - be discussed in public. In other countries, such as Guinea, Plan's work on female genital cutting is at its inception. While it is impossible and dangerous to generalise, the practice of female genital cutting appears to be on the decrease in West Africa. Increased reflections on this ancient tradition and its validity have begun, for example, to change the way it is carried out. The final result of these movements towards change and transition are not yet know. We do not know how the next generation of excised and non-excised girls will grow up alongside each other. We are, however, convinced, that continued constructive dialogue with communities will accelerate the pace at which communities change their norms and behaviours, and take collective decisions to abandon the practice of female genital cutting.

Details: Senegal: Plan International, 2006. 38p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2014 at: http://www.plan-uk.org/resources/documents/27624/

Year: 2006

Country: Africa

Keywords: Female Genital Cutting (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 133750


Author: Livingston, Stephen

Title: Africa's Information Revolution: Implications for Crime, Policing, and Citizen Security

Summary: Violent crime represents the most immediate threat to the personal security of most Africans. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 36 percent of all homicides globally occur in Africa. With 17 deaths per 100,000, the homicide rate in Africa is double the global average. Rates of robberies and rape in Africa also exceed global norms. The problem is worse in urban areas, with many of Africa's urban-dwellers often worrying about crime. The risk of violent crime has implications for Africa's development, governance, and stability. Crime ranks as one of the major inhibitors to investment on the continent according to private business owners. Parents choose not to send children to school rather than put them at risk in high-crime areas. Countries with higher rates of violent crime tend to make less progress in reducing poverty and expanding development. Closely linked to the threat of violent crime is the weakness of many of Africa's police forces. They are often underfunded, understaffed, and undertrained. Surveys show that a majority of Africans see police only infrequently, and therefore do not view the police as a source of protection. In addition to being ineffective in combatting crime, inadequate police training contributes to unprofessional behavior. In some cases, police are active participants in criminal activity. In others, corruption permeates the force. In still others, police use extrajudicial violence to intimidate and coerce suspected criminals, potential witnesses, and even victims. This generates high levels of distrust of the police in many African countries. The acuteness of the crime challenge has grown with rapid urbanization and the expansion of slums lacking basic services, including police presence. In many urban centers, this vacuum has been filled by gangs and organized criminal organizations that profit from extortion, kidnappings, and violence against the local population. At times these gangs are protected by corrupt police or politicians. As these criminal groups expand into trafficking of illicit goods - drugs, cigarettes, medicines, and arms - they tend to link up with transnational criminal networks, posing an even more formidable security problem. Consistently high levels of violence have far-reaching implications for how youth learn to resolve conflict-perpetuating tolerance for higher levels of violence in a society. This, in turn, fosters the acceptability of political violence and threatens the viability of democratic governance, which relies on dialogue, free speech, tolerance of opposing perspectives, and protection for minorities. The rapid expansion and accessibility of mobile communications technology in Africa is creating new opportunities for combatting crime and strengthening police accountability. Twitter, SMS, and event-mapping technologies are being used to connect communities with police and security forces as never before. This is precedent setting for many citizens, especially those in rural areas who have grown accustomed to fending for themselves. Now at least they are more able to alert one another to potential threats, mobilize the community in self-defense, and inform security sector authorities in the interest of gaining protection. In urban areas, citizens who would not normally have many interactions with the police now have a number they can call in times of trouble. Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are also connecting societies horizontally in real time. This is forging cross-regional ties and linkages that may not have previously existed and historically have emerged only with the development of a national transportation infrastructure. In the process, both economic and social integration are facilitated. This enhanced cohesiveness can contribute directly to greater stability. ICTs, often tapping into their crowdsourcing capabilities, also offer opportunities to improve police responsiveness and accountability. Crime maps provide the basis for allocating resources to match prevailing threats. They also establish a benchmark from which to assess the effectiveness of police responses. Bribe-reporting websites create a record and pattern of illegal police behavior that raise the profile of what are often treated as isolated events into a broader, measurable phenomenon requiring a policy response. While opening opportunities to enhance security and accountability, ICTs are not a panacea for resolving crime and corruption. Information is solely a tool and not the driver of reform. ICTs can be used for nefarious purposes - both by criminal organizations as well as unaccountable police forces. Rather, ICT-generated change requires an organized body of committed individuals who can use the increased accessibility of information to educate the public, engender popular participation, and press authorities for reform. It is this sustained engagement of on-the-ground actors, typically in the form of civil society organizations, that transforms information accessibility into concrete improvements in the lives of ordinary citizens. By lowering information barriers, ICTs are bringing discussion and analysis of crime in Africa out of the shadows, enhancing the potential for oversight of the security forces, and elevating citizen security. ICTs, therefore, are contributing to improved security through both internal channels via the strengthening of the state's crime data gathering capacity as well as external mechanisms to monitor, critique, and hold the security sector accountable.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2013. 60p.

Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper No. 5: Accessed October 20, 2014 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ARP5-Africas-Information-Revolution1.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Crime Statistics

Shelf Number: 131514


Author: Standley, Sarah

Title: Population and poaching of African rhinos across African range states

Summary: Evidence on Demand was requested by DFID to carry out a rapid desk-based review of numbers and poaching rates of African rhinos in Africa and in the four range-states: Kenya, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In 2008, rhino poaching peaked in Zimbabwe and started to escalate in the major range state South Africa. This short report provides data in response to the following questions: (1) What is the trend in Rhino species numbers 2008-2012? (2) What is the trend in poaching rates 2008-2013 to date? This data will be used to inform the establishment of a baseline against which progress can be made by the UK Government in addressing the complexity of challenges within, and arising from, the illegal wildlife trade. Findings are presented in the brief narrative.

Details: London: UK: Evidence on Demand, 2013. 19p.

Source: Internet Resource: October 22, 2014 at: http://www.evidenceondemand.info/population-and-poaching-of-african-rhinos-across-african-range-states

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching (Africa)

Shelf Number: 133785


Author: iworry

Title: Dead or Alive? Valuing an Elephant

Summary: New ground-breaking report reveals how the loss of Africa's elephants threatens Africa's economies - and travel companies offering a chance to see the species - and highlights the need for global action. The analysis, conducted through our iworry campaign, compared the value of elephants to local economies to profits netted through the illegal ivory trade. Between January and August 2014, researchers tallied approximately 17.8 metric tons of ivory seized worldwide, harvested from 1,940 poached elephants. Most of these seizures occurred in Kenya, Gabon, China, and Vietnam, countries identified by CITES as doing relatively little to stem the tide of black-market ivory. We estimate the raw-ivory value of a poached elephant to be $21,000. In contrast, a living elephant is worth more than $1.6 million over its lifetime, largely because of its eco-tourism draw. The report lists travel companies, airlines, and local economies as benefiting from this largess of the world's largest land mammal, whereas the ivory trade may fund criminal and terrorist groups.

Details: Nairobi, Kenya: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, 2014. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2014 at: http://iworry.org/elephants-worth-much-alive-dead/

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 133839


Author: World Health Organization

Title: Violence and Health in th WHO African Region

Summary: The World Report on Violence and Health defines violence as 'the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation' (Krug et al., 2002, p. 5). Within this general definition adopted for this report, three types are described based on the perpetrator of the violence. Interpersonal violence refers to violence between individuals, and is subdivided into 'family' and 'community' violence. The former category includes child maltreatment; intimate partner violence; and elder abuse, while community violence covers violence between acquaintances or strangers, and includes youth violence, sexual violence, assault by strangers, violence related to property crimes, and violence in workplaces and other institutions. Although this typology is used widely, it is clear that the different categories are not mutually exclusive as, for instance, the experience of child sexual abuse within the home may pre-dispose the victim to the perpetration of sexual assaults in the community. Collective violence refers to violence committed by larger groups of individuals and can be subdivided into social, political and economic violence. Self-directed violence refers to violence in which the perpetrator and the victim are the same individual and is subdivided into suicidal behavior and self-harm. The latter is not discussed further in this report. In these categories the violence may be physical; sexual (except in self-directed violence); psychological; or may constitute deprivation. There is now widespread acceptance that violence is not only a developmental or criminal justice issue, but a public health problem as well. Yet, prevention of violence in Africa has been hampered by a number of challenges, including fragmentation of effort and resources, and the failure to fully exploit the benefits of working across disciplines and sectors. Other barriers to preventing violence include: Lack of good data on the nature and magnitude of violence, and on its cost to society. Inertia and inaction resulting from the misconception that violence is endemic, part of the social fabric of the continent, and not really preventable. Inadequate resources to fund research and programs partially due to the two points above, and to a global focus on the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that in some ways understate the scale of the threat violence poses to development. Links between violence and the Millennium Development Goals have not been well articulated despite the fact that high levels of violence seriously undermine the possibility of achieving any of the goals (Matzopoulos et al., 2008). For instance the continuing conflicts over resources such as diamonds and oil perpetuate violence in many countries in the region, and have a bearing on the integrity of health and education systems, food security, and child survival, and overall human development. Clearly, for systematic violence prevention programmes to be implemented in Africa, stakeholders must take cognizance of the above barriers as well as the unique history and current context of the continent. Africa has one of the highest rates of interpersonal violence in the world. Among WHO regions mortality rates due to injuries arising from interpersonal violence in 2004 were highest in Africa followed by the Americas and the European Region. Violence was responsible for 35.5% of all injury deaths in the Region, and at 37 deaths per 100 000 population it was considerably higher than the global average rate of 25 violent deaths per 100 000 population. These deaths were dominated by homicide, particularly among males, which accounted for 50% of all violence related deaths in the African Region in 2004. Homicide rates were almost three times the global average of 9 per 100 000 population. Mortality patterns were markedly different for males and females, and varied across age ranges. The rate among males increased sharply from below 15 years to a peak of 128 homicides per 100 000 population for those aged between 20 and 29 years, and remained high, with a slight decrease after 70 years. In both males and females suicide caused more deaths than war, and suicide rates for both sexes rose from the twenties to reach low peaks among the elderly. Suicide was the only major violence category whose African rates were lower than the global average. While mortality data tend to be more available and therefore more quoted than nonfatality data, there are substantial impacts related to non-fatal outcomes. These include trauma and disability, as well as massive social, developmental and economic impacts. In 2004 interpersonal violence alone was the 12th leading cause of morbidity as measured by disability adjusted life years lost (DALYs), a measure that combines the years lost due to premature death and those lived with disability. Because some of the ill health resulting from violence occurs years or decades later, it is often difficult to trace its roots. This is particularly true of violence suffered in childhood.

Details: Brazzaville: WHO Regional Office for Africa, 2010. 202p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 30, 2014 at: www.afro.who.int

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect

Shelf Number: 133841


Author: Shaw, Mark

Title: Comprehensive Assessment of Drug Trafficking and Organised Crime in West and Central Africa

Summary: An exponentially growing body of literature has heralded the expansion of organised crime in Africa. From media articles, to international reports and academic research studies, there is now a substantial library of publications that speak to the extent of the challenges that sub-Saharan Africa is facing in regards to illicit trafficking and organised crime. What was once a narrow debate restricted to specific communities, is now entwined in the continental narrative of state formation, economic development, peace and security. The objective of this study, which was commission under the framework of the AU Plan of Action on Drug Control (2013-2017), was to assess the impact of organised crime in West and Central Africa; to build a record of the available literature; provide relevant recommendations for developing an effective response; and, identify areas where additional research is required. The study was intended to respond to the urgent need identified in the AU Plan of Action for better research and information collection on drug trafficking and organised crime, and to serve as a baseline assessment and stock-taking of the existing available literature. The findings and conclusions of this report draw from a review of all available documentation, in English, French and German. In total, more than 500 documents or articles were consulted, and 150 of these have been used as foundational material in this report, with the majority of these being drawn from recent academic source material. A comprehensive review of the available literature on organised crime in West and Central Africa suggests that the two regions are in an important period of change: major political, economic and social shifts are being accompanied by an increase in organised crime and illicit trafficking which are in themselves shaping both on-going trends as well as the emerging nature of governance in the regions concerned. The literature charts the evolution of emerging illicit markets onto the foundation of longstanding historical routes, which, under the influence of three overarching global trends and some enabling factors created conditions which facilitated the rapid evolution of new forms of organised crime. This has resulted in the picture we see today. The report concludes at the outset that, while there is growing acceptance of a standardised set of definitions as to what compromises organised crime globally, there remains much less consensus, both by external and internal analysts, as to how the concept should be defined in the African context. That is in part a reflection of the complexity and range of actors engaged in the illicit and grey economy within the two regions. Within the realm of peace and security, however, the United Nations Security Council has seen organised crime issues feature as a progressively prominent aspect in debates and resolutions, and in increasingly varied ways: noting the capacity of everything from small arms proliferation, to illicit mineral extraction and wildlife poaching as a threat to peace and security. Even a cursory analysis of the substance of these resolutions, however shows that in fact organised crime has come to be almost synonymous with debates around peace and security on the African continent. Of the total of 77 Resolutions or Presidential Statements of the Security Council that have mentioned organised crime in the last ten years (2004-2014), or any of the forms of organised crime, the vast majority (83 per cent) relate to countries or regions in Africa. 51 per cent relate to Central or West Africa. Thus, not only is organised crime an increasingly important issue for the peace and security agenda, but it is also a quintessentially African issue.

Details: New York: Global Initiative Against Traditional Organized Crime, 2014. 128p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 3, 2014 at: http://www.globalinitiative.net/download/general/subsaharan-africa/Organized%20Crime%20in%20West%20and%20Central%20Africa%20-%20July%202014%20-%20Full.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cigarette Smuggling

Shelf Number: 133939


Author: Ralston, Laura

Title: Trafficking and Fragility in West Africa

Summary: Trafficking is an emerging concern in West Africa. In 2011, 17 percent of all cocaine consumed in Europe - 21 tons- passed through the region, for a retail value of US$1.7 billion. This paper discusses the evolution of trafficking in the region and provides estimates of the size and value of trafficking flows to demonstrate the significance of this illegal activity. Although this topic is gaining increasing attention, less attention has been has been paid to how trafficking is perpetuating fragility. This paper contributes to this area of research by identifying five channels through which trafficking is intensifying fragility in the region. The relative importance of each channel is discussed, with specific countries as case-study examples. Possible programmatic responses are then suggested with examples of policy approaches successfully adopted elsewhere in the world.

Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group, 2014.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Research Working Paper 7079: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2014/10/31/000158349_20141031143922/Rendered/PDF/WPS7079.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cocaine

Shelf Number: 134024


Author: Caparini, Marina

Title: African perspectives on challenges of police command in peace support operations

Summary: Conflicts in Africa result in loss of life, weakened social structures and fragile economies. This provides an impetus for stronger African initiatives in conflict management through participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations, among others, and increased African-led peace support operations (PSOs). This paper aims to identify African perspectives specific to the police component and its role in the African Peace and Security Architecture. Challenges for police command at strategic, operational and tactical levels are then reviewed. Cross-cutting issues that affect command and the effectiveness of PSOs are examined. The conclusion notes questions and issues that may be considered to better understand and devise solutions to police command challenges in African-led PSOs.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2014. 20p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 276: Accessed November 13, 2014 at: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Paper276.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Effectiveness

Shelf Number: 134073


Author: Open Society Foundations

Title: To Protect and Serve: How Police, Sex Workers, and People Who Use Drugs Are Joining Forces to Improve Health and Human Rights

Summary: Around the world, sex workers and people who use drugs report that police are often a major impediment to accessing health and social services. Common police practices- - using condoms as evidence of prostitution, harassing drug users at needle exchange points, or confiscating medications for drug treatment- fuel the HIV epidemic by driving sex workers and drug users away from life-saving services. Emerging partnerships between police, health experts, and community groups are beginning to prove that law enforcement and HIV-prevention programs can work together to save lives while reducing crime. When successfully implemented, these programs reduce the risk of HIV and drug overdose, and protect the health and human rights of these communities. Through detailed case studies from Burma, Ghana, India, Kenya, and Kyrgyzstan, this report examines how public health-centered law enforcement can reduce the risk of HIV infections among sex workers and drug users. The lessons of more than two decades of the response to HIV are clear: Police reform and community-police cooperation are as crucial to HIV prevention among criminalized groups as a condom or a clean needle, and should be supported as a central part of HIV and AIDS programming

Details: New York: Open Society Foundations, 2014. 58p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 25, 2014 at: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/protect-serve-20140716.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction

Shelf Number: 134232


Author: Kavanagh, Camino

Title: International and Regional Responses to Drug Trafficking in West Africa: A Preliminary Overview

Summary: The main objective of this background paper is to develop a preliminary overview of i) the international, regional and national policy and operational responses that have been developed in response to drug trafficking in West Africa to date, and the types of drugs they target; ii) the implementation status of these initiatives; iii) the perceived impact of these responses to date, including the mechanisms that have been established to monitor and measure impact and effectiveness; and iv) the main multi- and bi-lateral partners engaged in supporting regional efforts to stem drug trafficking. The findings of the study were presented to the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD), as part of its fact-finding work on the impact and response to drug trafficking in West Africa. Since a separate, in-depth paper on treatment services for drug users in West Africa is currently under development, the paper focuses predominantly on responding to trafficking rather than drug use.

Details: West Africa Commission on Drugs, 2013. 54p.

Source: Internet Resource: WACD Background Paper No. 6: Accessed November 26, 2014 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/International-and-Regional-Responses-to-DT-in-West-Africa-Kavanagh-Walker.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking (West Africa)

Shelf Number: 134255


Author: Kavanagh, Camino

Title: Harmonizing Drug Legislation in West Africa - A Call for Minimum Standards

Summary: In 2008 ECOWAS produced a Political Declaration and Regional Action Plan to address the Growing Problem of Illicit Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime and Drug Abuse. In 2013, the Action Plan was formally extended, and priority was placed on the conduct of an extensive review "of existing Member states - legislation with a view to achieving a common minimum standard to ensure sufficient deterrent against illicit trafficking and enhance the use demand reduction strategies to address problem associated with drug use in line with relevant regional and international conventions." As part of that process, the Heads of ECOWAS Drug Control Committees called on the ECOWAS Commission "to harmonize ECOWAS legal texts into a single and up to date regional protocol on drug control and prevention of organized crime." In addition to the ECOWAS initiative, other efforts are underway in the region to harmonize drug legislation. The latter include: i. The Dakar Initiative, a sub-regional initiative signed by seven countries in February 2010. The Initiative intends to support the implementation of the ECOWAS Regional Action Plan and the Political Declaration. One of the main outcomes of the Dakar Initiative to date is an effort by the Senegalese Ministry of Interior to draft "a document [aimed at] harmoniz[ing] existing national legal instruments at a sub-regional level to fight drug trafficking in a coordinated and more efficient manner." A first draft of the 'harmonization law' was tabled in November 2012. ii. The West African Network of Central Authorities and Prosecutors (WACAP), a UNODC-backed initiative aimed at improving cooperation in criminal matters in the West African region and serving as a basis for capacity building. The first meeting of the Network was held in May 2013 in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire. In January 2013 the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) was launched with the purpose of inter alia mobilizing public awareness, and developing evidence-based policy recommendations around drug trafficking and drug consumption and related impacts. Throughout its country visits and in the background papers commissioned to inform its work, WACD Commissioners were repeatedly informed of the significant challenges that persist with regard to drug related legislation in the sub-region, as well as challenges regarding the effective implementation of the legislation. Beyond a range of technical challenges cited, and the lack of the necessary expertise on the part of law enforcement and the judiciary for implementing drug-related legislation, the Commissioners were also informed on repeated occasions that people who use drugs and low-level drug dealers tend to be the ones who feel the brunt of the law, while high-level actors in the drug market tend to benefit most from legal inconsistencies or loopholes, corruption or political interference in due process. In addition, despite the human right protections directly or indirectly provided for in national legislation, these are rarely respected when it comes to providing treatment for people who have come into conflict with the law for drug-related offences. In this regard, and cognizant of the fact that different initiatives are already underway in West Africa, the WACD commissioned an empirically informed paper on a sampling of national drug laws and related legislation in four (4) countries in West Africa. As a means to better understand how legislation is being applied in practice, the paper was also informed by interviews with law enforcement and prison officials as well as a sampling of people in pre-trial detention or serving sentences for drug offences in the same four countries. The four countries selected for the case studies are Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Guinea (the questionnaires for the prison sampling dimension of the case studies can be found in Annex B and C). The findings of the four case studies were presented to the WACD at its third meeting held in Accra, Ghana in October 2013. Subsequently, a small expert group drew from the case study findings, analysis of legislation in other countries (particularly Senegal, Sierra Leone and Liberia), and the findings from other background papers commissioned by the WACD to develop this synthesis report which puts forward a series of recommendations for minimum standards for drug related legislation in the region. It is hoped that the findings and recommendations of this synthesis report will fuel further discussion and serve as constructive input to ECOWAS and national policy makers as they move toward reviewing and harmonizing national drug legislation in West Africa.

Details: West Africa Commission on Drugs, 2014. 61p.

Source: Internet Resource: WACD Background paper No. 9(1): Accessed November 26, 2014 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Harmonizing-Drug-Legislation-in-West-Africa-2014-06-05.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Control

Shelf Number: 134256


Author: Gberie, Lansana

Title: State Officials and their Involvement in Drug Trafficking in West Africa. Preliminary Findings

Summary: This paper examines a controversial problem in West Africa: the alleged complicity of state security and political officials in drug trafficking. It builds on the assumption, borne out of experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean, that drug traffickers gain a foothold in a country only through the complicity of senior state political and security officials. Yet, as noted in an earlier WACD paper, it is also informed and facilitated by "the multiple and multi-layered governance deficits in the sub-region that have made it relatively susceptible to external penetration and capture by powerful, well-endowed and tightly-organized drug trafficking networks." The low number of convictions of senior state officials for their direct or indirect involvement in drug trafficking, whether in West Africa or elsewhere, makes it difficult to research these issues. Yet, a growing number of cases in which effective investigations and collaboration between states have led to important convictions and which have clearly identified the degree of collusion required to traffic drugs through a state are rendering this task less complex. Indeed, case files or reports from administrative inquiries into trafficking incidents can provide important insights into the depth and scope of the trafficking enterprise, and the degree of involvement or complicity of state officials. Open source material, such as the leaked US diplomatic cables, can be extremely insightful, as can interviews with national and foreign intelligence personnel, judges, and customs officials and similar. Studying non-action by state actors, including the police, the judiciary, internal oversight mechanisms, and even the highest levels of government in response to mounting allegations of state involvement in drug trafficking can also shed light on who might be involved in drug trafficking, colluding with traffickers or blocking investigations into such illicit activity, as can monitoring of some of the pitched media battles that have emerged between political parties regarding illicit sources of party and election campaign funding. In a region where high political office often immunes its holders from judicial sanctions it may well indicate that in some cases this complicity, passive or active, may involve people who are very high indeed in the political hierarchy. This background paper was developed using a range of these sources. Combined with information on the significant seizures of cocaine and heroin that have been recorded in the region, the paper suggests that the trafficking of hard drugs is indeed a pernicious problem provoking or exacerbating existing governance challenges such as corruption across West Africa. An open acknowledgement of the problem by West African leaders and political actors (whether in office or in the opposition) is urgently needed in order to bolster on-going efforts to tackle drug trafficking. The paper focuses principally on hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin which are produced in other regions and which are trans-shipped through West Africa to Europe and North America, particularly the US. It, therefore, does not discuss marijuana or cannabis - which is widely cultivated, used, and trafficked in West Africa, and is in effect traditional to the region - in the category of illicit drugs that could lead to serious governance and security problems. Neither does it discuss the emerging trend in methamphetamine production and trafficking in the region, although the author recognizes the latter as representing an important emerging challenge, and one that will also have important governance, security and health implications in the coming years.

Details: West Africa Commission on Drugs, 2013. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: WACD Background Paper No. 5(1): Accessed November 26, 2014 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/State-Officials-and-Drug-Trafficking-2013-12-03.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Control

Shelf Number: 134257


Author: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

Title: Illicit Financial Flow

Summary: The 4th Joint African Union Commission/United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (AUC/ECA) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development was held in 2011. This Conference mandated ECA to establish the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa. Underlying this decision was the determination to ensure Africa's accelerated and sustained development, relying as much as possible on its own resources. The decision was immediately informed by concern that many of our countries would fail to meet the Millennium Development Goals during the target period ending in 2015. There was also concern that our continent had to take all possible measures to ensure respect for the development priorities it had set itself, as reflected for instance in the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Progress on this agenda could not be guaranteed if Africa remained over-dependent on resources supplied by development partners. In the light of this analysis, it became clear that Africa was a net creditor to the rest of the world, even though, despite the inflow of official development assistance, the continent had suffered and was continuing to suffer from a crisis of insufficient resources for development. Very correctly, these considerations led to the decision to focus on the matter of illicit financial outflows from Africa, and specifically on the steps that must be taken to radically reduce these outflows to ensure that these development resources remain within the continent. The importance of this decision is emphasized by the fact that our continent is annually losing more than $50 billion through illicit financial outflows.

Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: The Commission, 2015. 126p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 4, 2015 at: http://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/publications/iff_main_report_english.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Financial Crimes (Africa)

Shelf Number: 134532


Author: Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat

Title: Migrant Smuggling in the Horn of Africa & Yemen: The political economy and protection risks

Summary: This publication, the first in a new series of studies by the RMMS on specific mixed migration issues, focuses on migrant smuggling in the Horn of Africa and Yemen. Globally, migration and mobility are important survival and poverty reduction strategies for a large and growing number of people. This is no different in the Horn of Africa and Yemen, a poor, environmentally fragile and conflict-prone region that has generated a heavy flow of mixed migration in recent years. In 'mixed migration', different groups of migrants may travel with or alongside each other, using the same routes and means of transport but with different motivations and objectives. The term is relatively new and encompasses groups of refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants, Internally Displaced People, stateless persons on the move and trafficked persons. The 'status' (regular, irregular) of people on the move often changes and adapts over the course of a journey, leading to increased difficulties in classification. In this report the term migrant is often used to include all those in the mixed migration flows, even if they include refugees and asylum seekers. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), such movements often involve irregular or clandestine travel, "exposing people to exploitation and abuse by smugglers and traffickers or placing their lives at risk. Most migrants, when they travel irregularly, are in vulnerable situations". The majority in the Horn of Africa and Yemen move with the assistance or under the control of migrant smugglers. Although the results of migration may contribute to social and economic development, such forms of irregular migration represent huge challenges for governments and international organisations with regard to promoting the rights of migrants, addressing the issue of irregular migration and border management, ensuring national security and correct immigration procedures, and countering the activities of criminal networks. Migrant smuggling is a disturbing phenomenon due to the power dynamics and attendant protection risks between migrant and smuggler as well as between migrant and officials in the states through which migrants travel. Unlike human trafficking, the migrant starts his or her journey on a consensual basis, but this often soon changes. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), migrant smuggling can be a 'deadly' business. Between 2006 and 2012, when regular monitoring of new arrivals first began, a conservative estimate indicates that almost half a million migrants (447,000) have set off to Yemen in boats from Djibouti or the Somali port city of Bossaso, almost all of them Somalis and Ethiopians. According to Human Rights Watch, and as this study will illustrate, asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants travelling to Yemen from the Horn of Africa suffer severe human rights abuses, violence or loss of life. They also claim that "despite the numbers and despite the human rights abuses, this has been largely ignored by the outside world". Many Eritrean migrants and asylum seekers take the western route through Sudan into Libya, while a large cohort of other Ethiopians and Somalis stream south through Kenya and towards South Africa. Almost all of this movement is facilitated by human smugglers.

Details: Nairobi: RMMS, 2013. 80p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 9, 2015 at: http://regionalmms.org/fileadmin/content/monthly%20summaries/series_booklet_Leo.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Asylum Seekers

Shelf Number: 134573


Author: World Bank

Title: Understanding Youth Violence : Cases from Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Summary: Addressing youth issues is essential to promoting stability and preventing violence in fragile and conflict-affected states. However, there is little evidence that youth programming and policies have helped reduce violence in these settings. This can reflect the lack of understanding about youth issues and how problems affecting them encourage their participation in violence. This study set out to understand youth violence in Liberia and Sierra Leone, two countries in which there has historically been a great deal of youth participation in group violence, where the risk of youth mobilization into violence persists, and where interpersonal and gender-based violence are still a concern. In addition to having young populations, both countries have governments that have emphasized improving youths' lives by both reducing poverty and preventing violence. In turn, programming and policies in these (and many other conflict-affected) countries tend to be focused on employment generation due to the assumption that youth become prone to violent behavior as the result of economic exclusion (their inability to achieve a stable source of livelihood). The findings from this study will be useful to help governments (particularly of fragile and conflict-affected states) and donors better understand youth issues, design more effective interventions to address youth violence, and promote longer-term stability. The report begins with a review of literature on existing theories of youth exclusion and drivers of youth violence, with a greater focus on history of violence in West Africa. It proceeds with an outline of the study methodology for data collection, sample selection, and analysis. The analysis follows, highlighting key findings. The report concludes with recommendations for policies and youth programming.

Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013. 63p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 19, 2015 at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/18244/864300WP0P1259260Box385179B000OUO0900ACS.pdf?sequence=1

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Delinquency Prevention

Shelf Number: 134661


Author: Womankind Worldwide

Title: Prevention is Possible: The role of women's rights organisations in ending violence against women and girls in Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia

Summary: This synthesis report draws together key findings and learning from three linked research studies commissioned by Womankind Worldwide (Womankind) to examine the contribution of community and rights-based approaches to the prevention of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The research studies examine three different programmes implemented by partner women's rights organisations (WROs): The Women's Empowerment and Reduction of Harmful Practices programme implemented by Siiqqee Women's Development Association in Ethiopia, The Nkyinkyim (COMBAT) project implemented by Window of Hope Foundation (with the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre) in Ghana, and the Popular Education and Community-led Mobilisation approach implemented by Women for Change in Zambia. The report firstly outlines the research methodology and then situates the different programme approaches in the wider evidence on different community-level and rights-based approaches to VAWG prevention and the role of WROs. It then outlines the specific country and community contexts in which each of the three programmes operates. Based on participatory research with key stakeholders, programme participants and other community members in two target communities in each country, the report analyses the factors and processes that impede or enable change at a community level and assesses the contribution of the three programmes to the prevention of VAWG. It also reflects on the factors that contributed to successful outcomes as well as the challenges faced by WROs in implementing the programmes. The final section of the report presents conclusions and a number of recommendations for donor agencies, national governments and international NGOs and civil society organisations.

Details: London: Womankind Worldwide, 2014. 83p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 11, 2015 at: http://www.womankind.org.uk/policy-and-resources/resources/reports/

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Family Violence

Shelf Number: 134901


Author: ECPAT Netherlands

Title: Don't Look Away! Be aware and report the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism

Summary: ECPAT Austria, ECPAT France, ECPAT Germany, ECPAT Luxembourg and ECPAT Netherlands have coordinated country assessments in 5 Sub-Saharan African tourist destinations. The country assessments describe the situation of child sex tourism and analyse existing reporting systems in the field of child protection policies dealing with sexual exploitation of children. The assessments are part of the EU funded project 'Don't Look Away'. Through the research 496 child victims of sexual exploitation were interviewed. Furthermore, 800 members of the community (both adults and children) and 489 professional stakeholders (governmental authorities, NGOs, CSOs and members of the tourism industry) were reached through interviews, questionnaires and focus group discussions.

Details: Leiden: ECPAT Netherlands, 2014. 99p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 25, 2015 at: http://www.ecpat.net/sites/default/files/Overall%20report%20-%20Assessment%205%20African%20countries.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Prostitution

Shelf Number: 135013


Author: Man, Frans de

Title: Don't Look Away: Be Aware and Report the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism: Assessment on sexual exploitation of children related to tourism and reporting mechanisms in Gambia

Summary: The main aim of this research is to improve the protection of vulnerable children in the Gambia from being sexually abused in tourism. In doing so, it is important to understand the existing reporting systems in order to be able to propose or strengthen appropriate reporting procedures and mechanisms. For the purpose of clarity and advocacy to improve the present situation on child sex tourism in the Gambia the research is divided into four main chapters detailing: 1. The background, giving an overview of the problem. 2. Identification of the issues at stake. 3. The findings of the research. 4. The reporting systems established to fight against child sex tourism resulting in recommendations to improve the situation.

Details: Leiden: ECPAT the Netherlands, 2014. 93p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 1, 2015 at: http://www.ecpat.net/sites/default/files/Country%20Assessment%20Gambia.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Prostitution

Shelf Number: 135121


Author: Shetret, Liat

Title: Tracking Progress: Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism in East Africa and the Greater Horn of Africa

Summary: Money laundering and terrorism financing pose a significant threat to security and developmental efforts worldwide and increasingly undermine the integrity of the global financial system and its long-term stability. Many states in the Greater Horn of Africa region are experiencing rapid economic growth and have increasing access to global markets. With predominantly informal and cash-based economies, these states are particularly vulnerable to money laundering and terrorism financing activities. This vulnerability is further enhanced by absent, nascent, or incomplete financial regulatory mechanisms as well as limited law enforcement and judicial capacities to respond to violations. Poverty, weak governance, corruption, porous borders, and political instability all contribute to the enabling environment for transnational organized criminal and terrorist groups in the Greater Horn region. Although overarching regulatory frameworks and institutional capacities remain low, political interest and technical attention and resourcing is growing in the region. In particular, a willingness to engage on these issues at the national level is rising. This report provides a new assessment of developments related to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/ CFT) efforts in East Africa and the Greater Horn region and offers a review and analysis of 10 countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen. It builds on the 2012 baseline study, titled "ISSP-CGCC Joint Baseline Study on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism in the IGAD Subregion," and includes two additional countries, Tanzania and Yemen, because of the geographical and strategic importance of these two countries to the cross-border risks shared among Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member states and these non-IGAD members. This report combined desk research and analysis with limited in-country visits. To the extent possible, each country's assessment covers similar areas, including a recap of the findings from the 2012 baseline study and a summary of findings and recommendations to date; a broad economic snapshot of the country and relevant political context; progress on AML/ CFT efforts, such as the national legal framework and the operationalization of a financial intelligence unit; ongoing risks and vulnerabilities, largely focused on sectoral risks and concrete implementation of legal frameworks; and emergent entry points for action and further development.

Details: Goshen, IN: Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2015. 104p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 23, 2015 at: http://www.globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Tracking-Progress-low-res.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Financial Crime

Shelf Number: 135379


Author: Loh, Johannes

Title: Success factors for police reform in post-conflict situations

Summary: The field of security and police reform is a critical factor for reconstruction in post-conflict countries and has become a prominent policy issue discussed globally along international efforts to rebuild a functioning police force in Afghanistan. This Working Paper is the Master of Public Policy thesis which Johannes Loh successfully defended at the Hertie School of Governance in May 2010. It is dedicated to identifying conditions which can determine the success and failure of police reform in post-conflict countries based on a thorough comparative analysis of the quite distinct experiences with police reform in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. By reconciling the practical findings from these case studies and existing theory about police reforms, Johannes Loh has entered a territory that has so far been largely unchartered. A special strength of this work is the interesting and fertile synthesis of public policy and change management literature and concepts. Viewed from an academic perspective, this work is a step towards a better understanding of the dynamics of police reforms in post-conflict countries and the actors pursuing it. In practical terms, it may help those engaged in police reform identify possible pathways and triggers for a successful implementation. The work presents concrete policy implications and recommendations which could contribute to designing more successful post-conflict rebuilding initiatives of police forces in other contexts as well.

Details: Berlin: Herdie School of Governance, 2010.

Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 26, 2015 at: http://www.hertie-school.org/fileadmin/images/Downloads/working_papers/57.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Reform

Shelf Number: 129678


Author: Wijnberg, Marcelle

Title: Exploration of male gang members' perspectives of gangs and drugs

Summary: The Western Cape is notorious for its high prevalence of gangs and resulting gang violence. This is confirmed in the multitude of frequent reports of homicides attributed to gangs. This area of South Africa further has elevated substance abuse statistics. Literature clearly states that gangs and drugs are inextricably linked. The nature of the interaction is however unclear, although the effects of the interaction is significantly apparent as the consequences of gang activities is often felt by innocent bystanders. It is concerning that gangsterism and drug usage is normalised and ceases to be viewed as deviant in some communities. The consequences of the interaction between gangs and drugs has ramifications for community safety and further places much strain on the health, social welfare, as well as defence sectors. Effective interventions need to be informed by insight into the interaction between gangs and drugs. The best source of reliable information in this regard would be gang members. A dearth of research with regards to the gang members‟ perspective on the connection between gangs and drugs thus motivated the study. The study was conducted with male gang members within the setting of a substance treatment centre, where drug usage is normalised. An empirical study with a combination of a qualitative and quantitative approach was used, where a semi structured questionnaire was administered with individual participants as well as a focus group. The study illustrated that gangs attract members through their ability to meet the individuals‟ needs. These needs are linked to those indentified within motivational theory. Gangs met physiological needs through access to drugs, safety needs through providing protection, and self esteem needs through the provision of money and status. Significantly, gangs were identified as meeting individuals‟ belonging needs. Commonality was established in risk factors for involvement in a gang and as well as in the usage of substances. The study showed unstable home environments with absent fathers and multiple stressors such as exposure to high levels of violence and abuse. Disconnectedness within families was further highlighted. The participants were exposed to elevated levels of substance misuse within their families as well as elevated levels of familial involvement in the sale of drugs. Familial involvement in gangs was also high within participants. The findings of the study indicate that drugs are enmeshed within gang activities. Drug usage occurs before and after going out and committing crimes. Drugs were used to heighten gang members‟ fortitude, diminishing inhibitions. Participants spoke about being incapable of undertaking violent acts, without first using drugs. Gang members used drugs to quiet the conscience and in self medicating after completing a task, in order to cope with flashbacks and intrusive thoughts and images. Gang norms with regards to the sanctioning of drugs is a complex issue. The study demonstrated that gangs make a distinction between drugs, for example heroin usage is not encouraged by all gangs due to the associated tolerance and severe withdrawal symptoms. Gangs tread a thin line between condoning and discouraging drug usage. Supporting drug usage may benefit the gang, as it encourages and motivates gang activities. Gang members who become dependent on drugs are however a risk for the gang, as they become unreliable and disloyal, as their absolute devotion to the gang is challenged by their physiological needs. Gang members however perceive the gangs‟ prohibition of certain drugs, as motivated by a concern for their wellbeing rather than self interest. The temporal order of drug usage and gang membership illustrated that drug usage preceded involvement in a gang. Drug usage however significantly increased and progressed after inclusion in a gang. Recommendations emphasised a need to acknowledge the link between drugs and gangs. Insight provided by gang members is needed in order to inform effective interventions. Within the substance dependence field, the gang member presents with unique treatment needs, which must be understood in order to gain optimum results. Ill-informed, generic treatment is ineffective, irresponsible and costly for service providers, communities affected by gangsterism, and those gang members with some willingness to change.

Details: Stellenbosch, South Africa: University of Stellenbosch, 2012. 196p.

Source: Thesis: Accessed May 26, 2015 at: http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/20000

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction

Shelf Number: 129737


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Title: Transnational Organized Crime in Eastern Africa: A Threat Assessment

Summary: Key Findings: - Transnational organized crime in Eastern Africa is a product of both illicit markets that span continents and an underlying weakness in the rule of law. - Due to conflict and poverty, Eastern Africa produces a large and vulnerable stream of smuggled migrants, who are abused and exploited at multiple stages of their journey. - More than 100,000 people paid smugglers to transport them across the Gulf of Aden or Red Sea to Yemen in 2012, generating an income for the boatmen of over US$15 million. - Around 80,000 of these migrants attempted to cross Yemen to Saudi Arabia, but many of these were waylaid by smugglers and subjected to a range of abuses, including confinement, beatings, extortion and rape. - Despite the large numbers, the flow of migrants is concentrated, with most embarking from two port areas (Obock, Djibouti and Boosaaso, Somalia) where interventions could be addressed. - Heroin has been trafficked to and through Eastern Africa since at least the 1980s, but a series of recent large seizures suggests that this flow has increased. - Some air couriering has been noted, but it appears the great bulk of the heroin is being transported by dhow from the Makran Coast, an area that spans Iran and Pakistan. - The local market is estimated to consume at least 2.5 tons of pure heroin per year, worth some US$160 million in local markets. The volumes trafficked to the region appear to be much larger, as much as 22 tons, suggesting substantial tran-shipment. Eastern Africa is a known transit area for heroin destined for South Africa and West Africa. - Given the prevalence of blood borne disease and known injection drug use, the spread of heroin throughout the region must be carefully monitored and addressed. - Recent research indicates that the rate of poaching in Eastern Africa has increased, rising to levels that could threaten the local elephant population. - The bulk of the large ivory shipments from Africa to Asia appears to pass through the container ports of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania, where interventions could be addressed. - It is estimated that between 5,600 and 15,400 elephants are poached in Eastern Africa annually, producing between 56 and 154 metric tons of illicit ivory, of which two-thirds (37 tons) is destined for Asia, worth around US$30 million in 2011. - Somali pirates brought in an estimated US$150 million in 2011, which is equivalent to almost 15% of Somalia's GDP. - Effective intervention has forced pirates to range ever further from the coast to attain their targets: in 2005, the average successful pirate attack was 109 km from the Somali coast; in 2012, it was 746 km. Ships have also become more effective at defending themselves. - The increase in risk associated with protracted expeditions and international countermeasures have contributed to a decline in piracy: in April of 2009 alone, pirates hijacked 16 ships, but after April 2011, they averaged less than one per month. There were no successful hijackings for ransom in the Somali area of operations in the first half of 2013.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2013. 54p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 28, 2015 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/TOC_East_Africa_2013.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 129829


Author: Global Center on Cooperative Security

Title: Countering Violent Extremism and Promoting Community Resilience in the Greater Horn of Africa

Summary: This report outlines ideas for strategies, programs, and initiatives that can be implemented to prevent and counter violent extremism in the Greater Horn of Africa and increase human security and community resilience. Suggestions include training officials and frontline practitioners to enhance their engagement with communities, improving service delivery and reform of the security and criminal justice sectors, introducing disengagement and reintegration programs, promoting subregional cooperation and information sharing, fostering youth leadership, engaging the media and the private sector, and strengthening the capacity of and engagement with civil society actors. The recommendations are targeted towards (1) states in the subregion; (2) subregional, regional, and international actors, such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union, the East African Community, the European Union, the United Nations, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum; and (3) civil society actors, the private sector, and the media. The Action Agenda stresses the importance of holistic and inclusive approaches to preventing and countering violent extremism that involve a range of actors, including states in the subregion, partner governments, and international and multilateral actors, as well as regional, subregional, and nongovernmental organizations. With an eye toward increasing the sustainability and impact of programs aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism, it advises to build on initiatives that are already in place in the Greater Horn of Africa and ensure that current and future activities are embedded in ongoing efforts that aim to build capacity across the criminal justice, security, and development sectors. The ideas proposed in this Action Agenda were developed by the Global Center, based on existing experiences and practices in the Greater Horn of Africa as well as consultations with various stakeholders. An earlier draft of the Action Agenda was circulated at the Global Counterterrorism Forum's Horn of Africa Working Group in March 2015. This report has been made possible by the generous support of the governments of Norway and Turkey.

Details: Washington, DC: Global Center on Cooperative Security , 2015. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 1, 2015 at: http://www.globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/HoA_Action_Agenda_Low_Res.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Terrorism

Shelf Number: 135838


Author: Schwartz, Matthew

Title: Policing and (in)security in fragile and conflict-affected settings: A review of perspectives on policing in sub-Saharan Africa

Summary: Developed for the Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law, this paper presents series of thematic discussions derived from the literature on policing in a number of African countries. Taking a developmental and human security perspective, the paper focuses on the diffuse networks of non-state and state providers that serve as the primary safety and security providers for a vast majority of communities. While hybrid policing systems vary in capacity and end-user satisfaction, traditional statutory policing structures are generally characterized by severe dysfunction, politicization, and abuse with impunity. Considering the diverse challenges faced by many national police actors on the continent, the paper questions the efficacy of prevailing state-centric security assistance programs and their overwhelming focus on strengthening "enforcement" capacities. It cautions donors to take a more considered approach to ensure their police assistance activities are supporting the protection- not the predation- of local communities.

Details: Washington, DC: Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2015. 29p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 2, 2015 at: http://www.globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/policing-and-in-security-in-fragile-and-conflict-affected-settings.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Police Reform

Shelf Number: 135844


Author: Mili, Hayder

Title: Afghan Opiate Trafficking through the Southern Route

Summary: A significant portion of opiates originating in Afghanistan are transiting Africa before being trafficked onwards to Europe, North America and other consumer markets, UNODC noted in a new report published today. Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium in the world and the 'Balkan' route (through the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey) has traditionally been the primary route for trafficking heroin out of Afghanistan. The report, entitled 'Afghan Opiate Trafficking - the Southern Route', however, notes a changing trend: the 'southern route' - a collection of trafficking routes within which organized criminal groups smuggle heroin out of Afghanistan on southerly flows - are gaining ground in the supply of some European markets. Recent large opiate seizures further out in the Indian Ocean have highlighted the potential for traffickers to send sizeable shipments using boats departing from unofficial ports and jetties along the coast of Iran and Pakistan. Maritime trafficking is likely facilitating the smuggling of large quantities of heroin or opium into third countries. During 2014, a multinational naval partnership in the region, the Combined Maritime Forces, intercepted almost 3.4 tons of heroin on 18 different vessels in the Indian Ocean. The prominence of African sub-regions as potentially important consumption and transit zones for the trafficking of Afghan heroin along the southern route is another major finding of this report. The wide array of cargo and air links having Africa as a destination or transit point offer many opportunities for traffickers. The information available at present suggests that different regions of Africa are developing important roles in facilitating the transit of heroin along the southern route, and networks from those regions have taken control of some trafficking routes. The report also highlights the fact that due to their geographical proximity, Iran and Pakistan face a tremendous challenge in dealing with the large flows of opiates originating from Afghanistan to feed their domestic heroin markets. The location of these neighbouring countries also makes them a major transit point for the trafficking of Afghan opiates along the southern route. Recent developments in the illicit trafficking of opiates along the southern route highlight the importance of mutual cooperation between countries, regions and organizations. The Joint Planning Cell, part of the Triangular Initiative which promotes collaboration between Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, had planned and coordinated 17 operations by December 2012, resulting in the seizure of more than eight tons of drugs. The report notes the need for further development of such cooperation frameworks.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2015. 132p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 9, 2015 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Afghan_opiate_trafficking_southern_route_web.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Markets

Shelf Number: 135977


Author: Flavahan, Louise

Title: Preventing Intimate Partner Violence in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Summary of a Joint Workshop by the Institute of Medicine, the National Research Council, and the Uganda National Academy of Sciences

Summary: Globally, between 15-71 percent of women will experience physical and/or sexual abuse from an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime. Too often this preventable form of violence is repetitive in nature, occurring at multiple points across the lifespan. The prevalence of intimate partner violence is on the higher end of this spectrum in East Africa, with in-country demographic and health surveys indicating that approximately half of all women between the ages of 15-49 in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania having experienced physical or sexual abuse within a partnership. It is now widely accepted that preventing intimate partner violence is possible and can be achieved through a greater understanding of the problem; its risk and protective factors; and effective evidence-informed primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. To that end, on August 11-12, 2014, the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Global Violence Prevention, in a collaborative partnership with the Uganda National Academy of Sciences, convened a workshop focused on informing and creating synergies within a diverse community of researchers, health workers, and decision makers committed to promoting intimate partner violence-prevention efforts that are innovative, evidence-based, and crosscutting. This workshop brought together a variety of stakeholders and community workers from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania to engage in a meaningful, multidirectional dialogue regarding intimate partner violence in the region. Preventing Intimate Partner Violence in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.

Details: Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2015. 108p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 29, 2015 at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/21756/preventing-intimate-partner-violence-in-uganda-kenya-and-tanzania-summary

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Domestic Violence

Shelf Number: 136241


Author: INTERPOL. Environmental Security Sub-Directorate

Title: Study on Fisheries Crime in the West African Coastal Region

Summary: Illegal fishing and associated criminal activities, also known as fisheries crime, undermine the sustainability of marine living resources, and threaten the economic, social and political stability of coastal communities, especially in West Africa where small-scale or artisanal fishermen depend on sustainable near-shore fisheries for their source of revenue and survival. The INTERPOL Environmental Security Sub-Directorate, through its Project Scale, supports and assists member countries in the effective enforcement of national and international fisheries laws and treaties. Fisheries crime in West Africa is truly transnational in its scope and extends across many crime types. This report gives key recommendations for an international law enforcement response to this complex crime among the 190 INTERPOL member countries.1 It aims to guide INTERPOLs engagement on fisheries crime in this region, as well as globally, and inform the INTERPOL Fisheries Crime Working Group (FCWG) on avenues of engagement. The information used to develop this report consisted of a review of open sources together with consultations with the INTERPOL National Central Bureaus (NCBs) and other law enforcement agencies that oversee the harvest and trade in marine products, as well as the monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) of national waters, and other experts from non-governmental and international organizations active in fourteen West African member countries. This report identifies major modi operandi enabling illegality in the fisheries sector in West Africa and the types of criminality that facilitate or accompany this illegality. It includes select cases that exemplify the types of illegality and criminality affecting the fisheries sector in West Africa. The common modi operandi identified in this report are: - Surveillance avoidance, such as interfering with electronic monitoring systems and intentionally obscuring vessel markings and identity; - Transhipment at sea which can facilitate the laundering of illegally caught fish by transferring catch to cargo vessels which then offload at distant ports; - Abuse of vessel registries within the region and elsewhere to facilitate illegal fishing activities globally (exacerbated by the lack of transparency in most vessel registries); - Licensing abuses such as fishing with fraudulent licenses (also exacerbated by the lack of transparency in the issuance of licenses in the region); - Collusion with the artisanal sector, including illegal transhipment from artisanal to industrial fishing vessels; - Industrial vessels fishing illegally in artisanal fishing zones.

Details: Lyon, France: INTERPOL, 2014. 64p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 30, 2015 at: http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Environmental-crime/Resources

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fishing Industry

Shelf Number: 136274


Author: Gramizzi, Claudio

Title: Tackling illicit small arms and light weapons and ammunition in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa

Summary: Following a decision of the Council of the European Union on 27 February 2012, a two-year project on 'Supporting EU-China-Africa dialogue on conventional arms control' was launched on 5 June 2012. Implemented by Saferworld, together with the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and the Africa Peace Forum the project was aimed at enhancing dialogue between the African, the Chinese and the European civil society and research communities on conventional arms control and the struggle against illicit proliferation and circulation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) through the creation of an 'Africa-China-EU Expert Working Group on conventional arms' (EWG) and its activities. During the project, the EWG, made up of nine high-profile arms control and non-proliferation experts from Africa, China and Europe, acted as a driving force to facilitate dialogue, dissemination of information and research, and to share ideas and expertise among its members and relevant partners on issues related to the illicit proliferation and circulation of SALW and conventional military equipment in Africa, with a specific focus on the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa region of the continent. The main objective of this working paper is to provide an assessment of the threats posed by the proliferation and illicit circulation of SALW and their impact on security and social-economic development in the countries of the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa; to illustrate the outcomes of the EWG activities and experiences; to highlight lessons learnt during the meetings and consultations held within the EWG and with relevant partners in Africa, China and the EU; and formulate recommendations regarding ways to maximise the results obtained over the two-year period of the project, and how this might be used to inform future work through Africa-China-EU tripartite cooperation in the area of SALW and arms control.

Details: London: Africa Peace Forum, China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, Saferworld, 2014. 34p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 30, 2015 at: http://www.saferworld.org.uk/resources/view-resource/838-tackling-illicit-small-arms-and-light-weapons-and-ammunition-in-the-great-lakes-and-the-horn-of-africa

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arms Trafficking

Shelf Number: 136279


Author: Walther, Olivier J.

Title: Mapping and Deterring Violent Extremist Networks in North-West Africa

Summary: This article examines the structural and spatial organization of violent extremist organizations (VEOs) across the Sahara. Building on the Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset (ACLED), a public collection of political violence data for developing states, the article investigates structural connections of VEOs and the effect of borders on the spatial patterns of armed groups. Social network analysis reveals that the network involving VEOs had a low density, a low level of transitivity, and contained few central actors, three typical characteristics of negative-tie networks. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is unquestionably the most connected VEO, which in purely network terms can be seen as a liability. Spatial analysis shows that, while violence was almost exclusively concentrated within Algeria between 1997 and 2004, cross-border movements intensified in the mid-2000s following the establishment of military bases by AQIM in Mali. As of late, VEOs have primarily concentrated their operations in Northern Mali as well as Southern Algeria, whereas Mauritania, Niger and Chad have been relatively unaffected. It follows that deterrence and containment strategies should be devised for regions rather than states. The findings have significant implications for multinational security and stability operations and the need to coordinate transnationally.

Details: Sonderborg, Denmark: University of Southern Denmark, 2015. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Department of Border Region Studies Working Paper No. 04/15: Accessed August 3, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2593020

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Security

Shelf Number: 136293


Author: Fields, Hannah

Title: Elephant Poaching, Poverty, and Tourism in Africa

Summary: African elephant populations have been plummeting over the past few decades due to increased poaching and demand for ivory. This thesis investigates the influence that poverty and tourism have on the level of African elephant poaching, as well as the influence that poverty and elephant poaching have on the level of tourism in Africa. Through the use of an ordinary least squares regression, poaching, tourism and socioeconomic data between the years 2002 and 2012 for 27 African countries are used to examine these relationships. Results have shown that poverty and elephant poaching have a positive relationship; poverty and tourism have a negative relationship; and elephant poaching and tourism have a negative relationship.

Details: Colorado Springs, CO: Colorado College, 2014. 48p.

Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed August 5, 2015 at: https://www.zotero.org/groups/ael/items/2IEEPIVS

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 136336


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Independent Evaluation Unit

Title: Law Enforcement Capacity Building in the Fight against Illicit Drug Trafficking in Selected Countries in West Africa

Summary: This Report provides an independent evaluation of UNODC project XAW/U53, entitled "Law Enforcement Capacity Building in the Fight against Drug Trafficking in Selected Countries in West Africa". This project is a direct response to one of the main thematic priorities of the ECOWAS Political Declaration end resulting "Regional Action Plan to Address the Growing Problem of Illicit Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime and Drug Abuse in West Africa, 2008-2011". The project was implemented by UNODC in 2009-2011, with the support of the Government of Italy. The project objective was to build enhanced capacity of law enforcement agencies to combat illicit drug trafficking to and from beneficiary states, i.e. Guinea Bissau, Mali, Sierra Leone and Senegal. On the basis of preliminary assessment missions conducted in July 2009 beneficiary countries clearly expressed the need for the project to focus on the financial crimes component of drug trafficking and TOC, i.e. money laundering. This would enable the project to usefully complement other assistance initiatives that very much focus on law enforcement capacity building, by providing added value when investigating drug trafficking and organized crime cases. The implementing activities consisted essentially of specialized training and were complemented with the delivery of IT and office equipment to the beneficiaries. An independent evaluation was initiated upon completion of project activities. It consisted of a desk review of relevant documents, followed by a field mission that took place from 10 October to 4 November 2011. The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the impact of project activities, as well as to draw lessons from project implementation and make recommendations. Those could be the basis for instituting improvements when planning, designing and managing UNODC technical assistance in the interrelated fields of law enforcement capacity building, countering drug trafficking and anti money laundering.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2011. 46p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 7, 2015 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/evaluation/ProEvals-2009/ProEvals-2010/ProEvals-2011/XAW_U53_Final_Report_rev3.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 136345


Author: Frutos, Dinorah

Title: Uncovering the Linkages in Maritime Piracy Networks: Developmental Dynamics and Visualization of Network Data

Summary: Maritime piracy has been on the rise for many years. Although public data on piracy attacks and piracy networks is limited, we have attempted to apply some new methodological tools to determine as far as possible, the properties of these complex systems. In particular, by employing external statistics and following the work of Clauset and Gleditsch on land-based terrorist organizations, we attempt to characterize the relationship between the severity and frequency of maritime piracy attacks. In addition utilizing social network analysis, we have aimed at accurately visualizing and representing key characteristics of maritime piracy as well as discerning non-obvious or emergent patterns of behavior and organizational structure specific to piracy networks as defined by their geographic locations (i.e., West Africa, east Africa and The Straits of Malacca and Lombok).

Details: Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting San Diego 2009, San Diego, CA. 16p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 17, 2015 at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/38932175/Uncovering-the-Linkages-in-Maritime-Piracy-Networks-Developmental-Dynamics-and-Visualization-of-Network-Data

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 136434


Author: Desta, Tu'emay Aregawi

Title: ISSP-CGCC Joint Baseline Study on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism in the IGAD Subregion

Summary: Money laundering and terrorist financing are major, interconnected problems for East Africa and the Horn. As the World Bank's World Development Report 2011 makes clear, they pose a significant threat not only to security but also to development. Both the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) have identified a number of states in the subregion as demonstrating weak implementation of international standards on anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT). Some states in the subregion (Ethiopia and Kenya) have even been placed within the FATF International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) process, which can ultimately lead to obstacles to engagement with the international financial system. There is consequently a growing recognition that states in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) subregion stand to benefit in multiple ways from a more concerted effort to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. There is also, however, a chronic limitation of data and knowledge about the problems of money laundering and terrorist financing and about AML/CFT vulnerabilities, risks, and capacities in the subregion. States of the subregion have their own specific vulnerabilities, challenges, weaknesses, and strengths, even as they share certain cross-cutting challenges. In this Baseline Study, the IGAD Security Sector Program (ISSP) and the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation (CGCC) set out with support from the Royal Government of Denmark to provide a more detailed and nuanced analysis of AML/ CFT challenges and opportunities in the IGAD region, to inform a better allocation of resources to risk and to potential return on investment. The study is a joint effort developed in response to repeated requests by the ISSP's and the CGCC's governmental, intergovernmental, private sector, and civil society partners in the subregion who sought assistance in obtaining baseline data about money laundering risks and AML capacity in the region and guidance on the data's potential use for CFT efforts. Throughout the project design and execution, emphasis has been placed on local ownership. Experts from the East African and Horn subregion coordinated and conducted the project and, where appropriate, also drew on outside expertise. This included input from members of the Danish, Malawian, and Nigerian financial intelligence units (FIUs). The study was prepared by a project team of 10 independent researchers with logistical support and analytical guidance from the ISSP and the CGCC and an informal advisory group of interested officials, academics, and business professionals from the subregion, serving in a personal capacity. That advisory group met twice in Addis Ababa: in October 2011 to help frame the project and develop the research methodology and in March 2012 to critique the resulting analysis and a draft version of this report. The final draft report was shared with all IGAD member states for further review, interagency discussion, comment, and revision. The ISSP and the CGCC approved this report before publication. This study does not provide an exhaustive catalogue or review of money laundering and terrorist financing risks or AML/ CFT efforts in the subregion. Also, it does not purport to provide a categorical assessment of specific AML/CFT projects in the subregion or a country's "performance." This study did not set out to replicate the technical proficiency or political legitimacy of a FATF or ESAAMLG assessment or peer review. Instead, this study represents the collected views of stakeholders in the subregion, gathered by a group of independent analysts, convened by the ISSP and the CGCC, and guided by our Advisory Group. Our aim was not to pass judgment but to provide some starting points for an inclusive and, we hope, coordinated and evidence-based discussion in the years ahead among many stakeholders - national, international, private sector, and civil society - regarding strengthening AML/CFT capacities in the IGAD subregion. This study explores AML/CFT efforts in Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Kenya; Somalia, including Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and non-TFG efforts; South Sudan; Sudan; and Uganda and at the regional and subregional level (the African Development Bank [AfDB], the African Union [AU], the East African Community [EAC], the East African Development Bank [EADB], the ESAAMLG, and IGAD). Researchers developed desk analysis that was tested through roughly week-long field visits, during which researchers met with relevant local and foreign government officials, civil society actors, private sector entities, and independent analysts. Twenty to 25 interviews were conducted for most jurisdictions - approximately 160 in all - over the course of 60 days of fieldwork. Interviewers used a semistructured format responding to a common set of research questions. The names and institutional affiliations of interviewees have been withheld to ensure confidentiality; a list of institutions that participated may be provided on request. Due to limited resources and concerns about the physical security of the researchers, a methodology not involving field visits by external researchers was used for Eritrea and Somalia. Analysis for these jurisdictions should be read with additional caution, as further verification of the results may be necessary before they can serve as the basis for policy development. A separate chapter of the Baseline Study addresses each of the covered jurisdictions. As far as possible, each chapter addresses similar issues. - Money laundering and terrorist financing risks and vulnerabilities and how they are perceived by different stakeholders. - An overview of AML/CFT efforts, including discussion of capabilities and resources (material, legal, human, financial, and political) and how they are perceived by different stakeholders. - An identification of key entry points for international assistance and support to local stakeholders to promote AML/CFT efforts.

Details: New York; Addis Ababa: Center on Global Counterrorism Cooperation, 2012. 92p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 19, 2015 at: http://globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/AML_Report.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counterterrorism

Shelf Number: 136482


Author: Eriksson, Mikael

Title: Illicit Flows and African Security

Summary: In 2013, the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) and the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) hosted a joint one day African security conference. The theme of the conference was Illicit Flows and African Security, and was held at the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm on 17th October 2013. The expectation was that a mixture of researchers and practitioners coming together would be able to share ideas and solutions on how illicit flows can be tackled more effectively. Presenters were carefully chosen from among a highly qualified group of experts interested in sharing their knowledge and experience. Below follows a report based on the presentations, held by various experts, from the event. The theme of the conference grew out of an emergent realisation that African and European states, the European Union and the African Union, must gather joint forces to tackle new and emerging security threats. Since the establishment of the African Union in 2001, and the emerging peace and security architecture that has evolved ever since, new institutions and charters have been adopted for the purposes of dealing with peace and security in Africa. The question is if these new AU capabilities being set up are suitable for the challenges Africa faces in terms of security. While hard security concerns such as wars, civil wars, ethnic conflicts etc. are still raging across various parts of the continent, and receive much policy attention, other more subtle security challenges go unnoticed. Yet, both forms of challenges pose equal threats to peace, stability and governance. They also cause tremendous human suffering. To put AU peace and security capacities in relation to the complexity of security challenges, the aim of this conference has been to look at new and emerging security concerns. Dealing with illicit flows might demand new and different means and methods. Illicit flows and African security is not a new problem. The shadow flows of arms, capital, natural resources, humans and drugs are a phenomenon that may even be increasing in Africa, and between Africa and other continents. This needs attention.

Details: Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, 2014. 47p.

Source: Internet Resource: Occasional Paper: Accessed August 25, 2015 at: http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:712466/FULLTEXT02.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 136582


Author: Shelala, Robert M., II

Title: Maritime Security in the Middle East and North Africa: A Strategic Assessment

Summary: The waterways of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) are among the most important in the world. They facilitate the export of large volumes of oil and natural gas from the region, while also bridging traders in the Eastern and Western worlds through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. While political tensions in the region have at times played out in these waterways since the mid- 20th century, their vulnerability has been exasperated in recent years by the failure of bordering governments to promote internal stability, the lack of adequate maritime security capabilities of nearby states, and the potential naval threats posed by the government of Iran. The purpose of this study is to identify key threats to maritime security posed by state and nonstate actors in the MENA region, to assess what actions have been taken by stakeholders to promote security, and to explore what further steps could be taken by those stakeholders to close the gap between threats and capabilities. These threats will be addressed in broader strategic context, with the hope of mitigating threats and capability shortcomings that impact a variety of stakeholders. Three waterways in the MENA region are at particularly high risk and will be the focus of this assessment: the Suez Canal, the Gulf, and the Gulf of Aden. In the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden, maritime commerce is threatened by a severe lack of stability in the environment around the waterways. In Egypt, the repeated coups in Cairo have led to security dilemmas in which an uprising driven at least in part by radical Islamists has threatened the military government - and the canal by extension. The situation in the Gulf Aden bears similarities, as the poor economic and security conditions in Somalia have led to the development of piracy enterprises that target commercial traffic in the Gulf and broader Indian Ocean.

Details: Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2014. 80p.

Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed August 26, 2015 at: http://www.ciaonet.org/attachments/24808/uploads

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 136597


Author: Human Rights Watch

Title: State of Fear: Arbitrary Arrests, Torture, and Killings

Summary: Gambia's human rights record is among the worst in African. Since taking power over two decades ago, President Yaya Jammeh has ruthlessly suppressed dissent, shutdown virtually all independent media, and has routinely cracked down on journalists, opposition members, rights activists, student leaders, religious leaders, relatives of alleged coup plotters, and civil servants. Since 2014 when the Jammeh administration introduced anti-gay legislation which imposes a life sentence for a series of new "aggravated homosexuality" offenses, state security forces have targeted lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people with a wave of arrests and detentions. State of Fear, based on two research trips to Senegal and Gambia and more than 60 interviews, including with victims, witnesses and perpetrators of abuses, documents numerous violations allegedly perpetrated by Gambia's security forces, intelligence agents and a paramilitary group. These include extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrests and detentions. Many of these violations appear to be used by the authorities to instill fear in the population, which, together with a judicial system lacking independence, prevents victims and family members from seeking justice. The government has systematically failed to protect its own citizens and neglected to hold accountable those responsible for serious abuses. Human Rights Watch calls on the government of Gambia to urgently investigate and prosecute perpetrators of human rights abuses, disarm and disband paramilitary groups, and ensure security forces respect the due process rights of all individuals. The government should also implement key recommendations from both the United Nations Human Rights Council's 20th Universal Periodic Review of Gambia and the 2015 reports of the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and on extrajudicial executions.

Details: New York: HRW, 2015. 89p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2015 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/gambia0915_4up.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arbitrary Arrests

Shelf Number: 136806


Author: Morna, Janine

Title: Vulnerable Students, Unsafe Schools: Attacks and Military Use of Schools in the Central African Republic

Summary: Vulnerable Students, Unsafe Schools: Attacks and Military Use of Schools in the Central African Republic was launched in New York on September 10, 2015 and highlights the risks students and teachers face in schools in the Central African Republic (CAR). Based on field research, the report details attacks on schools by parties to the conflict and military use of schools by armed groups and, on occasion, international peacekeeping forces. It also provides policy recommendations to key stakeholders, including the Transitional Government of CAR, armed groups, humanitarian actors, and United Nations agencies, to strengthen children's right to education.

Details: New York: Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, 2015. 45p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 18, 2015 at: http://watchlist.org/vulnerable-students-unsafe-schools-attacks-and-military-use-of-schools-in-the-central-african-republic/

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Protection

Shelf Number: 136819


Author: Sebastian, Sofia

Title: The Role of Police in UN Peace Operations: Filling the Gap in the Protection of Civilians from Physical Violence

Summary: This reports highlights the critical role that UN police can play in countries like the Central African Republic, Mali and South Sudan. In environments characterized by weak or dysfunctional rule of law institutions and in contexts of criminal and low-intensity violence, UN police can be vital to maintaining security and protecting the civilian population from physical violence, filling the gap between military and civilian protection capabilities in peacekeeping missions. The brief identifies important doctrinal gaps that have hindered UN police effectiveness and proposes steps that the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations could take to enhance the physical protection of civilians by UN police.

Details: Washington, DC: Stimson Center, 2015. 60p.

Source: Internet Resource: Civilians in Conflict Policy Brief No. 3: Accessed September 21, 2015 at: http://stimson.org/images/uploads/fopo/CIC-Policy-Brief_3_Sept-2015.pdf?utm_content=pschultz%40rutgers.edu&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=The%20Role%20of%20Police%20in%20UN%20Peace%20Operations%3A%20Filling%20the%20Gap%20in%20the%20Protection%20of%20Civilians%20from%20Physical%20Violence&utm_campaign=New%20policy%20briefs%20on%20the%20protection%20of%20civilianscontent

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Law Enforcement

Shelf Number: 136847


Author: Marc, Alexandre

Title: The Challenge of Stability and Security in West Africa.

Summary: This publication seeks to critically examine the challenges of fragility and security in West Africa, along with the factors of resilience. It seeks to investigate key drivers of conflict and violence, and the way in which they impact the countries of the subregion. Along with emerging threats and challenges, these include the challenge of youth inclusion; migration; regional imbalances; extractives; the fragility of political institutions and managing the competition for power; security; and land. The book explores how the subregion, under the auspices of the regional organization ECOWAS has become a pioneer on the continent in terms of addressing regional challenges. This book also seeks to identify key lessons in the dynamics of resilience against political violence and civil war, drawn from countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote d'Ivoire that can be useful for countries around the world in the midst of similar situations. Finally, it draws on knowledge and findings from a series background papers written by leading experts, and provides insights from the perspectives of academics and development practitioners.

Details: Washington, DC: World Bank; and Agence Francaise de Developpement, 2015. 125p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 24, 2015 at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/22033

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Migration

Shelf Number: 136869


Author: Maguire, Tom

Title: An Illusion of Complicity: Terrorism and the Illegal Ivory Trade in East Africa

Summary: A number of myths and misperceptions have grown alongside the illegal ivory trade - none more troubling than the alleged participation of terrorist groups. In East Africa, the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab has supposedly received up to 40 per cent of its running costs through the illegal ivory trade alone. This is a powerful narrative, espoused by some politicians, policy-makers and practitioners. But it is largely wrong. Evidence for Al-Shabaab involvement in poaching and trafficking remains extremely limited and controversial. Briefings given to policy-makers on terrorism and the illegal ivory trade continue to refer to unverified sources. This is a cause for concern: such a narrative risks diverting attention from the trade's main facilitators and, counter-intuitively, from Al-Shabaab's known funding sources. To address these misconceptions, this report explores the complex ecosystems of terrorism, poaching and ivory trafficking in East Africa. Its key findings are that: - Highly networked organised crime groups (OCGs), brokers and corrupt government officials continue to drive the illegal ivory trade across East Africa. Weak legislation and enforcement by security agencies provides a benign environment for their activities - The OCGs, brokers and corrupt officials involved - and the routes and methods used - likely overlap with other forms of organised crime (such as the trafficking of drugs, humans and small arms) - The majority of ivory that transits East Africa comes from source areas on the Tanzania-Mozambique border and in central Tanzania. These are far removed from Al-Shabaab territory - Few, if any, elephants are present directly within Al-Shabaab's area of influence in south-central Somalia and northeastern Kenya. The majority of elephants in Kenya roam at significant distances from the border - There is little evidence of large ivory flows transiting Somalia; established Kenyan and Tanzanian ports remain the primary points for export. This makes the assertion that Al-Shabaab's monthly ivory revenues total $200,000-$600,000 highly unlikely - Estimates of the proportion of Al-Shabaab funds raised from ivory trafficking rely on flawed sums. A range of other sources (including the taxation of charcoal and sugar) are more important to the terrorist organisation - Any Al-Shabaab involvement in the ivory trade to date is likely to have been opportunistic, ad hoc and small-scale. These findings suggest that the illusion of a terrorism - ivory trade nexus distracts policy-makers and law-enforcement agencies from effectively managing limited resources to tackle both terrorist financing and the illegal ivory trade.

Details: London: Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, 2015. 58p.

Source: Internet Resource: Occasional Paper: Accessed September 30, 2015 at: https://www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/201509_An_Illusion_of_Complicity.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 136892


Author: Allan, Peter

Title: In-depth evaluation of the Counter Piracy Programme: Combating maritime piracy in the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean; Increasing regional capacities to deter, detain and prosecute pirates

Summary: The Security Council Resolution 1851 (2008) provided the basis for the establishment of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS), with the purpose of coordinating activities among states and organizations to suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia. This international forum has brought together more than 60 countries and international organizations all working towards the prevention of piracy off the Somali coast. UNODC counter piracy activities were given official endorsement through the 1851 (2008) SC Resolution and encouraged further UNODC involvement in the region. The programme documentation refers to the Secretary General's report on piracy (S/2010/738 of 22 October 2012). UNODC programming and activities in the region have been built on the tenet of combining the efforts to bring piracy suspects to justice with wider support for the region. UNODC commenced its Counter Piracy Programme in April 2009 and it soon gained the strong support of the donor community, reflected in the growing project's budget. The original project document set out the ambition to base an international programme expert in UNODC's Regional Office to prepare and set up the necessary preconditions for the launching of the larger programme with the objective of "combating maritime piracy in the Horn of Africa through increasing regional capacities to deter, arrest, prosecute and detain pirates". This objective was developed as the programme began and at the end of 2009 the three objectives were defined as: (a) 1. Objective: Fair and efficient trials and imprisonment of piracy suspects in regional countries; (b) 2. Objective: Humane and secure imprisonment in Somalia; and (c) 3. Objective: In the longer term fair and efficient trials in Somalia itself (mainly taken forward by UNDP, but with UNODC support). Objective 1 has been achieved. For example, in Kenya (as of January 2013) there were 64 piracy suspects on remand, 74 convicted pirates, 17 acquitted and returned to Somalia and 10 completed their sentence and repatriated to Somalia. In Seychelles there were 21 piracy suspects on remand, 102 convicted pirates, 34 transferred back to Somalia to complete their sentences and 1 has completed their sentence and was repatriated to Somalia. Significant steps have been taken to achieving objectives 2 and 3 with the capacity building work currently being done in Somali including the refurbishment and building of prisons and the training of prison staff among other initiatives to improve criminal justice capacity. This is an in-depth evaluation, the purpose of which is to provide guidance to the CPP team and UNODC on key issues that may impact upon its future development and to inform the CPP's various stakeholders on the quality of the programme. The evaluation was conducted using desk review of appropriate documentation and the interviewing of relevant stakeholders. These interviews were semi-structured and consisted of some standard questions and additional questions targeted at the relevant stakeholder group(s) in order to answer the specific requirements of the Terms of Reference (ToR). The ToR can be found at Annex I, the standard questionnaire at Annex II, the data collection matrix at Annex III, the list of individuals interviewed throughout the course of this evaluation at Annex IV and the desk review material at Annex V. Objectivity was built into the overall methodology by triangulating the analysis from different sets of stakeholders to ensure the effect that inherent biases have on the analysis and evaluation process was reduced. Limitations included an inability to visit Somalia, the ToR being altered during the evaluation process, over 47 questions asked within the ToR many requiring in-depth research and limited time during the Inception phase.

Details: Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Independent Evaluation Unit, 2013. 104p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 1, 2015 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/evaluation/indepth-evaluations/2013/CPP_Evaluation_Report_-_Final_incl_Management_Response_27NOV2013.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 136933


Author: Cilliers, Jakkie

Title: Violent Islamist extremism and terror in Africa

Summary: This paper presents an overview of large-scale violence by Islamist extremists in key African countries. The paper builds on previous publications of the Institute for Security Studies on the nexus between development and conflict trends, and it seeks to provide an overview of the evolution of the associated terrorism through quantitative and contextual analysis using various large datasets. The focus is on the development and links among countries experiencing the worst of this phenomenon, especially Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Mali, Nigeria and Somalia, as well as the impact of events in the Middle East on these African countries.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2015. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 286: Accessed October 5, 2015 at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Violent%20Islamist%20extremism%20and%20terror%20in%20Africa.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremist Groups (Africa)

Shelf Number: 136942


Author: Cilliers, Jakkie

Title: Future (im)perfect? Mapping conflict, violence and extremism in Africa

Summary: The central challenge for sub-Saharan Africa is to build accountable, capable governments that can deliver security and inclusive growth. Research into the drivers, trends and characteristics of violence in Africa may help achieve these goals. This paper firstly presents global and African trends in armed conflict since 1960, while looking at armed conflict within the broader context of political violence using recent event data. The fatality burden between key affected countries is also discussed. The paper then turns to an examination of the high levels of non-state conflict in the Middle East and Africa compared to the rest of the world and the systemic imbalances that drive instability. Finally, challenges in measuring the relative contribution of violent Islamist extremism to political violence are presented.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2015. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 287: Accessed October 5, 2015 at: https://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Paper287-1.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremist Groups (Africa)

Shelf Number: 136943


Author: African Child Policy Forum

Title: The African Report on Violence against Children

Summary: This report, The African Report on Violence against Children, the first comprehensive analysis of violence against children in Africa, comes at an opportune moment in the history of child rights in Africa and the world. It comes at a time when the child rights community is taking stock of the progress made in advancing child rights 25 years since the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the un Convention on the Rights of the Child. The report makes an in-depth exposition of the magnitude as well as the causes and consequences of violence against children and analyses the various vulnerability factors that underlie or aggravate violence such as, gender, social practices, homelessness and disability. The report looks into the multifarious community and family cosmos within which the African child grows. It analyses how a complex web of community values and socio-cultural factors bear upon the child's upbringing and protection, and how some of these factors may occasionally expose the child to violence. The report seeks to find answers for why the problem of violence still persists despite the proliferation of child protection programmes and services by critically examining both the achievements and the gaps cutting across the legislative and programmatic realms. Building upon existing efforts and persisting gaps the report lays down the priorities for action at various levels and the interface that is required amongst the various actors for better protection of children. The report calls for a shift towards a systems approach to child protection that emphasises prevention and collaborative responses at multiple levels, including at the family and community levels. The report echoes what others have reiterated in the past that violence, in whatever form, is unacceptable and cannot be justified on cultural or religious grounds whatsoever.

Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: African Child Policy Forum, 2014. 134p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2015 at: https://app.box.com/s/iclv9c70sigmceyl30ym

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect

Shelf Number: 137032


Author: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

Title: Tracking and Certification of Mineral Output in Southern Africa

Summary: The illegal exploitation of minerals and fraudulent manipulation of the volume or the value of exported minerals are enduring challenges for producing countries in Southern Africa. Illegal exploitation of minerals in particular has regularly been linked to instability and conflict in the region. There have been calls for effective mechanisms for regulating the exploitation and movement of the minerals. Regulation of the mining industry in Southern Africa is quite challenging partly because of its history and partly because of its nature. Some of the mineral exploitation occurs in areas with difficult access either because of conflict or because of the nature of the terrain. This makes it difficult to verify any declarations of output issued from such areas. The estimated yield of each mine is based on the scientific analysis of samples collected at various stages of mineral processing. Intimately connected to the prospects for development, the mining industry is also capital intensive and taxing on the personnel and equipment of various stakeholders, including corporate institutions and Governments. This study was conducted against the backdrop of the commitment by SADC member States to gather information on the identity, origin and volume of SADC mineral output in order to develop standardized mechanisms for tracking and certification. This was motivated by the growing conviction within the region that the mineral value chains were being undermined by leakages through neighbouring countries. Gold is said to be illegally imported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into Kenya, Burundi and Uganda and re-exported further. Limited benefit accrues to the DRC as a result of the process. Diamonds are said to be illegally imported from Zimbabwe into Mozambique and South Africa for onward exportation. Similar allegations are heard about illegal tin, coltan and woframite which are exported through Rwanda. Monitoring mineral value streams in the producing countries is complicated by the large informal small-scale mining sector active within them. There are also concerns about such practices as transfer pricing by large-scale mining conglomerates taking advantage of intra-group agreements involving the holding companies based in low tax jurisdictions and the subsidiaries based in the region. Transfer pricing abuses take various forms, including over- or under-invoicing of exports and imports, overloading of costs onto the subsidiary, service contracts and intra-group loans. Through such agreements, the holding companies are able to transfer income and allocate costs in a hidden manner that unfairly favours them. These malpractices reduce revenue which would have accrued to the producing States, thus exacerbating poverty amidst a rich natural resources heritage - the so-called 'paradox of plenty!' (UNECA, 2010). The SADC Mining Protocol was adopted in September 1997 by twelve member States and came into force in February 2000. The SADC Mining Sector Co-coordinating Unit (SMSCU), under the previous SADC structure, promoted adoption of the Mining Protocol. The Protocol recognizes that a 'thriving mining sector can contribute to economic development, alleviation of poverty and the improvement of the standard and quality of life throughout the Region.' In principle, the SADC Protocol seeks to'harmonize national and regional policies, strategies and programmes related to the development and exploitation of mineral resources.' In this spirit, SADC aims to develop and adopt common mineral certification standards, in accordance with internationally acceptable standards, in order to minimize illegal trade in minerals and thereby optimize the benefits to member States. SADC member States intend to 'adopt policies that encourage the exploration for and commercial exploitation of mineral resources by the private sector.' Furthermore, the Protocol seeks to facilitate the development of small-scale mining through, among other initiatives, the establishment of marketing facilities, including exhibitions and mineral exchanges. The study on which this report is based proposes a tracking and certification regime that is motivated by the above tenets. It suggests that the same goals that motivated the formulation and adoption of a tracking and certification system for diamonds in Guyana could be adapted by SADC. The key points are: (a) To provide reliable data to States on producer, exporter and purchaser behaviour; (b) To ensure the payment of the royalties and taxes due to the State; (c) To strengthen the State's oversight function along the mineral value chain; and (d) To prevent the mixing of minerals that are lawfully produced and/or acquired with illicitly produced and/or acquired ones in order to reduce illegal trade in minerals and consequently increase legal revenue flows through legal trade at both the national and subregional levels. The Kimberley Process Certification System (KCPS) was prompted by the concern summed up in (d), specifically that lawful output could and, in several demonstrable instances, had been contaminated by rough diamonds originating from zones of conflict. The study on which this report is based concerns minerals other than diamonds. Since some of them, like emeralds, share many characteristics with diamonds, the study borrows some lessons from the KCPS. The scope of the study determined by the terms of reference, namely: (i) To assess legislation and licensing procedures relating to mining, sale and transportation of minerals to overseas markets and their effectiveness in preventing fraudulent trade in mineral commodities; (ii) To examine national technical reporting requirements for mining and export of SADC mineral products and their efficacy in providing needed data for preventing fraudulent trade in mineral commodities; (iii) To review national, regional and international systems for tracking and certifying mineral products and make proposals for a possible tracking and certification system that would ensure an effective product audit trail of SADC minerals; (iv) To examine export documents and regulations and recommend how they might be adjusted to form part of the certification audit trail; (v) To examine customs conventions and formalities to assess how these might affect the formulation and application of rules of origin for a SADC-wide certificate of origin for SADC mineral products; and (vi) To assess current regional integration efforts in trade and how these might help or hinder the development of a SADC certificate of origin for mineral products. The study considered prevailing legislation and licensing procedures in several countries in order to assess their effectiveness in preventing fraud in the trade of minerals. It found that most national legislation did not prioritize this objective, and could not be considered effective in preventing the most pernicious form of illegality in minerals marketing, namely transfer pricing. It found that a tracking regime on its own is not the appropriate vehicle for policing transfer pricing, and that this could be better done by combining centralization of the marketing of minerals and creating incentives for localized beneficiation of mineral output.

Details: Addis Ababa: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Subregional Office Southern Africa, 2014. 54p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2015 at: http://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/PublicationFiles/tracking-and-certification-of-mineral-output-in-southern-africa.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Crime Prevention

Shelf Number: 137044


Author: Global Network of Sex Work Projects

Title: Economic Empowerment Programmes for Sex Workers: Africa Regional Report

Summary: This Africa Regional Report documents case studies of economic empowerment programmes in 6 African countries: Democratic Republic of Congo; Ethiopia; Kenya; Malawi; Nigeria; and Uganda. There are relatively few economic empowerment programmes for sex workers led by sex workers in Africa. As such this regional report evaluates both successful and failed economic empowerment programmes by sex worker-led organisations and non-sex worker-led organisations. The main finding of this report is that there is a significant absence of economic empowerment programmes for sex workers in Africa. This situation is worsened by certain funding Faith Based Organisations (FBOs) which see sex work as morally reprehensible; these organisations are not willing to fund sex work programmes unless sex workers exit sex work. As such, a lot of programmes promote the 'rehabilitation' and 'redemption' of sex workers. The rehabilitation programmes documented in the regional briefing paper mentioned above demonstrated that these programmes do not listen to sex workers, they do not ask sex workers what they want, they do not involve sex workers in the design and planning of these programmes, and, perhaps most importantly, these programmes fail to grasp the dynamics of stigma and discrimination in the communities that programmes aim to rehabilitate sex workers. The report concludes that for economic empowerment programmes for sex workers to succeed, sex workers must be involved at all levels to identify the initiatives that meet the needs and demands of sex workers. The report argues that these programmes must be run by sex workers themselves, and programmes must adopt a rights-based approach which focuses on giving sex workers the economic power to make informed choices about their lives, including their sexual health and which does not necessarily focus on getting them to exit sex work. Economic empowerment programmes for sex workers should also aim to provide an alternative source of income to reduce the vulnerability associated with changing jobs and the programmes should not aim to entice them to stop sex work when they are not ready to do so.

Details: Edinburgh: NSWP, 2014. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 27, 2015 at: http://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/SUSO%20Report%20Africa.%20final%20EN.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Prostitutes

Shelf Number: 137157


Author: Ayogu, Melvin D.

Title: Illicit Financial Flows and Stolen Assets Value Recovery

Summary: Value recovery of stolen assets is both an enforcement of anti-money laundering laws and a potent weapon against corruption. When obtainable, it represents society's credible commitment to ensure that "crimes do not pay." We explore these linkages by reviewing international experiences on the implementation of value recovery. Lessons suggest country-level studies that are more likely to strengthen local initiatives, leading to regional strategies capable of improving negotiations for assistance and cooperation at the global level.

Details: Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Political Economy Research Institute, 2014. 34p.

Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series, No. 364: Accessed November 9, 2015 at: http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/working_papers/working_papers_351-400/WP364.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Asset Forfeiture

Shelf Number: 149108


Author: Ayogu, Melvin D.

Title: Governance and Illicit Financial Flows

Summary: Insofar that it corrodes governance, engendering opportunistic crimes, grand corruption lies at the core of the problem of illicit financial flows. We identify at least two likely antagonistic circles in the illicit flow process - a virtuous circle and a vicious circle - both rooted in one common factor, namely, the strategic complementarity between corruption and governance. Also, we consider the scope of global governance architecture in encouraging banks to "do the crime, pay the fine, and do no time." Given this structure, the observed, rampant impudence of banks' participation in illicit financial flows is understandable and society would not be shocked should global mega-banks increasingly resemble a police establishment run by ex-convicts. Curbing illicit flows in such a circumstance would be daunting. Therefore, civil society must live up to its civic responsibilities by displacing the vicious cycle first through creating the right incentives for politicians to identify negatively with illicit financial flows.

Details: Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Political Economy Research Institute, 2014. 38p.

Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series, No. 366: Accessed November 11, 2015 at: http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/working_papers/working_papers_351-400/WP366.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Asset Forfeiture

Shelf Number: 137229


Author: Banfield, Jessica

Title: Tell It Like It Is: The role of civil society in responding to serious and organised crime in West Africa

Summary: The challenges posed by serious organised crime (SOC) in west Africa are significant and wide ranging. The spectrum of consequences threatens to reverse democratic and development gains of past decades. Such consequences include worsening development indicators, risk of violent conflict, deteriorating governance contexts and mounting fragility, major public health and safety threats, as well as environmental damage. The expansion of organised crime is a direct function of the political economy of governance in the region and needs to be understood as a structural phenomenon. Serious organised crime in west Africa is likely to be a critical development and security factor for generations to come. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union, as well as other major multilateral and bilateral institutions and partners, have established a series of policy frameworks and interventions designed to curtail the pernicious effects of organised crime. However, despite some successes, the region continues to be used as a transit point for trafficking to Europe, regional domestic consumption rates of drugs are rising, and the corrosive effects of organised crime on national governance and security settings is deepening. A brief review of response initiatives immediately conveys that an emphasis on security, as well as strengthened law and order, lies at the heart of the collective policy response. This emphasis assumes that the political and operational will exists across government to run with the anticrime agenda, when evidence conclusively confirms that this is not always the case in practice. Arguments for more strategic and holistic responses highlight how law and order approaches may overlook problems of state legitimacy that exist in many of the affected countries and how political actors may themselves be complicit in aspects of organised crime. Collusion in organized criminality by government officials, traditional authorities, political parties, as well as justice, law and order sector (JLOS) officials, significantly undermines formal efforts to tackle it.

Details: London: International Alert, 2015. 46p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 29, 2016 at: http://www.international-alert.org/sites/default/files/CVI_CivilSocietyWestAfrica_EN_2015.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 137997


Author: Duffy, Rosaleen

Title: Poverty, Poaching and Trafficking: What are the links?

Summary: Our rapid review of the academic and grey literature revealed that the links between poverty, poaching and trafficking are under-researched and poorly understood. Yet, the assumption that poaching occurs because of poverty is omnipresent, with little 'hard evidence' to support the claim. Despite this, we are confident that the links are there, based on the evidence that we gathered. However, our understandings are hampered by a series of factors: trafficking and poaching are overwhelmingly framed as an issue of conservation/biodiversity loss rather than of poverty and development; it is difficult to collect clear and detailed data on poaching precisely because of its illicit nature; and many of the cases we examined are also linked in with conflict zones, making research even more challenging. Nevertheless, our key findings are as follows: 1. Poaching in Sub Saharan African was produced via the historical legacy of colonialism 2. Poverty is directly and indirectly linked to poaching and trafficking of ivory and rhino horn from Sub-Saharan Africa 3. There are different types of poachers, and they require different policy responses 4. Poaching and trafficking of ivory and rhino horn are ultimately driven by wealth and not by poverty per se. 5. We need a much better understanding of the relationships between poverty and individual poacher motivation 6. The evidence base for claims around poverty as a driver of ivory and rhino poaching is thin, but that does not mean that poverty is not an important factor 7. There are direct links between conflict zones, illegal killing of wildlife, trafficking and poverty. 8. Trafficking can increase poverty We then summarise the main policy responses, identifying their strengths and weaknesses. These include: 1. Changing people's behaviour via negative incentives (e.g. monitoring compliance with rules and penalising detected rule breakers), positive incentives and distractions. 2. The development of tourism as a route to poverty reduction. 3. Legalisation of the ivory and rhino horn trade at the international level, including arguments around its potential impact on community based natural resource management schemes. Finally, we offer a series of short case studies that indicate these complex linkages via an analysis of particular examples.

Details: London(?): Evidence on Demand, 2013. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 2, 2016 at: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17836/1/EoD_HD059_Jun2013_Poverty_Poaching.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 138029


Author: United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

Title: Strengthening the Sahel against Crime and Terrorism: Progress Report January 2016

Summary: This report provides information on the results achieved and activities implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the context of its Contribution to the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) from the start of its implementation in January 2014 to November 2015. The objective of the contribution of UNODC to UNISS (short: Sahel Programme) is to strengthen the capacity of governments in the Sahel region to combat drug trafficking, illicit trafficking, organized crime, terrorism and corruption and to enhance the accessibility, efficiency and accountability of criminal justice systems. UNODC has unique expertise in helping Member States of the United Nations address organized crime and related illicit trafficking and terrorism through legislative, criminal justice and law enforcement advisory services, technical assistance, as well as promoting regional and international cooperation

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2016. 48p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 14, 2016 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/westandcentralafrica/Sahel_Programme_Progress_Report_January_2016.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 138218


Author: Sharples, Natalie

Title: Honest Accounts? The true story of Africa's billion dollar losses

Summary: The Global South is being drained of resources by the rest of the world and it is losing far more each year than it gains. Africa alone loses $192 billion each year to the rest of the world. This is mainly in profits made by foreign companies, tax dodging and the costs of adapting to climate change. Whilst rich countries often talk about the aid their countries give to Africa, this is in fact less than $30 billion each year. Even when you add this to foreign investment, remittances and other resources that flow into the continent, Africa still suffers an overall loss of $58 billion every year. The idea that we are aiding Africa is flawed; it is Africa that is aiding the rest of the world. This money that Africa loses each year is over one and half times the amount of additional money needed to deliver affordable health care to everyone in the world. If the rest of the world continues to raid Africa at the same rate, over the next 10 years $580 billion will be lost by the African people. Many of Africa's loses directly benefit rich countries. They are a result of policies and practices that drain Africa and keep its people in poverty. These include tax dodging, unfair trade policies and the practices of multinational companies, and the brain drain of skilled workers.

Details: London: Health Poverty Action, 2015. 40p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2016 at: https://www.healthpovertyaction.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2014/08/Honest-Accounts-report-web-FINAL.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Economic Crimes

Shelf Number: 138264


Author: Lovgren, Rose

Title: Masculinity and mass violence in Africa: Ongoing debates, concepts and trends

Summary: At a time when attention to the male gender aspects of violence and security is growing, this DIIS Working Paper by Rose Lovgren analyzes how masculinity has been related to war, conflict and genocide in African countries. The purpose of the paper is twofold: firstly, by reviewing an extensive literature Rose Lovgren seeks to draw up an overview of the ongoing political and academic discussions in which violence is linked to different understandings of masculinity. Secondly, she problematizes some of the underlying assumptions about gender in general and masculinity in particular and highlight their, at times troubling, political implications. Violence on the African continent has often been explained with reference to culturally disconnected anxious young men, who react to 'masculinity in crisis' with a desire for violence and destruction. Other parts of the literature have argued that especially African patriarchies foster violent political organization. What kind of gendered understandings are produced and foreclosed by these interpretations and how do they affect the political responses to violence? More recently, men's participation in war has been explained by a global economic situation that leaves them with no or few other choices of income, and their vulnerability in this situation has received more attention. How can we engage these gender aspects of perpetrating and being subjected to violence academically and politically?

Details: Copenhagen: DIIS Danish Institute for International Studies, 2015. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: DIIS Working Paper,2015:08: Accessed March 18, 2016 at: http://pure.diis.dk/ws/files/380566/WP_2015_8.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Genocide

Shelf Number: 138337


Author: Alesina, Alberto

Title: Violence Against Women: A Cross-cultural Analysis for Africa

Summary: Using a new dataset, we investigate the determinants of violence against women in Africa. We focus on cultural factors arising from pre-colonial customs and find evidence consistent with two hypotheses. First, ancient socioeconomic conditions determine social norms about gender roles, family structures and intra-family violence which persist even when the initial conditions change. Norms about marriage patterns, living arrangements and the productive role of women are associated with contemporary violence. Second, women's contemporary economic role affects violence in a complex way which is itself related to traditional norms in ancient times and current bargaining power within the marriage.

Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2016. 59p.

Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper No. 21901: Accessed March 24, 2016 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w21901.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Economics and Crime

Shelf Number: 138411


Author: U.S. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations

Title: Ivory and Insecurity: The Global Implications of Poaching in Africa

Summary: Ivory poaching, like all forms of illegal wildlife trade, is a profitable business. Indeed, the U.S. State Department estimates the market price of poached ivory at $400 per pound. Global Financial Integrity recently estimated the global value of the illicit trade in all forms of wildlife, excluding fishing, at between $7.8 and $10 billion. In recent years, organized crime syndicates, militias, and even terrorist elements have taken notice of the profits that can be made in the illegal trafficking of wildlife, generating an alarming up-tick in the scale of the industry and posing serious national security concerns for the United States and our partners.

Details: Washington, DC: GPO, 2012. 68p.

Source: Internet Resource: S Hrg. 112-602: Accessed march 30, 2016 at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112shrg76689/pdf/CHRG-112shrg76689.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 138494


Author: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Title: Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Descendent Communities and Natural Resources: Human Rights Protection in the Context of Extraction, Exploitation, and Development Activities

Summary: The report seeks to highlight the breadth and complexity of the problems caused by extractive and development activities in the region, and to set forth a comprehensive framework of Inter-American Human Rights standards on the subject. Extractive, exploitation, and development activities, which are increasing in the hemisphere, are generally implemented in lands and territories historically occupied by indigenous and Afro-descendent communities, which host a great wealth of natural resources. The Commission does not discourage these projects and recognizes the importance of these initiatives for the economic development of countries in the Americas. However, economic development of Member States cannot be undertaken in disregard of their ineluctable obligations to respect and guarantee human rights. Host States (where the project takes place) and foreign States (where the business has its headquarters) have specific obligations in this context. The report spells out each of these obligations with a view to making sure that the economic development of countries in the hemisphere is not attained at the expense of the fundamental human rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendent communities. Host States must adopt appropriate and positive steps with due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and redress human rights violations that result from the execution of these projects. Additionally, they must comply with international human rights standards through the adoption and implementation of effective policies, legislation, regulations and through measures to ensure adequate access to justice. This State obligation includes the prevention of human rights violations, thus it is enforceable prior to the authorization of the project or the granting of permits, as well as during the implementation and the life-cycle of the project, via supervision and oversight methods. This duty includes the obligation to properly identify and assess the inherent impacts these activities would generate on internationally-recognized human rights prior to authorization. In addition, the duty to act with due diligence requires States to adopt an appropriate regulatory framework for the protection of the environment and human rights which adequately contemplates the operation of foreign companies in a state's jurisdiction, with an extraterritorial approach to human rights. Said duty also includes the fundamental obligation to consult potentially affected indigenous and afro-descendent communities, to ensure their effective participation and access to information; the obligation to supervise and monitor the activities of companies and other non-state parties; the duty to prevent illegal activities and forms of violence; and the duty to ensure access to justice and adequate reparation of human rights violations in these contexts. This broad duty also entails taking into account the differentiated impacts and adverse effects of these initiatives on specific groups such as indigenous leaders and authorities, women, children, elderly people and people with disabilities. The report ends with a list of practical recommendations, ranging from general recommendations to ones specifically tailored to the protection of indigenous peoples and afro-descendent communities. The ensemble of recommendations aims generally at setting in place a framework for States to undertake their duty of due diligence, taking all the appropriate steps to prevent, investigate, punish and redress human rights abuses through effective policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication. The Commission insists especially on the drafting and implementation of domestic legislation to protect human rights, and on the setting in place of monitoring, control and supervision systems of the activities of extractive or development companies. The Report includes recommendations geared specifically towards host States as well as States of origin.

Details: Washington, DC: IACHR, 2015. 82p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 8, 2016 at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/ExtractiveIndustries2016.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Development

Shelf Number: 138611


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Title: The Afghan Opiate Trade and Africa - A Baseline Assessment

Summary: This report presents a "Baseline Assessment" of the illicit Afghan opiate trafficking situation in Africa, with a focus on heroin trafficking along the southern route out of Afghanistan into, through and from Africa. The main objective of this report is to provide an initial evidence base to support policymakers and law enforcement officials in evaluating the trafficking of Afghan opiates into and across the continent, and to allow the development of effective responses to the issue. While Africa has traditionally been perceived as a transit region for heroin and other drugs moving to destination markets in Europe, North America and Asia, drug trafficking and organized crime is increasingly posing a multifaceted challenge to health, the rule of law and development within the continent itself. Eastern Africa faces many challenges. Natural disasters and civil war, recurrent food shortages and droughts have left many of the region's 180 million people struggling under extreme poverty, and this has been exacerbated by corruption and poor governance. Eastern Africa is increasingly becoming a major landing point for heroin shipped from Afghanistan to Africa via the Indian Ocean. However, despite this increase in maritime smuggling, seizure rates of opiate within Eastern Africa remain low. In Western Africa, drug trafficking, notably via air couriers, has been going on for decades with trafficking networks making extensive use of established courier networks to move drugs, both heroin and cocaine, towards destination markets. This is one of the poorest regions in the world, and in many of the countries in this region governance and law enforcement continues to face challenges as a result of a lack of resources, making the region vulnerable to organised crime. These factors, combined with West Africa's geographic location along major and well established trafficking routes between, for example, South America and Europe, make it attractive to organized crime. Northern Africa appears to be somewhat of an outlier in this analysis of the opiate trade in the African continent, possibly due to being separate from wider drug trafficking trends seen in sub-Saharan Africa, and as a result of being mainly supplied by a sub-section of the Balkan route rather than the southern route. Heroin seizures in Northern Africa are limited and drug addiction rates are generally low. Knowledge of the current drug trafficking picture in Southern Africa is limited. A lack of heroin seizure, purity and consumption data is notable across the region, largely due to a lack of law enforcement capacity and poor data collection processes. While Mozambique and South Africa are known to be major transshipment countries for Afghan opiates, the broader picture of how this affects Southern Africa remains largely unknown. There remains a risk that traffickers will exploit limited law enforcement capacity in Southern Africa, leading to increasing drug trafficking and use, which in turn will further inhibit economic and social development within the region. Comprehensive data on the prices of opiates throughout Africa is currently unavailable. Although heroin commands a reasonably high price in parts of Africa, greater profits can generally be made in other destination markets and it is likely that prices of heroin in Africa remain significantly lower than in other international markets. There is limited data on the purity of heroin trafficked into, through and out of Africa, and there is no evidence to suggest that heroin is produced in Africa itself. Globally, Africa is estimated to be home to 11 per cent of global opiate users and of this 11 per cent of users living in Africa, more than 50 per cent live in Western and Central Africa. While cannabis remains the number one illicit drug used both on the continent and globally, and the only drug produced in Africa for export in large quantities, heroin appears to be becoming more popular in some areas, particularly in Eastern Africa. Synthetic opiates such as Tramadol are also used in Africa and use of such opiates may lead to the use of Afghan opiates, should market conditions for heroin change. Use of Afghan-sourced heroin has wider public health impacts in Africa, including on transmission rates of HIV and Hepatitis C, although data on this area remains limited.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2016. 78p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2016 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Afghanistan/Afghan_Opiate_trade_Africa_2016_web.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction

Shelf Number: 138840


Author: Heggstad, Kari

Title: How Banks Assist Capital Flight from Africa: A Literature Review

Summary: Systematic studies of the banking sector's involvement in facilitating capital flight from developing countries are limited. This paper was commissioned by Norad's Anti-Corruption Project (ANKOR) for the purpose of summarising key lessons from the existing literature and to identifying knowledge gaps. It focuses on capital flight from Africa and how much needed public finances are hidden abroad. The study is a desk study, based on a review of library and online literature databases and reports and documentation from national and international organisations. The material reviewed does not provide the information necessary to draw firm conclusions as to what constitutes "best practice" in providing donor support for better regulation of banks and financial institutions in Africa. The term "best practice" itself is unclear and depends much on the environment within which finance institutions work. The review shows that banks should not be disregarded as passive players when analysing capital flight. Banks play an active role in facilitating capital flight from Africa. However, to improve the regulation of the banking and finance sectors, there is a need for more detailed knowledge on how banks actually operate as facilitators and the mechanisms applied.

Details: Bergen, Norway: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2010. 33p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2016 at: http://www.cmi.no/file/?972

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 138905


Author: Hubschle, Annette Michaela

Title: A Game of Horns: Transnational Flows of Rhino Horn

Summary: A multi-sectorial regime of protection including international treaties, conservation and security measures, demand reduction campaigns and quasi-military interventions has been established to protect rhinos. Despite these efforts, the poaching of rhinos and trafficking of rhino horn continue unabated. This dissertation asks why the illegal market in rhinoceros horn is so resilient in spite of the myriad measures employed to disrupt it. A theoretical approach grounded in the sociology of markets is applied to explain the structure and functioning of the illegal market. The project follows flows of rhino horn from the source in southern Africa to illegal markets in Southeast Asia. The multi-sited ethnography included participant observations, interviews and focus groups with 416 informants during fourteen months of fieldwork. The sample comprised of, amongst others, convicted and active rhino poachers, smugglers and kingpins, private rhino breeders and hunting outfitters, African and Asian law enforcement officials, as well as affected local communities and Asian consumers. Court files, CITES trade data, archival materials, newspaper reports and social media posts were also analysed to supplement findings and to verify and triangulate data from interviews, focus groups and observations. Central to the analysis is the concept of "contested illegality", a legitimization mechanism employed by market participants along the different segments of the horn supply chain. These actors' implicit or explicit contestation of the state-sponsored label of illegality serves as a legitimising and enabling mechanism, facilitating participation in gray or illegal markets for rhino horn. The research identified fluid interfaces between legal, illegal and gray markets, with recurring actors who have access to transnational trade structures, and who also possess market and product knowledge, as well as information about the regulatory regime and its loopholes. It is against the background of colonial, apartheid and neoliberal exploitation and marginalization of local communities that a second argument is introduced: the path dependency of conservation paradigms. Underpinning rhino conservation and regulation are archaic and elitist conservation regimes that discount the potential for harmonious relationships between local communities and wildlife. The increasing militarization of anti-poaching measures and green land grabs are exacerbating the rhino problem by alienating communities further from conservation areas and wild animals. The third argument looks at how actors deal with coordination problems in transnational illegal markets. Resolving the coordination problems of cooperation, value and competition are considered essential to the operation of formal markets. It is argued that the problem of security provides an additional and crucial obstacle to actors transacting in markets. The systematic analysis of flows between the researched sites of production, distribution and consumption of rhino horn shows that the social embeddedness of actors facilitates the flourishing of illegal markets in ways that escape an effective enforcement of CITES regulations.

Details: Koln,Germany: International Max Planck Research School, 2016. 418p.

Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 18, 2016 at: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/6685/

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 139087


Author: Weru, Sam

Title: Wildlife Protection and Trafficking Assessment in Kenya. Drivers and trends of transnational wildlife crime in Kenya and

Summary: This report is an assessment of the status, drivers and trends of transnational wildlife crime in Kenya and its role as a key transit point for wildlife species illegally traded from East Africa. The assessment has been carried out under the auspices of the USAID-funded five year Wildlife Trafficking Response, Assessment, and Priority Setting (Wildlife-TRAPS) Project implemented by TRAFFIC and IUCN. The Wildlife-TRAPS initiative aims to increase understanding of the true character and scale of the international response required, identify intervention points, test non-traditional approaches, and develop and deliver a suite of ground-breaking partnerships and pioneering approaches to tackle wildlife crime between Africa and Eastern Asia. The project therefore strengthens the knowledge base, resolve and co-operation of governments, inter-governmental organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in tackling wildlife trafficking between Africa and Eastern Asia. This report examines wildlife crime in Kenya and its linkages to illegal wildlife trade dynamics in the East African region. It is informed by a review of available literature, internet sources and intelligence from and interviews with knowledgeable individuals and agencies. It is also greatly informed by discussions and outcomes of the "Kenya Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking Stakeholder Workshop" held in Nairobi on April 14 and 15, 2015. This workshop was organized and hosted by TRAFFIC in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), USAID and IUCN and brought together relevant stakeholders from UN agencies, donors, NGOs, regional wildlife enforcement networks and the private sector to discuss a range of anti-trafficking issues, culminating in the identification of priority actions for future high-value interventions. Discussions and presentations at the workshop focused on key thematic areas: the biological status of key species involved in illegal wildlife trade; poaching and trafficking in Kenya; community wildlife policing; wildlife policy and law enforcement; and an overview of the role of development partners in securing Kenya's wildlife. The main results of the Assessment Report are contained in chapter three, starting with the biological status of key species involved in trade. This is followed by an assessment of the extent of poaching and trafficking in Kenya, including trends and key drivers of the trade, the structure of poaching syndicates, consumer hotspots, and key trafficking routes. The Assessment also documents arrests and seizures of wildlife contraband in Kenya, and the linkages between the illegal wildlife trade and organized crime. Kenya's policy and legal environment on combating wildlife trafficking is analysed, including the effectiveness of prosecution and the strengths and weaknesses of the Wildlife Law. The Assessment also discusses regional and international co-ordination efforts in the fight against poaching and trafficking. Kenya is home to some of the richest biodiversity and most iconic landscapes in Africa, characterized by high levels of habitat and species diversity, endemism, ecological interconnectedness, and globally recognized conservation hotspots. Landscapes range from coastal/marine to freshwater and saline lakes, from tropical montane forests to savannah plains and arid and semi-arid lands. Kenya is home to 9152 documented species of higher order wild flora and fauna, out of which 2148 are animals. Kenya's savannah ecosystems play host to dramatic wildlife spectacles like the world famous Wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus migration and are inhabited by iconic species such as the African Elephant Loxodonta africana and the Critically Endangered Eastern Black Rhinoceros Diceros bicornis michaeli. The marine waters and contiguous coastal forests are inhabited by a variety of endangered species, including the Green Turtle Chelonia mydas and the Sokoke Pipit Anthus sokokensis, respectively.

Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC, 2016. 68p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27010478/1462446890040/Kenya-report.pdf?token=NwhziN9IRuNnc9zow37leGMcHuQ%3D

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade

Shelf Number: 139130


Author: Raxter, Patricia Anne

Title: Wildlife Crime and Other Challenges to Resource System Resilience

Summary: Although wildlife crime has exploded in Africa over the past decade - "commercial poaching" now kills an estimated eight percent of the continent's elephant population each year - some governments have proven more successful than others at protecting wildlife and preserving habitats. To explain this variation, this study examines how the policies of three states (Kenya, Tanzania, and Botswana) have enhanced or undermined the resilience of the continent's elephant ecosystem. Using the social-ecological system framework, the study illustrates how each state's changing practices have either exacerbated the stresses wrought by wildlife crime or successfully protected local populations from poaching. The study finds that monocausal explanations cannot explain social-ecological systems outcomes. Cross-level and cross-scale dynamics, including temporal, geospatial, epistemological, and institutional linkages, explain variation in system functionality. These dynamics include colonial policies, governance practices, the international conservation community, and resource use decisions.

Details: Norfolk, VA: Old Dominion University, 2015. 387p.

Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=gpis_etds

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 139135


Author: Fenio, Kenly Greer

Title: Poaching Rhino Horn in South Africa and Mozambique: Community and Expert Views From the Trenches

Summary: This report illustrates attitudes garnered from nine focus groups in several poaching communities in and around South African and Mozambican game parks, and approximately 15 in-depth interviews with experts working in the parks. Although the communities exhibited differences, there also exist a common set of conditions in them: economically marginalized populations, anger toward the status quo, huge financial incentives from poaching, widespread corruption, and porous borders, all of which highlight the complex interaction of economic and political factors in perpetuating illicit wildlife trafficking. Until conservation and anti-poaching and trafficking efforts are ramped up, demand is reduced in Asian countries such as Viet Nam, and communities nearest the parks see it in their interest to protect endangered animals such as the rhino, gaining greater traction through efforts to bring an end to poaching will be difficult. Executive Summary This report examines the key drivers of rhino poaching - which illustrate the complex interaction of economic and political factors - as highlighted in focus group discussions in poaching communities and interviews with park rangers and other experts around parks in South Africa and Mozambique. Several drivers for poaching came out of this research, each of which is discussed in the report and summarized briefly here. The Limpopo National Park and Kruger National Park belong to the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park that straddles South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Transfrontier parks were created to allow ecosystems to flow undisturbed across international borders, but with this also comes the uncontrolled movement of humans through Porous Borders. While Kruger has funding to monitor those entering for tourism at official access points, rangers in Limpopo claim they can't distinguish between Mozambicans who live in Limpopo park and others who are simply passing through. This makes it easy for poachers to cross national borders undetected. This section also delves into the nuances of How Poaching Occurs. Anger and Marginalization within the communities toward the parks is a salient issue. Community members identify very little in the way of employment, profit or opportunity trickling down to them from official park services. A lack of perceived opportunities has translated into anger toward park officials and, for some, a desire to protect illegal hunters: "we know the poachers, but because the park doesn't want to help us, we don't want to help [the park]." Many participants claim park animals kill their cattle, and the parks offer little to no compensation. They also have little faith in negotiations with conservation authorities because of weak follow-through on park promises to scale up community development. Yet some still see killing the animals as morally wrong. Park managers claim that locals are less likely to enforce the law if given employment because they are more easily corruptible and more vulnerable to pressure from poachers. While community development and education occurs in the way of boreholes, wildlife education in schools, and job creation for neighboring communities, programs seem to fluctuate greatly from community to community, making it difficult to instill the belief that the parks are beneficial for all. Economic Incentives lure many youth into poaching. Locally available jobs like farming, animal husbandry, selling charcoal, or irregular work in neighboring cities simply cannot compare with "the gold in the horn." Some participants see the poachers "as role models," and argue they "do good things for the community" and facilitate job creation when they spend their wealth locally. The income can be used for "sending children to school, nice houses, and expensive cars and clothes." Survival in economically depressed communities thus takes precedence over wildlife conservation, and the debate ensues between poaching for daily subsistence versus for greed. For young people particularly, there is substantial peer pressure to compete with friends for the status that comes from having a disposable income to buy new things. Embarking on an adventure to kill a rhino becomes more attractive than remaining idle in a community with few economic alternatives. Efforts to introduce counter-incentives have found limited success. While tipoff hotlines exist, some say they are unlikely to take advantage of these programs. To some extent, this is because there is limited awareness of them, but more compellingly, community members Fear retribution, as well as exhibit other types of fear. In some communities, poaching remains secretive even among acquaintances: a hunter with a horn is in danger of being robbed and killed before he can get his prize to the traffickers. Finally, Political Will and Corruption play their part. While both countries now have official policies in place against poaching and trafficking, experts say implementation is fraught with complications because of corruption on multiple levels. Both rangers and community members claim crooked police officials peddle (and recycle) arms. Community members also acknowledge dishonest rangers disclose rhino locations to poachers, and some say the problem will only end when "corrupt officials at the top" are brought to justice. Few prosecutions have occurred in comparison to the ideal and those who are convicted often pay minimal fines and do little, if any, jail time. Several participants note that after only a few months "you see that person back on the street." This section examines attitudes, and also provides a current overview of recent agreements, partnerships, and evolution in laws in the two countries. The report then examines Solutions from community and expert perspectives. In discussing steps to improve the situation, community members and park rangers tend to focus on three ideas. (1) The need for more local community programming to draw community buy-in to the mission of the parks and goals of conservation. One step in the right direction seems to be the appointment of Rhino Ambassadors, or community members who serve as liaisons between the parks and communities. But in an environment of tight budgets, governments have tended to prioritize security measures over community development and education programs. (2) Enforcing laws already on the books to deter the police and high-level politicians that rangers and community members repeatedly stated they believe are involved in trafficking. (3) There needs to be increased technical capacity for enforcement that includes basic logistics - vehicles for Limpopo's rangers who are often on foot, and more advanced surveillance equipment to keep up with increasingly sophisticated poaching techniques. Rangers and some community members note that certain areas are well known for detecting and catching poachers, which deters criminals from entering these locales. Conservation experts agree it is possible to decrease poaching, but it requires resources "now, not tomorrow." In the words of one ranger who has worked in conservation for over 25 years: "once the human eye detects a change in nature, it's too late."

Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, 2014. 42p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://conservationaction.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Poaching-Rhino-Horn-in-South-Africa-and-Mozambique-2014.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 139136


Author: Economists at Large

Title: Horn of Contention: A review of the literature on the economics of trade in Rhino horn

Summary: Poaching of rhinos in Southern Africa has increased dramatically in recent years. There is considerable debate within policy circles and the conservation movement as to the best policy response to increased poaching. Because many of the factors driving poaching and illegal trade in rhino horn are economic, many stakeholders are looking to economics for potential policy responses. In particular, there are suggestions that a legalised, heavily regulated trade in rhino horn could reduce rates of poaching. This paper is a review of studies on the economics of trade in endangered wildlife in general and on rhino horn in particular. Two studies reviewed are from formal academic literature and another four are less formal articles or "grey literature". The formal studies are from peer-reviewed journals, but do not explicitly address the recent increase in rhino poaching. The grey literature are less rigorous, but have the benefit of focussing on recent events in Africa. The formal studies suggest that predicting the outcome of liberalising trade is complex and difficult to determine. Although it may decrease pressure on poaching, as rhino horn becomes increasingly supplied through the non-lethal legal trade, there is also a real risk that trade could drive an increase in poaching through any combination of five mechanisms: - Through legal and illegal markets coexisting and interacting in complex ways. - Through reducing the stigma attached to consumption of the product. - By potentially reducing the supply costs of illegal supply. - By potentially facilitating the laundering of illegal supply in with legal supply. - As a result of uncertainty around the response of illegal suppliers to competition from a legal market. The articles from the grey literature are all overtly pro-trade, generally assuming that: - Legal markets will "hijack" consumers from illegal markets and that legal and illegal horn would be perfectly substitutable. - Stigma effects are small and that efforts to reduce demand through education and information would be ineffective. - Increased surveillance funded by rhino horn sales would increase poaching costs. - Technical advances such as DNA technology would minimise laundering. - Smugglers with market power would respond to the introduction of a legal trade passively, accepting reduced sales, rather than competing to retain market share. Little empirical evidence is offered to support these views. Under certain conditions these assumptions may hold, but it is unclear if these conditions are in place in either supplying or consuming countries. We suggest further research should be undertaken before any formal steps are taken towards legalising trade in rhino horn.

Details: Yarmouth, MA: International Fund for Animal Welfare, 2013. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/Horn-of-Contention.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 139137


Author: Dranginis, Holly

Title: Going for Gold: Engaging the Jewelry Industry in Responsible Gold Sourcing in Africa's Great Lakes Region

Summary: For thousands of years, gold has represented love, tradition, wealth, beauty, and decadence. In the United States alone, these associations cause the gold jewelry industry to be worth more than five billion dollars annually. Halfway around the world, however, the extraction and smuggling of gold serves as an important means of funding for armed groups and army commanders in the deadliest conflict since World War II. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("Congo"), violent armed actors mine, tax, and smuggle minerals and perpetrate widespread atrocities. Major supply chain reforms by electronics companies, coupled with the Dodd-Frank Act's section on conflict minerals and the beginnings of a minerals certification process in the Great Lakes region of Africa, have led to a marked improvement in the security situation at tin, tantalum, and tungsten (3T) mines in Congo. Over two-thirds of the eastern Congo's 3T mines are conflict-free today. Gold, however, remains a major financial lifeline for armed actors. 98 percent of artisanally mined gold - estimated at between $383 and $409 million in 2013 - is smuggled out of the country annually, and much of that gold benefits armed commanders. Gold sold by armed groups into the global supply chain ends up in various products, including jewelry, which is the main overall end user of gold. Conflict gold thus taints the industry as a whole. Fortunately, jewelry retailers and consumers can play important roles to help end the conflict gold trade and the suffering it causes, together with the actions of governments. Corporate and consumer behavior can lead to increased demand for responsibly sourced, conflict-free gold and promote investment in positive mining initiatives in the region. As the largest end-user of gold, making up around 45 percent of worldwide gold demand, jewelry companies have the ability to increase demand for conflict-free gold from Congo and the region. Resolving the conflict gold problem in Congo and the Great Lakes region will require concerted efforts by a number of actors, including governments worldwide, especially the United States, India, China, the United Arab Emirates, and in the region. International and local civil society actors, mining and refining companies, and artisanal mining groups must also play a role. But leadership by the companies that sell jewelry is an indispensable component to changing market demand to favor enterprises that promote peace and prosperity over those that entrench violence and criminality. The Enough Project has engaged with the largest jewelry retailers in an effort to encourage companies to use their power and resources in more robust, effective ways to support responsible sourcing in Congo and the Great Lakes region of Africa . To highlight leadership opportunities for companies that sell jewelry, Enough surveyed the 14 largest North American jewelry retailers through a detailed questionnaire and direct consultations. Our survey assessed what policies the retailers have adopted and which actions they have taken to counter the use of conflict gold.

Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2014. 84p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 7, 2016 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/publications/GoingForGoldAndAnnex-EnoughProject-Nov2014.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict Minerals

Shelf Number: 139295


Author: Myers, Allison Thigpen

Title: The Blind Man's Elephant: Broadening perspectives to Save the African Elephant

Summary: Ivory poaching has evolved from a local and regional nuisance to a vexing global threat in need of immediate action. The ivory trade is one of the world's largest illicit activities, funneling money to terrorist groups, creating instability, and bringing the world's largest land mammal to near extinction. The African elephant population has plummeted and poaching rates have reached an all time high driven by an insatiable Asian demand. The ivory trade has shifted from small, subsistence efforts to militarized, highly organized, and professional criminal networks. This change has not only expanded the scale of poaching activities, but also increased the threat to national security. In Africa, ivory trade has financed terrorist networks including the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), al-Shabab and the Janjaweed. By leveraging unstable governments and underground financing from the global illicit ivory trade, terrorist and criminal organizations pose a threat well beyond Africa's borders. Fragmented solutions have been presented to encourage the development of conservation programs; however, most policies have not been fully implemented or sustained at the range country level. While humans have an ethical responsibility to act in the face of species extinction, conservation policies must be reasonable in the demands they place on fragile governments. The establishment of conservation programs must acknowledge the untenable situation placed on developing nations with unlimited demands and severely limited financial resources. By encouraging responsible economic growth combined with local engagement and sustainability, conservation programs to reestablish the African elephant can succeed in a world of restricted and limited resources. While the size and scope of the illegal ivory trade is daunting, it is a winnable war. Unlike other highly trafficked resources, ivory is a vanity item. There is no perceived health benefit to overcome as seen in the rhino horn trade, no technology application like the coltan market, and no secondary utility like that of timber. The correct combination of economically viable policies founded on conservation ethics can bolster national security, reduce conflict, increase economic growth, and save the African elephant from extinction.

Details: Washington, DC: Georgetown University, 2014. 109p.

Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed June 8, 2016 at: https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/712451/Myers_georgetown_0076M_12786.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 139312


Author: Kessels, Eelco

Title: Violent Extremism and Instability in the Greater Horn of Africa: An Examination of Drivers and Responses

Summary: This report is part of a program implemented by the Global Center, supported by the U.S. Department of State, and aimed at understanding and strengthening capacities to prevent and counter violent extremism in the Greater Horn of Africa. It focuses on a subset of countries in the region - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. In short, this report aims to - provide an easily accessible overview of the Greater Horn's regional and national trends and drivers of violent extremism and related sources of insecurity - identify relevant actors and describe their responses aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism, and - highlight entry points for developing holistic strategies on countering violent extremism (CVE) inclusive of governmental and civil society actors that promote good governance and community-based responses to violent extremism.

Details: Goshen, IN: Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2016. 80p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 9, 2016 at: http://www.globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/GCCS_VIOLENT-EXTREMISM_low_3.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Terrorism

Shelf Number: 139346


Author: Oosterom, Marjoke A.

Title: The Violent Politics of Informal Work, and How Young People Navigate Them: A Conceptual Framework

Summary: This report explores the linkages between young people's economic engagement and their social and political engagement in contexts of violence in Africa. The enquiry started from the assumption that, in the everyday lives of young people in Africa, engagement in formal or informal livelihood activities is rarely separated from their social lives and politics, especially the politics that operate in the local economy. As young people are embedded in social and, possibly, also in political relationships, the ways in which they pursue opportunities for work will depend not only on their skills and demand for labour, but on their navigation of the political actors that shape the nature of the local labour market and economy. These issues become all the more complex in settings that are in the middle of, or recovering from, violent conflict; or are otherwise affected by high levels of violence. In these settings, the politics of the local economy might be entangled with the dynamics that sustain the violence.

Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2016. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Addressing and Mitigating Violence, Evidence Report No. 198: Accessed June 28, 2016 at: http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/11780/ER198_TheViolentPoliticsofInformalWorkandHowYoungPeopleNavigateThemAConceptualFramework.pdf;jsessionid=F919C664983E2A52879EE551C511DFFC?sequence=1

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Economics and Crime

Shelf Number: 139441


Author: Daniels, Alfonso

Title: Western Africa's missing fish: The impacts of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and under-reporting catches by foreign fleets

Summary: Overfishing in the world's oceans is at the centre of a crisis of sustainability. Nowhere is that crisis more visible than in western Africa. Current rates of extraction are driving several species towards extinction while jeopardising the livelihoods of artisanal fishing communities across a broad group of countries, including Senegal, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Mauritania. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is at the heart of the problem. Drawing on a unique satellite tracking database, this report presents new evidence of the scale and pattern of IUU fishing. It focuses on 'reefers' - large-scale commercial vessels receiving and freezing fish at sea and at port - and the use of containers. We provide evidence of practices that compromise the effectiveness of multilateral governance rules aimed at curtailing IUU fishing and promoting sustainable, legal practices. Proposals set out in the report identify pathways for countries in sub-Saharan Africa to greater transparency and sustainable management of fisheries which avoids the irreversible depletion and possible extinction of species, as well as the preservation of the marine ecosystem where the fishing activities take place for countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Details: London: Overseas Development Institute, 2016. 45p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 11, 2016 at: https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/resource-documents/10665.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fishing Industry

Shelf Number: 139591


Author: Dranginis, Holly

Title: The Mafia in the Park: A charcoal syndicate is threatening Virunga, Africa's oldest national park

Summary: An illegal charcoal cartel is helping to finance one of the most prominent militias in central Africa and destroying parts of Africa's oldest national park. Nursing alliances with Congolese army and police units and operating remote trafficking rings in the sanctuaries of Congo's protected forests, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a kingpin in Africa's Great Lakes region's organized crime networks and a continuing threat to human security.

Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2016. 45p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2016 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/report_MafiaInThePark_Dranginis_Enough_June2016.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Charcoal

Shelf Number: 139794


Author: Stop Illegal Fishing

Title: Fish-i Africa: Issues, investigations, impacts

Summary: The FISH-i Africa: Issues, Investigations, Impacts booklet describes the way FISH-i Africa works, some of the cases that have been concluded, the impacts of FISH-i Africa and where we see FISH-I Africa moving next. Over the last 3 and a half years FISH-i Africa has made a difference: we have identified illegal fishing, operators fishing without license or with forged licenses, vessels using false or multiple identities, and we have worked on serious cases of corruption.

Details: Gaborone, Botswana: Stop Illegal Fishing, 2016. 48p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 3, 2016 at: http://stopillegalfishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FISH-i-Africa-Issues-Investigations-and-Impacts_report_WEB.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Fishing

Shelf Number: 139952


Author: Henson, David W.

Title: Wildlife Law Enforcement in Sub-Saharan African Protected Areas A Review of Best Practices

Summary: Unprecedented levels of poaching of elephants, rhinos and other high value charismatic species across Africa is severely threatening the future of these species and the ecosystems they inhabit. As poaching groups increase in size, number and sophistication, it is more important than ever that law enforcement responses in protected areas are robust, reliable, and effective. A strategy to combat this crisis must address root causes, such as international demand for ivory and rhino horn, as well as drivers and enabling conditions, such as poverty and the lack of livelihood options for rural communities, corruption and weak governance. Further, in addition to direct poaching threats, the loss of habitat to agriculture and natural resource extraction and a growing human population, particularly around protected areas, will increasingly threaten the survival of elephant and rhino populations. Therefore, conservation of these species must take a holistic, long-term approach. While improved law enforcement in protected areas is just one element of this approach, it is an essential component and can achieve significant results in the short to medium-term. This report aims to contribute to the international effort to combat wildlife crime in Sub-Saharan African protected areas by providing a systematic and evidence-based review of law enforcement practices that have proved to be effective in different situations, and by identifying emerging best practice.

Details: Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 2016. 92p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 6, 2016 at: https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/SSC-OP-058.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 147853


Author: Johannisson, Frederik

Title: Child mined gold in your gadgets?

Summary: The gold producing countries of Africa are currently benefiting from a global rise of gold prices. With the increasing gold demand, major gold producing West African countries such as Ghana and Mali are experiencing a gold rush, and in both countries, employment and revenues are on the rise in the respective gold sectors. The increasing gold demand is among other industries coming from the booming electronics sector, which now sources more than 6 per cent of global gold consumption. However, the benefits of the rise in gold demand and prices are not necessarily felt by the artisanal small scale miners, which often live in secluded and poor areas. Here, the work to uncover gold is hard, dangerous and the pay is low and unreliable. In West Africa, child labour is not uncommon in small scale mining: They take on hard and dangerous tasks just like adults. For children engaged in small scale mining, gold digging can be a luring profession to sustain their own and their families livelihoods, and can out-compete unattractive and unpromising schools. However, for miners, and especially children, gold has a high price: Workers die in accidents in mines, expose themselves to dangerous mercury and children are locked in unskilled work for the rest of their lives. With an increasing public attention to the consequences of the production and trade of conflict minerals in DR Congo, the IT industries sourcing these minerals are increasingly engaging in initiatives that are meant to trace and source minerals from conflict areas more ethically. But the IT industries have yet to take serious interest in the origin of the gold that is a key component in most consumer electronics, and none of the questioned IT companies in the report could declare the origin of the gold that is used in their products. Even without being in a conflict setting, gold can still have a high, and sometimes deadly price in the unregulated mining communities in Africa, as in Ghana and Mali. In addition, consumers, either of jewellery or of IT products cannot tell which price the workers have paid for the gold that ends up in their products.

Details: Copenhagen, Denmark: DanWatch, 2013. 38p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2016 at: https://www.danwatch.dk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Child-mined-in-your-gadgets.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Labor

Shelf Number: 140323


Author: Parry-Jones, Rob

Title: All That Glitters is Not Gold: Dubai, Congo, and the Illicit Trade of Conflict Minerals

Summary: Gold is considered to be a 'conflict mineral'. In the DRC gold and diamond trade were tainted by conflict financing, tax evasion, corruption and smuggling. This resulted in the illegal trade of gold, huge financial losses for the DRC and violent conflict. This report therefore focuses on the DRC as it is the second biggest diamond producing country by volume. The illicit trade of conflict minerals has led to the involvement of trading centres in UAE and this report explains how Dubai came to play a central role in this trade and the way it has managed to attract an ever-increasing proportion of the worldwide gold and rough diamonds trade.

Details: Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada, 2014. 27p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 19, 2016 at: http://dspace.africaportal.org/jspui/bitstream/123456789/34455/1/All%20That%20Glitters.pdf?1

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict Minerals

Shelf Number: 140354


Author: Partnership Africa Canada

Title: Contraband Gold in the Great Lakes Region: In-region Cross-border Gold Flows versus Out-region Smuggling

Summary: This study examines the ASM gold sector in the ICGLR Region, analysing both its size and the extent to which ASM gold produced in the region is smuggled either across local borders or out the region completely. The study notes the extent to which cross-border movement of gold within the ICGLR region now pales in comparison to the volume of ASM gold that is smuggled out of the region and exported illegally, principally to the United Arab Emirates. This result should be of particular interest to governments of ICGLR nations, who have traditionally looked on the problem of contraband gold as a primarily DRC related issue. With its linkages to conflict financing, gold smuggling from the DRC remains perhaps the most acute problem. However, for the governments of all other producer nations in the IGCLR region the vast scale of ASM gold smuggling from the region represents a clear and pressing problem. At its most basic level, the smuggling of ASM gold deprives governments of the region of tax revenue - up to $22 million per year - desperately needed for development. Beyond the financial loss, the inability of IGGLR governments to control, tax and financially benefit from their ASM gold sectors has served to distort governance of the mineral sector in the ICGLR region. While the LSM sector provides relatively little employment in comparison to the ASM sector, governments in the ICGLR region give priority to LSM gold projects, in large measure because LSM projects provide actual tax revenue to state coffers. Regaining control of ASM gold exports would not only serve to curtail conflict in the DRC, but could also serve to rebalance government priorities in the gold mining sector. Alongside the LSM sector, the ASM sector could take its proper role as a significant generator of employment, and a moderate generator of tax revenue for African governments. At the other end of the chain, the study examined the role played of the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) in the commercialisation of illegally exported ASM gold from the ICGLR region. The study found that responsibility for the failure to effectively control ASM gold flows from the ICGLR region rested not only with the producing countries, but also with the actors in the major destination for ASM gold from the ICGLR Region, the United Arab Emirates. The study found few if any effective controls being implemented by the UAE at the purchasing level of the chain: customs and import controls are lax, buyers in the souk pay little attention to origin or legal provenance, refiners and banks do not have systems in place to assure the legal provenance of the gold they trade in. This collective failure at the purchasing level is all the more extraordinary, given that due diligence as defined by the OECD (and accepted by the UAE), is the responsibility not only of producer-state governments but of actors all along the supply chain; producers, intermediaries, traders, refiners, financers/bankers and end-users. If they truly want to remain compliant with due diligence as defined by the OECD, bankers, traders and governments at the purchasing level will have to begin being much more stringent in their KYC and documentation requirements for ASM gold and gold-related transactions. Finally, the study provides suggestions and potential solutions, both for producer states and for purchasing nations such as the UAE: technical measures that, if implemented, would significantly strengthen due diligence and reduce the volumes of ASM gold being smuggled out of the ICGLR region.

Details: Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada, 2015. 53p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 19, 2016 at: http://cosoc-gl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015_05_Great_Lakes_Contraband_Gold.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Gold Mining

Shelf Number: 140362


Author: Ali, Abdisaid M.

Title: Islamist Extremism in East Africa

Summary: The growth of Salafist ideology in East Africa has challenged long established norms of tolerance and interfaith cooperation in the region. This is an outcome of a combination of external and internal factors. This includes a decades-long effort by religious foundations in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to promulgate ultraconservative interpretations of Islam throughout East Africa's mosques, madrassas, and Muslim youth and cultural centers. Rooted within a particular Arab cultural identity, this ideology has fostered more exclusive and polarizing religious relations in the region, which has contributed to an increase in violent attacks. These tensions have been amplified by socioeconomic differences and often heavy-handed government responses that are perceived to punish entire communities for the actions of a few. Redressing these challenges will require sustained strategies to rebuild tolerance and solidarity domestically as well as curb the external influence of extremist ideology and actors. Highlights While Islamist extremism in East Africa is often associated with al Shabaab and Somalia, it has been expanding to varying degrees throughout the region. Militant Islamist ideology has emerged only relatively recently in the region-imported from the Arab world-challenging long-established norms of tolerance. Confronting Islamist extremism with heavy-handed or extrajudicial police actions is likely to backfire by inflaming real or perceived socioeconomic cleavages and exclusionist narratives used by violent extremist groups.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2016. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 32: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ASB32EN-Islamist-Extremism-in-East-Africa.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremism

Shelf Number: 145573


Author: Roxburgh, Shelagh

Title: Witchcraft, Violence and Mediation in Africa: a comparative study of Ghana and Cameroon

Summary: Security, insecurity and protection are all aspects of power relations. This thesis explores how witchcraft - related violence may be addressed through the discipline of political science. A comparative analysis investigates the effectiveness of four actors mediation efforts: the state, religious organizations, NGOs and traditional authorities that are typically unable to acknowledge the reality of witchcraft and or address experiences of it, nor answer the needs of those seeking redress. The history of anthropological works in Africa have been justifiably critiqued for dismissing or ridiculing African traditional religions and beliefs. Though the intention to avoid insult is commendable, it is not reason enough to overlook important questions and to evade debate.

Details: Ottawa: University of Ottawa, 2014. 253p.

Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 28, 2016 at: https://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/handle/10625/53279

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Violence

Shelf Number: 140480


Author: Thouless, C.R.

Title: African Elephant Status Report 2016: An update from the African Elephant Database

Summary: This report is the most authoritative source of knowledge about the numbers and distribution of African elephant populations across their 37 range states in sub-Saharan Africa. The report summarises - for the first time in almost a decade - elephant numbers at the continental, regional and national levels, and examines changes in population estimates at the site level.

Details: Gland, SWIT: IUCN, 2016. 317p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2016 at: https://www.iucn.org/ssc-specialist-groups/african-elephant-sg/about/ssc-specialist-groups-and-red-list-authorities-10

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 140506


Author: Cassim Cachalia, Raesah

Title: The dynamics of youth radicalisation in Africa: Reviewing the current evidence

Summary: Youth radicalisation towards violent extremism is a global phenomenon that threatens peace, security and stability. This paper reviews the evidence on the factors that may contribute to the dynamics of youth radicalisation. Available findings from East Africa and the Horn of Africa, West Africa and the Sahel, and North Africa are used to understand the dynamics that may contribute to radicalisation and, potentially, to violent extremism. Many factors emerge including political, economic, social and individual factors. Religion, identity and gender also arise as topics for further analysis. Youth radicalisation is a complex phenomenon that cannot be attributed to any one explanation or set of factors. This paper recognises these complexities, offers recommendations and identifies additional issues that should be explored further.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2016. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 296: Accessed October 6, 2016 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper296-1.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: ISIS

Shelf Number: 140598


Author: Prinsloo, Cyril

Title: African Pirates in the 21st Century: A Comparative Analysis of Maritime Piracy in Somalia and Nigeria

Summary: This study concerned the piratical attacks occurring along the East and West coasts of Africa. Although maritime piracy along the coasts of Africa is not a new phenomenon, recent upsurges in piratical attacks have attracted a great deal of attention. Despite Nigeria being long considered as the hotspot for piratical activity in Africa, the greatest upsurge of piratical activity has been seen in the areas surrounding Somalia, including the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The primary objective of this study is to identify the main causes of maritime piracy in Somalia and Nigeria. Also the correlation between state capacity (failed or weak) and the motivations for piracy (greed or grievance) is investigated. The secondary objectives of this study are to investigate the direct manifestations of piracy, as well as the current counter piracy initiatives. This is done in order to evaluate the successes and failures of current counter-piracy approaches in order to create more viable and successful counter measures. It is found that historical factors, as well as political, economic, social and environmental factors contribute greatly to the rise of maritime piracy in both Somalia and Nigeria. Furthermore, it has been found that there are numerous direct causes of piracy in these two countries. These differences and similarities have been investigated using a comparative analysis framework

Details: Stellenbosch, South Africa: Stellenbosch University, 2012. 100p.

Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed October 17, 2016 at: https://oatd.org/oatd/record?record=handle%5C%3A10019.1%5C%2F20142

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 140789


Author: Vorrath, Judith

Title: Organized Crime and Development: Challenges and Policy Options in West Africa's Fragile States

Summary: The development implications of transnational organized crime (TOC) have attracted growing attention in Germany and at the international level in recent years. Fragile and conflict-affected countries are a particular focus of interest. In the development policy debate, it has long been recognized that TOC and criminal violence are among the reasons why most fragile states have not achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This is one reason why the development community has to engage with the issue of organized crime and the risks that it poses to fragile states. Organized crime is a cross-cutting issue, not merely a security problem. TOC is accompanied far more often by economic damage, environmental degradation, health problems and corruption than by widespread violence and instability. What’s more, the conventional "law and order" approach on its own has proved largely unsuccessful in fragile states. Combating organized crime is primarily a task for civil law enforcement agencies, but they too are increasingly recognizing the need for new approaches and forms of cooperation. Entry points for synergies and a networked approach thus exist, especially since the development community is already dealing with TOC or TOC-relevant fields more often than assumed – whether in bilateral programmes to promote alternative development in drug cultivation areas or when supporting the establishment of sustainable fishing and forestry sectors in partner countries. More systematic engagement with TOC must be based, however, on a precise analysis of the threats with which it is associated and the trade-offs that can arise in contexts of fragile statehood, for TOC can bypass or operate in tandem with, against and/or in place of the state. Not only do the drivers of criminal activity and the networks involved vary in each context. TOC itself may adopt various modi operandi in conditions of fragile statehood, acting as an external stressor, an economy of violence, a form of state capture, or a world of existence/survival. On this basis, four threat categories can be identified. They often overlap and all four are usually relevant in one and the same context, albeit to varying extents. However, they each require different approaches and measures, ranging from classic deterrence to economic transformation and cultural change around TOC. These measures do not necessarily interact; indeed, they may conflict, so manifestations of TOC in any given country should be analyzed with reference to these four threat categories in order, at least, to anticipate possible trade-offs. The analysis of illicit economies in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea shows that the threats posed by TOC change over time and that their impacts vary across localities and sectors within and between countries. Cocaine trafficking and illegal fishing in particular are powerful external stressors with clearly negative consequences for societies, but have, so far, rarely been associated with direct violence. However, links between the transit of cocaine and actors in the region are further advanced, and the potential for violence in the drug trade is higher overall, than in illegal fishing, especially in Guinea. If intensifying law enforcement is the only action taken against unauthorized industrial fishing, there is a risk that the state and politicians will be captured to a greater extent by criminal interests and networks capable of purchasing higher-level protection. So in this sector, combining various measures in a networked approach can be a sensible solution. This can take place through cross-sectoral and interdepartmental programmes along the entire illicit trade chain. In the case of the three West African countries mentioned above, better surveillance of coastal areas should be combined, at the very least, with reforms to make the onshore regulation and governance of the fisheries sector more effective and transparent. In view of the effort required for deterrence in the maritime sector, it may also be appropriate to involve local artisanal fishermen in the monitoring of coastal waters. The development community can make an important contribution here and can also help to improve the management of the sector. Integrating development policy approaches with those from other policy fields, which may be sensible in this context, is not necessarily the appropriate response in other situations, however. In relation to cocaine trafficking, for example, a complementary engagement, e.g. in security sector and/or judicial reform, should be considered. In Guinea, given its political situation, it is questionable whether building deterrence capacities is useful at all. If any measure is to be adopted, then improving general transparency in the political process should be considered. In all three countries, implementing specific recommendations made by the West Africa Commission on Drugs, especially those pertaining to prevention and harm reduction, may be an important starting point. There also is some scope for contributions from development cooperation to curb illegal logging. In relation to the illicit gold and diamond trade, the development community should focus primarily on alternative development and violence prevention in mining areas and also work towards the further harmonization of legislation and certification in the countries concerned while targeted efforts should be made to curb organized fraud and scams involving counterfeit minerals. There are no universal solutions to the trade-offs identified in the context of TOC in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Nonetheless, some broad conclusions can be drawn about the options for development cooperation. In order to design development programmes which are sensitive to TOC, new or modified analytical tools are required. Rather than viewing TOC purely in terms of criminal violence, these tools should treat it as a part of the political economy which permeates almost all areas of life. With such diverse threats, it is impossible to avoid programmes having side effects on the TOC complex, but these effects should be anticipated as far as possible and factored into decision-making. With regard to development programmes containing organized crime or mitigating its impacts, it is essential – in addition to targeted interdepartmental and cross-sectoral approaches in some fields – to systematically evaluate experiences and better link different pillars in development cooperation itself. Furthermore, the regional and global levels are highly relevant for action, especially in relation to the (illicit) trade in natural resources. German development policy can play an active role in international forums when it comes to the TOC/development nexus, for example in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for although fragile states are especially at risk, criminal networks are increasingly globalized, and their operations strongly driven by demand in other world regions.

Details: Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik - German Institute for International and Security Affairs, 2015. 35p.

Source: Internet Resource: SWP Research Paper: Accessed November 10, 2016 at: https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2015RP09_vrr.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Criminal Networks

Shelf Number: 141067


Author: Loada, Augustin

Title: Preventing Violent Extremism in Burkina Faso: Toward National Resilience Amid Regional Insecurity

Summary: Burkina Faso has a reputation for being relatively peaceful and stable in an insecure region. Violent extremism has significantly impacted other Sahelian and West African states, especially in light of the conflict in Mali and the increase in terrorist violence in northern Nigeria. Burkina Faso's relative stability has meant that it has attracted less attention than its neighbors in international and regional security debates. Nevertheless, maintaining relative peace and security in Burkina Faso should be a priority for all stakeholders; and stability there is relative, not absolute. A crisis in Burkina Faso would be costly for Burkinabes and the region. Understanding the sources of relative peace and security in Burkina Faso can yield insights for countering violent extremism in the region and beyond. This study asks, What is the extent of violent extremism in Burkina Faso today? What are the origins of violent extremism or its likely sources? What are the sources of resilience against violent extremism in Burkina Faso? To answer these questions, we undertook extensive desk research and placed a premium on field work, conducting in-depth interviews, convening focus groups with a wide range of stakeholders in five locations across Burkina Faso, and gathering a significant amount of original data. We find that Burkina Faso is vulnerable to the threat of violent extremism because structural conditions, or "push factors," that increase the risk of violent extremism are prevalent in the country. These include political drivers such as endemic corruption and impunity for well-connected elites; socioeconomic drivers such as frustrated expectations, relative deprivation, and unmet social and economic needs; and cultural drivers, including religious factors. Despite the prevalence of push factors, we found only modest evidence regarding extremism at the individual and group levels. We looked for "pull factors" resulting from spillovers from regional extremist violence, radicalization among individuals or groups domestically, and the presence of foreign extremists, i.e., from outside the region. We found a few cases of Burkinabe involvement in extremist activity but gained the impression that these incidents were isolated. Where we did find evidence of Burkinabe involvement in extremism, it was the result of organized recruitment efforts by well-resourced regional extremist groups, although we cannot claim that this reflects a trend. In sum, Burkina Faso is vulnerable to violent extremism, but the threat is not imminent. There is a prevalence of push factors but a near absence of pull factors. To some extent, this reflects the nascent counterterrorism measures being advanced by the Burkinabe government to manage this vulnerability, often with the support of regional and international partners. Many sources of resilience are present in Burkina Faso. These derive from the state and civil society and provide a basis for stakeholders to act to prevent violent extremism in Burkina Faso. We recommend that stakeholders—the government of Burkina Faso, donor governments, and civil society—take steps to nurture resilience through measures that promote development and social cohesion. These include initiatives to improve governance, address identity-based grievances, and build the capacity of the Burkinabe state to counter violent extremism, as well as measures to advance the work of civil society in such key sectors as education and with key actors, such as youth. In the short term, a successful political transition in 2015 and a more robust response to the grievances expressed by the population are the best chances to maintain peace and stability and to mitigate the effects of structural conditions that might otherwise lead to conflict and violent extremism.

Details: Goshen, IN: Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2014.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 10, 2016 at: http://www.globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/BF-Assessment-Eng-with-logos-low-res.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Terrorism

Shelf Number: 141069


Author: Devarajan, Shanta

Title: Economic and Social Inclusion to Prevent Violent Extremism

Summary: The global economy continues to disappoint, with growth in 2016 projected to remain at last year’s 2.4 percent, half a percentage point below the January forecast. This year will be the fifth consecutive year with global growth below its long-term trend of 3.5 percent observed during 2000-07. Many countries are plagued by recession, several others suffer from terrorist attacks and refugee crises, while some are mired in civil wars together with extremely uncertain commodity markets, especially oil. The result has been lower potential output and investment, and weaker demand across the globe. In advanced economies, real growth has remained uncomfortably low, almost one percentage point below the long term average of 2000 to 2007. Growth in the United States (U.S.), the European Union (EU) and Japan is expected to stay around 1.7 percent, half a percentage point slower than expected in January. Among them, growth in the United Kingdom (U.K.), already weak, is expected to fall in 2016 after the historic referendum of June 23, 2016 in favor of leaving the EU. The "Brexit effect"–likely through contraction in investment--is expected to hamper growth in the U.K. and EU in the medium term. Prospects for a rebound are dim, as both services and manufacturing confidence are deteriorating. The emerging markets have also been slowing down despite a decade of extremely fast growth. China’s growth is gradually slowing, projected at 6.7 percent in 2016, down from 7.7 percent in 2013. Brazil and Russia are still in recession. All oil exporters are feeling the brunt of persistently low oil prices. Nigeria's and Angola's growth will fall below 1 percent in 2016 from almost 3 percent a year ago. Among Middle East oil exporters, growth in the GCC countries is expected to fall sharply with Saudi Arabia’s declining to one percent in 2016 from above 3 percent last year. The global outlook remains weak with growth expected to stay below the average of 2000-07 for the seventh year in a row. The World Bank projects it to hover around 2.8 percent in 2017, nearing 3 percent in 2018. The slight improvement with respect to 2016 is due to the better-than-expected performance among some advanced economies, particularly the United States which is expected to grow at 1.9 percent in 2018. Within developing countries, recessions in Russia and Brazil are expected to bottom out with growth turning positive starting in 2017. Oil markets are expected to remain over-supplied and, in the absence of a pick-up in demand, prices could remain around $53-$60 by the end of the decade. Risks to these projections are mostly on the downside, mainly geopolitical risks that could increase uncertainty, thus dampening investment and growth. Deceleration in major emerging market economies and rising private-sector indebtedness could increase vulnerability in some of these countries. Other major risk factors are a potential slowdown in the EU, particularly the U.K. in the aftermath of Brexit, and persistently low oil prices that could further destabilize the outlook for oil-exporting countries.

Details: Washington, DC: Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. 76p.

Source: Internet Resource: Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Economic Monitor. Accessed November 10, 2016 at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/409591474983005625/pdf/108525-REVISED-PUBLIC.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Economics and Crime

Shelf Number: 141086


Author: Wike, Richard

Title: In Key African Nations, Widespread Discontent With Economy, Corruption: But most are optimistic about future in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya

Summary: Just over a year ago, the United Nations agreed to an ambitious agenda for bettering the lives of people around the world – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs call for countries to improve across 17 issue areas, including economic growth, accountable institutions and reduced inequality, among others. While the target for achieving the SDG goals is not until the year 2030, the publics in three major African nations are increasingly concerned about some key development issues. At the same time, they express considerable optimism about the future. In South Africa and Nigeria – sub-Saharan Africa’s two largest economies – economic sentiments have turned sharply negative since 2015. Around seven-in-ten South Africans and Nigerians now say their economies are in bad shape. Meanwhile, in the East African economic hub of Kenya, just over half say the same. Large majorities in all three countries consider the lack of employment opportunities a very big problem. Moreover, as a new Pew Research Center survey of these three major African nations illustrates, many believe the political and economic system is stacked against them. Political corruption – seen by many experts as a key stumbling block to a country's development – is a major public concern. Broad majorities in all three countries name government corruption as a very big problem. Most South Africans, Kenyans and Nigerians believe that government is run for the benefit of only a few groups of people in society. And, perhaps most troublingly, only around a third of South Africans and Kenyans say government corruption will be better in their countries when today’s children grow up. Nigerians are more optimistic that there will be less corruption in the future – 60% expect things to improve. In the economic realm, most see rewards and opportunities going primarily to those at the top. Majorities in all three nations say the gap between rich and poor has increased over the past five years. And when asked why so many people lack jobs in their country, the top reason given is that many jobs go only to people with connections.

Details: Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2016. 57p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 15, 2016 at: http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/11/14/in-key-african-nations-widespread-discontent-with-economy-corruption/

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Political Corruption

Shelf Number: 141159


Author: Sinovas, P.

Title: Southern Africa's Wildlife Trade: An Analysis of CITES Trade in SADC Countries

Summary: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) covers a vast territory in Africa, straddling from South Africa in the south to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania in the north, and including the Indian ocean island States of Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles. The region is home to a highly diverse range of wildlife, some of which is traded internationally and listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES). This report presents the first comprehensive overview of trade in CITES-listed wildlife in southern African countries. The analysis provides a baseline of information on trade levels and trends in SADC, based on the - ten year period 2005-2014, in order to inform future trade management in the region. CITES trade from the SADC Region 2005-2014 was dominated by hunting trophies, live parrots, live reptiles, crocodile skins, crocodile meat, live plants (including cycads and succulent plants) and plant derivatives. As part of this analysis, six case studies are considered in more depth: hunting trophies, felids, parrots, reptiles, succulent plants and cycads. On average, approximately 18 000 individuals of species mostly traded as hunting trophies were exported annually from the region; the principal mammal taxa in trade were (by volume of trade, in decreasing order) Equus zebra hartmannae (Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra), Papio ursinus (Chacma Baboon), Hippopotamus amphibius (Hippopotamus), Loxodonta africana (African Elephant) and Panthera leo (African Lion). Hunting trophy trade also included high levels of Crocodylus niloticus (Nile Crocodile) trophies. Trophies in trade were predominantly from the wild, with the exception of P. leo which showed an increasing trend in exports of captive-bred trophies from South Africa. The United States and the European Union (EU) were the main import markets of mammal trophies, accounting for over 60% of exports of each of the top taxa in trade. Trade in P. leo (Lion) bones and in live Acinonyx jubatus (Cheetah) and live lions increased over the study period. South Africa was the dominant exporter of Felidae bones and live felids during this period, with the trade in bones destined largely to the traditional medicine market in East and Southeast Asia and the trade in live big cats destined also to other SADC countries, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, including for zoos and for the pet market. Live parrots are in demand globally as household pets, and this was reflected in the high numbers of parrots exported by SADC countries as live birds. Exports of live parrots increased over the period 2005-2014 (from 50 000 live birds in 2005 to over 300 000 in 2014 according to exporting countries), with western Asia (particularly Oman, Bahrain and Lebanon) emerging as a key import region or live parrots. South Africa (captive-produced birds) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (wildsourced birds) were the main exporters, while Psittacus erithacus (African Grey Parrot) and Agapornis fischeri (Fischer’s Lovebird) were the most exported species. Live Crocodylus niloticus and C. niloticus products (mainly skins for the fashion industry) represented the largest volume of reptile exports from the SADC region; live, wild-sourced Sauria (lizards), particularly from Tanzania, Madagascar and Mozambique, and captive-bred Testudines (tortoises) from Zambia were also exported in high numbers for the pet market. Wild-sourced lizards exported included globally threatened Malagasy endemics, although trade in these declined after 2010 following the introduction of lower export quotas. The United States of America and the EU (European Union) were the major importers of live lizards. Hoodia gordonii (Bitter Ghaap) seeds were the succulent plant products exported in the largest quantity. Hoodia gordonii seeds were traded in high volumes particularly during 2007-2008 (over 90 million seeds over the twoyear period), when the species was the focus of attention by international pharmaceutical companies researching its properties as a dietary supplement. Stems of Rhipsalis (Mistletoe Cacti, the only Cactaceae genus with a representation outside of the Americas) and live Rhipsalis plants also formed a large proportion of exports, mainly as ornamental plants. South Africa was the predominant exporter of live succulents and succulent products, while the Netherlands (stems and live plants for the ornamental trade) and Namibia (Hoodia gordonii seeds) were the main destination countries for South Africa’s exports. Live cycads are highly valued in the ornamental plant trade and an average of approximately 10 000 live cycads were exported per year from the region, mostly as artificially-propagated plants. Exports from South Africa formed the majority of trade in cycads; Mozambique was a main exporter prior to a trade suspension in 2005. Cycas thouarsii (Madagascar Cycad) and Encephalartos species formed the majority of trade, with large numbers of South African endemic Encephalartos species being exported. Trade was with a variety of countries, with Thailand (live cycads), Israel (seeds) and France (leaves) being top importers of cycads from the region. The total financial value of CITES-listed exports from the region (excluding some taxa and products for which insufficient data on prices was available) is estimated to be USD340 million per year (USD3.4 billion over the ten-year period). The highest-value trade in individual taxa related to Pericopsis elata (estimated at USD73 million per year), Arctocephalus pusillus (Cape Fur Seal; USD64 million per year), Crocodylus niloticus (USD57 million per year), and Psittacus erithacus (USD31 million per year).The total financial value of the international trade in the case study groups analysed was estimated at an average of over USD150 million per year (USD1.5 billion over the ten-year period), with reptiles (40% of the value when excluding trophies; USD62 million per year), parrots (38%; USD58 million per year) and succulent plants (16%; USD14 million per year), representing the groups with the highest estimated value. The estimated value of the hunting trophies exported was an average of USD6.5 million per year. When criteria to identify species traded at high volumes or showing a sharp increase in trade over the period are applied, 104 CITES-listed species native to, and exported from, the SADC Region showed noteworthy trends (high volume and/or sharp increase) based on an analysis equivalent to that used to inform the CITES Review of Significant Trade process. Reptiles were the group with the highest number of species showing noteworthy trends, with 36 species meeting the selection criteria. Madagascar was the top exporter for these species amongst the SADC countries, exporting 63 of the 104 (61%) selected species during 2005-2014, and was the top global exporter for 62 of these species. Nearly one thousand species native to the SADC Region were exported from non-SADC countries 2005-2014, both as wild-sourced and captivebred or artificially-propagated. Nearly 500 of these species are endemic to a single SADC country. Exports from SADC countries account for a small proportion of the global trade in these species, potentially indicating an opportunity for development of sustainable use systems in SADC range countries.

Details: Cambridge, UK: United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 2016. 130p.

Source: Internet Resource: Technical report prepared for the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI): Accessed November 16, 2016 at: http://conservationaction.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/SANBI-report.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: CITES

Shelf Number: 141178


Author: Huff, Amber

Title: Violence and Violence Reduction Efforts in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Ivory Coast: Insights and Lessons towards Achieving SDG 16

Summary: The 2011 World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development states that, ‘repeated cycles of organized criminal violence and civil conflict that threaten development locally and regionally and are responsible for much of the global deficit in meeting the Millennium Development Goals’ (World Bank 2011: 46). As a result, peace and security emerged as a ‘core concern’ in the development of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda (Werner 2015: 348), and a remarkable high-level consensus has emerged on the basic elements of an approach to reduce violence across contexts. These include: (1) the need to create legitimate institutions, often through efforts to craft political settlements; (2) strengthening access to justice; (3) extending economic opportunities and employment, especially for young people; and (4) fostering societal resilience, through institutions as well as by considering the sustainability of interventions (Lind, Mitchell and Rohwerder 2016). Flowing from these ideas, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 aims to 'promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels' by meeting targets that range from reduction of violence and related death rates everywhere, to reducing corruption and bribery in all their forms, ending all forms of legal discrimination and developing effective, accountable and transparent institutions (UNDP 2016a).

Details: Brighton, UK:: Institute of Development Studies, 2016. 95p.

Source: Internet Resource: Addressing and Mitigating Violence, Evidence Report No. 210: Accessed December 2, 2016 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/12656/ER210_ViolenceandViolenceReductionEffortsinKenyaUgandaGhanaandIvoryCoast.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Bribery

Shelf Number: 147957


Author: Obale, Offah

Title: From Conflict to Illicit: Mapping the Diamond Trade from Central African Republic to Cameroon

Summary: The Central African Republic (CAR) is the only source of traditionally defined conflict diamonds in the world today. Since May 2013, exports of its diamonds have been under international embargo by both the United Nations and the Kimberley Process (KP), the initiative that regulates the production and trade of rough diamonds. CAR was suspended from the KP after a March 2013 coup d'état that sparked widespread civil unrest in the country. The coup was the inevitable outcome of years of political instability forged by a coalition of rebel groups, known as Seleka, who attacked the government and incrementally seized territory, including the strategic diamond-mining town of Bria. On March 24, 2013 Séléka captured the capital city of Bangui and overthrew the government, initiating a bitter internal conflict that continues to fester to this day. The civil war and regime change forced the United Nations and the international community to impose economic sanctions on CAR. Not only were all diamond exports prohibited, the KP urged diamond-trading countries to exercise enhanced vigilance and ensure that diamonds produced in CAR were seized and not allowed to circulate in legitimate trade. While the ban on CAR’s exports was partially lifted in 2016 from regions deemed to be KP compliant, that has not stopped the flow of CAR's conflict diamonds to international markets—while it was under full embargo or regions still prevented from trading today. This report examines the smuggling of diamonds from the Central African Republic into Cameroon. Further, it focuses on the impact this illicit trade has on Cameroon’s internal controls as well as the broader integrity of the diamond supply chain. The report describes the methods used and the key actors involved in this illicit trade. It concludes that the KP and frontline countries like Cameroon need to do more to interrupt the illicit trade of conflict diamonds from CAR and support each other in taking action.

Details: Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada, 2016. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 2, 2016 at: http://pacweb.org/images/PUBLICATIONS/from-conflict-to-ilicit-eng-web.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict Diamonds

Shelf Number: 147323


Author: Herbert, Matthew

Title: At the edge: Trends and routes of North African clandestine migrants

Summary: In 2015, over 16,000 Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans were caught while attempting to migrate to Europe covertly. Though North Africans are a relatively small portion of the masses of clandestine migrants, they are a critical group to understand. They are the innovators and early adaptors of new methods and routes for migrant smuggling, such as their pioneering in the 1990s and 2000s of the routes across the Mediterranean that now fuel Europe's migration crisis. Understanding how and why North Africans migrate, the routes they use, and how these are changing, offers insights into how clandestine migration methods and routes in general may shift in the coming years. In shaping better responses to actual dynamics, it is important for countries to proactively address the chronic conditions that drive forced migration before they generate social instability.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2016. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 298: Accessed December 5, 2016 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/at-the-edge-paper-final-.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 140301


Author: Tinti, Peter

Title: The Niger-Libya corridor: Smugglers' perspectives

Summary: Instability and high levels of violence in Libya preclude credible interventions to stem irregular migration flows from off the coast of Libya to Europe. As a result, policy-makers have increasingly been looking to the transit country of Niger in order to reduce the number of migrants crossing into southern Libya for onward travel to Europe via the Mediterranean. In Niger, international attention, premised on the assumption that European interests are congruent with those of local actors, has concentrated on the city of Agadez, a smuggling hub in the Sahara Desert. Yet, vested interests related to migrant smuggling and the free flow of people in Niger are misaligned with those of Europe, and the city of Agadez is in fact part of a broader system of ethnically derived zones of protection and control embedded in the political economy of the Sahel. Interventions designed to reduce migration flows and enhance protection for the migrants must be predicated on a far more nuanced understanding of local dynamics and the non-state actors facilitating the trade, so as to avoid destabilising one of the few pockets of stability in an already volatile region. This paper draws from interviews with local communities and smugglers themselves along the Niger-Libya corridor.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2016. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 299: Accessed November 5, 2016 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/gi-iss-the-niger-libya-corridor-nov-2016.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 140302


Author: Reitano, Tuesday

Title: The Khartoum Process: A sustainable response to human smuggling and trafficking?

Summary: In the 2012-16 'migration crisis', citizens from the Horn of Africa have been arriving irregularly in Europe in unprecedented numbers, whilst featuring disproportionately amongst the fatalities. This has prompted the launch of the Khartoum Process, a partnership between the 28 member states of the European Union (EU) and East and North African states, to respond to human smuggling and trafficking. This brief critically and unfavourably evaluates this framework. The Khartoum Process is not only unlikely to achieve the desired outcomes, but, more importantly, it is likely to pose a risk to the better governance and development of the Horn of Africa.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2016. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief 93: Accessed December 5, 2016 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/gi-iss-the-khartoum-process-nov-2016.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 147921


Author: Human Rights Watch

Title: Deaths and Disappearances: Abuses in Counterterrorism Operations in Nairobi and in Northeastern Kenya

Summary: Since late 2014, the Somalia-based Islamist armed group Al-Shabab escalated attacks in northeastern Kenya, leaving hundreds dead. In response, Kenya’s police, military and other state forces have carried out numerous operations to arrest those allegedly linked to Al-Shabab. Allegations of abuses, including forced disappearances, torture and killings by security forces have increased, but thus far, the government of Kenya denies any wrongdoing. Based on over 8 months of research, including in the northeastern counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera and interviews with over 110 people, Deaths and Disappearances: Abuses in Counterterrorism Operations in Nairobi and in Northeastern Kenya documents 34 cases of enforced disappearances and at least 11 cases in which dead bodies of people previously arrested by state agents have been found in the last two years, in some instances far from the location of their arrest. Families of those missing have searched detention facilities far and wide, asked for help from political and religious leaders, made reports to state agencies, and in some cases, boldly taken to social media to locate their loved ones. Kenya authorities deny any knowledge of the missing people, fail to acknowledge the growing evidence of abuses during counterterrorism operations, fail to investigate the allegations and in some instances, intimidate and harass those seeking information and accountability. Human Rights Watch calls on the Kenyan police and military to urgently investigate allegations of disappearances, killings and torture in northeast, and bring those responsible to justice. The president should establish a special commission of inquiry to investigate and establish the extent of the abuses in Kenya’s counterterrorism operations.

Details: New York: HRW, 2016. 137p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 6, 2016 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/kenya0716web_1.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Terrorism

Shelf Number: 140309


Author: Ogbozor, Ernest

Title: Resilience to Violent Extremism: The Rural Livelihood Coping Strategies in the Lake Chad Basin

Summary: This paper is an analysis of the effects of violent extremism and the rural livelihoods strategies for coping with threats from Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin. Since 2009, the Lake Chad Basin has witnessed increasing insurgency activities from the Boko Haram militants, leading to the destruction of lives, livelihoods, and displacements. However, studies have shown that while violent conflict has destructive impacts on lives and livelihoods--more people survive than perish. People threatened by violence from the extremist group cannot afford to wait for help; they adopt strategies to survive and protect their livelihoods. This study explores these mechanisms through review and analysis of the literature and current research in the Lake Chad Basin. The paper argues, the violence from Boko Haram has both direct and indirect effects on households whose primary sources of livelihoods are dependent on the resources from the basin. In response, the affected households adopt both positive and adverse strategies to mitigate immediate and longterm threats from the militant groups. The study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of rural resilience to violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin

Details: Brighton, UK: Households in Conflict Network, Institute of Development Studies, 2016. 21p.

Source: Internet Resource: HiCN Working paper 237: Accessed December 8, 2016 at: http://www.hicn.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/HiCN-WP-237.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 140359


Author: Ostby, Gudrun

Title: Violence Begets Violence: Armed Conflict and Domestic Sexual Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa

Summary: While the study of the causes of civil conflict is a well-established sub-discipline in the conflict literature, less is known about how political violence affects society. Although the majority of the direct victims of war are men, women face more insidious challenges, such as difficulty in providing for families and coping with sexual violence. The consequences of a conflict in terms of sexual violence are not limited to the abuses performed by conflict actors, nor are they limited to the period when the conflict was active. Drawing on psychological theories, this paper argues that armed conflict can have negative consequences for sexual violence in the private sphere. Combining subnational data on armed conflict events with individual-level data on partner abuse from DHS surveys in 17 Sub-Saharan African countries for a total of 95,913 women aged 15-49, I analyse the impact of conflict intensity on intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV). Individual-level analyses show that there is an independent, significant effect of armed conflict intensity in the home region of the respondent as regards her risk of experiencing IPSV. This result is robust even when controlling for factors such as childhood exposure to parent violence and the husband's alcohol consumption.

Details: Brighton, UK: Households in Conflict Network, Institute of Development Studies, 2016. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: HiCN Working Paper 233: Accessed December 8, 2016 at: http://www.hicn.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/HiCN-WP-233.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Domestic Violence

Shelf Number: 140361


Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Title: Traceability: A Management Tool for Enterprises and Governments

Summary: Traceability: A management tool for enterprises and governments outlines the vital factors to be taken into account when designing a successful traceability system, and explains the importance of made-to-measure systems in different contexts. The report also illustrates the added benefits of traceability for governments, businesses and community forests – not just as a means of meeting legal requirements but also as a business management tool that can have an impact on yields, working conditions and production efficiency. Concrete case studies from five African countries supported by FAO's FLEGT Programme are presented in the publication: The publication is the first in a technical series building on FAO FLEGT Programme experience of projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Details: Rome: FAO, 2016. 68p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 14, 2016 at: http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/83dcd903-46ce-4612-859c-460e883e5e59/

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Forest Management

Shelf Number: 10446


Author: Shadung, Mothepa

Title: Tools of torture? Use of electric shock equipment among African Police

Summary: orture is not an act that happens in isolation. It occurs in many contexts, and there are several techniques and means by which pain and suffering are inflicted on suspects, convicted inmates and others deprived of their liberty. This policy brief highlights how African law-enforcement agencies or government security forces potentially misuse electric shock equipment in a way that contravenes international and continental anti-torture frameworks. It then discusses reported cases of such misuse in South Africa. Finally, recommendations are made on how the use of electric shock equipment on the continent could be curbed, along with ways to build on efforts to prohibit and prevent torture. Recommendations 1 All policies and training with respect to the treatment of persons in custody should be compatible with national, regional and international human-rights standards. 2 African states should ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 3 All incidents of torture, assault and death in police custody should be reported and carefully monitored as a matter of public accountability and transparency, and perpetrators prosecuted. 4 Handheld direct contact electric shock devices and body-worn electric shock devices designed for law enforcement are prone to abuse and should be prohibited.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2016. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief 85: Accessed December 19, 2016 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/PolicyBrief85.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Electric Shocks

Shelf Number: 140526


Author: Sahan Foundation

Title: Human Trafficking and Smuggling on the Horn of Africa-Central Mediterranean Route

Summary: As Europe struggles to manage its largest migrant crisis in more than half a century, attention has focused largely upon the refugee flows from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, where years of war and instability are driving the exodus. But in 2015, an estimated 154,000 migrants entered Europe via the Central Mediterranean Route – an increase of nearly 400% over the previous year, and more than 1,000% over 2012 – most of them from the Horn of Africa. By far the largest contingent of migrants – nearly 39,000 in 2015 – is from the sub-region's second smallest country: Eritrea. In contrast with the mass, largely uncontrolled movements of refugees from the Middle East, irregular migration from the Horn of Africa is dominated by highly integrated networks of transnational organised criminal groups. Coordinated by kingpins based chiefly in Libya and the Horn of Africa, these networks "recruit" their clients via schools, the Internet and word of mouth; they corrupt government officials to ensure seamless travel across borders; they collude with Libyan militias to secure safe passage across the desert to launching points on the southern shores of the Mediterranean; and they cast their human cargoes adrift at the limit of Libyan territorial waters in order to avoid interdiction and arrest by European security forces. Inception and Purpose of the Report Security has long been a shared preoccupation of countries of the region. The "revitalisation" of IGAD in 1996 expanded the organisation’s mandate to more directly address challenges of peace and stability in the sub-region, including, under Article 18(a), "effective collective measures to eliminate threats to regional cooperation, peace, and stability." In 2002, the states of the region signed the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) Protocol, which outlined the various components of a new African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) built around structures, objectives, principles, and values, as well as decision-making processes relating to the prevention, management, and resolution of crises and conflicts, post-conflict reconstruction and development in the continent. In this context, in 2003, the IGAD Summit of Heads of State and Government endorsed a new strategy for Conflict Prevention, Management, and Resolution (CPMR), which was enlarged upon in October 2005 to develop an IGAD “Peace and Security Strategy” in line with APSA. Although the new strategy remained heavily focused on inter-state and intra-state conflict, it called for the enhancement of IGAD activities on countering emerging transnational security threats. IGAD, coming to terms with the expanding scope of regional security challenges, adopted a new Security Strategy in December 2010 and, in October 2011, launched the IGAD Security Sector Programme (ISSP), whose expanded mandate included counter-terrorism, transnational organised crime (TOC), maritime security, and security institutions' capacity-building.

Details: Sahan Foundation, 2016. 39p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 20, 2016 at: http://eritreanrefugees.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IGAD-Sahan-2015-Trafficking-Report.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Security

Shelf Number: 147783


Author: Intergovernmental Authority on Development

Title: Al-Shabaab as a Transnational Security Threat

Summary: Harakaat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujaahidiiin, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in the Horn of Africa, has long been perceived as a Somali organisation – albeit one that represents a security threat to the wider region. But since at least 2010, Al-Shabaab has aspired to become a truly regional organisation, with membership and horizons that transcend national borders. In 2010 the group staged its first major external operation, in Kampala, Uganda, and issued its first propaganda video in the Swahili language. Since then, Al- Shabaab has become active in no less than six countries of the region, striking five of them with terrorist attacks. Al-Shabaab is clearly no longer an exclusively Somali problem, and requires a concerted international response. This determined expansion of Al-Shabaab’s ambitions and operational reach is in large part the result of the strategic direction adopted by Al-Shabaab's former leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, and his successor, Ahmed Diiriye, who currently heads the movement. In late 2013, Godane re-organised Al-Shabaab's military wing to include two transnational units: one, the Jaysh Ayman, directed against Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, and another dedicated to operations against Ethiopia. While the latter formation has yet to mount an effective operation on Ethiopian soil, the Jaysh Ayman launched a series of cross-border attacks into Kenya in 2014 and, despite a Kenyan counter-offensive in late 2015, the group remains a serious threat to the country's national security. In 2013, Godane also gave instructions for Al-Shabaab’s special operations wing, the Amniyaad, to step up attacks against neighbouring countries, notably those contributing troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). This resulted in a spate of attacks between 2013 and 2015 in Kenya that claimed over 350 lives, an attempted suicide bombing of a football match in Addis Ababa in October 2013, and the suicide bombing of a popular restaurant in Djibouti in May 2014. In October 2014, Al-Shabaab again attempted a suicide bombing in Addis Ababa, this time apparently targeting a busy shopping mall, but the plot was detected and foiled. Al-Shabaab-affiliated networks in Kenya also continued to plan terror attacks during this period, but less successfully than Jaysh Ayman. Al-Hijra, Al-Shabaab’s Kenyan affiliate, experienced growing pressure from the security services, and suffered a steady attrition of its leadership. As a result, Al-Hijra cadres withdrew from major hubs of activity in Nairobi and Mombasa, dispersing their radicalisation and recruitment efforts throughout the country – notably within the prison system. Al-Hijra operatives and recruits – including a growing proportion of women – continued to travel back and forth to Somalia, typically receiving training and instructions before returning to Kenya to engage in operations. Kenya also witnessed increasing activity among Al-Shabaab sympathisers, organising themselves spontaneously online via social media and mobile applications. While many of these individuals remain purely aspirational, some have gone on to plan operations, reaching out to members of Al-Shabaab or Al-Hijra for guidance and support. Others have sought advice concerning travel to Somalia or Syria. Confronted by the evolving threat, regional states are exploring ways to strengthen their common response to Al-Shabaab. AMISOM, whose forces are drawn mainly from IGAD countries, continues to support the efforts of the Somali Federal Government and emerging federal member states to confront Al-Shabaab militarily, steadily driving the jihadists out of the last remaining strongholds and helping to build the capacity of Somali security forces. Outside Somalia, IGAD Member States have devoted greater efforts to monitoring and disrupting Al-Shabaab activities within their borders. The Heads of Intelligence and Security Services (HISS) of the member countries of IGAD and the East African Community (EAC) met twice in 2015 to deepen security cooperation and harmonise efforts to fight terrorism and violent extremism. In August 2015, a two-day experts’ meeting in Djibouti took the first steps towards the establishment of a Centre of Excellence to Counter Violent Extremism for the IGAD region. In addition, the IGAD Security Sector Program (ISSP) launched a new Transnational Security Threats (TST) Initiative to promote security cooperation between member states: the initiative under which this report has been commission and published. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for further action, including: • Enhanced security cooperation in countering Al-Shabaab, including a joint review to identify gaps, challenges, and opportunities in strengthening cooperation to combat Al-Shabaab, such as the types of information to be shared and the processes for doing so; more joint activities to confront Al- Shabaab; and inviting Tanzania to participate in any IGAD-led efforts to counter this threat. • Better understanding of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) threat and possible counter-measures, including appropriate Counter-IED (C-IED) strategies, enhanced technical capabilities for post-blast investigation and analysis, and improved information sharing within the region. • Adaptation to evolving patterns of radicalisation and recruitment, such as the shifting of extremist activities away from former hubs, such as Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya, to new geographic areas; sensitisation and training of public officials, in order to help them identify and react appropriately to potential threats; enhance surveillance of terrorism suspects and networks inside the prison system and put in place appropriate responses; and undertake additional research and analysis into current trends of radicalisation and recruitment among young women, in order to formulate appropriate responses.

Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: IGAD Security Sector Program (ISSP), 2016. 53p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 20, 2016 at: http://www.igadssp.org/index.php/documentation/reports/igad-report-al-shabaab-as-a-transnational-security-threat?layout=table

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: al-Qaeda

Shelf Number: 147782


Author: Jacobsen, Karen

Title: Ransom, Collaborators, Corruption: Sinai Trafficking and Transnational Networks from Eritrea to Israel. A Case Study of the Eritrean Migration System

Summary: Each month thousands of men, women, and children flee Eritrea as a result of grave violations of human rights committed by the Eritrean government. Political oppression and religious persecution have led to the imprisonment or disappearance of thousands of citizens, as well as mass flight. Travelling via Sudan and Egypt, 36,000 Eritreans have made their way to Israel over the past six years. Most have gone through a well-organized network of people smugglers and human traffickers. Many initially contacted smugglers but were later deceived, held hostage for large ransoms, and physically abused. Others had no intention to come to Israel and were kidnapped in East Sudan to then be sold to Sinai traffickers who also abused them while they were held hostage for ransom. For the last two years, Israeli, Egyptian, and international human rights organizations have reported that increasing numbers of Eritreans have undergone severe torture and abuse while being held hostage for months at a time in the Sinai. Human rights organizations have documented the brutality of traffickers in the Sinai. Eritrean asylum seekers have testified to gang rape of men and women, whipping, and various methods of torture, including burial in the sand, electric shocks, hanging by one’s hands and legs, burning with hot-iron bars, and prolonged exposure to the sun. This paper seeks to expand our empirical knowledge by describing and analysing the processes and actors, including Eritrean families both in the diaspora and in Eritrea, involved in the transnational networks supporting and enabling the smuggling and trafficking of Eritreans through the Sinai to Israel. We focus only on the Sinai route, although migration from Eritrea also occurs south to other parts of Africa, west through Sudan to Libya, and east across the Red Sea. The Sinai route actors include smugglers from the Rishaida tribe in East Sudan, Sudanese and Egyptian authorities, Bedouin smugglers in Egypt, and Eritrean collaborators who work with the traffickers as intermediaries. It is likely that similar smuggling – and probably trafficking – networks also exist for these other migration routes.

Details: Somerville, MA: Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, 2013.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 20, 2016 at: http://fic.tufts.edu/assets/Ransom-Collaborate-Corrupt-8-12.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 147780


Author: Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat

Title: Behind Bars: The detention of migrants in and from the East & Horn of Africa

Summary: Regional Focus This study focuses on immigration detention in the East and Horn of Africa, as well as Yemen, Israel and Saudi Arabia which are countries where a significant number of migrants from this region migrate to. The report also includes a short section on the use of immigration detention in Italy and Malta, the first points of entry in Europe for Horn of Africa migrants (mainly Eritreans and Somalis) travelling the north-western route out of the region to Europe. The use of immigration detention The use of immigration detention is widespread in the main destination and transit countries affecting migrants in and from East Africa and Horn of Africa countries. Instead of being a measure of last resort, detention of migrants is a routine practice in some of these countries (Djibouti, Israel Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and Yemen). In 2013 and 2014 for example, several countries, such as Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania carried out mass operations during which thousands of migrants were detained. In most countries, irregular migrants are generally detained, either by law or as a de facto policy. Immigration detention is used for a variety of reasons, which commonly includes: controlling migration flows, as a deterrence measure for future migrants, security reasons (such as identity and health checks) or protection of the labour market. The detention of migrants can also be the result of chaotic or dysfunctional processes. For example, when migrants are detained because there are no resources (financial, transport) available for deportation; when a detention centre is full but the local prison has space; or when the local police demand bribes from migrants and detain them until they pay for their release. In short, migrants are detained for a variety of reasons, including more ad hoc, informal reasons that are not captured in formal immigration policy. International legislation Although most countries have ratified a range of relevant international conventions that regulate the detention of all persons, including migrants, states in the region frequently act in violation of their international obligations: t 5IF International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), for example, which is legally binding on all countries that are part of this research except Saudi Arabia, states among other things that “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention”, that “Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him”. Nevertheless, arbitrary arrests are common in all countries and migrants are often not informed (or at least do not understand) the charges against them. t 5IFInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) guarantees the “right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, in the enjoyment of the right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of the State”. Yet, the country sections provide examples of operations during which large numbers of migrants and urban refugees were detained and certain nationalities were specifically targeted, such as Somalis during operation ‘Usalama Watch’ in Kenya or Sub-Saharan African migrants in Israel. t In most countries, children (under the age of eighteen years), both accompanied and unaccompanied, are detained, sometimes together with other adults, which violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). t 5IFSFIBWFCFFOTFWFSBMFYBNQMFTPG refoulement of refugees and asylum seekers, for example of Eritreans and Sudanese by Israeli authorities and Somalis by Saudi authorities, which violates the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the 1951 Refugee Convention. Arbitrary detention The country sections of this report describe how arbitrary detention is common in every country in the region. Especially, but not exclusively, during mass operations as referred to above. On these occasions, authorities did not carry out individual determinations to assess whether detention is reasonable, necessary and proportional, but instead migrants were detained in large groups without individual consideration. Periodic reviews are often not carried out and detained migrants are not always – or only after many days – brought before a judge or into a court. Migrants in Israel can be detained indefinitely, which by definition classifies as arbitrary detention.

Details: Nairobi, Kenya: RMMS, 2015. 114p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 23, 2016 at: http://www.regionalmms.org/images/ResearchInitiatives/Behind_Bars_the_detention_of_migrants_in_and_from_the_East___Horn_of_Africa_2.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Immigrants

Shelf Number: 147786


Author: Satyal, Poshendra

Title: Assessing Civil Society Participation in REDD+ and FLEGT: Case Study Analysis of Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and the Republic of Congo

Summary: he report presents findings from an assessment study on the quality of participation of civil society actors in REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and FLEGT VPA (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade – Voluntary Partnership Agreement) processes in four countries in Africa: Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and the Republic of Congo. The study was part of an EU funded project, coordinated by Fern on "Tackling Deforestation through Linking FLEGT and REDD+" for which the quality of participation in REDD+ and FLEGT was outlined as an indicator to assess one of the project’s objectives (i.e. key REDD+ safeguards are respected in practice). The focus of the assessment study on civil society participation is at national policy making level in FLEGT and REDD+ processes. Building on key literature on participation and research on civil society participation in REDD+ and FLEGT, a questionnaire tool was developed and applied in practical case studies in the four countries. The analysis is drawn from the interviews based on the questionnaire tool; some in-depth interviews and secondary research in these countries.

Details: Norwich, UK: The School of International Development, 2017. 46p.

Source: Internet Resource: DEV Reports and Policy Papers: Accessed January 25, 2017 at: http://pfbc-cbfp.org/news_en/items/Report-FLEGT.html

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Deforestation

Shelf Number: 145572


Author: Beall, Jo

Title: PD4: mitigating conflict and violence in Africa's rapidly growing cities

Summary: Over the past 50 years, the urban population of sub-Saharan Africa has expanded at a historically unprecedented rate. Although there is little evidence that urbanisation increases the likelihood of conflict or violence in a country, Africa’s urban transition has occurred in a context of economic stagnation and poor governance, producing conditions conducive to social unrest and violence. In order to improve urban security in the years ahead the underlying risk factors must be addressed, including urban poverty, inequality and fragile political institutions. This, in turn, requires improving urban governance in the region, including strengthening the capacity of local government institutions, addressing the complex political dynamics that impede effective urban planning and management, and cultivating integrated development strategies that involve cooperation between various tiers and spheres of government and civil society.

Details: London: Government Office for Science, 2011. 19p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2017 at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/41855/1/pd4-mitigating-conflict-in-africas-cities.pdf%28lsero%29.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict Violence

Shelf Number: 146246


Author: Assanvo, William

Title: Assessing the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram

Summary: The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), established by the Lake Chad Basin countries to combat Boko Haram, still struggles to demonstrate its effectiveness. Observers also continue to question to what extent it is operational. Yet despite the numerous political, logistical, technical and financial challenges it has been facing, the MNJTF is gradually gaining ground.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2016. 16p.

Source: Internet Resource: Issue 10: Accessed February 17, 2017 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/war19.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 146970


Author: Korwin, Sebastian

Title: REDD+ and Corruption Risks for Africa's Forests: Case Studies from Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Summary: The link between corruption and deforestation and forest degradation has been almost universally recognised. Today, corruption continues to threaten new climate initiatives like Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). This report provides the summarised findings of corruption risk assessments (CRAs) in four African countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In each CRA, stakeholders, who include representatives from governments, academia, the judiciary, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), the media, international organisations and private sector, were selected to participate based on their experience in the forest sector.

Details: Berlin: Transparency International, 2016. 58p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 22, 2017 at: https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/redd_and_corruption_risks_for_africas_forests_case_studies_from_cameroon_gh

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 141178


Author: Lopez Guevara, Estefania

Title: Babies Trafficking Networks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria

Summary: This document is the Social Network Analysis applied to criminal structures involved in the market of child trafficking operating across various African countries. Besides presenting an explanation of the methodology applied for modeling the criminal network, the document includes a description of the operations carried out in the child trafficking market, and the main actors involved. It also presents the sources and cases that were modeled and analyzed, as well as the main characteristics of the specific criminal networks.

Details: Bogota, Colombia: Vortex Foundation, 2017. 29p.

Source: Internet Resource: http://media.wix.com/ugd/522e46_2b050e7ae37a4723a34f4535fcc79485.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Trafficking

Shelf Number: 141219


Author: Molenaar, Fransje

Title: Turning the Tide: The politics of irregular migration in the Sahel and Libya

Summary: This online report analyses the relationship between irregular migration and conflict and stability in Mali, Niger and Libya. Studying the human smuggling networks that operate within and across these three countries provides insights into the transnational dynamics of irregular migration as well as these networks' interaction with local, national and regional political and economic dynamics. The report's main finding is that current EU policies are misaligned with the reality of trans-Saharan migration as they do not take into account the diversity of intra-African migration. In addition, human smuggling networks form part of larger political economies and cannot be addressed effectively without taking into account the extent to which state authorities are involved in and/or capable of controlling irregular migration. Failure to take these local realities into account results in ineffcient and ineffective policies at best, and counter-productively strengthens one of the root causes of migration at worst, because it overlooks the intricate links that exist between migration and conflict and stability in the region. This report synthesises the findings of the following background studies: - Irregular migration and human smuggling networks in Mali - Irregular migration and human smuggling networks in Niger - Understanding human smuggling networks in Libya

Details: The Hague: The Clingendael Institute, 2017. 80p.

Source: Internet Resource: CRU Report: Accessed March 3, 2017 at: https://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/turning_the_tide.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Criminal Networks

Shelf Number: 141311


Author: Probert, Thomas, ed.

Title: Unlawful Killings in Africa: a study prepared for the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

Summary: This study presents the work of a Research Team convened by the Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR) at the University of Cambridge. This team was tasked with surveying events and reporting from the African continent germane to the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, a mandate focused upon violations of the right to life contrary to international law. This mandate, together with the framing of the right to life itself, establishes a category of violations that will here be referred to as "unlawful killings". While there are many organisations monitoring and reporting on killings both globally and with particular African focus, most do so with the objective frame of reference of violence. The purpose of this report is to narrow that focus to the (international) legal frame of unlawful killing. This is undertaken with a view to increasing attention to the right to life, but also as a means of assisting the Special Rapporteur in prioritisation over the coming years. Since the international human rights framework, of which this mandate is part, speaks primarily to states or state-like actors and not to private individuals—the category of unlawful killings does not include every act of killing, however illegal in domestic law. However this is not to say that the international legal definition of an unlawful killing cannot accommodate killings which are not perpetrated by a state actor. The state’s dual obligation both to respect and to protect the right to life places certain types of killing by non-state actors within the scope of the mandate and therefore of this study. Unlawful Killings in Africa draws attention to the fact that both the level of state control (both direct and indirect) over the act of killing and the scale of the incidence of the killing can be relevant to determining whether that loss of life can be regarded from within the international human rights system.

Details: Cambridge, UK: Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge, 2014. 268p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 3, 2017 at: http://www.cghr.polis.cam.ac.uk/research-themes/right_to_life/unlawful_killings_in_africa/unlawful_killings_report/pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arbitrary Executions

Shelf Number: 141320


Author: Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed

Title: Islamic State 2021: Possible Futures in North and West Africa

Summary: The Islamic State (referred to in this report as ISIL) has seen its prospects in North and West Africa grow increasingly dim since early 2015. ISIL has experienced significant losses in North Africa in the past year, especially in Libya, which was once ISIL's most valuable territory outside of Syria and Iraq, and was home to the group’s unofficial African capital. Meanwhile, the Nigerian militant group popularly known as Boko Haram, which is ISIL's West Africa Province (ISWAP), has experienced major internal schisms, as different factions vie for resources, compete for the attention of ISIL's senior leadership, and renew longstanding personal, ideological and strategic disputes. But despite these setbacks, ISIL continues to pose a threat to North and West Africa, and is capable of mounting high-profile terrorist attacks in the region and beyond. Additionally, continued political instability and conflict in countries like Mali and Libya could undermine counter-ISIL efforts, and provide the group an opportunity to rebuild its networks and mount a resurgence. Indeed, two recent occurrences – the reemergence of ISIL in northern Mali and the group's temporary takeover of the town of Qandala in Puntland (a region in northeastern Somalia) – illustrate ISIL's ability to exploit ungoverned spaces and fragile states. It is possible that ISIL's global decline could also paradoxically help the group in North and West Africa, as state and non-state actors shift resources from combatting ISIL to other seemingly more urgent issues, giving ISIL the breathing room it needs to regenerate. Several factors will have a fundamental impact on ISIL’s future trajectory in North and West Africa: 1. The future of ISIL’s Sirte network: In order to survive and rebuild in North and West Africa, ISIL will likely need to preserve at least some of the militant infrastructure it developed during its year-plus in control of the Libyan city of Sirte. The Sirte network has been a key bridge between ISIL's Syria-Iraq leadership and its African allies, and ISIL has relied heavily on the Sirte network to maintain its patronage of its provinces (as ISIL refers to its affiliates) in the region. While ISIL has lost its foothold in Sirte, the group may be able to preserve some of the jihadist apparatus that had ruled and administered the city. 2. ISWAP's organizational dynamics: ISWAP's internal schisms threaten to cripple the group and weaken, if not sever, its ties to ISIL. The loss of its Nigerian province would be a major blow to ISIL's expansion efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa, and would further tarnish the group’s brand. Conversely, if ISWAP remains in ISIL's orbit, ISWAP could provide ISIL with a vehicle through which to expand its presence into other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Senegal and Mali. 3. The resilience of ISIL in northern Mali: ISIL's recent resurgence in northern Mali gives the group a new foothold at a time when it is struggling elsewhere in the region, and across the globe. But ISIL's presence in Mali remains tenuous, as both regional and French security forces, as well as rival al-Qaeda militants, will likely target ISIL. 4. Political stability in North Africa: ISIL's prospects in North Africa hinge to a considerable extent on the future of the region's politics, especially in Libya. Ongoing tensions between rival political and armed factions in Libya continue to threaten to escalate into a high-intensity civil conflict, with destabilizing effects for the rest of the region. Spillover from Libya would test Tunisia's already fragile young democracy. Algeria’s political future is similarly uncertain, given the lack of a clear successor to the ailing president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Political turmoil could provide ISIL with the opening it needs to rebuild its flagging networks.

Details: Washington, DC: Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 2017. 48p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 4, 2017 at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/content/uploads/documents/022017_DGR_ISIL_Report.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremist Groups

Shelf Number: 141325


Author: Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat

Title: Abused and Abducted: The Plight of female migrants from the Horn of Africa in Yemen

Summary: In reviewing, compiling and analysing existing information on the migration of female migrants from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, the study provides insight into why women and girls from the Horn of Africa migrate; who they are and their experience during the journey and on arrival in Yemen. The study expounds on particular risks that they face and the existing protection gaps. In summary, the study aims to provide visibility to individuals who have, until now, been an invisible but particularly vulnerable group.

Details: Nairobi, Kenya: Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, 2014. 98p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: http://www.regionalmms.org/images/ResearchInitiatives/Abused___Abducted_RMMS.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Immigrants

Shelf Number: 134564


Author: Stiles, Daniel

Title: Ivory Trade, Terrorism and U.S. National Security: How Connected Are They?

Summary: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. This report examines the contention advanced by the United States government that poached ivory is being used to finance insurgency and terrorist groups in Africa. 2. The report also analyzes whether any organized groups that engage in elephant poaching and ivory trafficking in Africa pose a national security threat to the United States, which also has been posited by the government. 3. The U.S. government has used these contentions as a justification for imposing severe new restrictions on the import, export and sale of elephant ivory in the U.S. as declared in USFWS Director's Order No. 210. 4. The three groups that have specifically been named in U.S. documents as financing their activities with poached ivory, and which pose a national security threat, are AlShabaab, the Lord's Resistance Army and the Janjaweed. Each of these groups is examined in this report. 5. This report concludes that the only group under review that poses a national security threat to the U.S. is Al-Shabaab. The evidence that they engage in elephant poaching and finance their terrorist activities with ivory has been found lacking in credibility. 6. The Lord's Resistance Army has poached ivory and exchanged tusks for food and other goods, including possibly arms, at a low level. The LRA do not, however, pose a security threat to the U.S. 7. The Janjaweed have engaged in extensive elephant poaching and ivory trafficking, but they pose no current security threat to the U.S. The Janjaweed do not advocate an extremist Islamic philosophy such as that articulated by Al-Qaeda. Their hostile, scorched earth style military activities have been confined to non-Arab African populations of the Sudan and Central African Republic. 8. The severe new restrictions on trade in legal ivory already in the U.S., therefore, are based on a false premise. Restricting trade in legal ivory in the U.S. will have absolutely no effect on the financing of groups that pose a security threat to the U.S. 9. There is illegal ivory in the U.S. that has been smuggled in. The smuggling would no doubt continue even with further trade restrictions, as it is already illegal so new law will change nothing. The U.S. authorities have been ineffective in administering law already in existence, which is sufficient to control the illegal importation of new ivory from poached elephants if enforced properly. 10. The current elephant poaching crisis is caused by East Asian ivory dealers and carving factories buying poached ivory. Effective policy to reduce elephant poaching should therefore be directed at them, not at law-abiding American citizens.

Details: Unpublished report, 2014. 25p.

Source: Internet Resource: Confidential Draft: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: http://danstiles.org/publications/ivory/42.Ivory&National%20Security.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 146424


Author: Crosta, Andrea

Title: The White Gold of Jihad: Al-Shabaab and the Illegal Ivory Trade

Summary: Coordinated bomb attacks in Kampala, Uganda, on 11th July 2010, claimed the lives of 76 people as they watched the World Cup final and catapulted the terrorist group responsible, Somalia's al-Shabaab, onto the world stage. The threat presented by this militant Islamist group with close links to al-Qaeda dominated recent African Union talks in Uganda and has prompted moves to strengthen the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia. But while attention is focused on sending more troops into the war-torn country, little attention is being paid to the ways in which al-Shabaab - a hard line, well-organized and compartmentalized organization - is financing its activities. Over the last 18 months, we've been investigating the involvement of al-Shabaab in trafficking ivory through Kenya, a trade that could be supplying up to 40% of the funds needed to pay salaries to its fighters. Kenya is no stranger to the threat posed by Somalia to its herds of elephants and rhinos, whose numbers are still recovering from the poaching onslaught suffered in the 1970s and ‘80s. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is constantly on the alert for incursions of Somali gangs – or bandits as locals call them – into the country's north eastern territory to poach elephants and rhinos. In 2007, 3 rangers died at the hands of Somali bandits as they crossed the Tana River on their way to Tsavo National Park. The incursion was halted but the cost in human life was high. All too often, however, the bandits slip across the border undetected, in their quest for the white trophy that is ivory. One can try to recount the poacher’s steps as they make their way to Meru National Park, east of Mount Kenya. In the early hours of the morning, a small group of elephants led by their matriarch approach a waterhole, unaware that three bandits are hiding just a few meters away, their AK-47 automatic rifles ready for action. With tusks worth nearly 3500 KSh or nearly US$50 per kilo, the elephants offer a lucrative prize to these trained ex-soldiers of Somali origin, desperate to make a living. The elephants begin to bathe in the mud of the waterhole. They have an acute sense of smell so the bandits know they have to act swiftly before the elephants can react to the threat of danger. The leader signals to the others as they fix their sights on the matriarch and a large male standing hunched together – the three calves won’t fetch enough money for them to bother with. A burst of automatic fire drops the two elephants instantly to the ground. The matriarch is fatally wounded but still alive as the bandits hack out her tusks, watched helplessly by the young calves. Shocked and traumatised, they will have little chance of surviving alone. The bandits load their prize and head out to safety. The leader takes out his cell phone and writes a quick message, ‘brother we have some goods to deliver, around 40 kilos, contact our cousins and lets make the deal’. In a Nairobi restaurant, a cell phone jerks into life and a young well-dressed Somali checks the screen. He reads the message carefully and takes out a notepad. The notepad reveals a page full of numbers and quantities in kilos. He marks down the amounts and adds them all together in his head. Using a small Iridium Sat phone he dials a number with a Somali prefix. On the other end, a man sitting in an office in Kismayo, Somalia picks up the call – is office is heavily guarded by Shabaab militiamen – their signature black flag waving on a pole above their heads . He notes down the quantities and sets a date for the pick-up. Unfortunately, poaching incidents likes Meru and illegal trafficking in ivory are still rampant in Africa. With demand soaring and a market price in Asia of over US$1500 per kilo, for most poaching gangs it is a simple matter of money. Moreover, the desperate political and economic situation in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR), Somalia or Sudan perpetuates the poaching, which continues to be among the most lucrative criminal activities available. However, in common with other criminal activities involving exploitation of resources and environmental destruction, the poaching is backed and driven by foreign interests, in this case by the flourishing markets in Asia. Today, law enforcement agencies around the continent work together with INTERPOL and other international agencies, such as the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, to fight the illegal trade in wildlife and to implement rules agreed under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. It is well known that criminal syndicates are involved in the trade, using sophisticated smuggling methods, bribing port personnel and customs officials, and using their own entrepreneurial activities as a cover for their smuggling operations. For the last twenty years, Kenya has led the war against trade in ivory and rhino horn. Established in 1989, the KWS has been in the forefront not only of actively protecting Kenya’s wildlife and national parks, but also in investigating and arresting felons, and in international negotiations under CITES to try to maintain a ban on international trade in the face of strong opposition. Surrounded by porous borders, Kenya has long been a transit point for illegal ivory. In an attempt to crack down on this trade, KWS recently stepped up pressure at the country's ports and airports where ivory is smuggled out. As a result, dealers looking for fast money and an easier market have turned to a new player in the game – Al Shabaab.

Details: Los Angeles: Elephant Action League, 2016. 34p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 6, 2017 at: https://elephantleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Report-Ivory-al-Shabaab-Oct2016.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 146409


Author: International Crisis Group

Title: The Central African Crisis: From Predation to Stabilisation

Summary: he crisis that has plagued the Central African Republic (CAR) since December 2012, particularly predation by both authorities and armed groups, has led to the collapse of the state. Under the Seleka, bad governance inherited from former regimes worsened. Its leaders looted state resources and controlled the countrys illicit economic networks. Ending this cycle of predatory rule and moving peacefully to a state that functions and can protect its citizens requires CAR’s international partners to prioritise, alongside security, economic revival and the fight against corruption and illegal trafficking. Only a close partnership between the government, UN and other inter­national actors, with foreign advisers working alongside civil servants in key ministries, can address these challenges. Governance under the short Seleka rule (March-December 2013) was deceptive: the regime proclaimed its positive intentions while, like its predecessors, plundering public funds and abusing power for self-enrichment. Though Seleka fighters were involved in illicit activities even before, once in power the movement asserted control of lucrative trafficking networks (gold, diamond and ivory). Their systematic looting destroyed what was already a phantom state. Retaliation by anti-balaka fighters against Muslims – the majority of traders are Muslim – aggravated the economic collapse. The economy fell apart even before the state; yet the current international intervention spearheaded by the G5 (African Union, UN, European Union, the U.S. and France) focuses for the most part on security. Troops are being mobilised, but if a principal cause of the conflict – entrenched predation – is left unaddressed, the international community will repeat the failures of its past interventions. Protecting citizens is important; but so too is rekindling economic activity and improving financial public management to help build an effective public governance system delivering services for all CAR citizens, both Muslim and Christian. A new UN mission (MINUSCA) will be deployed in September 2014. In addition to its current mandate – protecting civilians, assisting a political transition, supporting humanitarian work and monitoring human rights – it must change the incentive structure for better governance. It should prioritise rebuilding the economy and public institutions and fighting trafficking. The region and relevant multilateral organisations should be involved too. Targeted sanctions against spoilers in and outside CAR should be embedded in a more comprehensive strategy to revive the economy. Some politicians with ties to armed groups or who are eyeing what are for the moment hypothetical presidential elections could resist a tight partnership between the state and international community. But the transitional government's demand for strong international support offers an opportunity to forge such a partnership and adopt the policies essential to both stabilise the country and promote a change of governance.

Details: Brussels: International crisis Group, 2014. 37p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Report No. 219: Accessed March 8, 2017 at: https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/the-central-african-crisis-from-predation-to-stabilisation.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Trade

Shelf Number: 141376


Author: Cooke, Jennifer G.

Title: Africa's Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking Crisis: The Need for Urgent Action

Summary: The illicit trade in wildlife products has undergone a dramatic escalation in the last decade, developing into a multibillion dollar global criminal enterprise that is increasingly militarized, sophisticated, and deadly. In Africa, poaching and trafficking in ivory and rhino horn have had a devastating impact on conservation efforts. Equally alarming is the growing danger trafficking networks pose for human security and development and the growing nexus of wildlife trafficking, armed militant groups, deepening insecurity, and government corruption. A CSIS Africa Program conference on the issue examined the drivers of the current crisis and highlighted ways that African governments and their partners are working to combat wildlife poaching and trafficking.

Details: Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), 2015. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 8, 2017 at: https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/151113_Cooke_AfricaWildlifePoaching_Web.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 141377


Author: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Title: Follow the Money: Financial Flows Linked to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining. A Tool for Intervention

Summary: This handbook is intended as a tool for due diligence and project planning by policy makers, development interventions, civil society, and downstream businesses operating in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector. The handbook will help actors to: increase their knowledge and understanding of financial flows, in particular illicit financial flows (IFFs) linked to the ASGM sector; build their capacity to analyse and effectively capitalise on opportunities; and mitigate and respond to challenges and obstacles IFFs pose to the formalisation of the ASGM sector and other development objectives.

Details: Geneva, SWIT: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2017. 96p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 10, 2017 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/illicit-financial-flows-linked-to-artisanal_06.03.17.compressed.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Financial Crimes

Shelf Number: 144438


Author: Alusala, Nelson

Title: Arms Brokering in Southern Africa: Selected case studies

Summary: This publication is a review of the national processes relating to arms brokering in 12 countries in the southern African region. In their analyses, the authors have looked at the national processes and practices in place in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The information contained here is a compilation of interviews with policymakers and implementation experts in those countries, as well as a review of existing policy documents. The time frame for this study was between 2008 and 2012. However, due to the complex nature of arms brokering and the challenges posed by regulating it, only limited changes to national policies have been noted in a few of the countries as at the time of the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in 2013. There is an expectation that with the ATT in place, the activities of arms brokering will be controlled more effectively once these countries sign and ratify this treaty. This publication highlights the situation of arms brokering in selected Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states. It further recommends that a similar review of countries in other regions of Africa be undertaken with the aim of establishing the situation in those countries. This would be even more important in establishing how the ATT has had an impact on national legislation of those countries as far as arms brokering is concerned.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2017. 134p.

Source: Internet Resource: ISS Monograph Number 195: Accessed March 17, 2017 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/mono195.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Illegal Trade

Shelf Number: 144485


Author: Stop Illegal Fishing

Title: Illegal Fishing? Evidence and Analysis

Summary: In late 2012, the FISH-i Africa Task Force started working to enable authorities to identify and act against large-scale illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the WIO. FISH-i is a partnership between the eight East African coastal countries of Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia and the United Republic of Tanzania supported by a Technical Team of experts. This alliance is showing that regional cooperation and information sharing, coupled with dedicated analysis and technical expertise can stop illegal catch getting to market, and prevent illegal operators pursuing their lucrative business unhindered. Through working together on over thirty investigations, FISH-i has shed light on the scale and complexity of illegal activities in the fisheries sector of the WIO and highlighted the challenges that coastal State enforcement officers face to act against the perpetrators. The illegal acts produce increased profit for those responsible, but for the WIO, they undermine the sustainability of the fisheries sector and reduce the nutritional, social and economic benefits resulting from the region’s blue economy. The benefits and results of the FISH-i Task Force are detailed in our 2016 report FISH-i Africa: Issues, Investigations, Impacts. Here you can see details of the initial investigations examined to identify how and where FISH-i was able to make a difference to investigations and enforcement actions. This publication, Illegal Fishing? Evidence and Analysis contains the evidence of what FISH-i has seen, uncovered and suspected over the past four years. Chapters 05 to 09 contain an analysis of why, where and how this is happening, and ends by asking 'what needs to change' to stop this happening in the future. Twenty investigations from the WIO are included as evidence, fifteen of these are FISH-i cases (Nos. 1 to 15) and five cases are not (Nos. 16 to 20). The FISH-i cases have all been investigated with the involvement of the FISH-i Task Force and Technical Team and involve actions taken by FISH-i coastal States. These cases are presented in more detail on www.FISH-i-africa.org/what-wedo/FISH-i-investigations. The last five cases are included to provide examples of illegality that has been suspected in the FISH-i investigations but not proven, they demonstrate the involvement of arms, drugs and wildlife smuggling, human trafficking and escalating violence in the fisheries sector.

Details: Gaborone, Botswana: Stop Illegal Fishing, 2017. 58p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 23, 2017 at: https://stopillegalfishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Illegal-Fishing-Evidence-and-Analysis-WEB.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fishing Industry

Shelf Number: 144544


Author: Frouws, Bram

Title: Smuggled South: An updated overview of mixed migration from the Horn of Africa to southern Africa with specific focus on protections risks, human smuggling and trafficking

Summary: Migrants from the Horn of Africa continue to travel along the southern route towards South Africa and almost all of them use smugglers to get to their final destination. This RMMS briefing paper provides an update on the volume, trends and dynamics of mixed migration and migrant smuggling along this route. It offers new estimates on the volume of migration and the value of the illicit migrant smuggling economy from Ethiopia and Somalia to southern Africa and highlights many of the protection issues migrants and refugees face while being smuggled south. The research draws upon data from the RMMS Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism initiative (4Mi), through which field monitors conducted 398 interviews in South Africa, as well as additional interviews in southern Africa and secondary research.

Details: Nairobi: Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, 2017. 29p.

Source: Internet Resource: RMMS Briefing Paper 3: Accessed March 23, 2017 at: http://regionalmms.org/images/briefing/Smuggled_South.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 144545


Author: Stop Illegal Fishing

Title: FISH-i Africa: Issues, Investigations and Impacts

Summary: It has been three and a half years since we launched FISH-i Africa and today we are proud to say: it is working. In the partnership, coordinated by Stop Illegal Fishing and supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, national fisheries enforcement agencies work together with international experts and regional organisations to effectively gather, analyse, share and strategically use information with the aim of taking action illegal fishing operators. We have not only generated enforcement actions but over time improved compliance in the Western Indian Ocean. Today, in 2016, operators know that they are being watched and that there is a risk of facing sanction for any wrongdoing. All of our FISH-i Africa countries feel the economic, social and environmental harm caused by illegal fishing, we share a common problem and are addressing it together; we know that fighting IUU fishing alone will never work. The key to FISH-i Africa's success has been access to timely and relevant information, effective information-sharing and perhaps more than anything else, cooperation. To create true cooperation mechanisms and tools, a clear common purpose, the will of engaged people to work together and confidence to make decisions are all needed. In FISH-i Africa we have got all that. This booklet describes the way FISH-i Africa works, some of the cases that have been concluded, our impacts and next steps. We have made a difference: we have identified illegal fishing, operators fishing without license or with forged licenses, vessels using false or multiple identities, and we have worked on serious cases of corruption. We have stood together, jointly denied licenses or port services to vessels engaged in IUU fishing activities and large fines have been paid. As we progressed, more and more of our cases and enforcement actions end with fines and penalties. There are some remarkable quantifiable results: for instance, formerly illegal operators now follow the rules, leading to increases in license revenues of some 40 per cent in some of the FISH-i Africa countries.

Details: Gabarone, Botswana: Stop Illegel Fishing, 2016. 48p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 23, 2017 at: https://stopillegalfishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FISH-i-Africa-Issues-Investigations-and-Impacts_report_WEB.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fishing Industry

Shelf Number: 144549


Author: Mahmood, Omar S.

Title: More than propaganda: A review of Boko Haram's public messages

Summary: Messaging has been an important aspect of the public outreach of the violent extremist organisation commonly known as Boko Haram. While significant attention has been given to what Boko Haram has done in terms of violent attacks, less has been devoted to what Boko Haram has said in terms of messaging content. By examining its record of public statements, important clues can be gleaned regarding the otherwise secretive group's operational processes and strategic outlook. Key Points Although not always consistent, Boko Haram has ensured its narrative is publicly disseminated, which is revealing for a group that is extremely secretive. Messaging creates awareness about the group and its activities, which can tie into recruitment. Messaging demonstrates a clear pattern of expanded target groups and geographic areas, while outlining group grievances. Boko Haram's intended audience has shifted over time, but core groups have likely been augmented by expanding dynamics, rather than supplanted. Further research on Boko Haram messaging and its resonance within the local population should be conducted. A better understanding of the potential linkages between messaging and recruitment into Boko Haram could result in more effective programming to reduce this influence.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2017. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: WEST AFRICA REPORT 20 : Accessed April 6, 2017 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/war20.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 144728


Author: Raineri, Luca

Title: Organised crime and fragile states: African variations

Summary: Exactly how transnational organised crime (TOC) poses a security threat that may undermine the state, including its societal institutions, geopolitical stability and economic prosperity, is a question that has gained traction in public debates over the past decades. And discussions about extra-legal governance - i.e. those political, economic and social arrangements that take shape beyond and against the law - are very much present in Africa, where states are often portrayed as defective. Such discussions are often articulated through dichotomies, such as fragility vs. resilience, good governance vs. ungoverned spaces, and legal vs. criminal activity. Frequently inspired by abstract templates and moral logics, these dichotomies sometimes rest on the use of loose concepts, and hardly convey the meaning given to them by those people who deal with them in their daily lives.

Details: Paris: European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), 2017. 4p.

Source: Internet Resource: Issue Brief: Accessed April 8, 2017 at: http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/Brief_8_Crime_in_Africa.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Violence

Shelf Number: 144756


Author: Mashicolo, Gladys Nomusa

Title: Understanding Streetism from the Street Children's Perspective: A Qualitative Study

Summary: Streetism is a worldwide phenomenon. A number of studies have been conducted on streetism and street children yet little is known about the views of street children on streetism. Studies that focused on streetism explored what adults said about streetism, and not what street children said. This is where I located my study. The aim of my study was to understand streetism from the street children's perspectives. This study was qualitative in nature and the draw-and-write technique was used to collect data. The draw-and-write technique involves the use of drawings accompanied by narratives that explain the drawing. The study involved 12 boys and 12 girls classified as children-on-the-street. Children-on-the-street typically "work" on the streets and return home in the evenings. I asked them to make drawings that depicted streetism and to write narratives in which they explained their drawings. After a thorough examination of the drawings and the narratives, the following themes were derived: street children were dealing with loss or the death of loved ones; they were experiencing lack of safety and security in their communities; they were experiencing violence and abuse in their families; they had future hopes, which help them cope with poverty; and they had religious faith. The literature that I studied mentioned some of the foregoing themes as risk factors to streetism, and some are referred to as resilience resources. To the participants, streetism entailed risk and a measure of well-being. Therefore, these findings contribute to theory and practice. The findings also suggest future research opportunities. Government, schools, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), communities, psychologists and social workers can use these findings to help children at risk.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: North-West University, 2016. 147p.

Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 17, 2017 at: https://repository.nwu.ac.za/handle/10394/20492

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: At-Risk Youth

Shelf Number: 145051


Author: Mutto, Milton

Title: The Youth of Africa: A Threat to Security or a Force for Peace?

Summary: In some countries the rapid growth of youth populations, combined with high levels of unemployment and rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, are seen by many observers to be correlated with violence. The likelihood of a violent onset is believed to be particularly acute in contexts where a large population of young people are coming of age in the face of unstable governments, insecurity and development challenges. In such circumstances youth are more likely to band together in search of solutions and in some cases resort to violent means. In countries at war this often translates into young people being more susceptible to recruitment into armed rebel groups, either by personal choice or are coercively forced to join. Even in countries that are not formally in conflict, many young people, in particular young men, are drawn into gang activity and predatory activity, partly in response to a sense of marginalization and social and economic exclusion. Although research on conflict and crime identifies the 'youth factor' as a crucial element in the generation or perpetuation of armed violence, it is important to recall that their participation reflects a broader societal crisis. Violence is a leading cause of death and injury in Africa, with small arms and light weapons posing a major threat to the lives of young people whether in situations of armed conflict, in countries emerging from war or in dense urban settings. Ultimately, the social and economic marginalization of youth aggravates their vulnerability, rendering them more susceptible to violent death. This paper examines the particular ways youth are affected by, and contribute to, armed violence. It reviews key risk factors that contribute to the phenomenon of youth violence, identifying examples of intervention programmes, and making suggestions for the way forward in addressing this very urgent and challenging problem.

Details: Geneva, SWIT: Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, 2007. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2017 at: http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/regional-publications/Youth-of-Africa-Threat-to-Security-or-Force-for-Peace.pdf

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: At-Risk Youth

Shelf Number: 145177


Author: Muntingh, Lukas

Title: The Socio-Economic Impact of Pre-Trial Detention in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia

Summary: In many countries people accused of crimes are held in detention before trial. The law permits this detention usually in order to guarantee the appearance of the accused at trial. This project seeks to confirm and quantify the socio-economic impact of such pre-trial detention on detainees, their families, and associated households, in the main urban centres of Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia. The project was informed by an understanding of how socio-economic rights intersect with fair trial rights. The nature of the obligations on states, as set out in instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), are such that states should 'respect', 'protect' and 'promote' these socio-economic rights. The duty to respect entails an obligation not to interfere with the resources of individuals; their freedom to find a job; nor their freedom to take necessary action; and to use their resources to satisfy needs. Fair trial rights require inter alia non-arbitrary arrests; that the decision to detain is undertaken by a judicial officer; and that trial or release occurs within a reasonable time. In short, persons awaiting trial should not as a general rule be detained in custody. Socioeconomic rights intersecting with fair trial rights, essentially means that criminal procedural laws and practices must be designed and implemented in such a way as to ensure that the impact of interference with socio-economic rights on all persons, is minimised. Thus detention of an accused should only occur when absolutely necessary and for the shortest possible duration. This project sought to understand and quantify how the decision to detain an accused person affects socio-economic rights, that is, the resources of individuals, including individuals other than those being detained. Empirical evidence was obtained from interviews with detainees and affected household members, identified through their visits to people detained, or traced from people who are detained. Additional information was obtained from registers in the relevant places of detention, and from prior pre-trial audits. The places of detention selected for the study provided insight into pre-trial detention trends and the impact on the greater urban areas of Nairobi, Maputo, and Lusaka. The project found that while there are significant commonalities observed between the three urban centres, there are also notable unique trends in socio-economic impact in each country. Common to all three sites was evidence to support the contention that the decision to detain an accused person before trial, almost invariably, interferes with the resources of individuals, including individuals other than those being detained. The impact is felt by families and other households associated with the detainee, and where the detainee is female, the impact on children in particular, can be severe. Impact is generally immediate, but may have enduring negative consequences from which a household struggles to recover..."

Details: Johannesburg: Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, 2016. 152p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 29, 2017 at: http://acjr.org.za/resource-centre/socio-economic-impact-web-lowres.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fair Trial

Shelf Number: 145206


Author: Wilke, David

Title: Rewards and Risks Associated with Community Engagement in Anti-Poaching and Anti-Trafficking

Summary: The roles citizens should play in preventing crime, enforcing laws, apprehending criminals, and promoting citize safety have long been debated and have changed over time. Community engagement can take a variety of form from intelligence gathering (e.g., reporting crime, providing information) to participation in crime prevention a law enforcement operations, to serving as witness during criminal trials. Community policing and intelligenceled policing (i.e., crime prevention and law enforcement guided by information provided by the public) are now almost universally adopted approaches to crime control in urban and rural settings in high-, middle-, and low-income nations (Bullock 2013). In the context of wildlife crime, the concept of community engagement ha increasingly been advocated as a way to curb trafficking by organized criminal gangs that use highly militarized poaching and trafficking to meet the demand for ivory, rhino horn, tiger bone, and other high-value wildlife products. When should local communities be primarily responsible for anti-poaching policing, and when should they be integrated into anti-poaching and anti-wildlife trafficking informant networks? When do the risks exceed the rewards? The answers to these questions vary according to a number of factors. This paper explores those factors and the roles that individuals and communities do and should play in countering wildlife crime; possible motivations for individuals and communities to engage in anti-poaching and anti-trafficking efforts; what benefit they might gain; and what risks they might be exposed to. This analysis was prepared at the request of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment Office of Forestry and Biodiversity (E3/FAB), whic provides technical guidance and support to USAID Missions as they program biodiversity funding. This analysis seeks to help USAID staff and other conservation and development practitioners consider the best available evidence from the peer-reviewed literature and from the experiences USAID and its implementing partners have had in developing effective approaches to engage communities in anti-poaching programs. The findings show that the factors that determine the most appropriate role for and expectations of communities are: a) th value of the wildlife products that are being taken and trafficked; b) the effectiveness and accountability of stat law enforcement; c) the clarity and recognition of a communitys rights; d) the sense of community ownership of the wildlife that flows from these rights; and e) the degree of community cohesion. This analysis suggests that the factors that motivate or de-motivate local communities to engage in anti poaching and anti-trafficking efforts are: Ownership: Communities have a strong incentive to detect and inform on poachers when they have rights of ownership and directly benefit from conservation and sustainable use. This is particularly true when the benefits accrued through sustainable wildlife management meet or exceed those that could be attained by poaching or trafficking. Benefits do not always have to be monetary. Other types of benefit include improved food security, increased sense of physical security, and reinforcement of cultural identity through devolution of ownership and management authority. Trust in law enforcement and the legal system: Communities typically are unmotivated to assist the police, other arresting authorities, and the legal system in crime prevention and law enforcement if they perceive their authority to be illegitimate and their actions to be corrupt, unaccountable, or unfair. Citizens are more likely to be active in crime prevention efforts if they can act anonymously and have their identity protected in order to reduce the risks of retaliation. Furthermore, if police and the judiciary fail to prosecute and punish crimes effectively, communities are less likely to work with the arresting authority when they feel that there will be no real follow up, or the release of suspected criminals will increase the risk of reprisals. Community cohesion: A community's ability to mobilize and organize to prevent crime and enforce the law depends on its level of social cohesion. Residents who have a strong sense of community, such as the perception that "this is my neighborhood and it is important to me," are more likely to want to defend it from criminals from both inside and outside the community. Conversely, social disorganization prevents communities from coming together to promote citizen safety because such efforts typically requires collective action, which is difficult to attain when neighbors do not trust one another. Communities that are able to come together and work collaboratively with the police can co-produce public safety, which is the most effective way to reduce or prevent crime of all types (Hawdon and Ryan 2011, Cordner 2014). Additionally, this analysis strongly suggests that community engagement should be limited so as to minimize potential risks to community members. Minimizing risks to communities: Community members incur higher risks from engagement in anti-poaching and anti-trafficking efforts when poachers are from outside the community, when poaching is conducted by organized criminal gangs and involves high-value wildlife products, and when the arresting authority is unable or unwilling to respond rapidly to providing community assistance. Ideally, community members serve as scouts, informants, and guides, and not as law enforcers. In those situations where a case can be made for extending their role to confronting and detaining poachers until formal arrest, communities should receive adequate training and preparation to reduce the associated social and physical risks.

Details: Washington, DC: USAID, 2016. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 5, 2017 at: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00M3R4.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 145320


Author: Schultze-Kraft, Markus

Title: Toward Effective Violence Mitigation: Transforming Political Settlements

Summary: Recognising the centrality of violence in the development process (though not subscribing to the notion that conflict and violence are development in reverse), in 2012-14 a group of researchers at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) engaged in depth with the complex and thorny questions of how 'new' forms of violence in the developing world - as opposed to 'traditional' civil or intra-state war - should be understood; and through which policies they could best be prevented and/or mitigated. The result of this endeavour is a series of evidence-based reports that were produced in collaboration with Southern partners in a sample of four violence-affected countries in Africa: Nigeria (Niger Delta), Sierra Leone, Egypt and Kenya (Marsabit County). The evidence from the four case studies suggests that - contrary to the early post-Cold War accounts of 'barbarism' and 'senseless bloodshed' - the violence we observe in many countries and locales today is about something. Yet, the analyses also show that the triggers, manifestations and effects of this violence - characterised as diffuse, recursive and globalised - cannot be captured by using the analytical tools developed to explain armed conflict within states. Strictly speaking, it would be misguided to label the violence in the Niger Delta, Marsabit County, Egypt and Sierra Leone as 'civil war', 'internal armed conflict' or 'new war'. Instead, it is more accurate to speak of highly heterogeneous situations of violence or 'fields of social violence'. At the same time, it is crucial not to dissociate these situations of violence from political processes by, for instance, reducing them to manifestations of criminality, such as homicide and illicit drug trafficking, or reflections of social problems like rampant youth unemployment, the use of prohibited psychoactive substances, and gang culture.

Details: Brighton, UK: Institute Of Development Studies, 2014, 35p.

Source: Internet Resource: IDS Evidence Report 101: Accessed May 6, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/5367/ER101TowardEffectiveViolenceMitigationTransformingPoliticalSettlements.pdf;jsessionid=BE35B3DE96D5A63C6C020B53BA376257?sequence=1

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict-Related Violence

Shelf Number: 145345


Author: Smith, J.J.P.

Title: The plundering of the Sahara: Corporate criminal and civil liability for the taking of natural resource from Western Sahara

Summary: Western Sahara, the last European colony in Africa that is to undergo self-determination, has abundant natural resources. Among them is a rich Atlantic Ocean fishery, substantial phosphate deposits and promising petroleum reserves. They continue to be developed by Morocco more than 35 years after that country's armed annexation of the territory. The insistence of the Saharawi people that they do not consent to or benefit from resource extraction in the occupied part of their territory underscores state liability under international humanitarian and reparations law, while engaging the civil and criminal liability of individual Moroccans responsible. The parallel liabilities of corporate actors involved in the taking of natural resources from Western Sahara are considered. The nature and value of the taking by foreign corporations is surveyed, together with the forms of liability particular to individual corporate actors. A detailed consideration is made of the triggering and application of international criminal law to corporate actors directly and indirectly engaged in taking of resources from the territory. The availability of international and domestic fora, remedies and the standing of representatives of the Saharawi people are assessed.

Details: Unpublished paper, 2011. 41p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 9, 2017 at: http://arso.org/PlunderingoftheaharaSmith.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Natural Resources

Shelf Number: 131174


Author: Rohwerder, Brigitte

Title: Piracy in the Horn of Africa, West Africa and the Strait of Malacca

Summary: Modern piracy became a significant threat in the late 1990s and early years after the Millennium in Southeast Asia and, particularly, in the Malacca Strait, with piracy hotspots also developing off the coasts of West and East Africa in the 2000s and 2010s. Piracy in West Africa has tended to be focused in the Gulf of Guinea. Levels of piracy in these regions have fluctuated over this period, with the hotspot for piracy in 2015 in Southeast Asia, especially around the Malacca or Singapore Straits. Piracy varies by region in terms of frequency, violence, tactics, level of organisation, distance from the shore, time of day and the ship's position. Nigerian pirates in the Gulf of Guinea have tended to focus on oil tankers, Somali pirates have tended to prefer collecting ransom through kidnapping, and pirates in Southeast Asia have tended to focus on opportunistic theft when ships are at anchor or berth. However, syphoning oil cargo from product tankers - similar to incidents in the Gulf of Guinea - has been reported in the Malacca Strait; and kidnappings for ransom have occurred in the Gulf of Guinea. In July 20162 a new report from the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported that piracy and armed robbery at sea had fallen to its lowest levels since 1995, despite a surge in kidnappings off West Africa. This drop is attributed to 'recent improvements around Indonesia, and the continued deterrence of Somali pirates off East Africa'. However, kidnappings have risen, with 44 crew captured for ransom in 2016 - 24 of them in Nigeria - up from 10 in the first half of 2015. The Gulf of Guinea is reported to be the most dangerous region for seafarers in 2015, with 23 people killed in pirate attacks. A combination of factors in each of the regions at different times have served to encourage, as well as discourage, piracy. The factors which encourage or discourage piracy may differ for subsistence pirates (consisting largely of gangs made up of part-timers who are often poor and seeking an alternative source of income) and professional pirates.

Details: Birmingham, UK: GSDRC, University of Birmingham, 2016. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 13, 2017 at: http://www.gsdrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/piracy_rohwerder.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Robbery

Shelf Number: 145161


Author: Del Col, Stefano G.

Title: Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. Cui Prodest? A Common Fight Against a Profitable Business

Summary: UN Secretary general Ban Ki Moon warned in November 2012 that despite the sharp decline in piracy attacks, progress was fragile and "easily reversed if we do not address the causes of piracy". The efforts of the international community to combat piracy by patrolling the waters off the Horn of Africa and prosecuting pirates have reduced piracy to some degree. However, piracy persists due to its extremely high returns. Because Somalia has been a failed state for decades without functioning institutions, it is easy for pirate money to be transferred and laundered. Somali pirates have managed to establish a unique business model: vessels of all kinds are being hijacked with their crews on board for the sole purpose of gaining ransom, which is estimated to have resulted in over $290 million being paid to Somali pirates between 2007 and 2012. The conditions in Somalia permit undetected money flow in the investments of the financiers and the reinvestment of ransom money to purchase weapons and other gear for future piracy missions. The economic factor has existed through the centuries and will remain the common denominator for Piracy. The initial inputs are minuscule when compared with the financial returns. Thus, identifying the pirate lords and other financiers who sponsor piracy is vital to deterring piracy. The paper goes on to examine the phenomenon of Piracy as a whole; to identify meanings and establish why it is a very profitable business for pirates but also for insurers and bankers, contributing greatly to the instability of the Country and the region. The research also covers the link between ransoms and investments. Increasingly high ransoms nourish piracy and profit coming from the investment of proceeds creates income for local communities, communities living abroad, negotiators, investors and supporters. The paper concludes that curbing financial resources to pirates will help to rapidly extinguish the vital core of the business and a solution will be proposed to minimize the problem.

Details: London: Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, 2013. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Safford House Paper: Accessed May 13, 2017 at: http://www.da.mod.uk/Publications/category/89/piracy-off-the-coast-of-somalia-cui-prodest-a-common-fight-against-a-profitable-business-3615

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 131357


Author: Swedberg, Jeffrey

Title: Mid-Term Evaluation of USAID's Counter-Extremism Programming in Africa

Summary: Based on a review of quantitative and qualitative information and data from the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP), it can be concluded that USAID-s Niger, Chad and Mali programs have had some positive impact - most strikingly on lower-level programmatic goals such as civic engagement and listenership for USAID-sponsored radio. Results on higher-level goals, measured through surveys on attitudes towards extremism, were also positive in the aggregate but less dramatic. Despite this empirical evidence of program impact, implementation of the TSTCP has coincided with a worsening of the terrorist threat in parts of the Sahel, indicating a continued need for counter-extremism programming. Background - In 2010, USAID's Bureau for Africa commissioned AMEX International and its subcontractor, the QED Group LLC, to conduct a mid-term evaluation of USAID's counterextremism-programming in Africa, focusing on the TSCTP. The evaluation team was composed of Team Leader Jeffrey Swedberg (QED Group LLC) and Peace and Security Specialist Steven A. Smith (AMEX consultant). The Sahel has been a concern to USG policy makers for several years as a possible staging area for violent extremists. These fears are becoming more pronounced as Mauritania, Niger and Mali have all experienced a worrisome uptick in kidnappings and killings of foreigners, while Chad continues to be plagued by chronic instability. To counter extremist forces in the Sahel, USAID has worked for the past five years in concert with the Departments of Defense and State on the TSCTP. The USG's interagency strategy is aimed at defeating terrorist organizations and their ability to gain recruits by (a) strengthening regional counter-terrorism capabilities; (b) enhancing and institutionalizing cooperation among the region's security forces; (c) promoting good governance; (d) discrediting terrorist ideology; and (e) reinforcing bilateral military ties. USAID implements the non-military portions of this partnership in cooperation with State and Defense. USAID's current TSCTP activities include: a regional multi-sector Peace for Development (PDEV) program in Niger and Chad (and in Mauritania until activities were suspended), implemented by the Academy for Educational Development (AED); and community development activities in Mali, implemented by multiple partners. For USAID, the program seeks to provide tangible benefits to populations, particularly youth, at risk for recruitment by violent extremist (VE) organizations and communities in at-risk regions through youth employment and outreach programs, vocational skills training, and community development and media activities. The program also gathers beneficiaries from different communities, ethnic groups, and countries together through outreach events on topics related to religion and tolerance. Methodology - The evaluators developed qualitative information (focus groups and key informant interviews) and quantitative data (surveys), and conducted an in-depth review of literature and past reports. Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, this impact evaluation analyzed survey data to determine if treatment populations in Niger, Chad and Mali, where TSCTP programming was present, had more favorable responses to the survey questionnaire than comparison populations in areas where less TSCTP programming had been present. In all, the evaluators analyzed the results of 1,064 surveys administered in five treatment and four comparison clusters across three countries. The evaluators used the same survey mechanism in both Niger and Chad, and a slightly different version in Mali. The questions for the surveys were chosen from previous questionnaires that had been administered in these countries before, allowing for comparison with baseline data. These - source surveys included the 2009 PDEV Baseline Survey for Niger and Chad; the Afrobarometer for Mali; and the Public Attitudes in the Sahel 2007-2008 survey commissioned by AFRICOM for all three countries. The survey questions were designed so that the most favorable answer to each question would be coded as a -- with the least favorable answer coded as a .... This system allows comparability of analysis of questions or groupings of questions, which are averaged to produce a score on the 1-5 Likert Scale . In order to measure these results, the evaluation team surveyed households identified as ―treatment‖ clusters, and -comparison clusters.‖ The survey was administered by trained enumerators in the local language of the community. Survey Results - While results from this quasi-experimental survey design cannot be considered definitive proof of impact, the findings are consistent with existing literature on the TSTCP. According to the surveys, the program appears to be having modest yet significant impact across all three countries. The graphic on the following page (Figure 1) highlights the differences on the survey questions shared in all three countries covered by this evaluation - The differences between treatment and comparison areas, when shown on a one to five scale, are modest - an average of 5.67% in aggregate in favor of the treatment clusters. However, the impact appears mostly consistent across countries. The biggest impact for all three countries came on the survey question regarding whether respondents listen to TSCTP-sponsored peace and tolerance radio. Since residents of all treatment and comparison clusters were in broadcast range of these radio signals, data indicates that complementary TSCTP programming, such as governance, youth, micro-enterprise, religious outreach and education, significantly boosts listener-ship. Scores on whether respondents -participate in decision-making - , a governance indicator, indicate significant results for Mali, where there has been a long-standing governance program, as well as for Chad where governance and civil society has been a focus of PDEV and its predecessor program. The level of - satisfaction with services, -- a key socio-economic indicator, shows marginal but positive results across the countries. The aggregated AFRICOM cultural questions - measuring respondents' views on the degree to which they were against Al Qaeda; against violence in the name of Islam; their opinion of the United States; whether they approved of working with West to combat terrorism; and felt that the U.S. was fighting terrorism not Islam - measure progress on the hardest goals to achieve, and are arguably the most important indicators for demonstrating TSCTP's long-term impact. Predictably, the differences between treatment and comparison areas are the smallest on the cultural/attitudinal questions. However, the relatively better results for Chad and Niger over Mali may indicate the value of having a holistic TSTCP program, in which programs directed at the various drivers of VE are more intensively coordinated but less integrated with other USAID programming.

Details: Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development, 2011. 110p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 13, 2017 at: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pdacr583.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Extremism

Shelf Number: 145465


Author: Buchanan-Clarke, Stephan

Title: Violent extremism in Africa: Public opinion from the Sahel, Lake Chad, and the Horn

Summary: Over the past two decades, the threat posed by violent extremist groups that espouse fundamentalist religious narratives has grown substantially across Africa (Hallowanger, 2014). The colonial era and the undemocratic rule that characterized many post-independence governments generated anti-Western and jihadist movements across the Middle East and the wider Islamic world (Moore, 2016). These movements advocate conservative religious rule as a cure for modern societies' social ills. By the 1990s, these ideologies had begun to spread to Africa, where porous borders, poor security apparatuses, weak governance, corruption, ethnic divisions, and high youth unemployment created conditions under which violent extremist groups thrived (Institute for Economics & Peace, 2014). In Nigeria and Somalia, for example, violent extremist organisations began as ethnically homogenous movements with purely domestic concerns - the overthrow of their respective governments. Over time they have evolved toward more ambitious political goals and established an active presence in neighbouring states. These groups generally favour border regions due to lower levels of government presence and security, which facilitate illicit networks and vulnerable border communities. Such a situation challenges not only the internal stability of many countries, but also the stability of the broader region. Moreover, links between national and international jihadist groups have increased over the past decade. In 2012, al Shabaab declared allegiance to al Qaeda, but there has been recent infighting over whether to shift this allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In early 2015, the Nigerian group Boko Haram publicly declared allegiance to ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Guardian, 2015). These international networks not only help these groups with material and operational support, but also build their credibility within the broader jihadist movement, thereby facilitating international recruitment (CNN, 2015). Security-led approaches have largely failed to contain the geographic footprint of violent extremists in sub-Saharan Africa. This has prompted the emergence of more development-oriented approaches, such as countering violent extremism (CVE) and preventing violent extremism (PVE) initiatives, which seek to address root political and socioeconomic causes of extremism (Zeiger & Aly, 2015). In the past two years, both the United States and the European Union have officially outlined their approaches to CVE. 1 Several initiatives have also emerged on the African continent, including Nigeria's Soft Approach to Countering Terrorism (NACTEST). These development-oriented approaches place emphasis on the environments in which violent extremism thrives. Public opinion research offers insight into violent extremism's impact on ordinary citizens by presenting their perceptions, attitudes, and policy preferences. It also allows researchers to identify areas and populations in which possible drivers of extremism, such as low levels of social cohesion or high levels of distrust toward the state, are present. Afrobarometer's Round 6 surveys in 2014/2015 asked security-related questions in several countries that have experienced growth in violent extremism in recent years. This paper provides exploratory analysis of new opinion data from three of sub-Saharan Africa's regional "hotspots" of extremist activity, which are home to some of the continent's most prolific groups: 1. Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region (Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria) 2. Ansar Dine, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and al Mourabitoun (among others) in the Sahel region (Mali). 3. Al Shabaab in the Horn of Africa (Kenya and Uganda). Afrobarometer survey data suggest that security-related issues are a top priority for citizens of countries that have experienced high levels of extremist activity. Public trust in security forces varies widely by country; trust is generally lower in the police than in the army. Public approval of government counter-extremist efforts ranged from about four in 10 in Nigeria and Kenya to three-fourths or more in Mali, Cameroon, Niger, and Uganda. Support for strengthening military responses and capabilities was high in all countries in which the question was asked. Among citizens' perceptions of what motivates people to join extremist groups, personal gain was a far more common response than religious beliefs. While the exploratory analysis presented here must be considered in light of changes in government and of evolving extremist and counter-extremist strategies, it suggests the value of tracking and expanding insights into citizens' perceptions and attitudes related to violent extremism.

Details: Afrobarometer, 2016. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 13, 2017 at: http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Policy%20papers/r6-afropaperno32-violent-extremism-in-ss-africa-en.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Extremism

Shelf Number: 145467


Author: Swedberg, Jeffrey

Title: Mid-Term Evaluation of Three Countering Violent Extremism Projects

Summary: Beneficiaries of USAID's Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) projects in East Africa have a demonstrated advantage over comparison groups on a host of variables known to be drivers of violent extremism. In a survey of almost 1,500 ethnic Somali youths in Somalia and Kenya administered in November and December 2012, full beneficiaries of three USAID CVE projects were compared to similar numbers of partial beneficiaries (mostly program drop outs or less involved participants) and a comparison group of non-beneficiaries. This quantitative data forms the core of the evaluation. In Kenya, the programs evaluated included the Kenya Transition Initiative - Eastleigh (KTI-E), administered in the Somali enclave of Nairobi of Eastleigh; and the Garissa Youth project (GYouth), administered in the predominantly Somali city of Garissa in Kenya's North Eastern Province. In Somalia, the evaluation focused on the Somali Youth Livelihoods Program (SYLP), with data collected in Hargeisa, Bosaso and Mogadishu. Survey questions were grouped into thematic areas representing factors that push or pull individuals into violent extremism as identified by USAID. The five survey thematic areas, referred to in short form as engagement, efficacy, youth associations, identity and violence, are the primary organizing principles behind the data analyzed in this evaluation. The development hypothesis of the CVE programs is that a decreased risk of extremism will result when the enabling environment for extremism is reduced, as measured by these thematic areas (or core indicators). While the three programs evaluated here have different emphases and are at different phases of implementation, it can be stated that USAID CVE programs are showing results in those areas, namely engagement, and to a lesser degree efficacy, support for youth associations and identity, where evidence shows there is the greatest need. The results were not noticeable with regard to violence in the name of Islam, a thematic area in which the need, at least as measured in this survey, is not as great.

Details: Washington, DC: USAID, 2013. 136p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 25, 2017 at: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pdacx479.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Extremism

Shelf Number: 145792


Author: Collodi, Jason

Title: External stresses in West Africa: Cross-border Violence and Cocaine Trafficking

Summary: The 2011 World Development Report on conflict, security and development highlights the centrality of 'external stresses' for generating insecurity and increasing the risk of violence in fragile areas. West African states are particularly vulnerable, with serious concerns around cross-border violence and illicit drug-trafficking. Policy responses need to: tackle the region's recent legacy of conflict and violent upheaval; address weak governance and entrenched corruption; improve regional cooperation; and support border and outlying communities that have been marginalised by insecurity, poverty and unemployment.

Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2014. 4p.

Source: Internet Resource: IDS Policy Briefing 60: Accessed June 7, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3858/External%20Stresses%20in%20West%20Africa%20cross-border%20violence%20and%20cocaine%20trafficking.pdf;jsessionid=706100FE21470352417E0571F8249D73?sequence=1

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cocaine

Shelf Number: 145950


Author: Aldrich, Daniel P.

Title: First Steps Towards Hearts and Minds? USAID's Countering Violent Extremism Policies in Africa

Summary: The United States government has adopted new approaches to counter violent extremist organizations around the world. "Soft security" and development programs include focused educational training for groups vulnerable to terrorist recruitment, norm messaging through local radio programming, and job creation in rural communities. This article evaluates the effectiveness of one set of these multi-vectored, community-level programs through analysis of data from 200 respondents in two similar, neighboring cities in northern Mali, Africa. The data show that residents in Timbuktu who were exposed to the programming for up to five years displayed measurably altered civic behavior and listening patterns in comparison with their counterparts in the control city of Dire which had no programming (controlling for potential covariates including age, ethnicity, and political and socioeconomic conditions). However, there was little measurable difference between the groups in terms of their cultural identities and attitudes towards the West. This article suggests that the process of "winning hearts and minds" can be effective at certain levels but may require extended time and dedicated resources to have higher-level results.

Details: West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University, 2012. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=gpridocs

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Terrorism

Shelf Number: 146097


Author: Chuhan-Pole, Punam

Title: Mining in Africa: Are Local Communities Better Off?

Summary: This study focuses on the local and regional impact of large-scale gold mining in Africa in the context of a mineral boom in the region since 2000. It contributes to filling a gap in the literature on the welfare effects of mineral resources, which, until now, has concentrated more on the national or macroeconomic impacts. Economists have long been intrigued by the paradox that a rich endowment of natural resources may retard economic performance, particularly in the case of mineral-exporting developing countries. Studies of this phenomenon, known as the "resource curse," examine the economy-wide consequences of mineral exports. Africa's resource boom has lifted growth, but has been less successful in improving people's welfare. Yet much of the focus in academic and policy circles has been on appropriate management of the macro-fiscal and governance risks that have historically undermined development outcomes. This study focuses instead on the fortune of local communities where resources are located. It aims to better inform public policy and corporate behavior on the welfare of communities in Africa in which the extraction of resources takes place.

Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017. 215p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 16, 2017 at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/26110/9781464808197.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Mineral Resources

Shelf Number: 146219


Author: Standing, Andre

Title: Criminality in Africa's Fishing Industry: A Threat to Human Security

Summary: - The illegal exploitation of African fisheries by foreign fishing companies deprives African governments of a highly valuable source of revenue and contributes to Africa being the only region in the world where rates of fish consumption are declining. - African countries must substantially upgrade their capacity to monitor and prosecute illegal fishing in African waters. - Weak accountability of the African fisheries sector enables the ongoing and unsustainable exploitation of this resource. Collusive relationships with foreign fishing companies often serve the financial interests of government officials responsible for overseeing the fisheries sector. - Leading fishing nations must step up regulation of unethical practices by their fishing vessels in order to support fair trading practices and avoid the imminent collapse of African fish stocks.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2017. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief, No. 33: Accessed June 17, 2017 at: http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ASB33EN-Criminality-in-Africas-Fishing-Industry-A-Threat-to-Human-Security.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fishing Industry

Shelf Number: 146221


Author: Shaw, Mark

Title: Global Illicit Flows and Local Conflict Dynamics: The Case for Pre-Emptive Analysis and Experimental Policy Options

Summary: INTRODUCTION This paper seeks to address three interconnected policy questions: - First how do global illicit flows impact on local conflict dynamics? Are there specific conceptual features that can be identified that may assist us to analyse this phenomenon across cases? - By understanding these, second, what can be done to limit the negative impact of organised crime on violent conflict? Are new ideas required or is it only a question of recalibrating existing policy alternatives? - Third, what are the implications for international involvement in conflict affected states? Given the potential complexities of engaging in conflict spaces on what are often hidden or little understood criminal resource flows, are these even viable objectives for policy intervention, for either development or security actors? The paper draws at the outset on two contrasting case studies - that of conflict in Libya and Nigeria in the recent past - both of which have shaped our work and thinking on the topic. Libya and Nigeria have some interesting parallels and some important differences. In both cases the oil economy is an important resource and driver of some aspects of the conflict. However, in Libya's case transnational or cross-border flows and their control have played a more important role then in Nigeria. In the case of the latter, the Boko Haram insurgency shows little evidence of resourcing from wider criminal flows; the movement has largely survived on extortion or protection money of local trade to raise funds. In Libya, payments from proxies and the state (in the form of legal transfers) have sustained the conflict. In Libya the central state has little reach. In Nigeria, the central state is comparatively stronger, but suffers from a debilitating level of corruption, providing opportunities for collusion between state and non-state actors which sustain conflict. Thus, with respect to the conflict in the Niger Delta, there is strong complicity between state, business and criminal actors. While the paper's focus is largely on Africa, given that much of the discussion on the political economy of conflict has had a link to conflicts on the continent, it also seeks to build on our wider experience of working in and researching conflict zones elsewhere and engaging with the range of stakeholders involved. The discussion begins with a short overview of the history of the debate on the linkages between organised crime and conflict with an African focus. This schematic serves as an introduction to a series of analytical issues that we have drawn from both the Libyan and Nigerian case studies as well as our own analytical work conducted on organised crime and illicit networks in several other conflict zones. While we do not claim these to be a definitive list, we hope that they serve to promote debate about the state of the evolving discussion and the linkages between global flows and local conflicts. Referring to the connection between criminal flows and conflicts is not necessarily new. However, the scale of the challenge has changed as has the analytical discourse that is increasingly being adopted. The current debate in our views reflects a merging between an older literature on "greed or grievance" as a cause of conflict, and a newer (and less developed) one that has sought to identify organised crime as one 'driver' of conflict. Driver in this context has four overlapping dimensions: 1. Conflict over the control of illicit markets; 2. Illicit markets providing resources for continuing conflicts; 3. Illicit revenue streams associated with conflict (and the disruption that it brings) postponing peace by ensuring that incentives from the criminal economy are seen as more advantageous than from peace; and, 4. External resourcing of conflict actors and/or wide spread corruption associated with illicit markets which is a "bleeding sore" that erodes the state, preventing a decisive end to conflict (and through collusion in illicit markets provides incentives for state actors to gain from its continuance). As these points suggest, and as we will argue as the paper unfolds, there are important overlaps between the older work on "greed and grievance" and the emerging focus. What is lacking is a better way of conceptually framing the connections to allow a more sophisticated policy discussion. We conclude that policy in this area is better informed by identifying a set of principles around which to frame responses rather than a set of 'actions' that are unlikely to be replicable across conflicts.

Details: Tokyo: University Nations University, 2017. 14p.

Source: Internet Resource: Crime-Conflict Nexus Series: No 2: Accessed June 20, 2017 at: https://i.unu.edu/media/cpr.unu.edu/attachment/2518/Global-Illicit-Flows-and-Local-Conflict-Dynamics.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Crime-Conflict Nexus

Shelf Number: 146316


Author: Courson, Elias

Title: Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND): Political Marginalization, Repression and Petro-Insurgency in the Niger Delta

Summary: This Discussion Paper explores the emergence of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in the context of a full-blown insurgency linked to local resistance and violence in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta. By focusing on MEND, an armed group that has been largely responsible for the escalation of the struggle by the ethnic minorities of the Niger Delta into an armed phase since late 2005, the author draws attention to the roots, causes and complex dynamics underpinning the violent conflict and insecurity in the region. This study is both timely and important as it focuses on a festering local conflict that is of great significance to political stability in Nigeria's multi-ethnic federation, as well as to global energy security considering the high stakes involved as the region hosts Africa's most productive oil fields. The importance of this study lies in the ways it interrogates some of the existing perspectives to armed conflict in resource-rich contexts by providing a systematic analysis of the roots and drivers of violence in the Niger Delta. By examining the complex connections between the political economy of oil and the ways it has fed into the politics of dispossession, the history of ethnic minority agitation, resource control, and the vicious cycle of repression and insurgency, the author provides a good case study of the oil-conflict nexus in Nigeria. It also introduces some interesting perspectives to the linkages at the local-national-global levels in the conflict in the region. Although active in the Niger Delta the impact of MEND's attacks has been felt both nationally and globally. Attacks by MEND and other armed groups have led to the loss of a quarter of Nigeria's daily oil exports since 2006. This has adversely affected the revenue base of the Nigerian government, the profit margins of international oil companies operating in the region, and disrupted global oil supplies, contributing to rising prices in the volatile oil markets. Located in West Africa's oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, the Niger Delta is strategic to the energy security calculations of the world's established and emerging powers: the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and India. For this reason, the crisis in the Niger Delta has attracted a lot of international attention and concern underscoring both the high stakes involved and the importance of ending the conflict and building sustainable peace in the region. MEND's propaganda machinery has also been active at the national and global levels in seeking attention for its local course. By focusing on MEND, this study casts more light on its origins, methods, strategies and objectives. It also nuances some of the more complex aspects of the conflicts in the oil-rich region, providing to some extent a basis for understanding some of the contradictions and ambivalence within MEND itself, and other actors, local and international involved in the conflict. Beyond this, it provides a sound basis for grappling with the challenge of resolving the complex conflict, starting with a review of some of the more recent efforts of various Nigerian governments, and calling attention to the need to tackle the problem from its roots. The analysis and material contained in this Discussion Paper should be of interest to scholars of conflict and peace in Africa, strategic and energy analysts, as well as policy makers working in the fields of democracy and development on the continent.

Details: Uppsala: Nordiska AfrikainstitutetT, 2009. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Discussion paper 47: Accessed June 22, 2017 at: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/112097/47.pdf

Year: 2009

Country: Africa

Keywords: Natural Resources

Shelf Number: 146340


Author: Migrants On The Move

Title: Human Smuggling - No victimless crime: Voices from those on the move

Summary: In 2014, the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS) introduced a new data collection project named the Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism initiative, or 4Mi - an innovative, low-cost approach to collect and analyse data on mixed migration flows along major migration corridors out of the Horn of Africa. Through a network of monitors (enumerators) stationed at key migration hubs through which migrant smuggling and migrant movement occurs, 4Mi collects of wealth of primary information directly from migrants on the move. Monitors interview migrants (and smugglers) on a continuous basis, using a mobile-based survey application to collect in-depth information on the profiles of migrants, drivers of migration, journey conditions, protection risks, destination countries, and the role of smugglers. Monitors are located in hubs, from Norway to South Africa, while the project is expanding globally to cover other migration routes in West Africa, North Africa and Central and South Asia. Between the November 2014 and April 2017, the 4Mi East Africa and Yemen programme interviewed almost 3,500 migrants and over 150 smugglers, with the largest numbers interviewed in Egypt, South Africa, Djibouti, Uganda, Somalia, Kenya and Libya. While primarily designed to collect comparable data, using coded and quantifiable interview questions, the 4Mi monitors also collect qualitative statements from the migrants about their experiences along the journey on a continuous basis. Taken together, the almost 3,500 interviews so far (interviews are ongoing) provided a rich and revealing collection of 655 quotes from migrants on the move. So far, results from the 4Mi project have mostly been presented in the form of numbers and percentages. While useful and necessary to build up a more solid and evidence-based understanding of mixed migration, the individual stories might get lost and it is easy to forget that behind every single number, there is a human being, someone who decided to leave everything behind and take incredible risks, in order to escape the circumstances back home and to find a better life elsewhere. Putting aside the legal and policy discussions around the status of these people, whether these migrants have a right to asylum and residence in destination countries, what should happen to those whose asylum claims are rejected and whether some of these migrants have deliberately chosen to take all the risks of migration - knowing that in some cases they may have little chance to be allowed to stay in their chosen destination countries - ultimately, basic human rights are non-negotiable. The quotes that are presented in this paper speak to the extent to which these human rights are violated all along the route.

Details: Nairobi,: The Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS), 2017. 15p.

Source: Internet Resource: RMMS Briefing Paper 4: Accessed June 24, 2017 at: http://regionalmms.org/images/briefing/Human%20Smuggling.pdf?platform=hootsuite

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Asylum Seekers

Shelf Number: 146361


Author: Gumedze, Sabelo, ed.

Title: Promoting Partnerhips for Crime Prevention Between State and Private Security Providers in Southern Africa

Summary: Private security is now considered to be part and parcel of the broader security sector. Not only are private security companies (PSCs) providing security services to those who can afford to pay for such services, but they also play a part in crime prevention within various societies. They arguably complement the role of the police whose role it is to detect and combat crime. In view of their roles in preventing crime, there is a need for the inclusion of the private security industry in crime prevention partnerships between the state and non-state actors. This should be the case despite the fact that the private security industry is largely profit-driven and that - in the pursuit of business - it largely serves the interests of those who hire its companies. In light of the various roles that state security agencies and non-state actors play in crime prevention, the need for the establishment and strengthening of strong collaborations or partnerships among these security providers cannot be over-emphasised. Crime prevention partnerships are very important due to the fact that crime negatively affects any country's development. After all, crime prevention cannot only be left to the police. This is not to say crime prevention should no longer be a concern of the police, but a societal challenge requiring a multi-pronged approach. In order to address the challenges of crime, many states, including those in southern Africa, have adopted the concept of community policing, which emphasises partnerships between the community and the national police as a crime prevention intervention. While this intervention is effective in many states, it however overlooks the importance of the role played by the private security industry, which has now become a force to be reckoned within the field of security. This monograph explores crime prevention partnerships between the state and the private security sector in four selected southern African countries, namely, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, with a view to influencing policy processes aimed at improving crime prevention initiatives. While the policy interventions targeted through this research mainly focus on the national level, utilising the research findings in influencing policies at the sub-regional, regional and international levels could be an important consideration. It is hoped that through this research, the establishment and strengthening of partnerships between the state and the private security sector, in particular, will result in the drastic reduction of crime levels in these countries and also prove that such partnerships could be viable and strategically sound tools for crime prevention in the southern African region.

Details: Pretoria: Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, 2015. 276p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 28, 2017 at: https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/10625/54416/IDL-54416.pdf?sequence=1

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Crime Prevention

Shelf Number: 146444


Author: Ackermann, Marilize

Title: Women in pre-trial detention in Africa: A review of the literature

Summary: It is estimated that women account for between two and six percent of the total prison population in Africa. Women in pre-trial detention in Africa experience compounded discriminationon the grounds of gender, social standing, and poverty. The small number women in prison compared to men means that detention structures are less equipped to deal with female detainees' needs. Historically, sub-Saharan African society is patriarchal, and women have had fewer opportunities than men to access education and amass wealth or property. In some countries women were not allowed to own property and still struggle to gain the right to inherit and to participate in economic activity. The literature indicates that women are more exposed to poverty than men and that they face great difficulty to access mechanisms of justice as a result of disempowerment through poverty. Female detainees, especially those originating from rural areas, are often poorly educated, unaware of their rights in detention, unable to access and afford legal representation, post bail or pay fines. Prolonged pre-trial detention only serves to exacerbate poverty among women with severe downstream social and economic effects on their children and families. A popular discourse argues that women are less likely to commit violent and serious crimes than men. To some extent, the literature about women in pre-trial detention confirms this perception. However, reports from recent years indicate that a significant number of female detainees in South Africa are held for murder, and that the majority of these women had been subjected to prior victimisation or abuse. In Malawi and Zambia, many female detainees were held for murder or violent crime against a partner, but in countries such as Kenya, Botswana and Zimbabwe women were more frequently arrested for non-violent crime. Internationally, there is a strong correlation between female criminality and substance abuse. Available literature confirms similar patterns in South Africa, but this link has not been made in more socially conservative African countries, where substance abuse is less common. In less-developed countries, the picture with regard to the numbers of women detention and the reasons for their detention is different. For example, women in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may be detained in place of their husbands. In Malawi and Zambia authorities continue to enforce outdated criminal codes, jailing persons for nuisance-related crimes such as loitering, touting or being a 'rogue'. In conservative religious countries like South Sudan, women are commonly detained for crimes such as adultery. A highly concerning aspect of female detention is the impact on the children of detainees. The literature indicates that the majority of female detainees in Africa are mothers and many are the primary or sole caretakers of their children. Typically, mothers are allowed to keep babies or young children in prison with them up to a certain age. It was found that budgetary provision was made for children imprisoned with mothers only in South Africa and Kenya in recently constructed, specialised baby units, but that there are few babies in prison. The number of children who are left alone outside prison when their mothers are detained is much greater and the social impacts on them are profound. Where social welfare structures exist, children are likely to be placed in the care of a family member, foster parent or orphanage. Families often break up upon imprisonment of the mother, especially if the mother committed a violent crime against the father. Once imprisoned, female detainees encounter a number of critical problems which disproportionately affect women and which may threaten their rights to human dignity and security of person. These include concerns around reproductive health needs, mental disorders and increased vulnerability to abuse in prison. Harassment and attempts to exploit female detainees by law enforcement officers are reported in many countries. The objective of this review is to explore existing literature in respect of the reasons for female remand detention in Africa and the challenges women experience in prison. The biggest challenge to compiling this review was the lack of centralised and comprehensive statistics. The subject is under-researched and statistics referred to represent snapshot data obtained either from the database of the International Centre for Prison Studies or from various ad hoc reports. Literature pertaining to South Africa was available, but authoritative studies from less developed countries do not exist, or were last undertaken as long ago as the 1980s. The failure of states to allocate resources to female detainees and the absence of consistent and clear policies and legislation around the issues they commonly encounter suggest a lack of awareness or a lack of political will to improve the situation.

Details: South Africa: Civil Society Prison Reform, 2014. 54p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 29, 2017 at: http://acjr.org.za/resource-centre/WomenInPreTrialDetention_V2.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Female Detention

Shelf Number: 146605


Author: Muntingh, Lukas

Title: Arrested in Africa: An Exploration of the Issues

Summary: Recent research and advocacy efforts have drawn attention to the excessive use of and prolonged pre-trial detention in Africa. At any given moment there are roughly 1 million people in Africa's prisons. Far more move through prisons each year. Their stay in prison, regardless of duration, starts with being arrested. Substantially more people are arrested than those who end up in prison for pre-trial detention. Pre-trial detention figures are thus a poor indicator of contact with the criminal justice system. The purpose of arrest and subsequent detention of a suspect is essentially to ensure the attendance of the person in court or for another just cause. The police's powers of arrest are, in theory, curtailed to the extent that the arresting officer must be able to provide reasons for the arrest and continued police detention. Police officials have considerable discretion in executing arrests, especially when arresting without a warrant. This exploratory report focuses on arresting without a warrant and starts off with setting out the legal requirements in this regard by way of a case study. In order to understand current arrest practices, the report provides a brief description of the history of policing in Africa and concludes that much of what was established by the colonial powers has remained intact, emphasising high arrest rates, a social disciplinarian mode of policing, supported by myriad petty offences that justify arrest without a warrant. This combination enables widespread corruption and results in negative perceptions of the police. The report further argues that given the wide discretionary powers of the police to arrest without a warrant, it follows that not all people are at an equal risk of arrest, but rather that it is the poor, powerless and out-groups that are at a higher risk of arrest based on non-judicial factors. The report concludes with a number of recommendations calling for further research, decriminalisation of certain offences and restructuring of the police in African countries.

Details: South Africa: Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, 2015. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 29, 2017 at: http://acjr.org.za/resource-centre/Arrested%20in%20Africa%202.pdf/view

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arrests and Apprehensions

Shelf Number: 146606


Author: Muntingh, Lukas

Title: Punishment for Being Poor: Evidence and Arguments for the Decriminalisation and Declassification of Petty Offences

Summary: The Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Accelerating Prison and Penal Reform in Africa of 20031 endorsed recommendations calling for reducing the size of prison populations in Africa. The Plan of Action recommended the '[d]ecriminalisation of some offences such as being a rogue and vagabond, loitering, prostitution, failure to pay debts and disobedience to parents' as a strategy to reduce the prison population. More than a decade has passed and few countries have made any progress in implementing this strategy endorsed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR). Many of the offences identified by the ACHPR as ripe for repeal amount to nothing more than the criminalisation of poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. Certain offences, such as loitering and being a 'rogue' and 'vagabond', date back to colonial times and have no place in Africa anymore. They must be repealed. Their continued enforcement is disproportionately experienced by the poor and marginalised populations, including persons with disabilities. The existence of these laws, and their enforcement, are justified by proponents with unsubstantiated arguments based more on anecdote and bias than fact. Such proponents argue, for example, that arresting people for loitering prevents crime and has a deterrent effect on would-be criminals. It is similarly argued that arresting street children and persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities in so-called sweeping operations encourages them to return to their homes and families and relieves the public of the burden and inconvenience of such persons. There is no evidence to support these claims. This paper sets out the arguments and evidence for the decriminalisation and declassification of petty offences. In brief, these are as follows: - These laws are enforced in a discriminatory manner and frequently result in arbitrary and unlawful arrests targeting the poor and other marginalised groups. - These laws and their enforcement do not promote public safety and may even be counterproductive. - The enforcement of such laws contributes to the number of people in pre-trial detention and thus adds to already overcrowded prisons, which of itself has negative consequences for detainees and an adverse socioeconomic impact on their families. - The enforcement of such laws is highly discretionary, thus facilitating the extortion of bribes, and excessive violence is often associated with arrests. - High volumes of arrests for such offences have adverse consequences for police-community relations. Fundamentally we must ask: what is the purpose of these laws and their enforcement? How does it contribute to making society safer and what is the evidence for this? These laws and their enforcement must also be assessed against key human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (AChHPR). It is in particular articles 6 and 7 of the AChHPR that are relevant, protecting the right to be free from arbitrary arrest and detention and the right to a fair trial. More than ten years ago the Ouagadougou Declaration already confirmed that these laws and their enforcement are an affront to the AChHPR and should be repealed. The AChHPR clearly requires equal treatment before the law and in practice; this means that people should not be targeted by the police because they are poor and powerless.

Details: South Africa: Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 29, 2017 at: http://acjr.org.za/resource-centre/punished-for-being-poor/view

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Minor Offenses

Shelf Number: 146607


Author: Ackermann, Marilize

Title: Survey of Detention Visiting Mechanisms in Africa

Summary: People held in places of detention are at risk of suffering violations of human rights because they are usually detained out of sight and their well-being is not prioritised by states. Domestic and international laws prescribe the procedures through which and conditions under which people may be held in detention. The function of detention oversight institutions is to ensure that state institutions comply with these human rights laws and are held accountable for any non-compliance. In most democracies which embrace the separation of powers, Parliament exercises oversight over the implementation of laws. Ministers and Cabinet are collectively answerable to Parliament for the implementation of and adherence to laws, primarily through the mechanisms of public reports made available to Parliament and the answering of Parliamentary questions, which may lead to the removal from office of ministers or state officials. Because of the particular risks posed by places of detention, traditional Parliamentary oversight has been supplemented by additional institutions exercising detention oversight employing a variety of oversight mechanisms. Some of these have arisen from international law while others are established by domestic laws. Two supra-national international oversight institutions have arisen though the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) and the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT): - UNCAT creates the Committee against Torture (CAT), which monitors implementation of UNCAT through four mechanisms: the submission of regular reports by state parties; the considering of individual complaints or communications from individuals claiming that their rights under the Convention have been violated the undertaking of inquiries; and the considering of inter-state complaints. - OPCAT creates the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), which has a mandate to visit places where persons are deprived of their liberty in the states which are party to OPCAT. In addition, OPCAT requires that states that are party to OPCAT designate or establish an independent "national preventive mechanism" (NPM) for the prevention of torture at domestic level. NPMs need not consist of a single institution, but must have the mandate to inspect places of detention, monitor the treatment of and conditions for detainees and make recommendations regarding the prevention of ill-treatment. NPMs must also publish an annual report. African states which are party to OPCAT have designated existing National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) as their (NPM). The term "National Human Rights Institution" refers to independent state-funded institutions which promote and monitor the effective implementation of international human rights standards at national level and which comply with the Paris Principles. The Paris Principles do not explicitly require NHRIs to have a mandate to visit places of detention; however designation of an NHRI as a state's NPM would require the NHRI to have such a mandate. Regionally, a supra-national oversight institution in the form of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa has arisen. It has the mandate to visit places of detention. The Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Africa, another regional body, is not strictly an oversight institution but seeks to support the development of national institutions. At national level, there exist detention oversight institutions specifically mandated to oversee places of detention, such as South Africa's Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services. There also exist rights institutions which have broad mandates, such NHRIs and Public Protectors (or Ombudspersons), whose mandates nevertheless may include responsibility for exerting oversight over places of detention. Broader mandates still, such as those of Parliament and the judiciary, may also include obligations to exert oversight over detention. All of these institutions may employ a range of mechanisms in carrying out detention oversight. Monitoring of places of detention through visits is one of the most important methods employed by oversight institutions or institutions which have oversight functions. Other methods may include compulsory reporting systems (for example, on deaths or punishments in custody), and complaints receiving systems. Associated oversight powers accorded to oversight institutions may include the power to make public reports and to: conduct investigations, make recommendations, impose disciplinary proceedings, and refer cases of abuse for prosecution. The extent to which oversight institutions are independent of the state and of the institutions over which they seek to exert oversight varies, as do the mechanisms of oversight and accountability with which they are empowered. This report seeks to describe selected oversight institutions and the oversight mechanisms they have adopted in Africa, in order to better understand detention oversight in Africa. This report also seeks to survey what monitoring and oversight have uncovered regarding conditions of detention in Africa.

Details: South Africa: Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, Community Law Centre, 2013. 52p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 4, 2017 at: http://acjr.org.za/resource-centre/survey-of-detention-visiting-mechanisms-in-africa

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Detention Centers

Shelf Number: 146695


Author: Scorgie, Fiona

Title: "I expect to be abused and I have fear": Sex workers' experiences of human rights violations and barriers to accessing healthcare in four African countries

Summary: This report documents human rights violations experienced by female, male and transgender sex workers in four African countries (Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe), and describes barriers they face to accessing health services. Through cross-country comparison and documenting sub-regional trends, the study moves beyond previous often-localised descriptions of violations against sex workers in Africa. The study also fills information gaps about violations in male and transgender sex workers in this setting. A desk review of literature and policies pertaining to sex work in the study settings preceded individual in-depth interviews (n=55) and 12 focus group discussions (n=81) with sex workers above 18 years. Interviews covered the human rights violations sex workers experienced, strategies to avoid these, barriers to health services and practical suggestions for advocacy to improve these circumstances. Broader health (HIV) impacts were also examined. Salient demographic and sexual behaviour data were collected. Sex worker peer educators were trained to obtain narrative information through interviews with sex workers. Convenience sampling was used, aiming to enroll participants across diverse sex-work settings in each site. Interviews took place from December 2010 to February 2011 in Mombasa, Kenya; Hillbrow, Johannesburg, and the towns of Musina and Thohoyandou in Limpopo province, South Africa; Kampala, Uganda; and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Details: African Sex Workers Alliance, 2011. 76p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 22, 2017 at: http://www.plri.org/sites/plri.org/files/ASWA_Report_HR_Violations_and_Healthcare_Barriers_14_April_2011.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Rights Abuses

Shelf Number: 131729


Author: Martin, Alan

Title: The West African El Dorado: Mapping the Illicit Trade of Gold in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Burkina Faso

Summary: The analyses in this report maps the enforcement and governance challenges, as well as vulnerabilities posed by the illicit trade of gold in West Africa and its impact on regional peace and stability. This report's scope focuses on the artisanal gold sector in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali and Burkina Faso. However, many of its findings are applicable to other countries in the West African region, most notably Sierra Leone and Guinea, who also report losing significant gold production to Mali. While each of these countries face unique challenges, they share a common theme: the light footprint of government in the artisanal gold sector. The report also notes that while smuggling and tax leakage deprive state coffers, they also contribute to political instability, lawlessness and criminality, much of it transnational in nature. Some of the common pitfalls are highlighted, which governments face following the end of hostilities or as they seek to expand government control over the unregulated artisanal mining sector. Gold often remains a source of instability and lost revenue for governments as informal networks prove more durable than attempts to establish legal supply chains. This is the case in all the countries featured in this report, where the artisanal sector continues to be informal and largely beyond the control of central planners. Countries with weak resource governance, more often than not, especially in post-conflict situations, attempt to reassert control by enacting ill-thought out laws and policies on the backs of artisanal miners. When these laws and policies are ignored, they are backed up by draconian enforcement measures that exacerbate the situation, alienating miners and pushing them further into illicit trade or resulting in avoidable violence.

Details: Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada, 2017. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 2, 2017 at: https://www.africaportal.org/publications/the-west-african-el-dorado-mapping-the-illicit-trade-of-gold-in-c%C3%B4te-divoire-mali-and-burkina-faso/

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Gold Mining

Shelf Number: 147008


Author: Nkoke, Christopher Sone

Title: Ivory Markets in Central Africa: Market Surveys in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon: 2007, 2009, 2014/2015

Summary: Weak governance, corruption and shifting trade dynamics are significant factors seriously undermining the control of ivory trafficking throughout five countries in Central Africa, according to a new TRAFFIC study launched today. Ivory Markets in Central Africa for investigations and analysis spanning a decade In the first comprehensive assessment of ivory trade in the region in nearly two decades, investigators from TRAFFIC visited major cities across Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Gabon in 2007, 2009 and 2014/2015. The investigators posed as buyers at known and newly identified ivory markets and workshops throughout the Congo Basin, interviewing everyone that they encountered connected to the ivory industry. In addition, discussions were held overtly with major stakeholders, including government officials in the five countries. The illegal and unregulated domestic ivory markets in (each of) the five Central African countries have been one of the main sources fuelling ivory trade in the region, as well as in West and Southern Africa and beyond (especially to Asia) in recent years. The report's findings show that open ivory markets in the region are disappearing, largely due to increased enforcement and competition with underground criminal networks. In its place, high-level corruption and poor governance are helping enable sophisticated international trade. Corruption, Collusion and Weak Political Pressure Current legislation prohibits domestic ivory trade in all countries except Cameroon. However, according to the report "there is a loose and ambiguous interpretation of the law in all countries, not only by the authorities in charge of enforcement, but also by many other actors...enforcement efforts are hampered by corruption, often involving high-level governmental officials, insufficient human and financial resources, mismanagement and weak political will." In DRC, one ivory trader interviewed claimed to have a relative in the army who supplied him with raw ivory. He also alleged that the main suppliers are government officials and, to some extent, UN peace keepers, who have the ability to move around the country frequently. Also in DRC, researchers recorded well-informed claims that the FARDC, the country's official army, was one of the main groups responsible for elephant poaching in Virunga National Park, with the ivory exported by the non-State "Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda" (FDLR) to whom the army would sell arms and military equipment. Open Ivory Markets Shifting Underground Throughout the multi-year investigation, market research showed that the region's open illegal ivory markets are disappearing or going underground, often in the face of increasing pressure from authorities conducting frequent law enforcement operations. TRAFFIC investigators recorded less than 1 kg of ivory products openly displayed in 2014/2015 within CAR, Congo, Gabon and Cameroon, compared to around 400 kg in 2007, and more than 900 kg in 1999 between all four countries. The one exception was the ivory market in Kinshasa, DRC, where over 400 kg of ivory products were recorded in 2015. DRC, however, has recently committed to stronger enforcement against the illegal ivory market in Kinshasa, a milestone which TRAFFIC and WWF supported last month. Carved ivory items were said to be bought by a mixture of African and non-African buyers: the former mainly acting as middlemen for foreign buyers. In 2014/2015 80% of foreign buyers were ethnic Asians, especially Chinese but also Malaysians and Vietnamese. In earlier studies, in 2007 and 2009, other nationalities were more regularly mentioned as buyers including French, Japanese, Koreans, Lebanese, Portuguese, Russians, Spaniards, and US Americans, according to the report. Rising International Criminal Networks "The generally positive news contained in this report about the decline of Central African ivory markets needs to be weighed against the fact that, throughout this sub-region, there are still many issues to be addressed and underlying trade dynamics may be shifting beyond local markets," according to Sone Nkoke of TRAFFIC and lead author of the report. common theme heard throughout the sub-region were allegations concerning Chinese citizens operating within organized criminal networks as key actors in the ivory trade. The sharp increase in raw ivory prices locally in recent years was ascribed to "high demand and limited supply owing to the shift to exportation through transnational ivory networks and syndicates with greater financial resources." The study found that "ivory trade in the region is shifting from an open domestic retail trade of worked ivory to underground transactions with a focus on the export of raw ivory to foreign markets, especially China." Among other key issues identified was the lack of robust and transparent mechanisms in place to ensure effective management of stockpiles in all the target countries. In Kinshasa, DRC, the investigators found raw tusks and worked ivory pieces in unsecured government offices - signalling a high potential for leakage into the local market. In Bangui, Central African Republic, the investigators were unable to perform a stockpile survey in 2015 as the storage facility had been looted by rebels. "Real concerted efforts are needed to address the serious decline in elephant populations throughout Central Africa: this is no longer just a wildlife issue, but an ecological disaster strongly driven by highly-organized crime syndicates. Criminals involved in international ivory trade are regularly exploiting weak State governance, and official collusion, confusion and corruption," said Sone Nkoke. "Clearly Central African countries face significant governance and enforcement challenges in regulating elephant poaching and ivory trafficking. They urgently need to ramp up their efforts to implement a range of commitments that they have made at multiple international fora over the last ten years," said Paulinus Ngeh, Director of the TRAFFIC Central Africa Regional Office. "Such efforts will need to be continuously and transparently monitored for quality and action." Central African States have pledged commitments to stop elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade under CITES, the African Union Common Wildlife Strategy, and other regional strategies, as well as under the United Nations fora on combatting corruption. Follow-through on these commitments is crucial to sustain wildlife in the region.

Details: Yaounde, Cameroon and Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC, 2017. 116p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2017 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2017/9/7/new-traffic-study-lifts-lid-on-central-africa-ivory-markets.html

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 147176


Author: Small Arms Survey

Title: In the Line of Fire: Elephant and Rhino Poaching in Africa

Summary: In June 2014, armed poachers entered the Ol Jogi sanctuary in Kenya and killed four rhinos in one evening. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) described the attack as the worst perpetrated against rhinos since the 1988 killing of five rhinos in Meru National Park (Jorgic, 2014). A month prior to the rhino attack at Ol Jogi, KWS rangers found themselves caught between two gangs of armed poachers. When the shootout ended, 25-year-old KWS ranger Paul Harrison Lelesepei was dead from gunshot wounds (Heath, 2014). The two recent incidents underscore the danger armed poachers pose to wildlife and rangers alike, not only in Kenya, but across African range states where poachers target elephants and rhinos for their ivory and horn, fuelling a thriving international illicit trade.

Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2015. 30p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2017 at: http://globalinitiative.net/documents/in-the-line-of-fire-elephant-and-rhino-poaching-in-africa/

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 147194


Author: Redpath, Jean

Title: African Innovations in Pre-trial Justice

Summary: This review seeks to showcase innovative interventions to reduce pre-trial detention in African countries, so that they may be adapted for use in other low and lower-middle income countries. The majority of pre-trial interventions in African have tended to focus on providing access to paralegal legal advice and assistance to persons already held in pre-trial detention in prisons. The Paralegal Advisory Service Institute (PASI) of Malawi is the archetypal example of an intervention in which paralegal lay workers with specific training provide legal advice and practical assistance to detainees in prisons. PASI's model operates on the premise that paralegals are less expensive than lawyers, yet as good as lawyers, because of their highly specific training on pre-trial issues. The PASI-type intervention reaches those most in need of assistance - persons held in pretrial detention in prisons - and frequently has immediate and profound impact on individuals and their families' lives through securing their release from frequently illegal, arbitrary or unduly lengthy detention. Adaption of the PASI model is however possible. In this review two interventions from Malawi are considered which arise from adaptions of the original PASI model. Both of these aim to prevent prison admissions to pre-trial detention, rather than to target those already in prison. One such adapted intervention from PASI itself seeks to provide early access to legal assistance in police stations and courts, preferably before a court has ordered that a detainee be remanded awaiting trial. The impact of the project includes the sensitisation of police officials to the rights of detainees and to other pathways to release of detainees before trial. The second Malawi intervention uses paralegals to facilitate diversion processes. Diversion processes in developed countries were originally designed for use with children, to redirect the resolution of disputes away from the criminal justice process. While diversion of children from the trial process is a relatively common intervention, diversion of adults is less so. The model being piloted in Malawi by CCJP is innovative in leveraging the influence and authority of traditional leaders in implementing an adult diversion scheme, while bringing together the formal and informal justice systems. The aim is to formalise these processes in law. Other longer-lasting impacts include the sensitisation of influential traditional leaders to the rights of detainees and to alternative methods of managing conflict. While the PASI paralegal model has been replicated to good effect across Africa and other developing regions, paralegals have not yet secured a right of appearance in court in any country in which they operate, and thus they cannot represent detainees in court. The legal assistance paralegals can provide is therefore limited. In response to these constraints, from Zambia has emerged a triage model of paralegal assistance. The triage model being piloted by the Prison Care and Counselling Association (PRISCCA) sees the empowerment of longterm prisoners, under the supervision of trained prison officials, in providing basic advice and assistance to fellow detainees. This is the first level of assistance. The second level of assistance involves roving paralegals providing outside practical assistance, such as tracing sureties, and screening cases to identity those in need of legal representation to identify who can or cannot be assisted without legal representation. Lawyers are the third level of assistance. Those who are in need of legal assistance are referred to lawyers, who are employed on retainer by PRISCCA to provide a set amount of legal representation per month. The triage model ensures that all detainees receive an appropriate level of assistance, according to their situation. As indicated above, paralegals have yet to be granted standing to appear in courts of law. They also tend to suffer from a lack of status and formal voice within criminal justice systems. In addition, variable standards of work by some service providers have affected the reputation of paralegals, and consequently the prospects for the formalisation of their role in national criminal justice systems have also been affected. In response to these issues, the Paralegal Alliance Network was established in Zambia. This network seeks to ensure a coherent voice for all paralegal organisations toward better co-operation in the justice system in Zambia, in setting and maintaining standards for paralegals, and in providing an amplified voice advocating for reform. Such advocacy includes advocacy toward formalisation of their role, including the right to appear in court on behalf of detainees. As a result, Zambia may become the first country to formalise the role of paralegals. Paralegal services are frequently targeted at detainees. Yet families of detainees are often well-placed to assist their detained family members, if they are empowered with sufficient information, regarding bail, sureties and the like. By providing empowerment through legal education to families, the Resource Oriented Development Initiative (RODI) in Kenya helps families secure the release of detainees. An associated rehabilitation and re-integration arm of the project aims to assist detainees in re-entering society and avoiding future detention and provides them with enterprise development and life skills. Systematic monitoring of prisons and places of detention is a key method of preventing human rights abuses, such as arbitrary prolonged detention and torture. Where statemandated institutions are failing to fulfil this role, civil society organisations may embark on monitoring by agreement with the state. In Mozambique, the Human Rights League (Liga) conducts regular prison monitoring which leads to the identification of cases for legal representation, results in reports which help to shape the human rights environment, and informs strategic litigation which in turn improves the policy environment relating to pretrial detention. These activities by Liga have led to permanent change in the pre-trial legislative framework. Ultimately assisting the state in improving the operation of the criminal justice system is necessary when criminal justice problems are systemic. In Liberia, Prison Fellowship Liberia (PFL) paralegals, and Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) lawyers work together with government in an intervention which has multiple entry points, but which seeks to identify and resolve systemic problems while providing emergency relief through expedited court processes. The close co-operation ensures long term impact through the implementation of systemic change. All of these organisations, through their interventions, bring something new to the pre-trial arena. It is hoped that by documenting their models, lessons can be drawn which may inform the development of future successful interventions in other contexts.

Details: Cape Town: University of Western Cape, Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, 2015. 46p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 11, 2017 at: http://acjr.org.za/resource-centre/Innovations.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Legal Aid

Shelf Number: 147214


Author: Mutahi, Patrick

Title: Where is the Money? Donor Funding for Conflict and Violence Prevention in Eastern Africa

Summary: In 2014, Kenya and Uganda were two of the top three recipients of official development assistance (ODA) in Africa (OECD n.d.). The funding focused on education, health care, infrastructure, entrepreneurship development, HIV/AIDS treatment, conflict prevention and relief from natural crises such as droughts, famines or earthquakes. Such a mixed bag of funding priorities points to the variegated nature of the development agenda of both the funding actors and the recipient countries. This broad scope, however, obscures the recent shifts and developments with regard to the major challenge of violence and conflict facing the region, and the growing importance of this field for donors and national governments. The Eastern Africa region in general currently faces security and violence challenges linked to terrorism, internal armed conflicts and resources-based conflicts, as well as insecurity linked to everyday crime. These forms of insecurity and violence are seen both by the states of the region and by Western donor states as a threat to state stability as well as the region's development ambitions. Violence reduction is therefore a shared goal both within Eastern Africa and among these Western donor nations. This study seeks to critically examine the shifts and trends in current donor funding in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan aimed at reducing violence and conflict. It analyses key issues being funded as well as trends in donor funding. It is notable that there is a long tradition of donor support to conflict reduction and prevention in the region, as well as support to security sector and policing reforms. However, recent years have witnessed a shift in this support, with the appearance of new security emergencies in the form of terrorist threats in, for example, Kenya and Somalia, and threats of state disintegration in places such as South Sudan. Of course, the agenda of conflict and violence prevention has not always been without its ambiguities even in earlier years, and the donor priorities and those of the populations in the region have not always converged. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in particular Goal 16, are meant to ensure that interventions for violence reduction and prevention as well as development are part of a common and shared vision. Goal 16 aims to 'promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels'. It recognises the link between peace and prevention of violence and conflict and the building and strengthening of functioning and inclusive societies. While the SDGs represent a powerful political commitment by the member states of the United Nations to work towards a common development agenda, the recognition of the linkages that Goal 16 makes between peace, security and development is not entirely new. Indeed, the link between security and development was made quite eloquently by the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report. An examination of the funding trends on violence in the Eastern Africa region demonstrates that most donor projects explicitly recognise this link. Funding for various violence prevention interventions also seeks to promote good governance, better functioning law and order and justice institutions, and to promote cohesion among other institutions. It therefore seems that if the funding interventions have not worked as expected, it is not because the link had not been made .

Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2017. 39p.

Source: Internet Resource: Addressing and Mitigating Violence, Evidence Report No. 217: Accessed September 12, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/12725/ER217_WhereistheMoneyDonorFundingforConflictandViolencePreventioninEasternAfrica.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict-Related Violence

Shelf Number: 147224


Author: Aucoin, Ciara

Title: Guns, poison and horns: Organised wildlife crime in Southern Africa

Summary: The incident monitoring component of the new ENACT project is an effort to systematically record instances of transnational organised crime in Africa to strengthen the evidence base of the scale and impact of the phenomenon. The pilot phase of the study focused on the topic of wildlife crime, and covered 10 countries in Southern Africa between 2000 and 2016. Information was collected on 27 different variables including crime type, location, date, species involved and state responses. Key points - The ENACT incident monitoring pilot used media monitoring to track reported incidents of organised wildlife crime in the southern region of Africa between 2000 and 2016. - Since 2010, the number of wildlife crimes in the region has nearly tripled. - Incidents are dominated by poaching, trafficking and transnational trade in rhino horn, ivory, abalone, big cat parts and pelts (in descending order). - Based on review of the pilot, modifications were made to the methodology for the next phases. - Media monitoring and in-depth qualitative research must be used in tandem (with supplemental techniques where possible) to gather a more robust sense of the scale, scope, structure and operation of organised crime in Africa.

Details: Pretoria: ENACT Project, 2017. 16p.

Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper, Issue 01: Accessed September 26, 2017 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/enact-paper1.pdf

Year: 147463

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 147463


Author: Shaw, Mark

Title: Africa's Changing Place in the Global Criminal Economy

Summary: Africa's role in the global criminal economy is shifting. This is a function of several factors, including changes in African and global illicit markets, as well as the kinds of vulnerabilities that have marked the continent's recent history. This shift has happened in a fairly short space of time - notably over the last two decades. Tracking this change is challenging, however. Data is scarce given that research on how Africa is connected to the global criminal economy is but in its infancy. But if the detrimental effects on Africa caused by global illicit markets and organised crime could be efficiently captured and measured - in terms of lost lives and lost livelihoods, poor governance, conflict, the obliteration of natural resources (such as rare animal species) - then the cumulative damage would no doubt be clearer for all to see. The results would highlight the need for a sustained focus to address the challenge. But, even with the fragmentary data that we do have, there can be little doubt that organised crime has emerged as a key feature of the African policy debate in recent years. Its impact is widespread and growing, yet it is little understood. The rising influence of criminal networks is part of a wider realignment of the international system, to which Africa belongs. An array of networks - commercial, social, political and criminal - now stand alongside traditional forms of statehood.1 Disentangling these interwoven networks and understanding how the criminal economy in particular, shapes governance and distorts development must now be key objectives for analysts of African affairs. References to criminal influence and 'shadow economies' are now pervasive in much of the recent writing on Africa, but there have been few attempts to consider these phenomena in their own right. Several analysts have observed that, far from isolating Africa from the global economy, illicit markets are integrating the continent in a significant way - even if only into the perverse underside of globalisation. Criminal markets, for example, have revitalised ancient African trade and pilgrimage routes that connect the continent to the Mediterranean and the Middle East. In patterns that are both old and new, Africa is becoming more enmeshed in a global web of illicit economic networks. Today, the continent is regularly featured in media reports on worldwide criminal markets and organised crime. Such coverage often focuses on what might be called organised corruption; the so-called 'migrant crisis' enabled by human smuggling from North Africa and the Sahel; or the poaching of animal species, such as rhinos and elephants in Southern Africa; the growth of different types of financial fraud; or the illegal trade in commodities or drugs across the continent. Indeed, one of the marked features of Africa's criminal economy is its diversity. How do we analyse the recent growth of these illicit markets and the organised-crime networks associated with them in Africa? And how do we understand and measure their impact on indicators such as governance, economic development, poverty reduction, human security and quality of life? What impact do they have on Africa's long-standing (and increasing) conflicts and on violence? And how can we do so in a way that is useful across the plethora of criminal challenges Africa now faces? These are the challenges that the ENACT project aims to address. The objective of ENACT is to enrich the foundation of the evidence basis on organised crime and its activities across the continent through research, qualitative and quantitative data gathering, multi-sectoral policy engagement, awareness raising and advocacy. But at the outset of this project, it is clear that the way in which organised crime in Africa has evolved cannot be understood without understanding wider trends in the global criminal economy. That is the focus of this report.

Details: Pretoria: ENACT, 2017. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Continental Report 01: Accessed September 27, 2017 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2017-09-26-enact-continental-report1.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Criminal Markets

Shelf Number: 147471


Author: Kariri, Jamima Njeri

Title: Witness Protection: Facilitating justice for complex crimes

Summary: Responding appropriately to complex transnational and international crimes requires a multifaceted approach that includes a robust criminal justice response. Witness testimony is a crucial part of this. Witnesses, and often their family members, can face significant danger given their crucial role in obtaining a conviction. Africa has seen situations where witness intimidation and harm have led to case dismissals and acquittals. Ultimately, justice fails in these circumstances. Obstacles such as insufficient funding, shortage of skills and weak political will must be addressed.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2017. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief 88: Accessed September 27, 2017 at: https://oldsite.issafrica.org/uploads/policybrief88.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Witness Intimation

Shelf Number: 147477


Author: Stop Illegal Fishing

Title: FISH-i Africa: Our future

Summary: A new report from Stop Illegal Fishing takes a look at the work of the FISH-i Africa Task Force, FISH-i Africa: Our future focuses attention on the actions and cooperation that are still needed to tackle illegal fishing in the Western Indian Ocean. Sandy Davies, Stop Illegal Fishing commented "The scale and extent of illegal activity in the Western Indian Ocean has come as a real surprise to all of those involved in FISH-i Africa. We started out with the traditional expectation that most operators set out to comply with rules, or opportunistically took advantage of gaps and loopholes. But what the FISH-i investigations and analysis have shown is that in fact there are a significant number of operators who set out, deliberately and systematically to act illegally. They do this through falsifying information, forging documents, hiding company information behind secretive shelf companies and flags of non-compliance. Even when caught red handed it is difficult for coastal States to exercise effective sanctions and penalties as vessels routinely abscond from authorities, change name and change flag." FISH-i Africa plans to counter these systematic illegalities with a systematic programme of 'VIGILANCE' which will verify and cross-check the documentation and characteristics of all the vessels licensed to or flagged by the FISH-i members. "This is a significant undertaking involving around 500 vessels and a lot of work, but we believe this is the most effective means we have to end illegal fishing in this region." Davies added, "We've had a strong response already to VIGILANCE and will be looking to work with a range of organisations and funding partners." 'FISH-i Africa: Our future' sets out a real agenda for change; looking at the roles and responsibilities that port, flag, coastal and market States can play. Nicholas Ntheketha, Chair of FISH-i states, "FISH-i has been a big success and has achieved real cooperation with tangible results, but as we look forward we see the need to develop this cooperation further, we need to incorporate greater contact and communication with key port and flag States and we need to make sure that we have strong cooperation with all the relevant authorities at the national level." Stop Illegal Fishing Chairperson Elsa da Gloria Patria welcomed the publication, "FISH-i Africa and the VIGILANCE programme offer a great opportunity to clean up the illegal activity that is taking place in the fisheries sector. Our countries and our people rely on the ocean for their livelihoods and their development we need to make sure that our resources are protected and our blue economies get a chance to thrive."

Details: Gaborone, Botswana: Stop Illegal Fishing, 2017. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 28, 2017 at: https://www.fish-i-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/FISH-i_Africa_Our_future_WEB.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fishing Industry

Shelf Number: 147489


Author: Moneron, Sade

Title: Pendants, Powder and Pathways: A Rapid Assessment of Smuggling Routes and Techniques Used in the Illicit Trade in African Rhino Horn

Summary: Facilitated by highly adaptive transnational criminal networks, the global illegal trade in African rhino horn is driven by seemingly insatiable consumer demand in Asia. This assessment reveals worrying new evidence that entrenched criminal syndicates of Chinese origin, operating in South Africa, have begun manufacturing bracelets and beads, cutting horn into rough "disks" and packaging off-cuts and rhino horn powder locally to facilitate smuggling efforts, evade detection at airports and supply readymade products to consumers in Asia. Should these methods become more widespread, it is likely to significantly heighten the law enforcement challenge in Africa and along the trade chain to Asia. In addition, there is growing evidence that fraudsters are exploiting the demand for rhino horn to produce and sell bovine fakes to gullible consumers. Trade in fakes-which include beads and bracelets-will further complicate the ability of law enforcement agencies to detect and intercept rhino horn products. This report, which draws on 456 records in TRAFFIC's global database of wildlife seizures (TRAFFIC's database), covering the period 2010 to June 2017, also examines the complex and dynamic smuggling routes used by networks ferrying their contraband from Africa to Asia, identifies key hotspots and presents an overview of smuggling methods employed by rhino horn traffickers. The assessment aims to deepen understanding of smuggling techniques and the highly adaptive routes that facilitate the movement of African rhino horn along the illicit rhino horn supply chain. Based on the evidence gathered for this assessment and analyses of known smuggling routes, the report's recommendations call for improved co-operation between law enforcement agencies at local, national, regional and international levels; heightened anti-corruption measures; targeted investigations to disrupt transnational criminal networks; increased follow-up action to seizures that lead to arrests and successful prosecutions of perpetrators; and improved data collection and information sharing on seizures and methods of concealment.

Details: Pretoria: TRAFFIC, East/Southern Africa, 2017. 30p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2017 at: https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/1094/files/original/TRAFFIC_Pendants_Powder_and_Pathways-FULL-REPORT.pdf?1505834688

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Criminal Networks

Shelf Number: 147494


Author: United Nations Development Programme

Title: Journey to Extremism in Africa: Drivers, Incentives and the Tipping Point for Recruitment

Summary: The expanding reach and destructive consequences of violent extremism are among the major challenges to peace faced in today's world. In Africa, 33,300 fatalities are estimated to have been caused by extremism between 2011 and 2016, with related displacement and economic devastation contributing to among the worst humanitarian catastrophes ever seen on the continent. Violent extremism is also posing a direct and manifest challenge to the gains enjoyed by many countries over recent years, and threatens to stunt development outcomes for generations to come if left unchecked. The steep rise in violent extremist activity in Africa represents a significant threat to global security and development overall. Development actors are uniquely placed within the overall response architecture for tackling violent extremism, and have an integral role to play in averting the threats posed by preventing and transforming it. Development expertise and resourcing can be leveraged to address structural drivers; to support communities in implementing deradicalization initiatives; and to help ensure that former members of violent extremist organizations are socio-economically reintegrated, among many other critical areas, many of which are explored in this report. Many partners are already taking up the challenge with new programmes and initiatives, and wide-ranging Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) interventions. However, the question remains open as to how to most effectively respond. Collective reflection is needed on lessons that emerge from past and present interventions - not only on the development side, but also across the mainstream of counter-terrorism. To date, overall success is mixed at best, as insecurity continues to deepen. The challenges also demand a closer nexus between the security and development arms of government, and more integrated ways of working than has yet been achieved. UNDP is leveraging its own long-established presence, partnerships and expertise to contribute to preventing the threat of violent extremist expansion across Africa. In 2015, we developed a bold Africa-wide initiative, Preventing and Responding to Violent Extremism in Africa: A Development Approach, which works with national governments and stakeholders, regional institutions, faithbased institutions, civil society and many others to augment PVE interventions while also striving to contribute new understanding and knowledge. Through this programme, we are supporting national and regional partners to develop new strategic responses that strike at the core of the conditions that are conducive to violent extremism. At the same time, we are working in other areas, such as in assisting religious leaders to develop curricula for the governance of religious institutions, and building bridges between security actors and communities to reduce distrust and mutual suspicion. We know the drivers and enablers of violent extremism are multiple, complex and context-specific, while having religious, ideological, political, economic and historical dimensions. They defy easy analysis, and understanding of the phenomenon remains incomplete. Undertaken as part of the UNDP Africa PVE programme, the Journey to Extremism in Africa study has been a complex two-year intervention explicitly designed to respond to knowledge and evidence gaps - building on our earlier work exploring perceptions on radicalization, violence and insecurity in the Sahel. Specifically, it aims to generate improved understanding about the incentives and drivers of violent extremism, as expressed by recruits to the continent's deadliest groups themselves. Our team has travelled to remote areas of Africa to conduct the largest ever number of interviews with individuals who have been recruited by violent extremist groups. Our intention has been to develop a picture of the typical 'journey map' to violent extremism: from childhood, through to the 'tipping point' for recruitment, and even on to demobilization. We have drawn on our expertise from across the organization to interpret the resulting dataset, and to identify where development actions can help build resilience.

Details: New York: UNDP, Regional Bureau for Africa, 2017. 128p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2017 at: http://journey-to-extremism.undp.org/content/downloads/UNDP-JourneyToExtremism-report-2017-english.pdf?download

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremist Groups

Shelf Number: 147497


Author: Tubiana, Jerome

Title: Tubu Trouble: State and Statelessness in the Chad-Sudan-Libya Triangle

Summary: This Working Paper provides an overview of Tibesti's recent history in order to better understand its current situation and context. It reviews the evolution of Tibesti's socio-political environment over the past few decades, including the most recent MDJT war and its effects, the tentative and partial redeployment of state authority in the region, and the consequences of the fall of the Qaddafi regime in neighbouring Libya. It further discusses the repercussions of regional gold rushes since 2013 and the prospects for a renewed rebellion in northern Chad. The paper's key findings are as follows: - Since Chads independence in 1960 the north of the country has experienced successive rebellions. Tibesti has experienced little more than twenty years of light administration by the Chadian state and about thirty years of control by various armed opposition factions. Relative stability and security have prevailed since the last MDJT rebels laid down their weapons in 2011, although isolated outbreaks of opposition to the state have recently resurfaced. These have occurred as a response to gold rushes in the region, violent conflicts between gold miners and local communities in 2014-15, and the state's (mis) management of related tensions. - From 2012 onwards the discovery of gold caused a considerable influx of prospectors into the region, which triggered conflicts between the Teda and the gold miners. Because the latter belonged mainly to the ethnic group of President Idriss Deby (the Beri or Zaghawa), these tensions increased local hostility to the Chadian authorities. The Teda self-defence militias that were formed to protect the region against the influx of gold miners slowly transformed themselves into an autonomous force that increasingly rejected the central state. - While the Chadian government is not always perceived favourably, currently a large majority of the inhabitants of Tibesti seem to have little appetite for a new insurrection. Even the presence of Chadian armed opposition groups in neighbouring southern Libya has not made rebellion more attractive. - Despite a number of attempts since 2011, the Chadian state seems to be incapable of fully establishing its authority over Tibesti. This is because of the region's isolation, the persistent reluctance of the local populations to accept what is considered to be an external authority, the instability of that authority, and the negative experience of a development programme launched in 2012, which started to collapse in mid-2014. - Historically, customary chiefs have been the main sources of stability and security in Tibesti. The displacement and divisions that the Teda community has suffered have considerably weakened their influence, however. This situation was further exacerbated by the multiplication of chiefs by the government after the rebellion ended. This weakening of traditional authority explains the development among the Teda in both Chad and Libya of opposition to the authority of the derde (the dynastic chief who historically played the roles of arbitrator of disputes and guarantor of customary law). - On either side of the ChadianLibyan border (as well as in Niger) the Teda have multiple and fluid identities. Marginalized under Qaddafi, who instrumentalized their claims to Libyan citizenship, those living in Libya played an important role in the 2011 uprising in that country. Since then their claim to full Libyan citizenship has been viewed with hostility by the powers in northern Libya, and rival Arab and Tuareg communities in southern Libya. - The Teda militias of southern Libya sometimes display signs of unity when facing common enemies. However, they operate under distinct commands, suffer from internal divisions, and are mostly autonomous armed groups that are ready to opportunistically align themselves with other forces. - From a regional perspective the continuation of the Chadian-Sudanese entente since 2011 has enabled these two countries to focus on other dangers on their borders, in particular those emanating from post-Qaddafi Libya. Chad and Sudan support opposing parties in the Libyan conflict: Sudan is mainly seeking to establish a friendly regime in Libya, while Chad believes it is vital to prevent armed opposition movements or jihadist groups from using the chaos in Libya to penetrate its northern regions. Meanwhile, armed opposition groups from both countries have established themselves on Libyan soil, hoping to obtain support from Libyan forces hostile to their respective governments. - Armed opposition groups from Chad and Darfur and Sudanese 'janjawid' militias have regularly crossed the region's borders. Since 2011 they have been observed in Libya in particular. Many of them have prospected for gold throughout the Sahara. Some offer their services as mercenaries, particularly in Libya, while others are involved in trafficking and banditry. The repeated failures of peace agreements and rebel reintegration processes, the lack of economic opportunities, the absence of political alternatives in Chad, Libya's instability, and the continuing violence in Darfur are chief among the many factors causing the internationalization and growing autonomy of armed factions in the region. - Between 2011 and 2013 illicit weapons flows from looted Libyan arsenals transited through northern Chad. These flows seem to have dried up, but flows of individual weapons persist and supply the local market in northern Chad. Demand remains relatively high and has increased in reaction to the Tibesti gold rush. Easy access to Libyan weapons has further contributed to the militarization of Chadian Teda society.

Details: Geneva: Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, 2017. 192p.

Source: Internet Resource: HSBA Working Paper 43: Accessed September 29, 2017 at: http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/working-papers/SAS-CAR-WP43-Chad-Sudan-Libya.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict-Related Violence

Shelf Number: 147504


Author: International Crisis Group

Title: Double-edged Sword: Vigilantes in African Counter-insurgencies

Summary: According to this report, African states confronting insurgent groups face a dilemma when civilians mobilize and take up arms to protect their local communities. Such vigilante forces can provide effective support in enhancing local security, but they also carry inherent risks, including the potential to transform into insurgent forces themselves. So how should African states make use of such vigilante groups? To help answer this question, the text's authors examine four illustrative cases from Sierra Leone, Uganda's Teso region, South Sudan's former Western Equatoria State and Nigeria's north east.

Details: Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2017. 43p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Report No. 251: Accessed October 10, 2017 at: https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/251-double-edged-sword.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Security

Shelf Number: 147638


Author: Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group - ESAAMLG

Title: A Special Typologies Project Report on Poaching, Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Wildlife Products and Associated Money Laundering in the ESAAMLG Region

Summary: 1. The majority of ESAAMLG member countries have vast resources in wildlife, which during the last few years have seen unprecedented targeting by both individuals and syndicates involved in poaching and other illegal wildlife activities. This typology project focused on poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products and associated money laundering in the ESAAMLG Region. 2. Illicit wildlife trafficking is one of the most lucrative types of transnational organized crime today, with annual revenues estimated to be between USD 7.8 billion and USD 10 billion per year1 (excluding fisheries and timber). These illegal proceeds are suspected to be laundered into the financial systems worldwide. 3. Common to wildlife poaching is its localized and cross-border phenomenon which is often orchestrated by well organised, sophisticated and at times heavily armed poachers. The cross border nature of poaching puts the illegal activity beyond the capacities of most governments in the Region. Poaching invariably transcends into illegal wildlife trade which has been associated with well organised crime groups which through the unlawful trade and complex laundering means of the proceeds have amassed a lot of resources. The resources include immediate large amounts of disposable cash, modern technology and established corrupt transportation routes. 4. The Independent newspaper, a daily publication in Britain, reported on 6 February 2014 that the dangerous criminal networks that run the global wildlife trade have been allowed to persist and prosper as a result of "chronic government failures" to treat them seriously. The report further states that the industry (dealing in illegal wildlife business) is the world's fourth biggest illegal trade after narcotics, human trafficking and counterfeiting. Feedback from regional wildlife NGOs (using former Police officers as consultants), indicated that the criminal networks involved in smuggling drugs, humans, extra are almost always the same networks involved in smuggling wildlife products. This is because they already have an established "network" - and the wildlife product is just a different product. 5. The ESAAMLG region, given its vast resources in wildlife is uniquely placed to study and uncover the illegal trends in this industry, in an effort to assist governments of its member states and other stakeholders in setting up an informed policy framework on wildlife resources. 6. The findings in this report also confirms that despite arresting traffickers and seizing illegal wildlife products, law enforcement have failed to arrest or convict, let alone confiscate/forfeit illegally acquired assets by the criminal masterminds wreaking havoc in this area across Africa. A report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which has been investigating illegal wildlife trade for more than three decades states; "Despite record seizures of illegal ivory, not a single criminal kingpin involved in the international illegal trade of ivory has been prosecuted and convicted to date. That is a damning indictment. With less than 3,500 wild tigers left, elephant numbers plummeting and rhinos under attack again, we need to get it right,". 7. Azzedine Downes, a researcher on wildlife poaching, in an article titled; "When it comes to poaching, hate the crime not the criminal", highlights factors contributing to wildlife poaching being: the amounts of money generated, low risk of arrest, lenient penalties, killing and thefts done quickly, inexpensive and little social stigma associated with the crime (compared to other crimes such as murder, robbery, kidnapping, etc). The ESAAMLG Region, through this study found indications which may support the above factors as contributing to the ever increasing incidences of wildlife poaching and associated wildlife illegal trade in the region. 8. The ramifications of poaching and other wildlife crimes and illegal trade are horrendous. ESAAMLG member countries' future generations stand the possible risk of not seeing the wonderful wildlife which the Region has been naturally enriched with. This study found that cultural beliefs which do not have their origin in the ESAAMLG Region and the huge financial benefits derived from wildlife illegal trade and their successful laundering could be some of the factors fuelling poaching of wildlife in the Region. In summary the study, among other things, presents indications, trends and typologies to help understand how these crimes are organised, identify the players, proceeds generated and their movement with specific attention being paid to the laundering trends of the illegal proceeds. Ultimately the study is intended to influence policy change by the ESAAMLG member countries in their approach to combatting illegal wildlife activities and mitigate the gaps in combating wildlife crimes and laundering of the generated illegal proceeds. 9. The project was approved by the ESAAMLG Council of Ministers at its meeting in Luanda, Angola, in September 2014. The project team consisted of Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia. Namibia was the project chair. C. Executive summary 10. This typology report primarily looks at the poaching, trafficking and the proceeds thereof (illegal trade), in the ESAAMLG member countries and Africa as a secondary part of the scope. Given the significant demand for wildlife and wildlife products harvested in member countries, it is clear that there are significant financial flows associated with these crimes. Such financial flows constitute proceeds of crime, and thus fall within the ambit of money laundering, and to a certain extend these financial flows may in one way or the other be used to support terrorist financing activities in Central Africa. 11. The major finding is that wildlife crimes, particularly rhino and elephant poaching are escalating at alarming levels, with extinction being a reality. The study further found that a number of vulnerabilities in wildlife crime combatting frameworks across the various member countries are exploited by syndicates committing these crimes. The most common shortcoming highlighted by member countries as a hindrance to adequate and effective combative efforts is the general lack of resources for the various wildlife crime combative stakeholders aided by corrupt public officials. 12. The report aims to provide an overview on the: - Predicate offences of wildlife crimes; - Syndicates and persons committing these crimes and their methods of operation; - Notable trends and typologies in the flow of finances related to these crimes; - Notable preventative measures in place to mitigate these wildlife crimes and related financial flows; - Areas within combative and intelligence frameworks that may need improvement;  Destination countries (regions) of poached wildlife products. 13. The study found that there is a growing demand for wildlife and wildlife products mostly in the Asian countries and U.S.A. In an effort to supply this demand, it came to the fore that organized transnational criminal syndicates have created networks that facilitate the execution of poaching and related wildlife crime activities and the trafficking of wildlife and wildlife products from mainly African countries to consumer destinations in Asia and U.S.A. These networks involve recruitment of locals who are in the ESAAMLG region into poaching activities for minimal financial rewards, the bribing of authorities at crucial points of entry and exits such as border posts and airports to help facilitate the smuggling of wildlife and wildlife products, ultimately compromising the border security. 14. It is however worth noting that despite the case studies indicating a lucrative business with significant financial gains in trading wildlife products such as ivory, almost all ESAAMLG member countries could not provide details on financial flows such as methods and techniques used to fund poaching activities in cases investigated. This is compounded by the fact that most ESAAMLG member countries' economies are predominantly cash based. Additionally, the study could not obtain data and information related to methods used to pay for the wildlife and wildlife products by end users and/or kingpins of the organized criminal syndicates, in the consumer countries. This lack of information in itself may explain why authorities in member countries did not paint successful wildlife crime combatting efforts as per information requested for this study. 15. The study equally found that the FIUs in member countries are hardly involved in investigative operations (tactically or strategically) concerning wildlife crimes. Apart from South Africa, LEAs in other member countries such as the police and the various environmental authorities do not have engagements through formal MoUs with the resident FIUs, let alone foreign FIUs, in an effort to coordinate and benefit from the strengths of one another. It goes without saying that despite the transnational nature of wildlife crimes, countries generally reported poor international cooperation as an area of concern in the combatting of wildlife crimes. 16. The study equally reviewed counter wildlife trafficking efforts in Asian countries, as destinations of wildlife and wildlife products. It is worth noting that information requested from most of the countries identified as the largest consumers of illegal wildlife products harvested from ESAAMLG member countries has to date not been provided by the relevant authorities in those countries. In two of the countries where wildlife and wildlife products from ESAAMLG member countries are consumed, it was surprising to find that these countries have only criminalised possession of wildlife and wildlife products, if same is originating from within their jurisdictions. This means, in these countries, being found in possession of wildlife and wildlife products from Africa is not a criminal offence. 17. Despite the various counter wildlife trafficking laws in most Asian countries advocating for investigative authorities to liaise with and involve the countries of origin of the wildlife and wildlife products seized or found in their jurisdictions, there were hardly any cases provided by such jurisdictions to show if this is indeed happening. In almost all cases provided for this study, by Asian countries, the wildlife crime investigations do not engage with relevant African authorities and the seized wildlife products such as rhino horns and elephant tusks are destroyed, if not reserved for local state museums. These factors may point a need to strengthen international cooperation, with the aim of enhancing combative efforts both locally and in consumer jurisdictions.

Details: Dar es Salaam - United Republic of Tanzania: ESAAMLG Typologies Working Group, 2016. 131p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 8, 2017 at: https://www.esaamlg.org/userfiles/Typologies%20Report%20on%20the%20Wildlife%20Crimes%20and%20Related%20ML.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 148054


Author: Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group - ESAAMLG

Title: Typologies report on money laundering related to illicit dealings in and smuggling of motor vehicles in the ESAAMLG region

Summary: Motor vehicles play a vital role in the economic and social growth of every country. However, motor vehicles have recently become instruments and a source of illegally obtained financial gains for criminal syndicates and individuals. This study was aimed at identifying vulnerabilities of money laundering and terrorist financing associated with illicit dealing in and motor vehicle smuggling through case studies from the region in order to identify the trends and methods used to launder the proceeds generated from the illicit dealing in and smuggling of motor vehicles. The study further identifies gaps and efforts put in place by governments and other stakeholders to address illicit dealing in and motor vehicle smuggling. The study also identifies the role played by those involved in the illicit dealing in and motor vehicle smuggling and its economic and social impact thereof, the source and destination of smuggled vehicles, the licensing and supervision of motor vehicle dealers and the modus operandi. The study establishes how the illicit generated proceeds are or have previously been laundered and whether proceeds can be linked with the funding of other crimes including funding of terrorist activities. Based on the case studies, it is clear that bonded warehouses and Financial Institutions are being misused to facilitate money laundering activities with the real estate being the most vulnerable area where the proceeds are used. The study has also shown that insurance companies are widely affected by fraudulent claims made by motor vehicle owners who illegally export their vehicles and later report them stolen.

Details: Dar es Salaam - United Republic of Tanzania: ESAAMLG, 2012. 27p.

Source: Internet Resource: Presented at the 24th Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre ESAAMLG Task Force of Senior Officials Meeting 24 - 30 August 2012 Maputo, MozambiqueAccessed November 10, 2017 at: http://www.esaamlg.org/userfiles/Illicit%20Dealings%20in%20and%20Smuggling%20of%20Motor%20Vehicles%20Report.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Automobile Theft

Shelf Number: 148125


Author: Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group - ESAAMLG

Title: Report on Cash Courier - Based Money Laundering

Summary: In general, there are three main methods by which criminal organisations and terrorist financiers move illicit money for laundering purposes. These are (i) the use of the financial system (ii) the physical movement of money (iii) the use of fraudulent trading arrangements. The Financial Action Task Force Special Recommendation IX on Cash Couriers obliges countries to put in place measures to detect the physical cross-border transportation of currency and bearer negotiable instruments, including a declaration system or other disclosure obligations. The Special Recommendation also requires countries to ensure that their competent authorities have the legal authority to stop or restrain currency or bearer negotiable instruments that are suspected of been related to terrorist financing or money laundering or that are falsely declared or disclosed Countries should also ensure that effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are available to deal with persons who make false declarations and disclosures. In cases where the currency or bearer negotiable instruments are related to terrorist financing or money laundering, countries should also adopt measures, including legislative ones which would enable the confiscation of such currency or instruments. This study used of a detailed questionnaire to gather information on the current practices of cash courier-based money laundering and the financing of terrorism in the ESAAMLG region. The information focused on the ability of the ESAAMLG member countries to detect and combat cash couriers for AML/CFT purposes. This study concludes that cash courier based money laundering is an activity that is present in virtually all ESAAMLG member countries. All ESAAMLG member countries are predominantly cash-based economies and have porous borders, and thereby making the region more vulnerable to cash- courier-based money laundering. Most ESAAMLG member countries have limited or no legislation in place to combat cash couriers and the associated money laundering and terrorist financing risks. There is a general shortage of technical expertise and resources required to deal with cash courier based money laundering and terrorist financing. There is a critical need for training and awareness raising to enhance skills and experience to combat cash courier based money laundering, Looking ahead, there appears to be a number of steps that could be taken within the ESAAMLG member countries to enable national authorities to cope with and combat cash courier based money laundering and terrorist financing. These measures can be grouped into legislative, effective institutional arrangements, awareness raising, training, and improving domestic, regional and international cooperation.

Details: Dar es Salaam - United Republic of Tanzania: ESAAMLG, 2008./ 63p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 10, 2017 at: http://www.esaamlg.org/userfiles/Cash_Courier_Report.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Financial Crimes

Shelf Number: 148126


Author: Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group - ESAAMLG

Title: Typologies Project Report on the Vulnerabilities on Money Laundering Related to Trafficking in Persons in the ESAAMLG Region

Summary: The purpose of this report is to present the research findings on the vulnerabilities of money laundering related to trafficking in persons in the ESAAMLG region. The conclusions of the report are based on analysis of questionnaire responses received from the member countries and literature on trafficking in persons in general. Trafficking in persons is a growing global socio-economic problem as its criminality negatively affects communities. In 2008, the UNODC estimated global trafficking in persons to be the third largest profitable criminal activity (USD 32 billion, of which sexual exploitation accounted for one-third of the amount) after drugs and arms trafficking. The member countries of ESAAMLG are experiencing the negative effects of trafficking in persons perpetrated by either nationals of the region or foreign criminal networks. It is clear from the findings that the ESAAMLG region is a source, transit and destination for trafficking in persons. East African countries and South Africa are noted as the predominant transit and destination countries, respectively. Although trafficking is largely a cross-border activity, there is growing evidence that internal trafficking particularly of young women from rural areas to the major cities is on the rise. The main factors contributing to the increasing international and domestic prevalence of trafficking in persons include; low socio-economic development, political instability and disparities in income levels within the member countries. Further, this report observed that all ESAAMLG member countries signed and ratified the United Nations Convention Against Organised Crime's Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children. Nonetheless, most member countries have not enacted specific national legislation criminalising trafficking in persons in a manner consistent with the international instruments. Additionally, charges, investigations and prosecutions relating to offences of trafficking in persons are conducted under various national criminal legislations which the study found to be insufficient to effectively combat the problem. As a result, the institutions and resources to deal with this problem are generally inadequate. This has in turn made trafficking in persons a low-risk but high-profit making criminal activity, promoted by the lack of appropriate legislation and institutional capacity.

Details: Dar es Salaam - United Republic of Tanzania: ESAAMLG, 2011. 40p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 10,. 2017 at: http://www.esaamlg.org/userfiles/HUMAN-TRAFFICKING-Report-Mauritius-2011.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Trafficking

Shelf Number: 148127


Author: Danish Refugee Council

Title: Weighing the Risks: Protection risks and human rights violations faced by migrants in and from East Africa

Summary: This paper builds on nearly 4,000 interviews with migrants and smugglers to present an analysis of the protection incidents occurring along the four main migratory routes within and from the Horn of Africa (North-west towards Libya and Europe, East towards Yemen and the Gulf, Northern towards Egypt and Europe, and South towards South Africa). Quantitative surveys and qualitative statements collected from September 2014 to March 2017 through the Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4Mi) depict an in-depth overview of the multiple human rights violations facing migrants on their journey. Divided into thematic sub-chapters, the paper outlines statistics and hotspots for the main incidents investigated. Quotes from migrants and smugglers are included to detail individual experiences and perspectives. Findings complement the existing literature on migrant's smuggling and abuse in the Horn of Africa and allow for a closer look at new trends in this field.

Details: Copenhagen: Danish Refugee Council; Nairobi: Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat DRC East Africa & Yemen: 2017. 21p.

Source: Internet Resource: RMMS Briefing Paper 5: Accessed November 15, 2017 at: http://regionalmms.org/images/briefing/RMMS%20Briefing%20Paper%205%20-Weighing%20the%20Risks.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Rights Abuses

Shelf Number: 148177


Author: Berg, Rigmor C.

Title: Interventions to reduce the prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting in African countries

Summary: This systematic review aimed to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce the prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) compared to no or other active intervention? 2. How do factors related to the continuance and discontinuance of FGM/C help explain the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce the prevalence of FGM/C? We used an integrative evidence approach, whereby analyses of effectiveness data and context data were completed in separate streams, but where we in the final step integrated the results from the two sets of data in a realist synthesis approach. We included eight effectiveness studies (research question 1). All employed a controlled before-and-after study design. The quality assessment resulted in a final decision of weak study quality for all eight studies, which involved 7,042 participants residing in seven different African countries: Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia/Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal. We could perform four metaanalyses but there was doubt about the validity of all results. The results showed that the effectiveness of the included interventions was limited, although they pointed to potential advantageous developments, such as positive changes in attitudes and knowledge regarding FGM/C, as a result of the FGM/C abandonment interventions. We included 27 context studies (research question 2) from the countries where an effectiveness study had taken place (we did not identify any studies from Ethiopia). The synthesis of context studies showed that the factors related to the continuance and discontinuance of FGM/C varied across contexts, but the main factors that supported FGM/C were tradition, religion, and reduction of women's sexual desire. The main factors that hindered FGM/C were medical complications and prevention of sexual satisfaction. Our ability to conclude regarding both the question of effectiveness of FGM/C abandonment interventions and how factors related to FGM/C help explain the effectiveness of interventions was hampered by a general lack of information. However, through the realist synthesis we identified that all of the interventions were based on a theory that dissemination of information improves cognitions about FGM/C, but the interventions' success was contingent upon a range of contextual factors.

Details: Oslo: Campbell Collaboration, 2012. 156p.

Source: Internet Resource: Campbell Systematic Review, 2012:9: Accessed November 15, 2017 at: https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/library/interventions-to-reduce-prevalence-female-genital-mutilation-in-africa.html

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Female Genital Mutilation

Shelf Number: 148175


Author: Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA)

Title: Typologies Report on Cash Transactions and Cash Couriers in West Africa

Summary: The geographical territory of West Africa is occupied by fifteen countries that make up the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote D'Ivoire, (The) Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Of these fifteen (15) countries, eight (8)belong to a common currency zone known as the Union Economique Monetaire de l'Afrique de l Ouest (UEMOA), which has common monetary regulations. The economy of the West Africa region is largely cash-based, characterised by a large and growing unregulated informal sector which is vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing. Money Laundering (ML) is a process whereby the origin and ownership of funds generated by illegal means is concealed. The process of ML usually involves three stages: (1) the introduction of the proceeds of crime into the financial system (placement); (2) transactions to convert or transfer the funds to other locations or financial institutions (layering); and, (3) reintegrating the funds into the legitimate economy as "clean" money and investing it in various assets or business ventures. Terrorist financing (TF), on the other hand, is the direct or indirect financial support provided to criminals for the purpose of carrying out acts that involve violence and or intimidation of populations. Such funds could be derived from either legitimate or illegitimate sources. Although there are factual differences between money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF), both processes may use common intermediaries such as cash transactions. Indeed, money laundering and terrorist financing are a threat to international peace and security. Nature and Types of Cash Transactions Cash transactions are a particular problem, especially in developing economies where the formal payment systems are inadequate or where the populace has little confidence in their use. Even in some developed economies, cash transactions constitute a specific money laundering and terrorist financing problem. For example, about 52% of case files transmitted to prosecutorial authorities by the Belgian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in 2005 featured cash transactions. The types and patterns of cash transactions that are at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing include the following : - exchange transactions, involving the exchange of one currency into another or the conversion of smaller denominations into bigger ones; - money remittance transactions, within or outside the country, often for mutual settlement. One of the potential risks here is that false identities may be used, thus making regulation, even where it does exist, difficult; - cash deposits on bank accounts, either by the account owners or by a third party; - cash withdrawals from accounts; and - cross-border transport of physical cash concealed in items such vehicle spare parts, pockets, commercial airlines parcels, suitcases and handbags.

Details: s.l.: GIABA, 2007. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 1, 2017 at: http://www.giaba.org/media/f/107_typologies-report-november-2007.pdf

Year: 2007

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cash Transactions

Shelf Number: 148672


Author: Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group - ESAAMLG

Title: Laundering the Proceeds of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (ESAAMLG Region)

Summary: DT remains one of the largest sources of illicit funds worldwide. It has predominant high value. Drugs are frequently used exported and imported across the region from many parts of the world. The magnitude and extent of drug abuse has been a global cause for concern for a long time. Countries in the ESAAMLG region have all taken critical steps to tackle the problem but to date such efforts have delivered limited success. The UNODC 2010 World Drug Report estimates that the profits derived from illegal narcotics trade amount to US$600 billion annually and that up to US$1.5 trillion in drug money is laundered through seemingly legitimate enterprises associated with this trade. This amount exceeds the combined GDP of most ESAAMLG member countries. This typologies exercise was undertaken in order to better understand the vulnerabilities of ML arising from DT in the region. The project team analyzed the legal instruments / mechanisms put in place to fight ML and DT in ESAAMLG member countries. A review of the relevant literature and case studies also revealed the techniques, methods, mechanisms and instruments used to launder the illicit proceeds of DT. This report identified that legislation on AML in most ESAAMLG countries are recent and that most FIUs are not yet operational. Whilst most of the countries have enacted appropriate legislation to deal with ML and DT, there is lack of coordination among all the relevant LEAs and their FIUs. Lack of expertise in conducting AML investigation is another critical limitation, as a result, most of the investigations focus on the predicate offences ignoring the financial aspects of the proceeds of the crime which would reveal the ML trends and typologies. Consequently very few effective DT AML investigations are carried out and fewer cases are prosecuted. One of the key findings from the case studies obtained and analyzed was that drug traffickers usually launder their proceeds through purchase of real estate, luxury vehicles, front companies, insurance industry and through collusion with bank employees to facilitate both local transactions and international wire transfers to off shore jurisdictions. The study further revealed that no single member of the region has experienced all the above trends however some ML trends are more prominent in some of the member states compared to others. It is further evident that the illicit drug cultivation, processing and use are on the increase in the region. Further, other hard drugs (cocaine and heroin) are now increasingly being consumed within the region as opposed to the region being used as a transit point. Therefore, this has increased ML in the region. It is therefore recommended that the region develop systems and the necessary frameworks to collect and maintain comprehensive crime statistics which will assist in determining the impact of the measures taken, feed into policy formulation and anti-crime strategies. It is important to note that the project team encountered difficulties receiving substantive results of comprehensive trends pertaining to the ESAAMLG region as most of the countries' responses had insufficient information especially in terms of case studies and statistical data.

Details: Dar es Salaam - United Republic of Tanzania: ESAAMLG: 2011. 46p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 6, 2017 at: http://www.esaamlg.org/userfiles/DRUG-TRAFFICKING-REPORT.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 148734


Author: Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA)

Title: The Nexus between Small Arms and Light Weapons and Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in West Africa

Summary: 1. This presents the findings of field research on the nexus between illicit trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Money Laundering (ML) in West Africa on the one hand; and illicit trafficking in SALW and Terrorist Financing (TF) in West Africa on the other in all 15 member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). 2. Following a comprehensive desk research and analysis of relevant laws and regulations related to SALW and money laundering and terrorism financing, fieldwork was conducted in the form of interviews on the basis of confidentiality with relevant stakeholders in public, private, and civil society sectors. Further analysis of research data was conducted by consultants. 3. The study is divided into eight chapters. Chapter 1 provides the background and spells out the objectives of the study. It also includes a brief explanation of the methodology used. Chapter 2 focuses on typologies, prevalence, and impact of small arms and light weapons (SALW) trafficking and proliferation in West Africa. It focuses on the trends and patterns of illicit trafficking in SALW in the region, with particular focus on the internal and external drivers of SALW, the nature of the firearms deals, the types of firearms trafficked, and the types of SALW that are manufactured locally in the region, including the countries that have the most thriving local SALW manufacturing industries. 4. Chapter 3explores the nexus between illicit small arms and light weapons (SALW) trafficking and money laundering in West Africa, particularly on the likely sources of funds for financing illegal arms importation into West Africa by non-state actors. This chapter also examines how illicit profits from illicit SALW trafficking and proliferation deals are laundered. The laundering methods are through local and international banks, real estate investments, and small retail business. Chapter 4 examines the nexus between illicit trafficking in SALW and terrorist financing in West Africa. It examines the methods through which proceeds generated from SALW trafficking are used to fund activities of terrorist and extremist groups in the region. Chapter 5 provides an analysis of existing laws and regulations, and the institutional mechanisms for preventing and combating illicit trafficking in SALW, and for regulating ML/TF. It examines, among other things, the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, the regional administrative measures for combating illicit trafficking in SALW and the regional administrative measures against ML and TF. Chapter 6 provides the findings of the study, while chapters 7 and 8 deal with general conclusions and recommendations, respectively.

Details: s.l.: GIABA, 2013. 63p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 7, 2017 at: http://www.giaba.org/media/f/613_519_GIABA%20SALW%20Nexus-final.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arms Trafficking

Shelf Number: 148758


Author: Porter, Alex

Title: Finding a foothold. Assessing forecastability in transnational organised crime

Summary: To what extent can the scale and scope of transnational organised crime be forecast? This paper offers insights for modelling various crime types. States and intergovernmental bodies increasingly recognise the threats transnational organised crime (TOC) poses to human wellbeing, state legitimacy and the global economy, but we do not have a clear understanding of its scale or scope. This paper outlines a conceptual background for understanding and quantifying the future in broad terms and in the context of TOC. It provides an overview of data estimation and modelling, and offers a framework for beginning to think about forecasting types of TOC. The paper offers an assessment of 'forecastability' in five TOC categories, reviewing research and data estimation in each category. Key points - Modelling and/or forecasting transnational organised crime (TOC) could provide a useful tool for governments and policy-makers to better understand and combat TOC. - However, the illicit and hidden nature of TOC makes it difficult to define and accurately measure. - Barriers to measurement and understanding of TOC mean that it is not possible to model and forecast at this juncture. - It may, however, be possible to find a foothold in forecasting TOC by modelling illicit drug demand. - Modelling illicit drug demand could provide insight into long-term trends within the international illicit drug trade.

Details: ENACT Africa, 2017. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Research paper: Issue 02: Accessed February 1, 2018 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2017-30-11_Denver_ResearchReport_Findingafoothold.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 148964


Author: Ostensen, Ase Gilje

Title: Shadow Value Chains Tracing the link between corruption, illicit activity and lootable natural resources from West Africa

Summary: The illicit natural resource trade continues to benefit corrupt officials, criminal and terrorist networks and divert resources away from development, security and the common good in West Africa. How are Liberian timber, Sierra Leonean diamonds, Malian gold and Nigerian oil traded outside of, and intertwined with, legal value chains before ending up in what is often legal consumer markets? By collating recent knowledge of the 'shadow value chains' of these resources, this paper seeks to explore if and how illegally traded natural resources sponsor other types of illicit activity, such as organised crime and terrorism. Furthermore, how are these activities facilitated by corruption in the different cases? The paper gives a number of recommendations. Perhaps the most important one is that in order to improve interventions, in-depth understanding of local power relations and incentive structures in these individual shadow value chains is crucial. Such knowledge should be paired with increased attention to how international actors and networks facilitate and accommodate illegitimate private gains stemming from lootable West African natural resources.

Details: Bergen, Norway: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, CHR Michelsen Institute (CMI), 2017. 80p.

Source: Internet Resource: U4Issue: Accessed February 6, 2018 at: https://cdn.sanity.io/files/1f1lcoov/production/CDwR6nTXrees_8K8sZL0QSjAxwK4Xzo96DRbE.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 148996


Author: Alusala, Nelson

Title: Africa in Arms: Taking stock of efforts for improved arms control

Summary: The future of Africa's development is intrinsically linked to the continent's ability to take charge of its peace and security. The African Union (AU) Commission is best placed to lead this process. However, the organisation and its member states have continuously been challenged by the widespread and uncontrolled flow of arms and ammunition. The AU Commission and its affiliated sub-regional organisations have put into place a number of initiatives and mechanisms that align their efforts with global processes, but Africa is yet to fully enjoy the dividends of these measures. This paper reviews the achievements attained so far, explores some of the drivers of the demand for arms and identifies recommendations for bolstering existing efforts. Recommendations - To strengthen current efforts, the AU, regional economic communities (RECs) and regional mechanisms (RMs) should consider the following: - Strengthening stockpile management systems within member states. This should include the construction of modern armouries and capacity building for relevant personnel. - Enforcing the implementation of arms embargoes, in collaboration with the UN sanctions committees and embargo monitoring groups. - Addressing terrorism comprehensively. Terrorism is increasingly becoming a major driver for illicit arms flows. There is an urgent need for the AU and its sub-regional organisations to coordinate efforts to eliminate this growing menace. - Regulating artisanal arms manufacturers. These manufacturers should be supported in a framework that allows them to operate in a more formalised way. Failure to do this would exacerbate illicit arms proliferation and manufacturing.

Details: s.l.: ENACT, 2017. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper Issue 3: Accessed February 6, 2018 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2017-12-13-ResearchPaper-AfricainArms-Research.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arms Control

Shelf Number: 148998


Author: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

Title: Illicit Financial Flows: Report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa

Summary: The 4th Joint African Union Commission/United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (AUC/ECA) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development was held in 2011. This Conference mandated ECA to establish the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa. Underlying this decision was the determination to ensure Africa's accelerated and sustained development, relying as much as possible on its own resources. The decision was immediately informed by concern that many of our countries would fail to meet the Millennium Development Goals during the target period ending in 2015. There was also concern that our continent had to take all possible measures to ensure respect for the development priorities it had set itself, as reflected for instance in the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Progress on this agenda could not be guaranteed if Africa remained overdependent on resources supplied by development partners. In the light of this analysis, it became clear that Africa was a net creditor to the rest of the world, even though, despite the inflow of official development assistance, the continent had suffered and was continuing to suffer from a crisis of insufficient resources for development. Very correctly, these considerations led to the decision to focus on the matter of illicit financial outflows from Africa, and specifically on the steps that must be taken to radically reduce these outflows to ensure that these development resources remain within the continent. The importance of this decision is emphasized by the fact that our continent is annually losing more than $50 billion through illicit financial outflows.

Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: The Commission, 2015. 126p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 7, 2018 at: https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/PublicationFiles/iff_main_report_26feb_en.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Financial Crimes

Shelf Number: 149020


Author: Martin, Rowan

Title: Assessing the Extent and Impact of Illicit Financial Flows in the Wildlife and Tourism Economic Sectors in Southern Africa

Summary: This study on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in the Wildlife and Tourism sectors in Southern Africa emanated from the TrustAfrica (TA) and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) project "Assessing the extent and impact of illicit financial flows in key economic sectors in Southern Africa". The three components of the project are mining, agriculture and wildlife. IFFs are illicit movements from one country to another of money or products that are illegally acquired. The money typically originates from three sources in the private sector: commercial tax evasion, trade misinvoicing and abusive transfer pricing. However, other types of criminal activity can produce IFFs, which in this study include the trafficking of live animals and plants and their products and associated corruption (bribery and theft by corrupt government officials) through which the proceeds end up in another country. This wildlife trade and tourism IFF study is the first of its kind and the methodologies involved a combination of population modelling, estimated product offtakes and open source trade data. The trade research is limited to eight species groups - elephants, rhinos, lions, pangolins, crocodiles, abalone, sharks and rays, and cycads. The study concluded that for the period 2006-2014, Southern Africa lost almost US$ 1.5 billion in illicit transfers of funds or products overseas, or close to 50% of all wildlife commodity exports. Surprisingly, illegal exports of abalone meat made up almost half of this amount. The IFFs in the wildlife tourism sector were much larger, estimated at over US$ 22 billion in the ten years 2006-2015, and deriving mainly from tax evasion and trade misinvoicing, sometimes involving offshore shell companies. We predicted that more than US$3 billion could have been lost in 2016 in the eight countries covered in this study. The main causes of the huge losses to the economies of Southern Africa in wildlife trade were CITES trade bans and the fact that local communities were not empowered to manage what should rightfully be their resources on their land. Trade bans and disenfranchisement led communities to harvest illegally and to sell wildlife products to illegal exporters. The only way to mitigate these losses would be to do away with trade bans, bring most species into the legal sector, and establish supply and demand regulatory systems that would ensure conservation of the species while also satisfying legitimate stakeholder interests, primarily those of communities and enterprises that live in association with the wildlife and which share common habitats. Note: Disclaimer: The findings in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of TA and OSISA.

Details: TrustAfrica and the Open Society for Southern Africa (OSISA), 2017. 177p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 8, 2018 at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2996874

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Financial Crimes

Shelf Number: 149025


Author: Warner, Jason

Title: Targeted Terror: The Suicide Bombers of al-Shabaab

Summary: Al-Shabaab, an Islamist terrorist group that has been plaguing Somalia since 2006, was named the most deadly terror group in Africa in 2017 by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). One tactic that al-Shabaab uses in its reign of terror is suicide bombing. Despite recognition of the seriousness of the threat that al-Shabaab's suicide bombers pose, very little is known about how, when, and why al-Shabaab elects to employ the tactic of suicide bombings. This report answers these questions. By analyzing a unique dataset compiled by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point that tracks all instances of al-Shabaab suicide bombings between the group's first suicide attack on September 18, 2006, to the end of our data collection in October 2017, the authors offer the most comprehensive account to date on the emergence, evolution, and efficacy on al-Shabaab's suicide bombers. They find that al-Shabaab has deployed at least 216 suicide attackers who carried out a total of 155 suicide bombing attacks, killing at least 595 and as many as 2,218 people. Their data indicates that al-Shabaab's suicide attacks are highly targeted, aimed at degrading the Somali state and members of the international community (United Nations, African Union, or African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)) that are combating it. Unlike certain other terrorist groups, al-Shabaab's suicide attacks tend to attempt to avoid targeting non-combatant civilians, and thus do not seem to be undertaken simply to engender shock and awe. Their data also reveals information about just who serves as al-Shabaab's suicide bombers; where they target; al-Shabaab's suicide bombing delivery tendencies; and timing trends along months and days of the week. In conclusion, they offer suggestions about how to combat the group's suicide bombing efforts in the future.

Details: West Point, NY: Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, 2018. 45p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 13, 2018 at: https://ctc.usma.edu/app/uploads/2018/02/Targeted-Terror-2.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 149106


Author: Gashaw, Tasew

Title: Mitigating Cross-Border Intergroup Conflicts along the Ethiopia-South Sudan Border

Summary: The Horn of Africa is afflicted by poor human security, conflict, and terrorism and is one of the most insecure regions in Africa. In addition, international borders in the region are porous, contested, volatile, and fragile. All of these factors heighten conflict among the borderland people in the region. A prime example of border porousness and fragility can be found along the Ethiopia-South Sudan border. These two countries share an 874km (543 miles) open and fragile international border along the Gambella Regional State of Ethiopia. The local people on the border consist of the Murle in South Sudan, the Nuer, the Anyuaa, and other highlander communities on both sides of the border.

Details: Washington, DC: Wilson Center, 2017. 4p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Program; Policy Brief No. 13: Accessed February 13, 2018 at: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/mitigating-cross-border-intergroup-conflicts-along-the-ethiopia-south-sudan-border

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Security

Shelf Number: 149122


Author: Tinti, Peter

Title: Migrant smuggling: Paths from the Horn of Africa to Yemen and Saudi Arabia

Summary: This report examines the smuggling networks facilitating irregular migration from the Horn of Africa to countries in the Arabian Peninsula, also referred to as the Gulf. In addition to analysing the structure and modus operandi of migrant smuggling networks, the author considers the extent to which these networks are involved in other forms of organised criminal activity, such as arms and narcotics trafficking. The report concludes with recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders operating in the Horn of Africa and Yemen.

Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2017. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa in the World Report 7: Accessed February 22, 2018 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/aitwr-7.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 149218


Author: Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed

Title: Evolving Terror: The Development of Jihadist Operations Targeting Western Interests in Africa

Summary: After the Arab Spring, North African countries experienced growing instability, and jihadist groups capitalized on both social unrest and local conflicts. As these groups strengthened, jihadists expanded their operations into the Sahel, and were able to propagate their transnational ideology to new audiences. The threat that jihadist groups in Africa pose to Western interests has grown over the past decade, as groups operating in North Africa, the Sahel, West Africa, and the Horn of Africa have honed their capabilities. This is reflected in the increased frequency and complexity of attacks against Western interests. Between January 2007 and December 2011, jihadists conducted 132 successful, thwarted, or failed attacks against Western interests in Africa. This figure nearly tripled to 358 attacks between January 2012 and October 2017. While the 490 total attacks against Western interests in Africa recorded in this study have varied in target type and tactics, jihadist operations have generally become more sophisticated. In some cases, jihadist organizations developed new tactics for penetrating well-guarded facilities. For example, the Somali militant group al-Shabaab has increased its use of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), often supplementing such attacks with armed assaults. This adaptation allowed Shabaab to gain entrance to facilities like airports and UN humanitarian compounds, frequently penetrating past guarded gates. African jihadist groups have also developed innovative ways to thwart the aviation industry's security measures on the continent. For example, a Shabaab suicide bomber detonated a laptop bomb on Daallo Airlines Flight 159 in February 2016. A month later, Shabaab operatives concealed another bomb in a laptop that exploded at Somalia's Beledweyne airport, and authorities defused two other bombs in the same incident, including one hidden in a printer. Not only do these events suggest an escalating threat to African aviation, but they also highlight how African jihadist groups learn and innovate. The ability to learn is critical to any violent non-state actor (VNSA), but particularly so for militant groups, which are pursued by state actors and sometimes also by other VNSAs. These groups need to be able to mount successful attacks against foes who constantly refine their defenses. The learning processes of African jihadist groups are evident in this study's data set, as these groups have engaged in unambiguous adaptations over the course of the past decade. They will continue to engage in organizational learning in an effort to make themselves more effective - and, consequently, more dangerous. But there is also a significant risk that outside jihadist groups are assisting African jihadists' innovations, and watching carefully to bring these tactics to new theaters after seeing how they fare in a "testing ground." We return to the topic of jihadist learning processes in this study's conclusion. To understand evolving tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), targeting, and jihadist innovation, this report uses empirical and historical analysis to map trends in operations against Western interests over the past decade. The report focuses on five target types: (1) establishments popular among foreigners, such as restaurants and hotels; (2) energy and mineral resources infrastructure and facilities; (3) non-African tourists, expatriates, and NGO workers; (4) national and international government facilities, such as embassies and UN humanitarian compounds; and (5) the aviation industry. This report is based on an extensive list of successful, thwarted, and failed attacks against each target type, and utilizes both quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify trends and draw conclusions about the evolution of targeting preferences and TTPs since 2007.

Details: Washington, DC: Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 2018. 41p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 26, 2018 at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/content/uploads/documents/REPORTS_EvolvingTerror.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Jihadist Groups

Shelf Number: 149233


Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Title: Illicit Financial Flows: The Economy of Illicit Trade in West Africa

Summary: The negative impact of illicit financial flows (IFFs) on progress towards development goals increasingly features on international political agendas. There is now a consensus that resolving the problem of IFFs requires responding to underlying development challenges, and tackling all parts of the problem in source, transit and destination countries. Drawing on collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the World Bank, this report examines the nature of thirteen overlapping, and often times mutually reinforcing, criminal and illicit economies, with a view to identify their underlying development linkages and resulting financial flows. The report goes beyond traditional efforts to measure illicit financial flows (focusing solely on financial losses) and takes the first step towards building a qualitative understanding of the way in which illicit or criminal activities might interact with the economy, security and development of a region particularly susceptible to IFFs. In taking this approach, this report identifies the networks and drivers that allow these criminal economies to thrive, with a particular emphasis on the actors and incentives behind them. This report further proposes a framework that offers an opportunity for policy makers (national governments, regional actors and international partners) to prioritise their policy responses, and to address the development conditions and resulting impacts of IFFs.

Details: Paris: OECD, 2018. 140p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2018 at: http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/development/illicit-financial-flows_9789264268418-en#.WpahU-jwbcs

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Financial Crime

Shelf Number: 149278


Author: Reitano, Tuesday

Title: The Crime-Development Paradox: Organised Crime and the SDGs

Summary: This continental report explores how organised crime threatens the achievement of development goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have immense transformative potential, but organised crime has proven to be a cross-cutting threat to the achievement of core and essential development objectives - both directly and indirectly. Organised crime not only directly threatens specific goals, such as the reduction of poverty and the promotion of economic growth; but also the general maintenance of global biodiversity and sustainable environments; the building of safe and inclusive societies; the promotion of public health and peoples' well-being; and even the orderly management of migration. Whereas the SDGs are indivisible, organised crime is divisive and destructive. It is poison in the well of global sustainable development. In all five priorities of the SDGs - people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership - the interrelationship with organised crime needs to be more fully considered. This is critical both for protecting development gains from the negative impacts of organised crime, determining the way that organised crime itself is responded to, and predicting how effective those responses will be.

Details: ENACT, 2018. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2018 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018_02_20_ContinentalReport_CrimeDevelopmentParadox_Research.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Development and Crime

Shelf Number: 149279


Author: International Fund for Animal Welfare

Title: Trading Tusks: An Investigation into Elephant Management and Ivory Trade in Southern Africa

Summary: The findings and conclusions outlined in this report are the results of extensive research, including 63 interviews, conducted in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe between August and October 2006 on issues relating to elephant conservation management and the ivory trade in these countries. This report is a summary of two detailed reports of the research, available from IFAW on request. The elephant populations of these countries are currently on CITES Appendix II. At CITES CoP 12 in Santiago in 2002, a one-off sale of ivory stockpiles from Botswana, South Africa and Namibia was approved in principle, subject to a set of conditions. These conditions, including the reporting of baseline information on the illegal killing of elephants by the MIKE programme, have not been met to date. The highly charged debates around whether a legal international ivory trade should be allowed, and whether one-off ivory auctions send the wrong signals to the illegal ivory market, rest on three main questions: how viable is the elephant population as a species; how sound are the enforcement and implementation agencies of CITES in the countries involved; and does a legal international trade in ivory fuel the demand for illegal ivory, thus simultaneously increasing poaching and enabling the mixing in of illegal with legal ivory? This paper attempts to provide an overview of the measures in place in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe to prevent and control the illegal ivory trade, and the level of overall protection and management of elephants. From our interviews with key personnel charged with these responsibilities, we have been able to assess the capacity of institutions such as National Parks, Provincial Nature Conservation Authorities, Customs and the Police to enforce CITES. On the other side of the equation are the measures taken to conserve and manage the elephant population. Southern African states tend to argue that their management of elephants is so successful - as apparently shown by increasing elephant numbers - that they should be rewarded for their good stewardship by being allowed to sell ivory (and possibly to cull elephants to obtain that ivory) and invest the ivory money in further elephant conservation, or the amelioration of the human-elephant conflict. This report attempts to critically assess these claims and raises questions about the ecological soundness of current elephant management strategies in Southern Africa.

Details: Yarmouth Port, MA: IFAW, 2018. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 5, 2018 at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ifaw-pantheon/sites/default/files/legacy/Trading%20Tusks%20and%20investigation%20into%20elephants%20management%20and%20ivory%20trade%20in%20SA%20-%202007.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 149312


Author: Greenpeace

Title: Africa's Fisheries' Paradise at a Crossroads: Investigating Chinese Companies' Illegal Fishing Practices in West Africa

Summary: Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, systematic fishing vessel tonnage fraud and the exportation of a destructive fisheries model. Meanwhile, West African fisheries resources are increasingly being overfished. While these Chinese DWF companies' activities contribute little to China's overall overseas investments, they undermine the mutually-beneficial partnership which the Chinese government is seeking with African countries. The Chinese government must urgently reform its DWF regulatory framework and management system to close the loopholes that have allowed Chinese companies to overfish and flout rules with quasi impunity for decades. West African governments must urgently strengthen governance and adopt and implement policies to ensure that the exploitation of their marine resources is environmentally sustainable and socially equitable. All States concerned should also adopt and implement effective national and regional plans of action to combat and deter IUU fishing in the region

Details: Beijing: Greenpeace East Asia, 2015. 52p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 9, 2018 at: http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/Global/africa/graphics/Scam%20on%20the%20African%20Coast/AFRICA%E2%80%99S%20FISHERIES%E2%80%99%20PARADISE%20AT%20A%20CROSSROADS_FULL%20REPORT.pdF

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Fishing Industry

Shelf Number: 149417


Author: Davy, Deanna

Title: Unpacking the Myths: Human smuggling from and within the Horn of Africa

Summary: This RMMS briefing paper provides an update on the volume, trends, and modus operandi of migrant smuggling within and from the Horn of Africa. It offers new estimates of the volume of smuggling, the value of the illicit migrant smuggling economy, and the conditions and risks faced by smuggled migrants. This paper finds that migrant smuggling within and from the Horn of Africa continues to occur, with new smuggling routes opening in response to irregular migration related risks and law enforcement responses to migrant smuggling on traditionally popular routes. Smuggling as part of the mixed migration flows are more and more common, particularly as travel across borders becomes more dangerous. The paper also provides information on the operations of migrant smuggling - including smuggling routes, activities, and profiles.

Details: Nairobi, Kenya: Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat East Africa & Yemen, 2017. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: RAMS Briefing Paper 6: Accessed March 12, 2018 at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/RMMS%20BriefingPaper6%20-%20Unpacking%20the%20Myths.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 149431


Author: Management Systems International

Title: The Development Response to Drug Trafficking in Africa: A Programming Guide

Summary: Drug trafficking poses a growing problem in Africa. Increasing flows of illicit drugs threaten good governance, peace and security, economic growth and public health. Failure to address this threat risks undermining the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)'s investments and thwarting U.S. Government objectives on the continent. In recognition of the issue, USAID's Africa Bureau initiated research in 2011 on the development causes and consequences of drug trafficking and potential programmatic responses. The resulting programming guide aims to help USAID, other development actors, and other U.S. Government personnel understand the relationship between drug trafficking and development assistance and seek ways to mitigate any negative impacts. At a minimum, development actors should undertake crimesensitive programming that ensures their efforts do no harm. Where possible, development actors should consider programming targeted to counter the flow of drugs (e.g., anticorruption efforts or judicial reform) or programming to ameliorate the impacts of drug trafficking, such as demand reduction programs including prevention and treatment. This guide helps Missions examine opportunities for incorporating such considerations into current or future USAID programming. This guide first focuses on identifying the development challenge in Africa. The second section addresses the political economy analysis that will inform what type of programming is appropriate and which actors are appropriate partners for development efforts. The third section presents programming options to: (1) counter drug trafficking, (2) ameliorate its impacts, and (3) incorporate crime sensitivity. The fourth section presents key findings and lessons learned. These include: - Drug trafficking in Africa threatens development. Drug trafficking has exacerbated instability in Guinea-Bissau and Mali and is corroding governance throughout Africa. If left unattended, drug trafficking threatens to further undermine stability and governance and impair economic growth and public health. - Development practitioners must "get smart" on the issue. Given the significant threats across development sectors, USAID personnel should increase awareness of this issue by engaging with U.S. Government counterparts and incorporating issues of drug trafficking and criminality into planned assessments and analyses. - Interdiction alone will not solve the problem. Interdiction must be accompanied by demand reduction efforts to help counteract the potential increased profitability from decreasing the supply of drugs. Moreover, interdiction must lead to prosecution of traffickers beyond the lowest level to effectively disrupt drug trafficking networks. - Early identification of the problem and prevention efforts are critical. Although it is difficult to garner support for these issues before they erupt, early investments to contain the influence of drug money in politics and local conflicts and to prevent the spread of a retail drug market could significantly contribute to Africa's future stability and prosperity. - Political will must drive the counternarcotics approach. Whereas Missions can undertake crime-sensitive programming and support efforts to ameliorate harm and increase demand for counternarcotics measures without accompanying political will, they should only pursue supply-side efforts to improve counternarcotics efforts where there is corresponding political will. - Resources influence programming options. To the extent that a Mission has democracy and governance funds and a serious drug trafficking issue, the Mission could direct resources to building accountable governance that simultaneously addresses core democracy and governance challenges in the country and promotes counternarcotics efforts. Absent such resources, Missions may still ensure that existing programming across development sectors incorporates crime sensitivity and works to ameliorate the impacts of drug trafficking (e.g., consider using health resources to raise awareness and support demand and harm reduction). - Change presents windows of opportunity and vulnerability. The environment for drug trafficking is fluid and Missions should identify windows of opportunity, or moments that present a chance for positive change, and vulnerability, or moments that risk fostering drug trafficking. - Coordination increases impacts. Given the many actors involved in providing assistance, USAID should work closely with its local, interagency and international counterparts as coordinated efforts are more likely to result in system-wide reform than those undertaken by any single entity. In addition, USAID should seek ways to align efforts across a region to prevent successful efforts in one country from simply pushing the problem elsewhere.

Details: Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development, 2013. 62p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 14, 2018 at: https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/Development_Response_to_Drug_Trafficking_in_Africa_Programming_Guide.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 149469


Author: Reitano, Tuesday

Title: Mitigating the threat of organised crime in Africa's development

Summary: Organised crime presents a manifold threat to sustainable development. This is recognised by the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063. However, policy statements which recognise the cross-cutting threat of organised crime have not been translated to the implementation framework in a systematic way, and policy tends to focus on the fight against organised crime at the sectoral level. Development actors need to understand not only how organised crime will undermine their objectives, but also that development itself presents opportunities for organised crime to flourish. As Africa focuses on stimulating economic growth, investment and infrastructure, the danger is that development goals will be subverted. Development actors need to both crime-proof existing interventions and ensure future investments are crime sensitive. Key points - Organised crime threatens all aspects of the continent's sustainable development. - Too much of the response to organised crime is crafted as policies to counter specific illicit markets rather than examining the issue and its impacts holistically. - The illicit economy can be a source of livelihoods and a resilience strategy for the poor and vulnerable. There is thus a development paradox at play. - Both the SDGs and Agenda 2063 emphasise economic stimulus and investment through public-private partnerships. However, without proper oversight, organised crime reinforces negative governance patterns that create an unhealthy alliance between crime, government and business. - Development itself comes with organised crime risks, which can facilitate the growth of illicit markets. - If SDG goals are to be achieved, development must be crime-sensitive and crime-proof.

Details: s.l.: ENACT Programme, 2018. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief: Accessed March 15, 2018 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018_02_20_PolicyBrief_OCinAfrica_OCSDGs.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Development and Crime

Shelf Number: 149471


Author: Bronkhorst, Kevin R. van

Title: Waging War for Wildlife: Green Militarization in Sub-Saharan Anti-Poaching Strategies

Summary: Poaching as a criminal act has existed since the beginnings of landownership. During the 17th and 18th centuries, poaching was committed as an act of desperation by starving peasantry and even became a venerated facet of the civil disobedience depicted in early English ballads (Gregory, 2010: 53,338). An inability to curb the act of poaching in Britain led to the erection of many statutes, laws and regulations. The Waltham Black Act of 1723 made illegal hunting a capital crime, and spurred several small-scale conflicts resulting in the deaths of gamekeepers and many more poachers (Moore & Banham, 2014). Though bloody clashes occurred, the act of counter-poaching was strictly a matter of policing, and those captured would be prosecuted and imprisoned or hanged (Kirby, 1933:242). At this point in history, hunting was reserved for the upper echelons of society and the motivation for illegal hunting was traditionally borne out of necessity. The later international commodification of rare pelts, horns, tusks and furs generated a new breed of poacher, and those seeking to preserve heritage, maintain sovereignty, and conserve endangered species have found themselves at the forefront of a steadily escalating conflict. Legislation and conservation efforts in the United States in the 19th century saw the policing of poaching escalate into armed conflict reaching an apex in 1891, when Canadian poachers caused the near extinction of seals near the Aleutian Islands (Ellsworth, 1974:14). At the behest of the U.S. Naturalist society, President William Henry Harrison commanded naval and marine intervention in an incident known as The Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations (15). This event marked the first instance of the utilization of military forces to ensure the preservation of an endangered species. The incredibly lucrative nature of the exotic animal market had effectively raised the stakes for both poacher and park ranger, leading to an all-out arms race on both sides of the fence. Today in many regions of Africa, this same violence has reached a fever pitch. The Garamba National Park (GNP) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one such example, having become the scene of increasing violence as a result of highly-organized and heavily-armed gangs of poachers. Over 78 elephants were killed in a two-month period in 2014, several of which poachers gunned down by helicopter with marksman precision (Christy, 2014). Tusks, tails, brains and genitals were removed using chainsaws, and the rest of the carcasses were abandoned, dispelling ideas of subsistence poaching (FFI, 2014). Park rangers reported being overwhelmed in organized assaults with fully automatic weaponry and fragmentation grenades. In June 2015, three rangers were killed in an ambush while attempting to track poachers (African Parks, 2015). A few months later, GNP rangers suffered four more fatalities while attempting to intercept a gang of poachers. The rescue helicopter dispatched to evacuate the remaining rangers took heavy fire and was nearly shot down in the process (Walley, 2015). High ivory demand has created an illicit market where opportunity to gain from poaching is higher than ever, and as a result, counter-poaching has become even more deadly (Christy, 2015). Today, GNP rangers report military style engagements with members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), South Sudanese rebel gangs, and even Congolese military deserters (Walley, 2015). Combined, these gangs of commercial poachers have become a lethal and overwhelming threat not only to the park rangers and wildlife of GNP, but to the security of the entire region. Escalating violence and rapidly declining elephant populations have raised alarms throughout the international community. The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), European Union (EU), USAID and countless other bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental organizations and institutions contribute to the anti-poaching cause by donating millions of dollars worth of tools and equipment, and providing military training for park rangers (NGOPulse, 2015). Still, despite all funding and efforts, the rate of poaching in many countries has only accelerated. For several organizations, provided aid functions more as a desperate attempt to 'do something' rather than as part of a coherent policy strategy (Duffy, 1999:106). Other organizations look to technology for solutions. Google, in conjunction with the WWF, has invested millions of dollars in search of high tech solutions (Boyle, 2012), which some refer to as the quest for a 'silver bullet' (IAPF, 2015). While some technology has shown limited promise (i.e. Hart, et al. 2015), the most effective counter-poaching efforts are often low-tech, involving tedious patrols, long hours, good field-craft, and exceptional discipline (Henk, 2007). As one experienced ranger put it: "nothing beats a real dog" (Wall, 2014). Rapid militarization and ever dwindling populations of endangered species in many regions have driven conflict to a military scale. To the international community, poachers threaten beloved megafauna (large mammals); an increasingly scarce natural resource (Padgett, 1995). To those living in the DRC however, poachers threaten the sovereignty, economic prosperity and future of the nation (DRC, 2015). The proliferation of cheap military grade hardware and ammunition has allowed ringleaders to furnish and deploy large commercial poaching gangs willing to engage in combat with park rangers. The use of militarized forces for conservation is referred to by Elizabeth Lunstrum (2014) as green militarization. The concept of green militarization forms the foundation of this thesis, exploring the link between militarized responses and counter-poaching effectiveness. By researching the training, tactics, and technology of counter-poaching units across six Sub-Saharan nations, it is possible to determine which aspects of militarization have been successful, and whether increased green militarization is a potential solution to the problem of poaching.

Details: Leiden, NETH: Leiden University, 2016. 114p.

Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed April 11, 2018 at: https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/53648

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 149624


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Title: Crime and Development in Africa

Summary: Our knowledge on the state of crime in Africa is limited. Given the many development challenges facing the continent, it is not surprising that little attention has been given to crime. But Africa's development challenges are precisely the social factors found to be associated with high crime situations internationally. For example: - Income inequality is one of the most robust quantitative correlates of official crime rates, and Africa hosts some of the most unequal countries in the world: on average, the richest 10% earn 31 times more than the poorest 10%. - Throughout the world, teenaged and young adult males commit most of the crime, and Africa's youthful population (43% under the age of 15) means that a greater part of the society falls into this pool of potential offenders. Many of these young people are not enrolled in educational programmes and cannot find employment. - Rapid rates of urbanisation, a factor that combines elements of population density, cultural clash, and population instability, is also a strong correlate of crime rates. Africa is urbanising at about 4% a year, about twice the global average. - Poor countries have poorly-resourced criminal justice systems, and Africa suffers from the world's least favourable police- and judge-to-population ratios. This ultimately impacts on conviction rates; even if the police perform optimally, offenders in Africa are much less likely to be punished for their wrongdoings than those in the rest of the world. Such a system cannot effectively deter, incapacitate, or rehabilitate criminals. - The proliferation of firearms, related in part to the recurrence of conflict in all regions of the continent and in part to a growing sense of public insecurity, enables and aggravates violent crime. While none of these factors alone causes crime, their presence together does make it more probable that crime will occur, all other things being equal. This does not mean that the continent is doomed to criminality. Rather, it means that crime needs to be anticipated and that development planning should proceed with these dynamics in mind.

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2005. 160p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 12, 2018 at: http://www.unodc.org/pdf/African_report.pdf

Year: 2005

Country: Africa

Keywords: Developing Countries

Shelf Number: 149797


Author: Anderson, Angela J.

Title: Modern Intelligence Measures to Combat Animal Poaching: A Conservation & Counterterrorism Strategy

Summary: This thesis explores nuanced intelligence techniques and technologies currently implemented by analysts, rangers, anti-poaching units, and governments to combat the growing problem of animal poaching. It explores how these new intelligence methods can be incorporated into anti-poaching operations and in what environments they are most effective. The study finds that terrain, cultural factors, and specific, customizable, anti-poaching intelligence techniques play a large role in terms of devising the best possible intelligence strategy to combat animal poaching. The study views these possible solutions through the lens of the INT's including HUMINT, SIGINT, MASINT, IMINT, GEOINT, and OSINT. It further highlights terrorist groups' increasing use of poaching to fund their operations. This thesis takes a case study methodological approach in order to describe a wide variety of cases in various national parks, reserves, conservatories, anti-poaching organizations, and countries across the African continent. Due to a lack of data and only recent implementation of these methods, this approach provided the best possible means to display and analyze the current available data applicable to intelligence in anti-poaching operations.

Details: Erie, PA: Mercyhurst University, 2014. 108p.

Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed April 19, 2018 at: https://www.mercyhurst.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/799478-anderson-thesis-final.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 149859


Author: International Fund for Animal Welfare

Title: Out of Africa: Byting Down on Wildlife Cybercrime

Summary: The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has been researching the threat that online wildlife trade poses to endangered species since 2004. During that time, our research in over 25 countries around the globe has revealed the vast scale of trade in wildlife and their parts and products on the world's largest marketplace, the Internet - a market that is open for business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Whilst legal trade exists in respect of many species of wildlife, online platforms can provide easy opportunities for criminal activities. Trade over the Internet is often largely unregulated and anonymous, often with little to no monitoring or enforcement action being taken against wildlife cybercriminals. In addition, cyber-related criminal investigations are complicated by jurisdictional issues, with perpetrators in different geographical locations and laws differing from country to country. This poses a serious threat to the survival of some of the world's most iconic species and the welfare of individual animals. This report outlines the results of new IFAW research in seven different countries in Africa, exploring the availability of wild animals and their products in an area of the world with a rapid growth in access to the Internet. This research is part of a broader project to address wildlife cybercrime in Africa, funded by the US government's Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The wider project included researching trade in elephant, rhino and tiger products over the 'Darknet'; providing training on investigating wildlife cybercrime to enforcers in South Africa and Kenya; ensuring policy makers addressed the threat of wildlife cybercrime through adopting Decision 17.92 entitled Combatting Wildlife Cybercrime at the CoP17 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Johannesburg 2016; carrying out a review of legislation as it pertains to wildlife cybercrime; and providing training to online technology companies to assist with the effective implementation of their policies. Research focused on online marketplaces and social media platforms utilised by traders stating they were based in Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. In most cases, this meant focusing on trading platforms based in those specific countries, but researchers also identified traders stating they were based in South Africa using international Alibaba and eBay sites.

Details: Washington, DC: IFAW, 2017. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2018 at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ifaw-pantheon/sites/default/files/legacy/(Pixelated%20Webversion)SAInvestigationReport_lores.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Computer Crime

Shelf Number: 149865


Author: African Union Commission. Department of Economic Affairs

Title: Mobilisation of Domestic Resources: Fighting against Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows

Summary: Illicit financial flows and corruption have long been at the centre of discussions on development in Africa, particularly due to the existence of a wide consensus on their negative impacts on development financing in Africa. It is now so widespread that Africa loses USD 50 billion annually. However, this figure is well below reality due to the difficulty in obtaining reliable statistics, and the secretive nature of such funds. The African Union's initiative to dedicate the year 2018 to combatting corruption under the theme "Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path for Africa's Transformation" is eloquent proof of the willingness of the African Union to combat poor financial governance, which affects the Continent's inclusive socio-economic development of the, as illicit financial flows are obstacles to productive investments, resulting in distortions in allocations of budgetary resources, and systematically increasing inequalities. The mobilization of adequate resources is essential in order for Africa to emerge from its weak economic conditions, and increase the level of development of its populations. Indeed, after two decades (80s and 90s) of weak growth with a nearly zero average, Africa has experienced strong economic growth, despite the recent downturn observed with the decline in commodity prices. The average growth rate has been around 5% since 2000, with considerable heterogeneity in growth patterns between countries, at a time when other regions have experienced a decline or stagnation in their economic activity. However, this growth has not substantially reduced poverty and inequality or led to job creation. The processes for industrialization, economic diversification and the modernization of agriculture have also been very limited. Despite progress made, more than 50% of the African population is living on less than USD 1.9/day, that is, about 389 million people (World Bank, 2016). In terms of income distribution, six of the top ten most unequal countries in the world were located in Africa, particularly in Southern Africa, with a GINI coefficient increasing from 0.42 to 0.46 between 2000 and 2010 (African Development Bank, 2012). Africa's infrastructure needs range from USD 130 to 170 billion per year (Authorized Economic Operator, 2018). On the basis of these findings and in view of the current limited budgetary resources and the scarcity of development aid, African countries should explore options for mobilizing domestic resources to finance productive activities, generate growth and mitigate the increasing social demands as a result of the continuing unprecedented population growth. This should start with the recovery of funds lost through illicit financial flows to invest in the social sectors (education, health, social safety nets, etc.) in order to rapidly harness the demographic dividend, and to place the Continent on the path to rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth. The African Union could address the issue at political level by putting in place a common continental strategy on which national strategies will be anchored, and by advocating for the strengthening of international cooperation in combatting tax evasion, money laundering, crime, corruption, false invoicing and mispricing of imported or exported goods practices. This paper takes stock of illicit financial flows and corruption in Africa, with a detailed presentation at regional and country levels. It is structured as follows: the first part essentially discusses the importance of domestic resource mobilization, and combatting corruption and illicit financial flows (IFFs) to ensure the sustainable development of Africa. The second part takes stock of the IFFs in Africa based on data provided by the organization, Global Financial Integrity (GFI). The third part addresses the issue of corruption and financial mismanagement in Africa, and the last part proposes recommendations

Details: African Union (Addis Ababa ), 2018. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2018 at: http://iffoadatabase.trustafrica.org/iff/paper_2018_mobilization_of_domestic_resources_fighting_against_corruption_iff_english_0.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 149884


Author: Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA)

Title: Money Laundering Resulting from the Counterfeiting of Pharmaceuticals in West Africa

Summary: This study was aimed at understanding the nature and magnitude of the money- laundering phenomenon resulting from the counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals in West Africa. The methodology employed involved the selection of four countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo) for the purpose of in-depth country level study, while the remaining countries responded to a questionnaire. From the country reports and the responses provided by the member States to the questionnaire and the case studies provided by law enforcement authorities, the linkage between Money Laundering (ML) and counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals was analysed.

Details: s.l.: GIABA, 2017. 56p.

Source: Internet Resource: Typologies Report: Accessed April 26, 2018 at: https://www.giaba.org/media/f/1038_GIABA_Typologies%20Report%20on%20ML%20and%20Counterfeit%20Pharmaceutical.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counterfeit Drugs

Shelf Number: 149896


Author: Bruni, Vittorio

Title: Study on Migration Routes in West and Central Africa

Summary: This report provides an overview of the complex migration trends in West and Central Africa. Based on a desk review of the existing literature and data, the report presents the main drivers and trends of migration in the region, the main routes migrants take to move from the region to get to Europe, migrant vulnerabilities, and the policy and programme responses to migration (multilateral and inter-regional frameworks, regional organizations, and bilateral agreements). The migration contexts of thirteen countries in West and Central Africa are examined: Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. These countries are, to different extents, all origin, transit, and/or destination countries of migrants. In West and Central Africa, asylum seekers, refugees, and economic migrants move within the region and beyond it, motivated by different and often overlapping factors, including conflicts, political and socio-economic conditions, and environmental causes. Economic migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, tend to use similar migration routes and modes of travel. Among the group of migrants originating from the focus countries there are also irregular migrants and victims of human trafficking. For most "irregular" West-African migrants, migration is "regular" in the sense that movements of citizens of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are prescribed by the freedom of movement protocols of ECOWAS. However, while citizens in this region have the right to free movement, they often lack the correct or recognised documents for movement, making them "irregular" migrants in the region. Even with the ECOWAS free movement protocol in place, there are many barriers to regular migration for prospective migrants, including administrative and bureaucratic challenges and a lack of governmental ability to implement ECOWAS legislations. Corruption is also a major impediment to regular migration, as paying bribes to border patrols is, in many countries, an institutionalised norm. Bribes are often required even when migrants are in possession of proper documentation. Most migrants in the West and Central African region move within the region, and they largely do so by travelling by highways in private cars or buses. Contrary to popular belief, the minority of people that migrate from the region seek to reach Europe. Among those migrants that seek to reach Europe, most rely for the last part of their journey on smugglers that will bring them from some northern Nigerien or Malian cities to either Algeria or, more commonly, Libya. Generally, the complex nature of migration in the region makes it a challenge to identify different types of migrants and their specific vulnerabilities and needs. For these reasons, the flows of migration in the region are often referred to as mixed or complex migration.

Details: Maastricht, Netherlands: Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, 2017. 170p.

Source: Internet Resource: accessed April 27, 2018 at: https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/uploads/1518182884.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Asylum Seekers

Shelf Number: 149927


Author: Marchand, Katrin

Title: Study on Migration Routes in the East and Horn of Africa

Summary: This report provides an overview of the complex mixed migration trends in the East and Horn of Africa. Based on a desk review of the existing literature and data on the main drivers and trends of migration in the region, the main routes, migrant vulnerabilities and needs as well as policy and programme responses to migration are presented. Specifically, the mixed migration context of eight countries in the East and Horn of Africa is examined: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. These countries are, to different extents, all origin, transit and/ or destination countries of migrants. In the East and Horn of Africa, asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants move within the region as well as beyond for a variety of different factors, including conflicts, political and socio-economic conditions as well as environmental causes in their respective countries of origin. These migrants often use the same migration routes and modes of travel, including smugglers. In addition, victims of trafficking may also be among these migrants. Overall, this mixed nature of migration in the region makes it a challenge to identify different types of migrants and their specific vulnerabilities and needs. Drivers of Migration The factors that lead people to make the decision to migrate through both regular and irregular channels are often called the drivers of migration. This includes both voluntary and forced movements as well as temporary and permanent ones. The countries in the East and Horn of Africa share many characteristics, but differ in others. It can be said that the region as a whole faces challenges associated with low human and economic development. In addition, violent conflicts, political oppression and persecution are or have been main migration drivers in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. In the case of Eritrea the obligatory national service requirements present another significant driver of migration. Environmental factors are also increasingly affecting countries in the region and impact peoples' livelihoods and migration decisions. Migration from Uganda and Kenya is mainly driven by economic factors. Often it is a mix of different factors that lead to the decision to migrate. It is important to keep in mind that even though the eight focus countries share some common drivers of migration the specific country context matters.

Details: Maastricht, Netherlands: Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, 2017. 114p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 27, 2018 at: https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/uploads/1517475164.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Asylum Seekers

Shelf Number: 149929


Author: Davey, Deanna

Title: Unpacking the Myths: Human smuggling from and within the Horn of Africa

Summary: This RMMS briefing paper provides an update on the volume, trends, and modus operandi of migrant smuggling within and from the Horn of Africa. It offers new estimates of the volume of smuggling, the value of the illicit migrant smuggling economy, and the conditions and risks faced by smuggled migrants. This paper finds that migrant smuggling within and from the Horn of Africa continues to occur, with new smuggling routes opening in response to irregular migration related risks and law enforcement responses to migrant smuggling on traditionally popular routes. Smuggling as part of the mixed migration flows are more and more common, particularly as travel across borders becomes more dangerous. The paper also provides information on the operations of migrant smuggling - including smuggling routes, activities, and profiles. Summary of Key Findings The research draws on various primary and secondary sources, and relies heavily on data from the RMMS Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4Mi), a unique longitudinal monitoring approach using informal migrant monitors and remote mobile survey technology. During this research period, September 2014 to March 2017, monitors conducted 3,522 interviews with migrants from the Horn of Africa and 153 structured interviews with smugglers in various countries in Africa and the Middle East. 4Mi data shows that at least 73% of migrants are using smugglers for at least part of their journey. This paper finds that the following trends and characteristics define the migrant smuggling dynamic: - Migrant smuggling within and from the Horn of Africa remains a vibrant business, and new smuggling routes continue to open - largely in response to political and economic factors, migration risks, and law enforcement efforts to curtail certain routes. - Many smugglers are young men who enter the smuggling trade because they have limited employment opportunities in their home countries, and smuggling activities are more lucrative than other job opportunities in their home countries. - Smuggling networks across all three major routes leading out of the region are organized. Some networks resembling loose, horizontal networks in which smugglers work collaboratively across national borders. In these networks, smugglers tend to hand over the migrants at borders to new smugglers operating the subsequent leg/s of the journey. Other networks, particularly Libya-based smuggling networks along the North-western route to Europe are increasingly hierarchical, with smuggling kingpins dominating the smuggling business from Libya, and Horn of Africa smugglers playing important, but usually subordinate, positions to the Libyan kingpins. - For most smugglers operating in the region, migrant smuggling is the primary criminal enterprise. Predominantly on the Eastern, and North-western routes, smugglers may also be involved in other criminal activities, such as trafficking in persons, kidnapping, and extortion. - Government officials are reported to be involved, directly and indirectly, in migrant smuggling operations. Without this collaboration smugglers would likely encounter significant obstacles to conducting successful migrant smuggling ventures. - With a reported pre-departure average expenditure for smuggling services of USD 1,036 per migrant, the smuggling business remains lucrative for those involved. With a reported average expenditure of USD 2,3714 per migrant on bribes and extortion, it is clear that many other individuals, including border guards, militia, kidnappers, and traffickers, are also profiting from the flows of smuggled migrants within and from the Horn of Africa. - The migration flows within and from the Horn of Africa are mixed, with asylum seekers and refugees being smuggled alongside economic migrants. - Various political and socio-economic factors motivate irregular migration from the Horn of Africa region. The level of migration is highly reactive to political and other pressures, as well as national migration policy. Movement from the region is both in response to short-term crises, as well as rooted in long-term factors. - Most smuggled migrants from the Horn of Africa are young, single men; however, the number of female migrants is reportedly increasing. Also reportedly increasing is the number of unaccompanied Horn of Africa minors travelling irregularly to Europe, the Gulf States and Middle East, and Southern Africa. - Some migrants initiate the first leg of travel, and navigate one or more subsequent segments of travel without the aid of smugglers. These migrants tend to pay smugglers, where they are used, for each individual part of the journey, using cash or informal money transfer systems, such as hawala systems (informal financial transfers outside of the traditional banking system). Other migrants use the services of smugglers to take them from their home country all the way to the destination country - some of these migrants pay for the entire journey in advance. - Paying for the entire smuggling journey in advance does not reduce the vulnerability of migrants to exploitation and abuse during the journey. - In terms of volume, the most popular smuggling route is the Eastern route to the Gulf States and the Middle East. Horn of Africa migrants are also still being smuggled in large numbers to Europe, and to Southern Africa, particularly South Africa. This paper provides an up to date analysis, informed by qualitative and quantitative data, of migrant smuggling within and from the Horn of Africa including unique interviews with smugglers themselves. The author drew on 4Mi data, collected through structured interviews with migrants and migrant smugglers. The interviews with migrants and migrant smugglers were conducted between September 2014 and March 2017 by trained field monitors using smartphone technology to transmit completed interviews to RMMS. This paper presents the relevant data on migrants, collected through the structured interviews with migrants, as well as direct quotes taken from smugglers during the interviews. The author also drew on multiple referenced sources, including the accumulated data and analysis of four years of RMMS resources.

Details: Nairobi: Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, 2018. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2018 at: http://iffoadatabase.trustafrica.org/iff/RMMS_Briefing_Paper6%20-%20Unpacking_the_Myths.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 150053


Author: University of Washington. Jackson School of International Studies

Title: The Challenge of Piracy off the Horn of Africa: Task Force 2012

Summary: In the failed state of Somalia, piracy is increasing at an alarming rate, impacting all nations that engage in trade or travel in the region. In 2011, Somali pirates attacked 122 vessels and successfully hijacked 28. Since the problem of piracy fi rst escalated in 2008, thousands of hostages have been taken, including a number of American citizens. Th ese hostages have oft en suff ered systematic abuse and torture, and have on some occasions been used as human shields. In the last year alone, four American hostages were murdered by their captors. Although the economic cost of piracy is comparatively low for the U.S., it is imperative to address the issue before the economic and human costs of piracy become overwhelming. From 2010 to 2011, total ransom payouts to Somali pirates increased from $111 million USD to $160 million USD, raising the global cost of piracy in 2011 to approximately $6.75 billion USD. In response to the three international task forces protecting ships in the Gulf of Aden, pirates have expanded their attack areas and are now venturing farther out into the Indian Ocean. While the international task forces cannot eff ectively patrol the entire High Risk Area in the Indian Ocean, they have successfully intervened in many attacks. To deter attacks without military assistance, the International Maritime Bureau has issued Best Management Practices for vessels traveling in the area. Th e use of both passive security measures and private security companies has decreased the number of successful pirate attacks. However, the problem of piracy is not one that can be resolved exclusively at sea. Piracy fl ourishes on land due to the lack of governance and rampant poverty in Somalia. Before piracy can be eliminated, the land-based causes must be addressed. To increase stability in Somalia, a region with signifi cant U.S. interests, the State Department has adopted the Dual-Track Approach, designed to increase engagement with Somalias relatively eff ective semi-autonomous governments, primarily Somaliland and Puntland. Th e Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia was created to coordinate global counter-piracy eff orts in 2009. Th is organization includes experts on subjects ranging from fi nance to military operations and is a combination of representatives from multiple countries. Th e fi ve working groups under this organization address multiple aspects of the issue of piracy. One important topic is the diffi culty associated with successful prosecution and detention of alleged pirates. 90% of arrested suspects are released without trial because there are no nations willing to prosecute or detain them. Th e few who are not immediately released are transferred to and prosecuted in any willing nation. Despite current eff orts to address the problem, many challenges remain. Coordination of military patrols between task forces is insuffi cient, especially in light of the fact that it is impossible to patrol the entire High Risk Area. Somalia does not currently have the capacity to prosecute or detain all persons accused of piracy, and neither does any sole country in the region. In U.S. diplomatic relations with Somalia, a failure to directly engage with clan and religious leaders limits the infl uence of expanded diplomacy. It is in the urgent interest of the U.S. to directly and immediately address the issue of piracy off the Horn of Africa, because the situation will only continue to deteriorate and cannot be resolved without U.S. involvement. Th ough the overall economic cost to the U.S. is currently minimal, experts such as Martin Murphy predict that if piracy goes unchecked, the enterprise will help create a permissive environment for maritime terrorism, which will be more widespread and diffi cult to contend with. Th e success of piracy in the Gulf of Aden has exposed the high seas as a vulnerable platform for attacks because of the lack of security and clear jurisdiction. Th e U.S. must augment its counter-piracy eff orts before more American lives are lost, and piracy at sea spirals out of control.

Details: Seattle: The Jsckson School of International Studies, 2012. 209p.

Source: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/19664/B%20Lorenz%20Task%20Force%20Final%20Report.pdf?sequence

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Maritime Crime

Shelf Number: 140184


Author: Zenn, Jacob

Title: Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa's Enduring Insurgency

Summary: In a conflict that has no easy answers and no solutions in sight, Boko Haram is already and will remain one of Africa's enduring insurgencies. In order to better understand Boko Haram now and in the future, this report, edited by Jacob Zenn, challenges some key misconceptions about the insurgency and provides new analyses and insights based on many exclusive primary source materials and datasets. To provide these unique insights, several authors with on-the-ground experience contribute to six areas that are increasingly important but under-researched about Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa: - Ideology (Abdulbasit Kassim) - Gender (Elizabeth Pearson) - Leadership (Atta Barkindo) - Counterinsurgency (Idayat Hassan and Zacharias Pieri) - Regional dynamics (Omar Mahmoud) - Terrorist networks (Jacob Zenn) It is hoped that these analyses of 'Africa's enduring insurgency' will be useful to counterterrorism practitioners, humanitarian organizations, and academia and will assist in understanding and, ultimately, mitigating and resolving the conflict.

Details: West Point, NY: Combating Terrorism center at West Point, 2018. 144p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2018 at: https://ctc.usma.edu/app/uploads/2018/05/Boko-Haram-Beyond-the-Headlines.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 150341


Author: Jayanathan, Shamini

Title: Stopping poaching and wildlife trafficking through strengthened laws and improved application: Phase 1: An analysis of Criminal Justice Interventions across African Range States and Proposals for Action

Summary: This report sets out the findings of Phase 1 of a project to further Sustainable Development Goal 15 and in particular, 15.7 "Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products" The project supports the Elephant Protection Initiative's (EPI) primary objective to enable full and timely implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan (AEAP). It is focused on the AEAP's Priority Objective 1: REDUCE ILLEGAL KILLING OF ELEPHANTS AND ILLEGAL TRADE IN ELEPHANT PRODUCTS and its key strategies: Harmonize national policies and laws relevant to conservation and management of African elephants within and across range States where possible. Strengthen the laws relevant to conservation and management of African elephants. Strengthen the enforcement of laws relevant to conservation and management of African elephants. The project focuses on the passage of wildlife crime along the 'criminal justice pathway': beginning with the legislative framework for prosecuting wildlife crime; turning to the investigator to prosecution 'handover'; prosecution capability, judicial handling of such cases at trial, sentencing and mutual legal assistance (MLA). It does not consider intelligence handling initiatives, policing per se or frontline protection projects. This report aims to: present a snapshot of the status of the criminal justice pathway; and past, current and planned interventions by various stakeholders including government and non-government organisations and development partners; and propose a scope of work for Phase 2: identifying existing and new cross-cutting tools and initiatives, including best practice laws and standard operating procedures, that are of general application across jurisdictions; cross-overs and opportunities for better partnerships and collaborations; and some country-specific observations and recommendations for action within the context of global, regional and national strategies (where they exist). The aim of Phase 2 will be to enable more effective government and non-government collaborations to deliver change in the criminal justice pathway, measurable by increased rates of conviction and stronger deterrent penalties.

Details: Stop Ivory and the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF) Group , 2016. 79p.

Source: Internet Resource: accessed May 30, 2018 at: http://www.internationalconservation.org/publications/ICCF_StopIvory_Report.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 150379


Author: Dowd, Caitriona

Title: Decentralisation, Devolution, and Dynamics of Violence in Africa

Summary: his research sets out to understand the effect of processes of decentralisation on violent conflict in Africa, and what entry points these provide for research and policy actors to engage in meaningful and effective governance, peace-building and conflict resolution. The research employs a mixed methods approach, combining large-n, cross-national quantitative research on the relationship between decentralised political authority and the level, frequency, intensity and nature/form of political violence with qualitative process-tracing through secondary literature on pathways to violence in three specific decentralised governance contexts: Kenya, Mali and Nigeria.

Details: Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, 2018. 37p.

Source: Internet Resource: IDS Working Paper No. 511; Accessed June 20, 2018 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/13611/Wp511_Online.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Decentralization

Shelf Number: 150614


Author: Kinnes, Irvin

Title: Contested Governance: Police and Gang Interactions

Summary: Gangs in Cape Town have long been associated with high levels of violence and police efforts on the Cape Flats, while state agencies have not yet been able to bring any significant relief to the affected communities or growing gang structures. It seems the conventional approaches need reconceptualization. This thesis explores a nodal governance approach to the forms and consequences associated with the policing of gangs by police. Developments in governance theory has brought new insights for our understanding of how state and non-state actors relate in and across different networks, and especially within the security governance networks. However, such research has failed to consider how gangs and police interact and regulate each other through their own governance and conflict with one another. In attempts by the police to govern gangs (and by extension the community), a state of contested governance arises between gangs and police nodes of power. This thesis argues that contrary to previous understandings, the organised gangs of Cape Town regulate and impact the way the police police gangs, which in turn affects the way gangs police themselves, and goes on to explore these interactions.

Details: Cape Town: University of Cape Town, 2017. 297p.

Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed June 30, 2018 at: https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/25344/thesis_law_2017_kinnes_irvin.pdf?sequence=1

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Gang Violence

Shelf Number: 150746


Author: Haysom, Simone

Title: The heroin coast: A political economy along the eastern African seaboard

Summary: This report examines the characteristics of the heroin trade off the East African coast and highlights the criminal governance systems that facilitate drug trafficking along these routes. In recent years, the volume of heroin shipped from Afghanistan along a network of maritime routes in East and southern Africa appears to have increased considerably. Most of this heroin is destined for Western markets, but there is a spin-off trade for local consumption. An integrated regional criminal market has developed, both shaping and shaped by political developments in the region. Africa is now experiencing the sharpest increase in heroin use worldwide and a spectrum of criminal networks and political elites in East and southern Africa are substantially enmeshed in the trade. This report focuses on the characteristics of the heroin trade in the region and how it has become embedded in the societies along this route. It also highlights the features of the criminal governance systems that facilitate drug trafficking along this coastal route.

Details: s.l.: ENACT, 2018. 54p.

Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper, Issue 04 : Accessed July 5, 2018 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-07-02-research-paper-heroin-coast.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Criminal Networks

Shelf Number: 150768


Author: United Nations Population Fund

Title: Analysis of Legal Frameworks on Female Genital Mutilation in Selected Countries in West Africa

Summary: Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been internationally recognized as a violation of the rights, health and integrity of women and girls. FGM constitutes both a result and a perpetuation of gender inequality and discrimination against women and girls, harming their lives in many ways. The global consensus on the need to eliminate all forms of FGM worldwide is clearly reflected in Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 and in several United Nations Resolutions. Although FGM prevalence in almost all countries is slowly but steadily declining, the absolute number of girls subjected to FGM is likely to grow, since most affected communities are also experiencing high population growth. We know that a legal framework that clearly outlaws FGM can support its abandonment. When a government criminalizes FGM, it sends a clear signal that the practice will no longer be tolerated. Where FGM is already socially contested, legislation can encourage those who wish to abandon it and deter those who fear prosecution. Having a national law is an important step towards ending FGM but for it to be effective, the law must be implemented and enforced.

Details: Dakar: United Nations Population Fund Regional Office for West and Central Africa, 2018. 132p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 9, 2018 at: https://sierraleone.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/EN-UNFPA-ANALYSIS-ON-FGM_0.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Female Genital Mutilation

Shelf Number: 150788


Author: International Alert

Title: If Victims Become Perpetrators: Factors contributing to vulnerability and resilience to violent extremism in the central Sahel

Summary: The armed groups linked to jihadism that have been operating in the central Sahel have had a disruptive effect on the fragile social fabric locally. Confronted with this phenomenon, communities have responded in different ways, ranging from rejection to attraction. This study focuses on young Fulani people in the regions of Mopti (Mali), Sahel (Burkina Faso) and Tillabri (Niger), and analyses the factors contributing to community vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism. The research adopted a comparative approach in order to verify the relevance of the findings across the three regions. This provided a broader understanding of the complex phenomenon of violent extremism in the central Sahel. This study builds on and provides a critical review of previous research, adding qualitative analysis of data collected primarily across Fulani communities living in conflict-affected areas. These communities are both victims of extremist violence and violence attributable to national and international counter-terrorism actions. One of the key findings of this research is the assertion that violent extremism in the central Sahel is primarily a response to local conflicts, and that the link with international jihadism is more rhetoric than reality. In fragile and conflict-affected states, there are a number of factors that may influence the behaviour of marginalised young men and women who are confronted with violent extremism. However, this study shows that the most determining factor contributing to vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism is the experience (or perception) of abuse and violation by government authorities - in other words, real or perceived state abuse is the number one factor behind young people's decision to join violent extremist groups. On the other hand, the study shows that strengthening social cohesion, supporting young men's and womens role in their communities, and mitigating social and gender exclusion could strengthen community resilience. The research also identifies strategies to deploy to curb violent extremism in the central Sahel. Due to communities' loss of trust in the defence and security forces, the 'total security' approach is doomed to fail. Widespread violence increases community vulnerability and their need for protection, which violent extremist groups exploit to increase their acceptance across communities in the Sahel. In this context, the deployment of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, supported financially and politically by international powers, risks undermining its aim to reduce violence and could instead weaken regional stability and communities' wellbeing. To restore trust between marginalised citizens and their governments, international partners need to prioritise efforts aimed at supporting state accountability towards its citizens; improve access to justice, especially transitional justice, and ensure inclusive governance; improve supervision of the armed forces; and promote youth employment, including through migration. Given the possible escalation of violent extremism in the central Sahel, the international community cannot afford to make wrong choices.

Details: London: International Alert, 2018. 56p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 11, 2018 at: https://www.international-alert.org/sites/default/files/Sahel_ViolentExtremismVulnerabilityResilience_EN_2018.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremists

Shelf Number: 150811


Author: Aucoin, Ciara

Title: Analysing drug trafficking in East Africa: A media-monitoring approach

Summary: By analysing drug-related incidents reported in the media in three key East African nations over the past decade, this paper provides insights into drug trafficking in the region. By analysing drug-related incidents reported in the media in three key East African nations over the past decade, this paper provides insights into drug trafficking in the region. This includes the different drug types in circulation across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda; the quantities and trafficking methods used; as well as the origin, transit, and destination hubs. The report also suggests patterns in the actors involved, the nature of state responses and the reporting styles of the African and foreign press. The potential for improved sourcing using this methodology, and for greater public awareness of drug trafficking-related harms, lies in the development of stronger and more capable journalism in the region.

Details: sl.: ENACT, 2018. 16p.

Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper Issue 05: Accessed July 16, 2018 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-07-02-research-paper-drugs-east-africa.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 150883


Author: Muvumba Sellstrom, Angela

Title: Stronger than Justice: Armed Group Impunity for Sexual Violence

Summary: What conditions lead to confidence among civil war combatants that they will not face accountability for perpetrating sexual violence? This study investigates the causes of impunity for sexual violence among armed actors. It develops a theoretical framework which identifies three explanations for armed group impunity for sexual violence, namely (1) flawed prohibitions inside an armed group; (2) negligent enforcement by its authorities; and (3) pardons in the form of amnesties during the peace process. Adopting a two-pronged approach, the study first explores the associations between amnesties arising from concluding peace agreements and post-settlement levels of sexual violence in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and South Africa. A small-scale, events-based dataset of sexual violence by governments and rebel groups in the first three years after war was constructed. The second and main part of the study is a comparison between two rebel groups in Burundi's civil war (1994-2008), CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy) and Palipehutu-FNL (Palipehutu-Forces for National Liberation) and their practices of prohibition and punishment of wartime sexual violence, taking into account also the possible influence of amnesties. Based on original data from 19 focus groups of ex-combatants from these rebel organisations, it is found that flawed prohibitions and negligent authorities are the main explanations for armed group impunity. The findings do not support amnesties as a cause of armed group impunity for sexual violence. Moreover, additional findings suggest that accountability for sexual violence is triggered by dependency on civilian support, while impunity is facilitated by an armed group's ability to secure recruits, material and other resources without the help of local communities.

Details: Uppsala: Department of Peace and Conflict Research, 2015. 273p.

Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 17, 2018 at: http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:766398/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Civil War

Shelf Number: 150896


Author: Mann, Lori

Title: Trafficking in Human Beings and Smuggling of Migrants in ACP Countries: Key Challenges and Ways Forward Informing discussions of the ACP-EU Dialogue on Migration and Development

Summary: This report was commissioned by the ACP-EU Migration Action in 2017 as part of the Action's efforts to collect, analyse and disseminate information and knowledge on the results achieved through its activities. Focusing on trafficking in human beings (THB) and the smuggling of migrants (SoM), experts from ACP and EU countries met in Brussels in July 2014 to discuss their respective policies pertaining to these fields, and to identify concrete areas of cooperation in order to tackle both phenomena in a spirit of shared responsibility and cooperation. The meeting demonstrated a shared commitment to address challenges, and recognized the necessity to deepen cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination, including by fostering a South-South perspective. The recommendations elaborated during the experts' meeting were subsequently validated by the Ambassadors' meeting in January 2015. Soon after, the ACP-EU Migration Action began implementing activities to address the issues of THB and SoM. The ACP-EU Dialogue recommendations on THB and SoM include: - Enact (or amend) comprehensive national legislation on both trafficking in human beings and the smuggling of migrants, in line with the Palermo Protocols and EU legislation; - Effectively implement national legislation on trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling, ensuring victim identification and protection and the prosecution of perpetrators for the full range of existing forms of exploitation; - Raise awareness regarding THB and SoM among all key stakeholders, including: law enforcement, the judiciary, health care workers and labour inspectors, among others, by providing information and training; - Promote cross-border and international cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination through bilateral Memorandums of Understandings (MoUs) and a special focus on South-South cooperation; - Improve data collection on THB and SoM as a prerequisite for evidence-based policy action; - Promote a victim-centred, human rights-based, gender-sensitive approach to ensure victim protection and identification in full cooperation with NGOs; - Dismantle criminal networks through financial tracking and tackling corruption among public officials, and prosecute traffickers and smugglers to prevent impunity; mentation of existing laws, the lack of comprehensive legislation on trafficking- and smuggling-related issues and underlying primary governance problems constitute additional significant barriers to addressing THB and SoM. The prevention of, and response to, trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling requires a comprehensive, "whole of government" approach. It touches upon a myriad of related issues, inter alia: corruption, access to civil registration documents, labour laws and inspections, access to social welfare, gender-based violence, child protection and migration. As many of the recipients of the Action's support are poor and/or Small Island States, they face basic infrastructure and primary governance challenges that necessitate, but at the same time complicate, the provision of specialized technical assistance. Meeting the demand for institutional strengthening and capacity building requires adapting methodologies to the particularities of each country, including geographical and resource constraints, as well as the ways in which social and cultural norms function in relation to forms of exploitation and gender-based violence that lead to, or themselves might constitute of trafficking in human beings. Cooperation is the cornerstone of effective anti-trafficking and anti-migrant smuggling initiatives, and is required between States, institutions and non-State actors at all levels: subnational, national and international. Several ACP State recipients demonstrate increasingly effective cooperation at diverse levels, especially where such efforts benefit from existing structures and/or support at the regional level, such as regional platforms or cooperation agreements. However, for most State recipients, weak inter-agency cooperation at the national level constitutes a huge barrier to the effective implementation of laws and policies. National inter-agency coordination mechanisms to address trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling (where existent) remain new for many of the examined ACP States, and few work systematically with civil society organizations. Cooperation between States is crucial for disrupting both the smuggling and trafficking business models, given the inherently transnational nature of the former and the often -albeit not always- international character of the latter. Cross-border collaboration must hence also be strengthened, especially with regards to data sharing, investigations, prosecutions and returns. Yet, the best examples of cooperation do not focus on policing alone, but include elements of prevention and development, and the integration of a human rights-based approach. The potential use of regional mechanisms should be highlighted too, given the increased interest by stakeholders in this modality of South-South cooperation, and the large percentage of victims trafficked regionally. The most striking gap among ACP State recipients is the absence of the provision of assistance to, and the protection of, trafficking victims and smuggled migrants, which should be at the heart of any anti-THB and anti-SoM strategy. Upholding human rights remains central for all cases. In addition to the rights accorded to trafficking victims, and those accorded to smuggled migrants, specific needs due to individual trafficking or smuggling experience, as well as characteristics such as gender and age and socio-cultural norms, should be taken into account. To date, little efforts have been made in most of the examined countries to develop referral systems and for ensuring that victims are duly identified and receive the needed assistance. Moreover, cases were noted where victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants were not shielded from prosecution - as is set forth by the Protocols - and in few countries they are subject to immediate deportation and potential refoulement. In some countries, civil society actors play an important role in providing shelter and other basic necessities. Yet sometimes they operate with no clear mandate to assist trafficking victims or vulnerable migrants specifically, indicating a potential lack of experience and expertise in addressing the needs and rights of trafficking victims and smuggled migrants. In addition, many operate with little if any government support or involvement. Prevention efforts should raise awareness on trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants among the public, while addressing the root causes of both phenomena, and targeting a wide range of stakeholders. Many of the examined ACP countries have organized, or are in the process of organizing capacity building for government entities at the policy and/or frontline level, including awareness raising on these phenomena. However, prevention and awareness raising should target and actively involve a wider range of stakeholders, for example traditional community leaders and diaspora, given the direct contact they have with (aspiring) migrants in many ACP countries. Communities should also be consulted in the design of awareness campaigns. The private sector is another key partner for prevention efforts in ACP countries, especially when addressing the demand side of the trafficking chain. Any meaningful prevention effort must be associated with realistic alternative options to unsafe migration, such as development and work opportunities that benefit migrants and their societies in the countries of origin and destination. Finally, reliable data is the most basic prerequisite for developing policies that are evidence based and respond appropriately to the local context. However, in many of the examined ACP countries, data tends to range from anecdotical to non-existent. In many instances, capacity building on data management, analysis and sharing is needed, at the inter-agency as well as the international level. Proper case management systems with standardized interfaces are also essential. However, the limitations in both infrastructure and resources should be taken into account and in that sense, international methodologies and systems for data collection and management should be adapted to the local context. Through a series of baseline assessments, the ACP-EU Migration Action has identified the above mentioned gaps among other specific barriers to effective anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling strategies. Such assessments are conducted within each targeted country and form the foundation of the related technical assistance support. In light of its work with States and Regional Organizations throughout the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions, the Action remains poised to provide the needed technical assistance and to contribute new knowledge to the concrete dialogue that is ongoing between States within the ACP-EU Partnership framework. The recommendations presented at the conclusion of the report build upon those issued by the ACP-EU Dialogue on Migration and Development and seek to highlight emerging challenges while bringing the achievement of stakeholders and the related good practices to the fore. This analysis seeks to produce knowledge that can be adapted for use in other context where States struggle with these same phenomena.

Details: Brussels: IOM, 2018. 233p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 1, 2018 at: http://acpeumigrationaction.iom.int/sites/default/files/final_web.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Criminal Networks

Shelf Number: 151003


Author: Mahmood, Omar S.

Title: Responses to Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Region: Policies, Cooperation and Livelihoods

Summary: This report, produced by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), is the second in a two-part study examining current dynamics with regards to violent extremist organisations (VEOs) operating in the Lake Chad region (Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger). The first report examined factionalism within the Boko Haram movement, while the second report profiles current responses and challenges. The Lake Chad region is characterised by a number of factors which make it conducive to the presence of non-state actors. No single factor explains the emergence and rise of Boko Haram in the region, but understanding the overall context is important to understanding the movement itself. Chief among the factors enabling the rise of Boko Haram include a limited state presence and poor governance, underdevelopment and unemployment, environmental pressures enhanced by the receding waters of Lake Chad and desertification, and a deep history of Islamic conservatism. While those factors describe the shared overall context in which Boko Haram has operated and thrived, responses have differed across the region. The development of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has played an instrumental role in terms of coordinating military action, but cooperation has generally been restricted to this sphere, and largely amounts to joint military operations around border locations. Yet, positive signs of increased military cooperation have begun to appear. In addition, Nigerian security forces have undertaken a number of internal offensives, though it is unclear to what degree the security apparatus has considered the split within Boko Haram and adjusted its operating methods accordingly. Rather, it appears that the focus initially centered on Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and its leader Abubakar Shekau, instead of Islamic State West Africa (ISIS-WA), although a more equitable balance in terms of operational targeting has emerged lately. In Cameroon, the country second most affected by militant activity, the response has involved the mobilisation of security actors at all levels, which has also provided a chance for the government to reorganise and deepen its presence in border communities that were previously neglected. Non-military responses have largely been ad-hoc and suffer from limited coordination across the region, although the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) is attempting to change that. Nonetheless, some key challenges have emerged in regards to this aspect. This report highlights a few areas of concern, beginning with the need to balance security considerations with restrictions on local livelihoods. Given the precarious nature of livelihoods in the Lake Chad region, especially for those displaced, civilians can be threatened by the unintended effects of government or military policies. Restrictions on aspects like movement, transport, or the engagement in certain trades, while taken with security in mind, ultimately increase dependency and forestall the ability of the region to get back on its feet. Vigilante organisations were present throughout the Lake Chad region prior to the Boko Haram crisis, but they have taken on an increased importance in response to it. Yet many questions remain as to their future, especially given the expectations of vigilante members themselves, considering their contribution and the sacrifices endured. The gap in state presence made the reliance on vigilantes necessary, but that same gap in terms of state services will still have to be overcome to ensure the vigilantes remain productive members of society. Over the past few years, a significant number of former combatants have defected from both factions of Boko Haram. However, reintegration is a challenging aspect, which countries in the region have handled differently. The needs of local communities must be taken into account for any re-integration project to succeed, and this aspect will be a key test for the region's ability to move on from a violent chapter in its history. Finally, many parts of the Lake Chad region, especially Nigeria's Borno state, have been devastated by the conflict. Reconstruction efforts are underway but are increasingly intersecting with politics ahead of Nigeria's general and state elections in early 2019. National, state, and local leaders must not allow this to disrupt plans for sustainable solutions in favour of more expedient but ultimately cosmetic adjustments, which may have political benefits but do little with regards to long-term recovery. The response to the Boko Haram crisis is a key test for countries in the region to ensure that they can collectively recover from the destruction of the past few years, but also more pertinently provide for their citizens. As schisms within Boko Haram have led to a development of a faction that prioritises a new relationship with civilians (ISIS-WA), regional governments must do everything they can to ensure their response outpaces that of the militants and succeeds in re-invigorating the social compact between citizen and government in the Lake Chad region, thereby diminishing the long-term appeal of Islamist militancy as an alternative.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2018. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 6, 2018 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-07-06-research-report-1.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 151026


Author: Mahmood, Omar S.

Title: Factional Dynamics within Boko Haram

Summary: This report, produced by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), is the first in a two-part study examining current dynamics with regards to violent extremist organisations (VEOs) operating in the Lake Chad region (Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger). The report examines factionalism within Boko Haram, while the accompanying report profiles current responses and challenges. In August 2016, Boko Haram officially split into two groups - Islamic State-West Africa (ISIS-WA), led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, and Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS), led by long-time militant Abubakar Shekau. The rupture occurred after some militants opposed to the continuation of Shekau's rule secured the support of Islamic State, replacing him with al-Barnawi. Shekau rejected the demotion, and instead began commanding a faction comprised of fighters loyal to him. The roots of the rupture have been present for some time, and revolve around a few key concerns: Shekaus dictatorial leadership style, a need to revive the movement during a period of territorial loss, and most pertinently, a debate over who is an acceptable target of the group's violence. In particular, ISIS-WA and JAS differ ideologically in terms of whether Muslim civilians can and should be targeted. JAS has argued that anyone who does not actively support the group is essentially a government collaborator, and thus is worthy of attack. ISIS-WA holds a stricter view with regards to Muslim civilian targeting and has advocated shifting the locus of violence back towards government forces and installations instead. The divergent paths each group has taken in the nearly two years since their split can be traced back to this ideological divide. JAS has been responsible for a wave of suicide attacks, frequently deploying female and child bombers, against civilian soft targets in the region. ISIS-WA has on the other hand preferred to engage in less frequent but more large-scale assaults primarily targeting military structures. Both conduct violence outside this dichotomy, while it is also likely that some militants do not fully subscribe to either faction - but this overall trend explains a significant proportion of attack patterns in the Lake Chad region since 2016. The factions themselves have largely ignored each other since the split, both in terms of messaging and violence, though sporadic clashes have occurred. Geographically JAS remains confined to south-central Borno around the Sambisa Forest, and along the Cameroonian border. ISIS-WA initially established a stronghold in Lake Chad and along the Niger border, but has subsequently expanded southwards, now with a presence in Yobe State and parts of south-central Borno as well. The enlarged areas of influence place the factions in a few areas of general overlap, but the situation remains fluid, as both adjust to continued military pressure. Neither ISIS-WA nor JAS have demonstrated substantial external linkages, although ISIS-WA's messaging continues to be coordinated with Islamic State media outlets, while the faction itself is still allied to Islamic States global network of terrorist affiliates. Nonetheless, little evidence of practical ties on the ground has emerged, including with other Islamic State-aligned groups operating in the Sahel and North Africa. Rather both groups rely predominately on local means to sustain themselves. Financing is emblematic of this dynamic, as both generate revenue by extorting those living in areas of their influence, taxing the trade of commodities such as cattle and fish, and conducting high-profile kidnapping operations. A priority for ISIS-WA has been to resurrect relations with the civilian populace after militant excesses under Shekau's leadership. This shift can be seen in the reduced rate of civilian casualties during ISIS-WA attacks,

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2018. 50p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 6, 2018 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-07-06-research-report-2.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 151028


Author: Interpeace

Title: Au-Dela de L'ideologie et de l'appat Du Gain: Trajectoires des Jeunes vers les Nouvelles Formes de Violence en Cote D'Ivoire et au Mali

Summary: The West African region is today the subject of a increased international attention. If the various traffics, particularly in the Sahel, have been known since long - weapons, drugs, human beings, etc. -, crisis Mali experienced in 2012 highlighted and allowed the expansion of so-called "terrorist" armed groups the arrival of the foreigner and / or the degree of local rooting remain subject to debate. In Nigeria, rootedness and the expansion of the Boko Haram group seem even more worrying. Youth engagement in these diverse forms of violence is not limited to armed groups some of whom are called terrorists: gang crime organized in children and adolescents takes the scale in Cote d'Ivoire , while veterans demobilized remains a significant risk factor ; violence related to "mercenaries" and groups of traditional hunters affect the region of the Mano River for over a decade. Subject to instability and insecurity thus generated, a part of of this youth seems to turn to various forms of violent activism, structuring risk trajectories for themselves, their communities and for stability and national and international security. Since 2012, but particularly in 2014 and 2015, the number of attacks and victims in Africa has increased tenfold. Even supported by the mobilization of the biggest powers of this world, the security and repressive approach has been unable to stem the threat.

Details: Abidjan: IMRAP et Interpeace, 2016. 78p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 24, 2018 at: https://www.interpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2016-Au-del%C3%A0-de-lid%C3%A9ologie-et-de-lapp%C3%A2t-du-gain.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 151257


Author: Big Win Philanthropy

Title: Violence against children: A review of evidence relevant to Africa on prevalence, impacts and prevention

Summary: This paper is a review of evidence relevant to the nature, impact and prevention of interpersonal violence against children in sub‐Saharan Africa. It has six sections, each covering a set of questions: 1. Prevalence. What is the extent and nature of violence against children in African countries, who perpetrates it and what views do societies have of it? 2. Health. How does violence impact on children's brain development, cognitive ability, mental health and physical health, both as children and in later adult life? 3. Achievement. What are the consequences of childhood violence for an individual's capacity to perform well in education and employment? 4. Cost. What is the economic impact on a country of violence against children, including indirect costs such as reductions in lifetime productivity as well as direct costs such as healthcare? 5. Prevention. What interventions have been successful in reducing violence against children, and what might a multi‐sector prevention program look like? 6. Leadership. Where is the leadership coming from to drive action to reduce violence against children? The fourth point above - the economic impact of violence - occupies a pivotal position in the narrative of the paper, in that the first three sections on prevalence, health and achievement lead up to it, and the final sections on action are justified by it. Although violence against children is of course a moral issue as well as an economic one, our focus on economic impact is because this is an important consideration for governments assessing the relative merits of different issues competing for prioritization.

Details: Hartford, CT: Big Win Philanthropy, 2018. 80p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 29, 2018 at: https://www.bigwin.org/nm_pent_bigwp/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Violence-Against-Children-Big-Win-Philanthropy-July-2018-FULL-REPORT.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect

Shelf Number: 151284


Author: Cakaj, Ledio

Title: Deadly Profits: Illegal Wildlife Trafficking through Uganda and South Sudan

Summary: Countries that act as transit hubs for international wildlife trafficking are a critical, highly profitable part of the illegal wildlife smuggling supply chain, but are frequently overlooked. While considerable attention is paid to stopping illegal poaching at the chain's origins in national parks and changing end-user demand (e.g., in China), countries that act as midpoints in the supply chain are critical to stopping global wildlife trafficking. They are needed way stations for traffickers who generate considerable profits, thereby driving the market for poaching. This is starting to change, as U.S., European, and some African policymakers increasingly recognize the problem, but more is needed to combat these key trafficking hubs. In East and Central Africa, South Sudan and Uganda act as critical way points for elephant tusks, pangolin scales, hippo teeth, and other wildlife, as field research done for this report reveals. Kenya and Tanzania are also key hubs but have received more attention. The wildlife going through Uganda and South Sudan is largely illegally poached at alarming rates from Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, points in West Africa, and to a lesser extent Uganda, as it makes its way mainly to East Asia. Worryingly, the elephant population in Congo has decreased by an estimated 75 percent since 1996 mainly due to poaching, according to park officials in Congo. Since conflict broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, South Sudanese poachers and armed groups have increasingly crossed into Garamba park in Congo, for example, through the little monitored Lantoto National Park in South Sudan, and likely now make up the majority of poachers there, according to park officials and United Nations experts. Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), armed Sudanese poachers, and Mbororo pastoralists in Congo also continue to poach in Garamba. South Sudanese poachers in Congo appear to be a mix of soldiers, former soldiers, police officers, and civilians, based on Enough Project field interviews. They traffic ivory and other wildlife to foreign markets via smuggling routes, mainly through South Sudan, particularly Juba International Airport and/or by road through neighboring Uganda, an important transit point for trafficked animals and ivory tusks originating from Congo and South Sudan. Insecurity in South Sudan has helped create an ivory trafficking route from the southwest of South Sudan eastward to Juba. From there, it is either flown out of the country via Juba Airport or driven south to Uganda via the border crossings at Nimule or Oraba. Over five tons of ivory was seized at Juba's airport in 2014-15 alone. Based on estimates from seizures in Uganda and interviews with experts in Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda, large amounts of ivory from Garamba are transported to Uganda either through South Sudan or via Congo-Uganda border crossings.6 Elephant ivory fetches up to $250 per kilogram ($113 per pound) in the Ugandan black market, a significant amount of money locally. The wildlife is then trafficked to either Entebbe International Airport or the border crossings between Uganda and Kenya and to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, which is another exit point of illicit goods destined for Asian markets, or to the port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. International authorities increasingly recognize Uganda as a wildlife trafficking hub. Although the Ugandan government has taken several key anti-poaching and trafficking steps within the last year, much remains to be done to combat trafficking. Uganda was listed as one of ten countries worldwide "linked to the greatest illegal ivory trade flows since 2012," including those from Central Africa, according to the global body that tracks poaching and trafficking, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Trafficking through Uganda appeared to worsen with CITES listing it for the first time in 2013 as a country of "primary concern." The Ugandan government has recently taken important measures to address the problem. Recent efforts include setting up a court dedicated to wildlife crimes, ordering investigations into the leadership of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) for the alleged theft of ivory from its storerooms and other alleged offenses, completing the review of the 20-year-old Uganda Wildlife Act that will now be sent to the Parliament of Uganda, beefing up penalties for poaching and trafficking, and increasing the number of wildlife seizures, arrests, and prosecutions in recent years. However, organized criminal groups are likely still involved in trafficking in Uganda. International traffickers continue to use Uganda as a waypoint, as evidenced by the February 2017 seizure of over one ton of ivory suspected to be from neighboring countries and the arrest of three West Africans near Kampala. Also, UWA officials are accused of attempted bribery of banks, which UWA denies. And while a new court dedicated to wildlife prosecutions is an important step, there is only one such court in the country, and prosecutions of high-level traffickers have been limited to date. One problem has been the storage of seized wildlife and the subsequent trafficking of it. For example, in October 2014 an internal audit of the Uganda Wildlife Authority's stock room found that 1.35 metric tons of elephant ivory had gone missing from 2009 to 2014. Furthermore, there have also been several cases of state-affiliated actors involved in wildlife trafficking in Uganda and South Sudan. Some of these cases have been prosecuted, e.g., a February 2017 conviction of mid-level Ugandan army officers for ivory trafficking. However, several cases have either not been prosecuted or have lingered in the Ugandan court system for years, and there have been no convictions to date for the missing 1.35 tons of ivory first reported three years ago. In South Sudan and Uganda, there has been little accountability to date for high-level cases of officials involved in trafficking. In some cases, in South Sudan, traffickers were released or never charged. In addition, storerooms in Uganda for wildlife artifacts confiscated from smugglers appear, in some instances, to be sources for further black-market trade. Understanding and combating trafficking in South Sudan and Uganda should be of primary importance to policymakers aiming to curb the frenzied levels of poaching in one of Central Africas remaining sanctuaries for wildlife, Garamba National Park. To this end, the following authorities and offices should fully consider and implement wherever possible the recommendations as follows: Recommendations - Increase accountability. The United States and European nations should urge the Ugandan government to follow up on high-level cases of wildlife trafficking in Uganda's military, anticorruption, or wildlife courts, as well as cases in South Sudanese courts, to help ensure that the cases move forward in their respective justice systems. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), Denmark's Danida, and other donors should provide assistance to the Ugandan Ministry of Justice to expand the wildlife court and train judges in wildlife crimes. Training should include how to properly value wildlife, such that judicial sentences are appropriate to the scope of crimes committed. - Combat poaching in and around Garamba. With U.S. Congressional support, the U.S. Department of Defense should authorize funding to support Garamba National Park rangers and African Parks (the NGO which manages the park) to help interdict the illegal poaching and wildlife trade from Congo to South Sudan and Sudan. For example, with additional funding, AFRICOM could help provide technology to augment park rangers' interdiction capability, such as night vision, thermal recognition, camera traps, and night-flying panels for helicopters over Garamba park. European military personnel and contractors, MONUSCO, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could also provide assistance. MONUSCO peacekeepers could also, in collaboration with FARDC military or Congolese police, conduct 'stop and search' operations of trucks suspected of transporting ivory by road. - Follow the money. Justice authorities in the European Union, the United States, Uganda, and elsewhere with jurisdiction over individuals and companies suspected of high-level involvement in illegal ivory trafficking should investigate the most serious cases of trafficking, money laundering, and other related crimes. Financial intelligence units in the United States and Europe, banks, and other financial institutions should build on the study produced in mid-2016 by the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to combat the laundering of the proceeds of trafficking through the international financial system. Sanctions authorities such as the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) should pursue and designate key traffickers and their criminal networks. - Maintain wildlife stocks. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and European states should provide technical assistance to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to ensure that wildlife stocks are kept safely in one or two depots, under the sole control and responsibility of UWA executives. - Pass legislation with harsher penalties. The Parliament of Uganda should pass the revised Wildlife Act, which includes stiffer penalties for wildlife trafficking, that the Ugandan cabinet has now finished reviewing. - Support local anti-trafficking groups. International donors and conservation authorities should increase support to local organizations in Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda that carry out investigations of wildlife trafficking. Public-private partnerships may be applicable here.

Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2017. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2018 at: https://enoughproject.org/reports/deadly-profits-illegal-wildlife-trafficking

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: East Africa

Shelf Number: 151461


Author: TRAFFIC

Title: Empty Shells: An Assessment of Abalone Poaching and Trade from Southern Africa

Summary: Over 17 years (2000-2016), world imports of H. midae from sub-Saharan Africa show an overall increasing trend. From 2009 to 2016, imports of H. midae have increased by an average of eight percent per annum, with 2016 showing imports of over 5,065 t. During the same time period, legal production from the wild-caught fishery declined from an annual quota of 545 t in 2000 to the current quota of 96 t. Despite this, overall legal production has increased due to the growth of the aquaculture industry. - World imports of H. midae outweigh legal production levels with the total mass of imports of H. midae from 2000-2016 being 55,863 t, while only 18,905 t was legally produced over the same period. H. midae illegally harvested between 2000 and 2016 is accordingly estimated to total 36,958 t, representing an average of 2,174 t per annum and equating to a total of over 96 million individual abalone poached since 2000. - The rampant illegal harvesting of abalone has resulted in the loss of a valuable commodity worth approximately ZAR628 million per annum, should the resource have been legally harvested and traded. - In addition, an analysis of trade routes suggests that up to forty-three percent of the illegally harvested abalone was traded through a number of non-abalone-producing sub-Saharan African countries to Hong Kong between 2000 and 2016. - In-transit and market states do not have legal provisions requiring traders to demonstrate that abalone products have their provenance in legal fisheries or aquaculture operations. - The increase in trade of dried South African abalone combined with the high value of the product and the presence of organised crime syndicates suggest that interventions and collaboration at international level are required in order to address the trade in illegally harvested abalone. - Local initiatives required to stem the poaching of abalone include increased multi-agency collaboration between different government departments to encourage solutions that address the combined effects of social, political, and economic conditions surrounding the illegal fishery. - Regional collaboration within sub-Saharan Africa is required to ensure that countries through which poached abalone is traded have the necessary resources and legal framework to thwart attempts to route abalone through their ports. - International trade regulation in the form of a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix listing is highly recommended. As most of the illegally harvested abalone is traded in dried form, usually by air to Hong Kong, a focused and collaborative effort is required to ensure the effective administering and implementation of the CITES documentation.

Details: Cambridge: UK, 2018. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 23, 2018 at: https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/11065/empty_shells.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Environmental Crime

Shelf Number: 151583


Author: Smoyer, Amy B.

Title: A Study on the Global Governance Architecture for Combating Illicit Financial Flows

Summary: The most up-to-date estimates by the Economic Commission for Africa indicate that during the period 2000-2015, net illicit financial flows between Africa and the rest of the world averaged US$73 billion (at 2016 prices) per year from trade misinvoicing alone. Recent exposure of illicit financial flow scandals shows that those involved in such activities have used a range of practices to perpetrate the flows. Furthermore, there are a number of fundamental enablers of illicit financial flows that cut across institutions, sectors and stakeholders, such as: the benefits to the perpetuators, the facilitating infrastructure, the absorptive jurisdictions and the constraints of public authorities. Since the release of the African Union-Economic Commission for Africa High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows report in 2015, some headway has been made at the global level, but this continues to be in silos of sectors, groups of nations or stakeholders. Moreover, evidence reviewed for this study suggests that illicit financial flows continue to present a serious challenge to development in Africa. Given that illicit financial flows from Africa involve actors from across the globe, and that the laws and policies of non-African jurisdictions have a serious impact on illicit flows from Africa, it has become a priority to review the adequacy of global frameworks in tackling illicit financial flows (High-level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, 2015). In the present study, the global framework or architecture for combating illicit financial flows and its effectiveness in tackling the illicit financial flow problem are examined. Another objective of the study is to identify the gaps in the existing architecture for preventing illicit financial flows, and how Africa should feed into this process to improve its efficiency, effectiveness and inclusiveness. The literature available on the issue was examined, while delving into the framework for tackling illicit financial flows, and analysing actions and their impacts on: (a) the world as a whole; (b) the subregions of Africa; and (c) individual African countries, with a focus on Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco and South Africa, from which primary data were collected to support the study.

Details: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: The Commission, 2018. 72p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 24, 2018 at: https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/PublicationFiles/global-governance_eng_rev.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Economic Crime

Shelf Number: 151653


Author: Wasser, Samuel K.

Title: Combating transnational organized crime by linking multiple large ivory seizures to the same dealer

Summary: Rapid growth in world trade has enabled transnational criminal networks to conceal their contraband among the 1 billion containers shipped worldwide annually. Forensic methods are needed to identify the major cartels moving the contraband into transit. We combine DNA-based sample matching and geographic assignment of tusks to show that the two tusks from the same elephant are often shipped by the same trafficker in separate large consignments of ivory. The paired shipments occur close in time from the same initial place of export and have high overlap in the geographic origins of their tusks. Collectively, these paired shipments form a linked chain that reflects the sizes, interconnectedness, and places of operation of Africas largest ivory smuggling cartels.

Details: Science Advances 19 Sep 2018: Vol. 4, no. 9. 10p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 24, 2018 at: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/9/eaat0625

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Animal Poaching

Shelf Number: 151656


Author: Yoder, P. Stanley

Title: Numbers of women circumcised in Africa: The Production of a Total

Summary: This report was written in response to a request from the World Health Organization's Division of Family & Community Health, Department of Reproductive Health & Research, Gender, Reproductive Rights, Sexual Health & Adolescence team (FCH/RHR/GRR) to produce an estimate of the number of women in Africa who have been circumcised, or have undergone female genital cutting (FGC). The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund UNFPA), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United States Agency for International Development, UNFPA, UNICEF, (USAID), and various NGOs have provided estimates of the "number of women and girls worldwide" who have undergone FGC, but those estimates vary widely and do not include information on how the numbers were obtained. Given the limitations of the data on FGC in some African countries, the team at Macro agreed to provide a number, but a number for women 15 years old and older, not one for "women and girls worldwide." In order to provide a methodological context for that number, we have also written a brief report about how the numbers were produced for each country. Readers could then judge for themselves if the calculations seemed reasonable. In countries where FGC data are available from a national survey with a representative sample of women, most often from a Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), the calculations are straightforward. Where such data are lacking, the calculations involve a series of assumptions related to the various estimates available and the ethnic composition of the population. The text provides a total number and accounts of its derivation for women 15 years old and older in African countries who have been circumcised. The estimates do not include girls younger than 15 years old, although Appendix A provides an estimate for girls 10-14 years old. Two types of data are needed for such calculations: a reliable estimate of the number of women 15 years old and older for each country, and a national prevalence rate for FGC for the same women. After a brief discussion of the importance of obtaining numbers as accurate as possible, the text describes the procedures used to estimate the numbers of women circumcised in countries with population-based national surveys. The next section describes how prevalence estimates were done for the countries without such data. The report concludes with a discussion of the assumptions made and the relative strength of the calculations used.

Details: Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development, 2008. 23p.

Source: Internet Resource: DHS Working Paper no. 39: Accessed October 12, 2018 at: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/wp39/wp39.pdf

Year: 2008

Country: Africa

Keywords: Female Circumcision

Shelf Number: 152912


Author: Lopez-Lucia, Elisa

Title: Fragility, Violence and Criminality in the Gulf off Guinea. Rapid Literature Review

Summary: Maritime security has become a key issue in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) following the increasing number of attacks off Nigeria's coast and spillover along the West African coast. While the GoG geographically stretches along 6000 km of coast from Senegal to Angola, this report focuses mostly on West Africa and in particular on the Nigeria/Cameroon axis and their West African neighbours, the area where the concentration of violence is the highest. This report analyses the causes, dynamics and responses to maritime security issues in the region including piracy, oil bunkering, armed robbery at sea, oil spills and environmental damage, and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. Illegal trafficking of arms, drugs and persons are analysed as issues interrelated in complex ways with maritime security problems. Geostrategic stakes are high as the GoG is rich in both oil and gas, and is a major international trade route. In 2011, oil supply from the region was equivalent to 40% of the 27 European Union (EU) member states supply, and 29% of total US petroleum consumption (Chatham House 2013, p. 1). Whilst oil wealth in the context of weak governance and under-development is creating tensions leading to criminality and violence, these geostrategic stakes provide incentives for national, regional and international actors to seek solutions. Violence in the region is particularly concentrated in three areas: - the Niger Delta - the Bakassi peninsula - the West African coast: from Nigeria to Cote d'Ivoire. The Niger Delta appears to be the epicentre of violence from which criminality and violence is radiating to Nigeria's neighbours. Most criminal groups involved in piracy and oil bunkering throughout the region appear to be from the Niger Delta or are closely working with actors there. Nigeria is thus considered to be both the source and the solution to the problem. A review of the literature on maritime security in the GoG shows that the many actors involved in, and enabling, criminality maintain complex relationships: militant groups demanding a greater share of oil wealth; transnational criminal groups who operate along the coast and in connection with global criminal networks; the local and national elite, state officials, and police and military officers who collude with these groups; oil companies and their employees. The main structural causes driving maritime insecurity are very much related to the fragility of GoG states: weak governance and corruption, economic and socio-political exclusion, unemployment, and the centrality of oil in their economy. These factors interact with proximate causes such as weak law enforcement, transnational trafficking, environmental degradation, IUU fishing, etc. Further triggers are political crises and new oil discoveries along the coast. The analysis of the interactions between these different factors shows the self-reinforcing nexus between state fragility, criminality and violence. The nexus is particularly strong in the Niger Delta. National, regional and international responses to tackle maritime security issues seek mainly to build the very weak law enforcement capacities of GoG states. Capacity building aims to enable states to react to piracy and armed robberies at sea by improving the patrolling and surveillance of their territorial waters, as well as to arrest and prosecute criminals. The emphasis is also on developing regional cooperation and coordination among GoG countries to tackle the regionalised nature of maritime insecurity. However, this response tends to focus on the symptoms of maritime insecurity, leaving aside the root causes that created the incentives for actors to get involved in criminal activities. The maritime security agenda of the GoG tends to be driven by international partners protecting their oil and economic interests in the region. Their response is thus more security-oriented than connected with the challenges and needs of coastal communities.

Details: Birmingham, UK: GSDRC, University of Birmingham, 2015. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 23, 2018 at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a0898f40f0b64974000146/FragilityGulfGuinea.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Armed Robbery

Shelf Number: 153060


Author: Gaye, Serigne-Bamba

Title: Connections Between Jihadist Groups and Smuggling and Illegal Trafficking Rings in the Sahel

Summary: For a number of years, the Sahel has been faced with a series of threats, the most emblematic of which are Islamist terrorism, illegal trafficking and organized crime. These threats have contributed to the destabilization of the region and, in some countries, accentuated the fragility of the State. Often, the establishment of modernized security organizations is hindered by the weakness of democratic institutions, the partially dysfunctional role of security forces, the lack of security strategies at the national level, insufficient financial resources and the contradictory interests of the various actors. This situation aggravates the climate of insecurity and further accentuates the risks of instability, which hardly promotes the socioeconomic development of Sahelian countries. It is also an environment that allows drug trafficking rings to flourish, and they abound in this part of the continent. They use a number of crossborder routes, contributing to the destabilization of the Sahel region and undermining peace and security in the area. Intrinsic links exist between terrorist groups and organized crime rings, which work together to maximize their businesses. These networks develop with the complicity or participation of local actors, who profit from these illicit dealings. Drug traffickers also have connections with Jihadist groups that totally or partially control certain major cross-border roads. There is therefore a real interweaving of issues, actors, and networks in the Sahel to control local resources and drug trafficking in areas where State representation in terms of administration and defence and security forces is limited or virtually inexistent. This combination of interests makes it more complicated to find peace and lasting security, since several different dynamics cohabit in the same space with interconnecting interests. To better understand the interactions between the various Jihadist and criminal groups in the Sahel, it is important to grasp their dynamics and modes of operation and how they interact according to their circumstantial interests. The present study analyses the causes as well as the political and economic aspects of the connections between smuggling and trafficking rings in a context where extremist movements continue to grow in the Sahel. These analyses form part of the "political economy" approach. The study is based on an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach which, in light of the numerous interdependencies, recommends avoiding the separation of the political dimension, with its institutional or legal and geographic aspects, from the socioeconomic dimension, with its security, economic and social aspects. It also takes account of cultural, ethnic, religious and gender aspects. The formulation of specific, concrete and feasible recommendations for action should promote the development of New Approaches to Collective Security.

Details: Dakar, Senegal: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Peace and Security Center, 2018. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 24, 2018 at: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/fes-pscc/14176.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Trafficking

Shelf Number: 152869


Author: Parkes, Jenny

Title: A Rigorous Review of Global Research Evidence on Policy and Practice on School-Related Gender-Based Violence

Summary: Aims and rationale -- This rigorous literature review was commissioned by UNICEF, with the aim of examining research evidence on approaches to addressing school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). While the scope of the review was global, an emphasis was placed on research in low- and middle-income countries. The review addressed the following questions: 1. What does research evidence tell us about the kinds of policies and practices being used to address SRGBV, and in what contexts, around the world? What concepts and ideas underpin these interventions, and what are the implications for addressing SRGBV? 2. What is the evidence on how interventions on SRGBV engage with education policy processes at and across national, district and local levels, and with contextual features, including political, economic and social conditions? 3. How can research evidence and data-gathering tools be used effectively to inform policy and practice on SRGBV across a range of settings? The conceptual approach taken viewed SRGBV as multi-dimensional, including physical, sexual and psychological acts of violence that are underpinned by norms, stereotypes and inequalities and shaped by institutions. Methods -- Three bibliographic databases were searched for relevant publications, along with websites of key governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and complementary databases. Citations referenced in individual papers and known about by team members were also followed up, eliciting a total of 2,525 publications. The review was conducted in two main stages. Stage 1 ('light review') consisted of a systematic mapping exercise of 171 publications that met the inclusion criteria through coding, giving a broad picture of the research and interventions on SRGBV globally. At the conclusion of this first stage, 49 studies that met additional inclusion criteria - of assessing the effectiveness of a sustained intervention with relevance to low-and middle-income countries, and/or engaging with policy processes - were selected for Stage 2 ('detailed review'). The detailed review included examination of the research (theoretical underpinning, quality of contextualization, and methodological trustworthiness) and of the interventions (focus, design, sustainability, ecological validity), with a view to generating the analysis of approaches with potential for addressing SRGBV in a range of settings. Findings -- Mapping the global evidence on SRGBV interventions A key finding of the review was that the majority of studies were of short-term programmes of less than a year, and the evidence was drawn from evaluations at a moment of practice, commonly at the end of the programme. Few studies engaged with policy, with most focusing on local programmes working directly with groups of girls and/or boys, usually at secondary school level, on sexual violence or young people's aggressive behaviour. Quantitative studies dominated the global evidence base, with far fewer qualitative, mixed methods or longitudinal studies. Most of the evidence came from North America or sub-Saharan Africa, with very few studies from Asia or the Middle East. Studies in the United States tended often to operate as packaged, off-the-shelf interventions with experimental designs of narrow focus, and gender was often one of many variables. The studies in sub-Saharan Africa employed a range of study designs including qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. These were of variable quality in terms of rigour and reliability. Some had strengths in the quality of their contextualization, their participatory and flexible designs, or their attention to gender, sexual violence and inequalities.

Details: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Global Partnership for Education (GPE); University College London (UCL), Institute of Education (IOE), 2016. 80p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2018 at: http://www.ungei.org/srgbv/files/SRGBV_review_FINAL_V1_web_version_2.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Antisocial Behavior

Shelf Number: 153104


Author: Cartwright, Robin

Title: The rise of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in Africa

Summary: The growing phenomenon of counterfeit medicines in Africa puts people's lives at risk and causes profound public health challenges. Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) places significant emphasis on populations' health, and sub-target 3.8 specifies access 'to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all'. Yet, remarkably missing from the discourse around achieving this goal is the need to address the growing phenomenon of counterfeit medicines, which disproportionately affects developing countries. Counterfeit medicines put people's lives at risk, finance criminal groups and cause profound public health challenges. The full scale of the challenge in Africa is not fully understood, but research suggests that the problem and its impact are severe. If the continent is to make headway in achieving SDG 3, the issue of counterfeit medicines must move higher up on policy agendas. Experience elsewhere suggests that there would be scope for significant positive results.

Details: s.l.: ENACT, 2018. 16p.

Source: Internet Resource: Police Brief, Issue 06: Accessed November 16, 2018 at: https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-11-12-counterfeit-medicines-policy-brief.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Consumer Fraud

Shelf Number: 153493


Author: Ceesay, Hassoum

Title: Razing Africa: Combatting Criminal Consortia in the Logging Sector

Summary: Organised-crime syndicates often with connections to Chinese markets have been consolidating illegal timber exploitation in various African countries on an unprecedented and accelerating scale. This report, the result of ENACT research, analyses the layers of criminality that have come to define the logging supply chain, from extraction of rare species through to the sale of high-value timber in international markets. The report reveals how transnational organised crime allies with corrupt actors at the highest levels of states to profit from this lucrative and environmentally destructive illicit trade. ENACT research recommends for a policy-orientated investigation on organised crime in the forestry sector to be prioritized, advocating strongly for approaches targeted at disrupting these criminal consortia.

Details: ENACT Programme, 2018. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 25, 2018 at: https://enactafrica.org/research/research-papers/razing-africa-combatting-criminal-consortia-in-the-logging-sector

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Asian Markets

Shelf Number: 153026


Author: Reitano, Tuesday

Title: Mind the Moratorium: Ending Criminality and Corruption in Africa's Logging Sector

Summary: Logging moratoria - or bans on the felling, transportation and export of forest and wood products - have been widely used in Africa as a means of preventing the degradation of natural forests, often with considerable support from the international community. However, their impact has almost universally fallen far short of expectations. Violations range from the questionable issuance of exceptions and the sale of concessions despite there being a ban in place, to continued illicit and artisanal logging. Evidence suggests that moratoria are increasingly being used to allow influential political and business elites to consolidate control over the logging sector in their own favour, rather than for their stated development objectives. This brief argues that it is time for a sharp reconsideration of the value of moratoria as a tool for forest governance in Africa.

Details: ENACT Programme, 2018. 15p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 25, 2018 at: https://enactafrica.org/research/policy-briefs/mind-the-moratorium-ending-criminality-and-corruption-in-africas-logging-sector

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Corruption

Shelf Number: 153025


Author: Hunter, Marcena

Title: Curbing Illicit Mercury and Gold Flows in West Africa: Options for a Regional Approach

Summary: In 2017 the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force, a product of the global call for action to address the threat of mercury emissions to health and the environment. To meet its objective - 'to protect the human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds' - the convention mandates parties to the convention to 'take steps to reduce, and where feasible eliminate, the use of mercury and mercury compounds in, and the emissions and releases to the environment of mercury from, such mining and processing'. Currently, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the largest anthropogenic user of mercury, which is often used in the extraction of gold from mined ore, a process called amalgamation. In turn, Minamata signatory states have agreed to take steps 'to reduce, and where feasible, eliminate, the use of mercury and mercury compounds in, and the emissions and releases to the environment of mercury from, such mining.' The adoption of the Minamata Convention has profound implications for West Africa. All member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are signatories, and most of them have ratified the convention. Furthermore, as the region is home to some of the richest gold-ore deposits in the world, ASGM is conducted in nearly every ECOWAS member state, and gold is a major regional export. Mercury plays a key role in the sector, as it is used by the majority of the region's estimated 2 to 3 million artisanal miners to extract gold from ore. Therefore, efforts to reduce mercury use and emissions have significant consequences for not only public health and the environment of ECOWAS member states, but also their economies - in terms of both peoples livelihoods and state revenues. Informal and illicit flows of gold perpetuate the use and spread of mercury in the region. Often, mercury is supplied to upstream partners as a way of securing gold flows. For example, gold buyers and mine site owners will double as mercury dealers to local miners and the sale price of gold is directly related to the provision of mercury. In this way, the mercury and gold supply chains create a self-reinforcing cycle that can be difficult to break. The challenge is exacerbated by the fact that the high-rewardlow-risk nature of the sector - a function of the high value of gold and omnipresent informality in the regional gold economy - makes it very appealing to illicit actors, who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. As a result, efforts to reduce mercury use and trade in West Africa require an understanding of not only mercury flows and trade regulations, but also those related to ASGM gold production. Recognizing the need for a greater understanding of mercury and gold trade flows, regulation and taxation, the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) commissioned this study of mercury and gold trade flows and regulatory frameworks. The study was informed by extensive desk research and key informant interviews conducted in 12 ECOWAS member states (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.) Gambia was also included in desk research. To curb mercury use in the ECOWAS region, greater cooperation and harmonization of regulatory frameworks and coordination between relevant government bodies are necessary, both at the regional and domestic levels. Because of the region's porous borders, facilitating the transnational movement of people and goods, a coordinated, regional approach is needed. This is highlighted by the fact that disparities in royalty rates are an incentive for gold smuggling. If no action is taken, the ECOWAS region may see a 'race to the bottom' in the setting of royalty rates, which will benefit exporters to the detriment of ECOWAS member states, and do little to curb mercury use and flows. It is promising that there has been some regional action, including the adoption of ECOWAS Vision 2020 in 2007, and efforts to standardize tax regimes and internal tariffs. Also, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has advocated for increased regional integration, supporting efforts to strengthen ECOWAS and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). By building on these efforts, together with the momentum generated by the adoption of the Minamata Convention, ECOWAS member states will be better positioned to effect a coordinated implementation of the convention in the ECOWAS region. To do this, the following recommendations are made: - Improve knowledge and awareness of mercury flows, so that trade regulations and the organizations charged with enforcing them are better informed. - Standardize mercury-specific regulatory trade frameworks to generate a concerted and organized regional response. - Improve engagement with, and capacity of, customs organizations, which are often the first line of defence against illicit mercury flows. - Focus regional efforts on import and export hubs, in particular seaports, which act as a chokepoint in regional supply chains, in order to focus resources more effectively and efficiently. - Reward miners who extract gold without mercury or make use of more environmentally-friendly technology through tax incentives and other trade benefits in order to reduce mercury demand. - Harmonize gold-export regimes to reduce the drivers of illicit cross-border trade, which creates an obstacle to efforts to formalize the sector. - Strengthen regulatory oversight of gold imports in destination hubs.

Details: Vienna: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), 2018. 52p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed Dec. 7, 2018 at: https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Final-UNIDO-ECOWAS-gold-and-mercury-report-English.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Environmental Crimes

Shelf Number: 153943


Author: Murimi, Edward Kahuthia

Title: Arresting Corruption in Africa: The Role of the Youth

Summary: Young people are most exposed to and hardest hit by corruption in Africa. Corruption remains a major obstacle to the continents social, political and economic transformation, and the causal relationship between corruption and instability is particularly worrying for African states. This policy brief argues that to reverse the corruption trend, it is imperative for the African Union, member states and their anti-corruption agencies meaningfully involve the youth in the anti-corruption agenda.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2018. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 16, 2018 at: https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/arresting-corruption-in-africa-role-of-the-youth

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 154012


Author: Chikwanha, Annie Barbara

Title: Combating Corruption in the Extractive Industry in Africa

Summary: Introduction The 2014 report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial flows in Africa, chaired by Thabo Mbeki (known as the Mbeki Panel), has drawn attention to the urgent need to strengthen African efforts to fight corruption and combat illicit financial flows from the region. Anti-corruption efforts by the African Union (AU) member states have been floundering for a number of reasons, including lack of regulatory and enforcement capacity. The quality of the regulatory and institutional frameworks in Africa presents a formidable challenge to reforming the extractive industry in order to achieve transparency and accountability. The state of public services' governance regimes in most of the continent's countries affects the implementation of reforms, while enforcement of laws is greatly discouraged by rent-seeking behaviour, which is even more pronounced in extractive-sector investments. These issues, together with sophisticated private-sector-induced corruption, mean that national extractive systems fail to design and implement reforms that would minimise corruption. Oversight institutions also lack capacity and independence. Overall, prosecuting systems are not autonomous, under-resourced, and lack the skills and infrastructure needed to combat corruption. As more natural resources are found in Africa, rent-seeking bureaucratic tendencies continue to result in the transfer of wealth from the economy to a few political elites, perpetuating the label of the resource curse. Corruption in the extractive sector (oil, gas and mining) has a clear supply side: the extractive companies, and an equally clear demand side: the bureaucrats and politicians. This makes it essential to use a definition of corruption that captures both sides of the divide. The circumventing of formally agreed or implicit rules for decision making (in the public or private sector), or the use of personal inducements to achieve institutional and/or personal objectives,' aptly captures the various dimensions of corruption in the extractive industry and gives indications of possible corrective measures. Irrespective of the natural resource under scrutiny, the extractive sector's value chains, from extraction to utilisation of the revenues, and the institutional and policy frameworks for each mineral's value chain are riddled with corruption challenges. The nature of the resource determines the actors that dominate that specific product market and these, in turn, determine the types of corruption that emerge. In the African oil sector, for example, big conglomerates and state-owned enterprises dominate the market and deal directly with senior-level politicians. 'High oil revenues in Africa are associated with poor governance, lack of economic and social development, lack of respect for basic human rights and increased poverty' in the midst of abundance. The incipient gas sector appears to be following a similar trend. Emerging developments in the gas and oil sectors in East African countries, such as Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Madagascar,' could become a testing ground for strengthening the Mbeki Panel's recommendations on anti-corruption mechanisms in the gas extractive regime. In mining, there are many actors (research, extraction, refining, designing, marketing) and multiple layers of trading networks involved (miners, middlemen, exporters), and this again varies from mineral to mineral and country to country. New entrants to the African market, such as the Chinese, tend to deal at a political level with top officials in all their investment ventures. This effectively sidelines public institutions, such as investment centres and relevant ministries, when negotiating for mining rights. The contribution of revenues from mineral resources to national development in African governments is affected by their vulnerability to tax-evasion practices. These fraudulent acts are a symptom of the low institutional capacity to enforce tax compliance. In South Africa, where there are big corporations, the kind of corruption that triggers illicit financial flows is highly sophisticated. Driven by rich multinational corporations and wealthy individuals with the capacity to do sophisticated tax planning, illicit financial flows result in complex transfer pricing and trade under-invoicing. For instance, in developing countries, oil companies tend to do the accounting for tax payments, rather than governments, because of their capacity. In the absence of stringent auditing measures by governments, opportunities for manipulation therefore arise. Where artisanal miners dominate, as is the case in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), chains of middlemen dominate the industry, and complex webs that involve politicians and public officials are the norm across all mineral markets. At the regional level, The plethora of African institutions mandated with curbing corruption have largely failed due to poor institutional capacity and the lack of political will in domesticating and implementing anti-corruption protocols. Instead, many of these institutions have remained inward servicing as they struggle with capacity constraints.' A good example is the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC), which since its inception has largely concentrated on getting the rules and procedures of the work of the board in place, and has clearly failed to initiate any substantive work on the implementation of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC), which was adopted in July 2003. A major criticism levelled against all anti-corruption institutions in the continent is the preoccupation with 'grand' corruption. Administrative corruption, which affects the majority of the poor, however, does not get as much attention yet it is core to the creation of equitable opportunities, which would enable all to benefit from the effective use of public resources. 'There is a need to strengthen provisions in the national codes of conduct for institutions that provide public goods and services and, more importantly, to ensure enforcement and compliance.' Boyce and Ndikumanas study on illicit financial flows in 33 sub-Saharan African countries estimated capital flight in the region to be around US$505.4 billion for the period 19702010.10 Net trade misinvoicing contributed an additional US$204.8 billion to total capital flight, and unrecorded remittances US$104 billion. African states have been struggling to institutionalise their anticorruption infrastructure and have not complied with agreed-on regional or international standards. Active domestication of anti-corruption protocols compels countries to take steps to ensure that their commitments are reflected in national legislation and regulation, but this requirement is also wanting. Although 34 countries have ratified the AUCPCC, reviewing and reporting on the protocol implementation remain sluggish. The instruments for reporting are not fully developed and there is neither a system nor the capacity to engage with the substantive content of member state reports. This report identifies the corruption challenges that African countries face in their extractive value chains and attempts to give recommendations for entry points for external actors in supporting capacity building to deter corruption and illicit financial flows.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2016. 24p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 10, 2019 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/iss-sida-1.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Administrative Corruption

Shelf Number: 154128


Author: Abebe, Tsion Tadesse

Title: Algeria and Morocco: Developing Inclusive Strategies can Prevent Violent Extremism

Summary: Algeria and Morocco have been hosting thousands of sub-Saharan African migrants for a growing period of time. The migrants live in poor socio-economic conditions and face discrimination, providing fertile ground for radicalisation. Except for one Chadian who was arrested in Morocco in relation with a Daesh (also known as Islamic State, or IS) plot, sub-Saharan African migrants havent been implicated in terrorism in either country. Before radicalisation manifests, Algeria and Morocco should develop migration policies that promote social and economic inclusion.

Details: Dakar, Senegal: Institute for Security Studies, 2017. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 14, 2019 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/pb112.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Algeria

Shelf Number: 154140


Author: Mbiyozo, Aimee-Noel

Title: How Boko Haram Specifically Targets Displaced People

Summary: Since 2009, Boko Haram has proven to be a highly adaptable foe, routinely realigning its tactics to suit changing circumstances. In recent years, this has increasingly involved focusing on soft targets, including displaced people (both refugees and internally displaced people). Understanding how Boko Haram has targeted displaced people and what some of its specific objectives might be is key to understanding their true threat.

Details: Dakar, Senegal: Institute for Security Studies, 2017. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 14, 2019 at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/policybrief109.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 154139


Author: Intergovernmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa

Title: Typologies Report on Laundering the Proceeds of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances in West Africa

Summary: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I Drug trafficking is the largest source of illicit funds globally. This is largely due to the wide gap between production cost and the final price the consumer pays, especially in Western Europe and North America. For the trafficker, profit is the motive and is largely determined by the risk they are willing to take to deliver the drugs to the highest paying consumer. Locally, massive cannabis cultivation and consumption has been a source of major concern in the not only because of the illegal money it generates but also due to the associated health hazards. In recent years, West Africa has been targeted by drug traffickers from Latin America with large consignment of cocaine which is warehoused in the region and mostly shipped in small quantities to Europe and other destinations using local couriers. The problem has attracted attention at the highest level in the region as well as globally. There are ongoing regional initiatives to address the problem. II As a contribution to that initiative, and in order to have a good understanding of the relationship between money laundering and drug trafficking in the region, this typologies exercise was conducted. The study analyses various facets of the legal and enforcement environment of AML and Drug trafficking in ECOWAS member States. It looked at the vulnerabilities of the region and why West Africa has become a target for drug traffickers. It also looked at the techniques, methods, mechanisms and instruments used by drug traffickers to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking by reviewing relevant case studies and identifying typologies. III Twelve out of fifteen ECOWAS countries were involved in the study. One expert was identified in each of the 12 countries who helped to administer the two questionnaires developed for the study and produced a country report. A typologies workshop was held where country reports were reviewed, including case studies. IV The findings of the study indicates that drug traffickers employ complex means to launder money generated from drug trafficking including the use of lawyers, bureau de change, trade, cash couriers,, front companies, purchase of real estate, etc. V With regard to legal framework, most of the AML laws are quite recent compared to the drug trafficking laws. In some countries, the penalty for drug offences is not proportionate and dissuasive. There is general lack of effectiveness with regard to the enforcement of AML laws across board. Capacity to carry out effective AML investigation is generally low and many ML predicate offences are not investigated for ML. The domination of the informal sector and cash transaction of the economy of the region are obstacles to effective enforcement/implementation of AML measures. The disparity in AML capacity among member States is a source of concern and need to be urgently addressed. VI A number of recommendations were made which, if implemented will help to improve the overall implementation of AML measures both at the member States and at the regional levels. Summary of Findings VII The following is the summary of the major findings of the exercise: A. All countries in West Africa are extremely vulnerable to drug trafficking and related money laundering. The vulnerability is related to geographical, political, legal, institutional, economic and social factors. The large sea coast is either partly or completely unmanned in most parts of the region. Generally, inland borders are porous and not effectively manned across the region. B. Most of the countries have AML laws that were enacted not more than 4 years earlier, and the necessary infrastructure and human capacity to support the execution of the law are still being put in place. In a number of the countries, this process has been stalled by lack of resources. C. The trafficking tends to concentrate in countries with unstable political, social and economical situation and weak controls (legal, enforcement, prosecutorial and judicial). D. The laundering of the money generated from drug trafficking tend to be carried out in stable countries with relatively fair economy in the region where cash dominates transactions and is difficult for authorities to monitor cash inflows and outflows, as well as some in countries outside the region (largely countries where the heads of the networks operate from and the countries of some of the drug couriers from outside of the region). E. Corruption appears to play an important part in the cross-border movement of proceeds of crime as cash or when converted into goods. F. The general lack of capacity to interdict illicit drugs especially cocaine and heroin, makes money laundering almost inevitable due to the prevailing opportunities for money laundering in the informal sector. G. There is general lack of capacity for money laundering investigation in most of the countries coupled with the fact that money laundering investigation has not been fully integrated in drug trafficking investigation in most of the countries. Investigating money laundering during drug investigation does not appear to be a top priority as indicated by the apparent absence of asset seizure and confiscation despite convictions obtained of drug traffickers in most of the countries and the significant drug seizures made. H. Coordination between the investigating agencies and FIUs during drug trafficking related money laundering investigation is very week. The trust factor remains an important element in this lack of coordination. I. Over emphasis of money laundering through the formal financial system undermines overall AML/CFT efforts especially in West Africa where the cash dominated informal sector is the preferred channel for laundering the proceeds of crime, including drug trafficking. J. Reporting entities do not appear to be providing STRs commensurate with the level of the drug trafficking problems in most of the countries. This may be as a result of lack of expertise in ML risk analysis or lack of interest in providing such information. K. Most of the FIUs do not have sufficient analytical expertise to detect drug trafficking related money laundering. Emphasis appears to be placed more on corruption related ML by the FIUs. L. Cross border information sharing both in the control of drug trafficking and related money laundering is virtually absent except where there is a public incidence that affect countries.

Details: Dakar, Senegal: GIABA, 2010. 82p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 14, 2019 at: https://www.giaba.org/media/f/118_final-drugs-typologies-report-dev071811---english.pdf

Year: 2010

Country: Africa

Keywords: Anti-Money Laundering

Shelf Number: 154138


Author: Vorrath, Judith

Title: From War to Illicit Economies: Organized Crime and State-Building in Liberia and Sierra Leone

Summary: Liberia and Sierra Leone are commonly categorized as fragile and conflict-affected states. They are seen as being particularly vulnerable to organized crime due to deficiencies in their criminal justice systems and having insufficient control of their borders. But they also have emerged from peace processes combining state-building with the transformation of war economies. These were strongly based on the competing control of resources such as diamonds, gold, and timber by armed groups and state agents. A closer look at the illicit economies in both countries today reveals the legacy of these war economies and new dynamics that emerged with West Africa becoming a transit zone for South American cocaine destined for Europe. Although the organization of crime differs between sectors, the way it is tied to state-building and power structures in Liberia and Sierra Leone is quite similar. Surely, porous borders and a lack of regulation and effective law enforcement are real in both countries. But often organized criminal activities are linked to the very state that is supposed to build and defend the (reformed) framework of legality. Furthermore, certain components of illicit economies have important implications for development. Therefore, responses to organized crime need to be carefully crafted and should generally apply selective law enforcement measures combined with broader governance reforms and development-related initiatives addressing livelihood, health, and environmental issues.

Details: Berlin, Germany: German Institute for International and Security Affairs, 2014. 30p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2019 at: https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2014_RP13_vrr.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Conflict-Affected States

Shelf Number: 154192


Author: Earthsight

Title: The Coming Storm: How Secrecy and Collusion in Industrial Agriculture Spell Disaster for the Congo Basin's Forests

Summary: The Coming Storm documents the destruction of the forests of the Congo Basin for industrial palm oil and rubber plantations. The investigative report, released by the London-based non-profit Earthsight, reveals that five-hundred square kilometres of forest has been bulldozed in the last five years and that the destruction is set to accelerate, as high-level corruption and some of the regions most notorious logging companies combine to create a toxic mix.

Details: London, UK: 2018. 20p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2019 at: http://www.bad-ag.info/app/uploads/2018/03/Earthsight_The_Coming_Storm_20pp_Report_0218_FINAL_v2.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 154185


Author: Jacobsen, Katja Lindskov

Title: Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea

Summary: The Gulf of Guinea is a vast area: 6000 kilometres of coastline stretching from Senegal in the north to Angola in the south, with 20 sovereign coastal states and islands plus a number of landlocked states. The area also spans two regions, namely West and Central Africa. Even though the number of reported piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea has recently increased, 'Somali' piracy continues to receive far more attention internationally than piracy on the other side of the continent (Hart 2014:2). However, various research institutions have recently begun to address the issue of maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, an area that the International Crisis Group has recently referred to as The New Danger Zone (ICG 2014). Recent statistics seem to support this description (Blombaum 2014). However, given the problem of massive underreporting of attacks (Palmer 2014:156; see also Montclos 2012), these numbers must be viewed with a certain degree of caution. Indeed, the problem of underreporting would seem to suggest that the actual number of incidents is in fact even higher. The problem of maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea is not a new phenomenon. Piracy itself has a long history (Palmer 2014) but a contemporary form of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has arguably developed over the past 25 years. In the 1990s, "coastal communities of the delta regularly attacked passing boats on an ad hoc basis" (Montclos 2012:534). Such piracy activities were more "akin to sea robbers" and less organised than the piracy activities that we are now witnessing in these waters today. Similarly, it has recently been stressed that, in the past, most of the piracy incidents were cases of maritime robbery (UNODC 2013:46-49). Bearing that in mind, this report sheds light on the contemporary nature of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as these activities have developed from maritime robbery (petty theft) to being characterised by high levels of violence and high levels of organisation. Besides the issue of how the phenomenon of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has developed, another important question is how and when the issue gained attention internationally. It has been suggested that maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea started receiving sustained attention from the U.S. with the publication of "More than Humanitarianism: A Strategic U.S. Approach towards Africa in 2005. Indeed, this report mentions the oil-production in Nigeria and Angola as part of "vital U.S. interests in Africa" (2005:15) and arguably marks the beginning of the U.S.'s focus on security in the Gulf of Guinea as part of a broader energy security strategy (Watts 2008; see also Ukeje & Mvomo Ela 2013). As Patrice Sartre also notes, "since 2005, West Africa has demanded the attention of the United to meet 25 percent of its hydrocarbon needs from the wider Gulf of Guinea" (2014:3; see also Raidt & Smith 2010:23). Besides individual states, influential international institutions have more recently called attention to the issue of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. The United Nations (UN) has adopted two resolutions on the issue; one in 2011 (UNSC Resolution 2018) which condemns acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Gulf of Guinea and calls on regional actors to take strong action against perpetrators; and one in 2012 (UNSC Resolution 2039) in which the Security Council expresses deep concern and urges states in the Gulf of Guinea region to convene a summit to develop a common maritime strategy. Importantly, it was also in 2012 that the Gulf of Guinea surpassed the Gulf of Aden as the region with the highest number of reported piracy attacks in the world (Osinowo 2015:1). Both of these UNSC Resolutions are mentioned in the new Danish Counter-Piracy Strategy (UM February 2015) in which the Gulf of Guinea has been defined as a new focus area, in addition to continued Danish engagement in the Gulf of Aden. In addition to oil production and related commercial interests combined with the legitimacy conferred by these two UNSC Resolutions, another important factor to bear in mind when considering the question of why the problem of piracy and illegal maritime activities in the Gulf of Guinea has recently become an area of concern for various international actors is that piracy attacks in the region have become more violent. Finally, the amount of attention that Somali piracy has received internationally may well have contributed to a securitisation of piracy with implications beyond the case of Somalia; the representation of piracy as a global threat has arguably contributed to the recent increase in international attention in piracy activities in the Gulf of Guinea. Piracy or armed robbery: What is the difference and does it matter? The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) offers a definition of the criminal activities that the term piracy covers: "a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed; (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft" (UNCLOS Article 101). This UNCLOS definition defines piracy as an act conducted on the high seas i.e. beyond territorial waters. Accordingly, similar criminal activities that take place within territorial waters are not defined as acts of piracy following this definition in international law. However, this distinction between armed robbery (in territorial waters) and piracy (on the high seas) is a legal distinction, which is primarily important in settling the jurisdictional issues that are likely to arise when a "pirate" is arrested, prosecuted and convicted. However, regarding the act itself and its impacts on the region as well as on local communities, the distinction between armed robbery and piracy is not of much importance: neither the acts of piracy nor their effects differ depending on whether they occur on one side of a 12 nautical mile border or the other. Since the focus of this report is not primarily on international law but rather on acts of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, their effects, and the issue of maritime security more broadly, we will use the term 'piracy' throughout the report to refer to any piracy activities, regardless of where on the sea they occur. Anti-piracy or counter-piracy: whats the difference? The two terms anti-piracy and counter-piracy are used interchangeably throughout the literature. In our understanding, the term 'anti' refers to a direct reaction to specific, whereas the term 'counter' refers to a broader approach including pre-emptive measures. Accordingly, this report uses the term counter-piracy to reflect our view that piracy requires a broad, long-term approach rather than a reactive response.

Details: Copenhagen, Denmark: Royal Danish Defence College Publishing House, 2015. 73p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 20, 2019 at: http://www.fak.dk/publikationer/Documents/Maritime%20Security%20in%20the%20Gulf%20of%20Guinea.pdf

Year: 2015

Country: Africa

Keywords: Acts of Piracy

Shelf Number: 154261


Author: Institute for Security Studies

Title: Policing in Peace Operations in Africa

Summary: The police component has begun to play a much greater role in peace support operations (PSOs) in recent years. It is a critical component that supports the development and implementation of PSOs' mandates, yet there are still major gaps in understanding how it is effectively designed and deployed, and what areas need improvement. This is particularly relevant in the context of the African Union (AU), which sees an increasing role for policing from a policy perspective and in the terrain of peacekeeping. Whereas United Nations (UN) PSOs tend to be deployed in post-conflict situations where there is, in fact, some peace to keep, the AU more typically deploys in more unstable situations where one of the main objectives is to contribute to creating some form of stability. As a result, the security situation in which it operates may be very different to that which the UN faces; something that in turn may have implications for how it is able to operate and what it can do, let alone accomplish. This report draws from comparative research developed by the Training for Peace (TfP) research network. Between 2014 and 2015, TfP partners investigated the overarching question of if, and how, AU policing differs from UN policing. If there is a difference, is the difference significant enough to warrant special preparation and training beyond the standard UN Police (UNPOL) courses that the TfP currently uses for pre-deployment training? The TfP also asked other important questions: Should these differences affect the role of the police in operations conducted by the two organisations; and what would the comparative advantages of AU policing be in this regard? How should the AU relate to the UN approach to policing, and are there particular ways in which the police dimension of AU PSOs should be structured in order to accommodate the different environment in which they operate? The information in this report is based on and draws from comparative research studies by TfP partners in the policing dimension in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA); the African Union - United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID); and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). By studying these missions in Somalia, Darfur and Mali, this synthesis report will compare the roles of the police in an AU mission, a hybrid AU - UN mission and a UN mission. The mission in Darfur has a protection-of-civilians mandate in the context of a larger dispute without a ceasefire or peace agreement. The missions in Mali and Somalia assist the respective governments in dealing with Islamist insurgencies. All three missions thus have shared elements in their mandates that may facilitate comparison of their police roles. This report is the product of a team of researchers drawn from four TfP partner institutions: the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Under the umbrella of the TfP they have collaborated in ensuring that there is increased analysis of the particular needs of, challenges to and opportunities for policing within African peace operations. Fieldwork was conducted in the three countries and was largely based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups and the analysis of primary and secondary data. The report also relied extensively on feedback from senior members of staff of the different missions, who provided invaluable inputs on the overall accuracy of the information presented.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2016. 18p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 8, 2019 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2016-05-26-TfP-Synthesis-Report.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: African Union

Shelf Number: 154293


Author: Commins, Stephen

Title: From Urban Fragility to Urban Stability

Summary: HIGHLIGHTS - The share of Africa's urban residents living in slums is steadily rising, an outgrowth of the continent's rapidly expanding population. Meanwhile, residents of African cities report among the highest levels of fear of violence in the world. - The inability of government institutions to resolve or at least mitigate conflicts over land, property rights, and services for urban residents, coupled with either absent or heavy-handed responses of security agencies in African slums, is contributing to a growing mistrust of African security and justice institutions. - Integrated urban development strategies - involving local government, police, justice institutions, the private sector, and youth - are necessary to build trust and adapt policies that strengthen economic opportunities, social cohesion, and security in Africa's cities.

Details: Los Angelos, California: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2018. 11p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 18, 2019 at: https://africacenter.org/publication/from-urban-fragility-to-urban-stability/

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 154655


Author: Interpol

Title: Overview of Serious and Organized Crime in Central Africa

Summary: Executive Summary Transnational organized crime in the Central African region poses a wide range of serious threats to security both locally and globally. As a result, INTERPOL under the ENACT Project has sought to identify and assess organized crime in the region to drive a more strategic law enforcement response. International criminal organizations continue to target Central Africa because of the significant illicit wealth that can be generated. Potential criminal proceeds stem from illicit market opportunities that exploit various social and political vulnerabilities, state fragility, limited policing capacities, and corruption issues present to varying degrees throughout the region. International criminal organizations or networks operating in Central Africa rely on key facilitators who interlink crime syndicates that provide illicit goods and services throughout the region and to the rest of the world. Crime syndicates typically operate across borders and are active in a number of illicit markets, notably fraud and financial crimes, drug trafficking, environmental crimes, human trafficking as well as organized theft and robbery. In addition, there are a number of enabling crimes such as cybercrime and the trade in small arms and light weapons that support organized criminality throughout the region. These crimes overlap with all of the illicit markets noted in complex ways. Organized crime in the region generates significant profits for all those involved with substantial interregional financial flows and illicit profits heading offshore, as well as money laundering occurring on a global scale. The threat posed by organized crime to the Central African region is substantial yet there is limited capacity amongst law enforcement to manage this complex phenomenon. Although organized crime in Central Africa may go underreported and undetected in some cases, various data sources nonetheless reveal important illicit activities and dynamics of criminal groups and networks active in the region which need to be urgently addressed through strong, strategic partnerships between law enforcement agencies as well as with other concerned stakeholders.

Details: Lyon, France: Interpol, 2018. 30p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2019 at: https://enactafrica.org/research/analytical-reports/interpol-overview-of-serious-and-organised-crime-in-central-africa-2018

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Central Africa

Shelf Number: 154819


Author: Interpol

Title: Overview of Serious and Organized Crime in North Africa

Summary: Executive Summary Transnational organized crime in Northern Africa poses a substantial threat to the safety and security of all member countries in the region, and poses a significant challenge to law enforcement agencies. As a result, INTERPOL, under the European Union funded ENACT Project, has sought to catalogue and assess organized crime in the region to help drive a more strategic law enforcement response. International criminal organizations target North Africa due to the significant illicit wealth that can be generated from criminal market opportunities throughout the region, notably but not limited to drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, the counterfeiting of a range of goods, and the illicit traffic of cultural heritage. Crime syndicates exploit various social issues and take advantage of state fragility and limited law enforcement policing capacities to conceal and develop their activities. In addition, there are a number of additional facilitating factors bolstering organized criminality throughout the region such as the length of the region's borders with sub-Saharan Africa, the strategic geographic position of the region between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, the inclusion of North African countries in global trade flows, fragile economies, war profiteering stemming from many of the recent conflicts in the region or its vicinity, as well as corruption to varying degrees. The threat from organized crime in Northern Africa is therefore substantial, yet often going undetected and underreported, despite various data sources indicating major activities and dynamics of groups and networks active in the region. This mostly stems from limited and unequal capacity amongst law enforcement in the region to manage complex organized crime issues. A greater awareness of the scope and functioning of organized crime in North Africa, nurturing stronger partnerships amongst law enforcement agencies in the region, will contribute to better tackle the threat posed by organised crime.

Details: Lyon, France: Interpol, 2018. 47p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2019 at: https://enactafrica.org/research/analytical-reports/interpol-overview-of-serious-and-organised-crime-in-north-africa-2018

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arms Trafficking

Shelf Number: 154820


Author: Interpol

Title: Overview of Serious and Organized Crime in West Africa

Summary: Executive Summary Transnational organized crime in West Africa is a persistent threat. As a result, INTERPOL, under the European Union funded ENACT Project, has sought to catalogue and assess organized crime in the region in order to drive a more strategic law enforcement response. International criminal organizations continue to target the region especially because of the significant illicit wealth that can be generated, stemming from criminal market opportunities that exploit various social and political vulnerabilities, state fragility, limited policing capacities, and corruption. International criminal organizations or networks operate everywhere in the region via key facilitators and bring together a significant array of crime syndicates that provide illicit goods and services everywhere. Crime syndicates remain highly connected across borders and are active in a number of illicit markets, notably drug trafficking, financial crimes, human trafficking, people smuggling, counterfeit goods, organized theft and robbery, environmental crimes, and maritime piracy. In addition, there are a number of enabling crimes such as cybercrime, and the trade in small arms and light weapons that are supporting organized criminality throughout the region, which overlap with all illicit markets noted in complex ways. Organized crime in the region generates huge profits for all involved and there are substantial illicit interregional financial flows and illicit profits heading offshore, plus money laundering occurring on a global scale. The threat from organized crime in West Africa is substantial yet there is limited capacity amongst law enforcement to manage this complex issue. Organized crime is going underreported and undetected, but various data sources reveal the following major activities and dynamics of groups and networks active in the region, which need to be addressed strategically and through building greater partnerships amongst all law enforcement agencies in the region.

Details: Lyon, France: Interpol, 2018. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2019 at: https://enactafrica.org/research/analytical-reports/interpol-overview-of-serious-and-organised-crime-in-west-africa-2018

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counterfeit Goods

Shelf Number: 154306


Author: Interpol

Title: Overview of Serious and Organized Crime in Africa

Summary: Executive Summary Transnational organized crime in Africa is a growing issue. As a result, INTERPOL under the EU funded ENACT Project has sought to catalogue and assess organized crime on the continent to drive a more strategic law enforcement response. International criminal organizations continue to target Africa because of the significant illicit wealth that can be generated, stemming from criminal market opportunities that exploit various social and political vulnerabilities, state fragility, and limited policing capacities present on the continent. International criminal organizations or networks operate everywhere in Africa via key facilitators and bring together a significant array of crime syndicates and street gangs that provide illicit goods and services. Crime syndicates remain highly connected across borders and are active in a number of illicit markets, notably drug trafficking, human trafficking and people smuggling, environmental crimes, financial crimes, counterfeited goods, works of art trafficking, stolen motor vehicles trafficking and maritime piracy. In addition, there are enabling crimes such as cybercrime, and the trade in small arms and light weapons that are supporting organized criminality throughout the continent which overlap with all of the illicit markets noted in complex ways. Organized crime in Africa generates huge profits for all involved, and there are substantial illicit interregional financial flows and illicit profits moving throughout the continent and often heading offshore. Money laundering relating to all criminal market activities is occurring on a global scale. The threat from organized crime in Africa is substantial, yet there is limited capacity amongst law enforcement to manage this complex issue at a national, regional and continental level. Organized crime is going underreported and undetected, but various data sources reveal the following major activities and dynamics of groups and networks, which need to be addressed strategically, through building greater partnerships amongst all law enforcement agencies everywhere on the continent.

Details: Lyon, France: Interpol, 2018. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2019 at: https://enactafrica.org/research/analytical-reports/interpol-overview-of-serious-and-organised-crime-in-africa-2018

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 154305


Author: Interpol

Title: Overview of Serious and Organized Crime in the Southern African Region

Summary: Executive Summary Transnational organized crime in the Southern African region is a growing issue. As a result, INTERPOL, under the European Union funded ENACT Project, has sought to catalogue and assess organized crime in the region in order to drive a more strategic law enforcement response. International criminal organizations continue to target the region due to the significant illicit wealth that can be generated, stemming from criminal market opportunities that exploit various social and political vulnerabilities, including state fragility, limited policing capacities, and corruption. International criminal organizations or networks operate everywhere in the region via key facilitators and bring together a significant array of crime syndicates and street gangs that provide illicit goods and services throughout the region. Crime syndicates remain highly connected across borders and are active in a number of illicit markets, notably financial crimes, organized theft and robberies, drug trafficking, wildlife crimes, human trafficking, and organized violence for profit. In addition, there are a number of enabling crimes such as cybercrime and the trade in small arms and light weapons that are supporting organized criminality throughout the region, which overlap in complex ways with all of the illicit markets noted. Organized crime in the region generates significant profits for all involved and there are substantial illicit interregional financial flows and illicit profits moving throughout the region and often heading offshore. Money laundering relating to all criminal market activities in the region is occurring on a global scale. The threat from organized crime in Southern Africa is substantial yet there is limited capacity amongst law enforcement to manage this complex issue. Organized crime is going underreported and undetected, despite various data sources revealing major activities and dynamics of groups and networks are active in the region. This concern needs strategic action, through stronger partnerships amongst law enforcement agencies throughout the region, enabled through a greater awareness of the overall issue at a regional level.

Details: Lyon, France: Interpol, 2018. 37p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2019 at: https://enactafrica.org/research/analytical-reports/interpol-overview-of-serious-and-organised-crime-in-the-southern-african-region-2018

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 154307


Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Independent Evaluation Unit

Title: Final In-depth Evaluation of the GLOU 68: "Looking Beyond: Towards a Strategic Engagement with Civil Society on Anti-Corruption, and Drugs and Crime Prevention"

Summary: This independent final evaluation focuses on the UNODC global programme GLOU68 'Looking Beyond: Towards a stronger partnership with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Drugs and Crime' launched on 2 November 2009 that is a follow up to GLO/J37 'Beyond 2008'. The global programme's objectives are to increase civil society awareness of issues related to drugs, crime and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as well as of the relevant UN legal instruments, standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice, and to advance capacity of Member States to implement relevant international conventions and standards and norms under UNODC mandate. As an international convention, the UNCAC calls on Member State governments to increase transparency, improve public access to information and to promote public contributions to the government decision-making process (Article 13), while UNODC considers civil society engagement as an integral part of the fight against corruption promoting confidence-building and constructive dialogue between civil society and Member States. Addressing this mandate, the anti-corruption component of GLOU68, which is the main focus of this evaluation, aims at strengthening policy dialogue and partnership in anti-corruption, building on the synergy between CSOs, Member States and UNODC. It seeks to improve dialogue between Member States and CSOs by facilitating civil society's effective participation in intergovernmental meetings, as well as to inform and train CSOs on the UNCAC review mechanism, and to support them in their engagement with the Private Sector in anti-corruption efforts. GLOU68 is linked to the Thematic Programme on Corruption (2012-2015) and rooted within UNODC Sub-Programme 7 on Policy Support. This final in-depth evaluation is a summative evaluation assessing, in particular, the GLOU68 project component "Strengthening the Capacity of Civil Society Organizations in Africa to Combat Corruption and Contribute to the UNCAC Review Process," (ADC Project No. 2678- 00)," which aims to strengthen policy dialogue and partnership with CSOs and, as part of the project, CSOs engagement with the private sector (through the private sector Small Grant scheme). Despite its global potential, the project was focused on Africa primarily due to the main donor's priority countries. The project is managed by UNODC Civil Society Team (CST) in cooperation with the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch (CEB) and the umbrella civil society organisation 'UNCAC Coalition'. The project was drafted within the context of Article 13 of the UNCAC, a provision that recognises, however, the importance of contributions of the public to government decision-making processes and the need for active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector - including civil society - in the prevention of and the fight against corruption. For these purposes, the project provides tailored multi-stakeholder trainings to CSOs with the aim (i) to enhance knowledge and expertise on UNCAC; (ii) to support trust-building between governments and civil society; and (iii) to facilitate civil society participation in intergovernmental meetings. After six years of project implementation, UNODC has contracted an independent evaluator to carry out the final, in-depth evaluation of the project (following a mid-term evaluation that was conducted after three years). The evaluation was carried out in close cooperation with and under the guidance of the UNODC Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU).

Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2016. 155p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 13, 2019 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/evaluation/indepth-evaluations/2016/GLOU68_UNODC_Final_Independent_In-Depth_Evaluation_Report_December_2016.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: Africa

Keywords: Anti-Corruption Partnerships

Shelf Number: 154948


Author: Alemika, E.O

Title: Police Internal Control Systems in West Africa

Summary: The problem of how to make the police effective and accountable to the community it serves has continued to be of major concern to policing policy makers, scholars and civil society groups in many democratic societies as with societies in transition. Central to this concern is the timeworn question of how and who to monitor or oversee police exercise of the enormous, coercive and often-intrusive powers and discretion entrusted to them under the law? To this question, there have not been simple answers or easy solutions but continuing debates and dilemmas. Three issues stand out in the debates and dilemmas: How do you make the police more accountable without impeding the legitimate pursuit of their duties? What form or forms of accountability processes and mechanisms do you put in place? Do you rely on the police internal controls processes, external ones or a hybrid? The first issue raises the enduring problem and complexities involved in balancing a clash of rights, namely, personal liberty with state security, and individual rights with collective rights. It further seeks to address a continuing concern of many police managers who complain that the existing accountability safeguards are too onerous and multifarious, as they police are being made to fight crime with one hand tied behind their backs. The second and third issues acknowledge the necessity of having an effective police accountability system but raise the questions of the nature, form and structure of such accountability system in the face of obvious limited options and choices. It would appear from emerging policy focus that scholars, civil society actors and reform minded policy makers place much premium on developing the external forms of police oversight at the expense of the internal disciplinary control structures. From the advanced democracies of the West to the developing structures in Africa, Asia and Latin America, legislative, judicial and other administrative measures are extensively being used to establish, restructure or strengthen external police accountability structures. Justifications for this policy trend and focus came from various sources and appear to be predicated on the perceived weaknesses of the police internal disciplinary control systems, which are that: a. The police system of internal control is not open and independent. b. The process does not inspire public and complainants confidence. c. Police cannot be trusted to investigate complaints against their own, as the police culture of mutual support remains a permanent threat. d. Substantiation rates of such complaints are very low. These negative perceptions of internal control processes and mechanisms have continued to influence policing policies to this day. It has also raised and created high and promising expectations about what these external bodies can possibly achieve. It would appear that enthusiasm generated by the extensive and one-sided promotion of external oversight of policing has not yielded the expected democratic dividends. With very mixed performance records, limited resources, limited capacity and low verifiable impact on police misconduct, the huge investments put on the external oversight structures appear to have not been matched by significant and verifiable concrete outcomes. It soon became clear that for the external oversight mechanisms to be effective in holding the police accountable for their conduct, the internal control processes and mechanisms need to be strengthened and needs to be cultivated by the external. However, for the internal control systems of the police to play the expected complementary role, they need to be effective, rigorously enforced through both formal and informal means and more importantly internalized by the officers in such a way that it would influence their attitudes and organizational culture (Chukwuma, 2003). Unfortunately, the internal control systems in many police forces are not clear, not rigorously enforced or internalized by police officers. Instead, they seem to be neglected and left in a very dysfunctional state - unsupported in terms of policy guides, reviews and adequate resources for their work. This continuing neglect has created serious accountability problems in police service delivery in many transitional societies in Africa, where both the internal and external processes of accountability are very weak, unstructured and uncoordinated. This study is therefore an effort of the CLEEN Foundation to better understand the internal control systems of police forces in West Africa with a view to identifying the challenges they face and recommend measures that could be implemented by various stakeholders to address the problem areas with a view to positioning police internal disciplinary systems as important complements to external accountability mechanisms that are being established in the region. The publication is divided into six chapters reflecting experiences of six countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Senegal and Cameroon.

Details: Lagos, Nigeria: CLEEN Foundation, 2011. 137p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2019 at: http://new.cleen.org/Police%20Internal%20Control%20in%20West%20Africa.pdf

Year: 2011

Country: Africa

Keywords: Complaints Against Police

Shelf Number: 154001


Author: Human Rights Watch

Title: " We Found Their Bodies Later that Day": Atrocities by Armed Islamists and Security Forces in Burkina Fasos Sahel Region

Summary: Since 2016, armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) have dramatically increased their presence in Burkina Faso, attacking army bases, police and gendarme posts, and purely civilian targets. While the violence and insecurity has progressively spread across the country, the epicenter of abuse and insecurity remains the northern Sahel region, where scores of civilians and suspects have been killed and tens of thousands have been driven from their homes. This report, "We Found Their Bodies Later That Day," documents over 40 alleged killings and other abuses by armed Islamists and over 115 alleged executions of suspects by security forces in the Sahel region, from mid-2018 until February 2019. It recommends that the armed Islamists cease all atrocities, and that the government open investigations into the alleged human rights violations by all sides and take steps to prevent further abuse. It urges Burkina Faso's international partners to call upon the Burkinabe government to put a halt to abuses and to conduct credible investigations and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Details: London: HRW, 2019. 64p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 28, 2019 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/burkinafaso0319_web2.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Al Qaeda

Shelf Number: 155209


Author: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Title: Strengthening Governance and Reducing Corruption Risks to Tackle Illegal Wildlife Trade: Lessons from East and Southern Africa

Summary: In countries affected by the illegal wildlife trade, corruption is a key enabler and facilitator. Failure to address this corruption, and the institutional and governance gaps that allow it to take place, make tackling the illegal wildlife trade a significant challenge. This report provides a structured analysis of how corruption facilitates wildlife crime based on research in four source and transit countries in East and Southern Africa. It offers a series of specific recommendations targeted at national governments, donors, and intergovernmental organisations to address the issues of corruption and the illegal wildlife trade.

Details: Paris: OECD Publishing, 2018. 112p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2019 at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/trade/strengthening-governance-and-reducing-corruption-risks-to-tackle-illegal-wildlife-trade_9789264306509-en

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 155238


Author: Human Rights Watch

Title: "We Found Their Bodies Later that Day": Atrocities by Armed Islamists and Security Forces in Burkina Fasos Sahel Region

Summary: Since 2016, armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) have dramatically increased their presence in Burkina Faso, attacking army bases, police and gendarme posts, and purely civilian targets. While the violence and insecurity has progressively spread across the country, the epicenter of abuse and insecurity remains the northern Sahel region, where scores of civilians and suspects have been killed and tens of thousands have been driven from their homes. This report, "We Found Their Bodies Later That Day," documents over 40 alleged killings and other abuses by armed Islamists and over 115 alleged executions of suspects by security forces in the Sahel region, from mid-2018 until February 2019. It recommends that the armed Islamists cease all atrocities, and that the government open investigations into the alleged human rights violations by all sides and take steps to prevent further abuse. It urges Burkina Faso's international partners to call upon the Burkinabe government to put a halt to abuses and to conduct credible investigations and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Details: New York: Author, 2019. 64p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 16, 2019 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/burkinafaso0319_web2.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Extremist Violence

Shelf Number: 155425


Author: Verite

Title: Assessment of Forced Labor Risk in the Cocoa Sector of Cote D'Ivoire

Summary: Attention to human rights in the cocoa sector in West Africa has historically centered on the problem of child labor, which has long been known to be endemic in the industry. In recent years, however, a combination of increasing public awareness and intensifying international regulatory pressure has led to a heightened focus on the risk of forced labor - often termed "modern day slavery" - in the sector as well. A statistically representative study by Tulane University and Walk Free Foundation in 2018 estimated that 9,600 adults working in cocoa experienced forced labor in Cate d'Ivoire (CDI) between 2013 and 2017. The same study found that 2,000 children working in cocoa agriculture in CDI were forced to work by someone other than a parent. Given the hidden nature of much human trafficking and forced labor, it is also possible that levels may be significantly higher within isolated pockets in the sector. There is clear need for government, industry, and civil society actors working in the sector in Cote d'Ivoire to better understand the issue of forced labor and take steps to address the root causes of the problem when and where it occurs. In late 2016, at the request of the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) and two of its major private sector members, Verite researchers undertook rapid appraisal research to explore the nature of forced labor risk in the cocoa sector in Cote d'Ivoire. The study did not seek to document the overall level of forced labor in the sector, but instead to identify and qualitatively describe the nature of the specific indicators of forced labor that appear to be most relevant in the Ivoirian context. Verite based the methodology for this research on the definition of forced labor and methodological guidance on forced labor research provided by the International Labor Organization (ILO). Using the ILO's forced labor indicator framework, the Verite study focused on identifying specific risk factors for forced labor faced by cocoa workers, sharecroppers, and primary producers in the country. The study also explored the root causes and contextual factors that contribute to forced labor vulnerability in the Ivoirian cocoa sector. Verite then used findings from the study to inform development of a set of recommendations for key stakeholders on potential interventions to combat the forced labor risk identified.

Details: Amherst, MA: Author, 2019. 59p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 18, 2019 at: https://cocoainitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Verite-Report-Forced-Labor-in-Cocoa-in-CDI.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Labor

Shelf Number: 155454


Author: Puckett, Jim

Title: The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-use and Abuse to Africa

Summary: The photo-documentary report entitled "The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-use and Abuse to Africa," exposes the ugly underbelly of what is thought to be an escalating global trade in toxic, obsolete, discarded computers and other e-scrap collected in North America and Europe and sent to developing countries by waste brokers and so-called recyclers. In Lagos, while there is a legitimate robust market and ability to repair and refurbish old electronic equipment including computers, monitors, TVs and cell phones, the local experts complain that of the estimated 500 40-foot containers shipped to Lagos each month, as much as 75% of the imports are "junk" and are not economically repairable or marketable. Consequently, this e-waste, which is legally a hazardous waste is being discarded and routinely burned in what the environmentalists call yet another "cyber-age nightmare now landing on the shores of developing countries."

Details: Seattle, Washington: Basel Action Network, 2005. 85p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2019 at: http://archive.ban.org/library/TheDigitalDump.pdf

Year: 2005

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 155491


Author: Verite

Title: Recommendations for Addressing Forced Labor Risk in the Cocoa Sector of Cote D'Ivoire

Summary: Forced Labor - and human trafficking for forced labor - have been documented as recently as 2018 in the cocoa sector in Cote d'Ivoire, with one recent study by the Walk Free Foundation and Tulane University estimating the number of victims at approximately 2,000 children and nearly 10,000 adults. In late 2016, Verite completed a qualitative rapid appraisal study to understand the nature of the root causes of forced labor in the Ivoirian cocoa sector using an indicator-based approach grounded in methodological guidance from the International Labor Organization. Verite's research found that some cocoa workers may be at risk of forced labor due to deception or other exploitation in the course of their recruitment, and may face debt bondage and other risks once at their workplaces on cocoa farms. Isolation, nonpayment or exploitative terms of payment, induced indebtedness, and other factors can potentially compound workers' vulnerability to forced labor. Verite found that migrants (from Burkina Faso, Mali, and non-cocoa producing areas of Cote d'Ivoire) who are carrying debt related to their recruitment and migration, and who are relatively early in their employment tenure in the cocoa sector, are the workers most likely to be at risk for these issues. The findings from Verite's research are published separately in the report Assessment of Forced Labor Risk in the Cocoa Sector of Cote d'Ivoire. With support from the International Cocoa Initiative, and in consultation with a range of industry, government, and civil society actors, Verite used these findings as the basis to develop the set of recommendations presented here.

Details: Amherst, MA: Author, 2019. 21p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2019 at: https://www.verite.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Verite-Recommendations-Forced-Labor-in-Cocoa-in-CDI.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Labor

Shelf Number: 155495


Author: Swedo, Elizabeth A.

Title: Prevalence of Violence Victimization and Perpetration Among Persons Aged 13-24 Years -- Four Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2013-2015

Summary: Violence is a major public health and human rights concern, claiming over 1.3 million lives globally each year. Despite the scope of this problem, population-based data on physical and sexual violence perpetration are scarce, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. To better understand factors driving both children becoming victims of physical or sexual violence and subsequently (as adults) becoming perpetrators, CDC collaborated with four countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia) to conduct national household surveys of persons aged 13-24 years to measure experiences of violence victimization in childhood and subsequent perpetration of physical or sexual violence. Perpetration of physical or sexual violence was prevalent among both males and females, ranging among males from 29.5% in Nigeria to 51.5% in Malawi and among females from 15.3% in Zambia to 28.4% in Uganda. Experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional violence in childhood was the strongest predictor for perpetrating violence; a graded dose-response relationship emerged between the number of types of childhood violence experienced (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional) and perpetration of violence. Efforts to prevent violence victimization need to begin early, requiring investment in the prevention of childhood violence and interventions to mitigate the negative effects of violence experienced by children. From 2013 to 2015, CDC collaborated with Together for Girls and the governments of Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia to plan and implement Violence Against Children Surveys, which are nationally representative, multistage cluster surveys of adolescents and young adults aged 13-24 years. Surveys were administered via household, face-to-face interviews by host country interviewers trained by CDC and host country partners. Informed consent or assent was obtained for all participants. Multiple safeguards were incorporated into study protocols to protect the confidentiality and safety of participants, including provision of a list of available services for all participants and direct referral to social services for any victims requesting aid. Study protocols were approved by host country and CDC institutional review boards. This analysis examines lifetime perpetration of physical or sexual violence among persons of both sexes aged 1324 years. Physical violence perpetration included ever punching, kicking, whipping, beating, choking, smothering, threatening with a weapon, attempting to drown, or intentionally burning another person. Sexual violence perpetration included forcing nonconsensual sexual intercourse or any other sex acts on another person. In Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia, sex was defined as vaginal/anal penetration by the penis, hands, fingers, mouth, or objects, or oral penetration by the penis. In Malawi, sex was defined as vaginal, oral, or anal sex or the insertion of an object into an anus or vagina. Prevalence of physical and sexual violence was stratified by perpetration against an intimate partner versus a nonpartner.

Details: MMWR / April 19, 2019 / Vol. 68 / No. 15, 6p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 1, 2019 at: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/pdfs/mm6815a3-H.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Sexual Violence

Shelf Number: 155593


Author: Hunter, Marcena

Title: Pulling at golden webs: Combating criminal consortia in the African artisanal and small-scale gold mining and trade sector

Summary: The development potential of the African artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector is undermined by criminal consortia across the continent who exploit it for economic and political ends at the expense of vulnerable populations. Yet, much of the discourse around ASGM in Africa has not directly addressed criminality, instead being framed within development or conflict frameworks. In an effort to fill this gap, this report seeks to unpack how criminal consortia manipulate ASGM and associated gold flows to secure illicit rents and capture the sector. The findings highlight the need for nuance, especially regarding the role of informal and traditional actors in the sector. Through a more holistic understanding of the challenge, policymakers will better be able to identify and combat criminal consortia in ASGM. Key points -- Criminal consortia - defined as the intersection of politics, business and crime, controlling and exploiting markets both legitimate and illicit for their own ends - are intimately involved in and exercise powerful influence over the African ASGM sector. - The factors and tactics that facilitate exploitation and criminal capture of the ASGM sector are multifaceted and complex, comprising both push and pull factors. - Informed, nuanced understandings of and responses to ASGM and criminal exploitation, which build on lessons learnt, are necessary to effectively navigate the tension between simultaneously combating criminal consortia and maximising the sector's development potential.

Details: s.l.: ENACT, 2019. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper: Accessed May 8, 2019 at: https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ENACT-Research-Paper-008-Gold-Mining-24Apr1130-WEB.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Artisanal Mines

Shelf Number: 155691


Author: Walk Free Foundation

Title: Bitter Sweets: Prevalence of Forced Labour and Child Labour in the Cocoa Sector of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana

Summary: The primary aim of this study conducted by the Tulane University in collaboration with Tonys Chocolonely and the Walk Free Foundation was to provide baseline estimates of prevalence of forced labour among children (aged 10 17 years) and adults (aged 18 and over) working in the cocoa sector in Ghana and Cote dIvoire, as well as updated estimates of the number of children (aged 10 to 17 years) exposed to child labour.

Details: Chatelain, Switzerland: Walk Free Foundation and International Cocoa Initiative Foundation, 2018. 44p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 22, 2019 at: https://cdn.minderoo.com.au/content/uploads/2019/03/06111232/Cocoa-Report_181016_V15-FNL_digital.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Child Labor

Shelf Number: 155040


Author: Sigsworth, Romi

Title: Counter-Terrorism, Human Rights and the Rule of Law in West Africa

Summary: International law and global policy place counter-terrorism firmly within a rule of law and human rights framework. By focusing on securitised responses to terrorism, countries in West Africa risk undermining the rule of law, compromising human rights protections and slowing progress towards their peace and development agendas. Shifting to a criminal justice approach to countering terrorism has various challenges, but will most effectively protect and promote peace and security, human rights and development in the long term.

Details: Dakar, Senegal: Institute for Security Studies, 2019. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 28, 2019 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/war-24.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Counter-Terrorism

Shelf Number: 156062


Author: 28 Too Many

Title: Country Profile: FGM in Somalia and Somaliland

Summary: In a region where 98% of women and girls have been subjected to the most severe Type III (Pharaonic) FGM, the challenges to ending the practice remain huge. We are all shocked and deeply saddened when we read that young girls are still dying from FGM in Somalia and Somaliland. Difficult issues still need to be overcome, including the ongoing support, particularly from influential religious leaders, of FGM labelled as 'sunna', the dangers of increasing medicalisation, the continuing absence of national laws banning FGM and the lack of new data to inform programmes. But in this Country Profile we also want to bring attention to the progress that is being made in the face of these challenges, including the increased collaboration between government departments and civil society, more open discussion, particularly with religious leaders and men, the use of media as an advocacy tool, the move away from the most severe form of cutting, and the amazing growth of youth activism across the region. I am constantly inspired by the passion and commitment to this campaign of so many Somali FGM survivors and activists of all ages, from Ifrah Ahmed in Somalia and Dr Edna Adan Ismail in Somaliland, to so many friends and colleagues across the diaspora. We have had the honour of connecting with some of the amazing community organisations in the region while working on this report, and their determination to address these difficult issues is humbling. There are some very important activities taking place, such as those around community dialogue, and these need to continue and receive adequate funding to reach right across the region until a position of zero tolerance to FGM is achieved. The drafting of new national laws banning FGM in both Somalia and Somaliland is welcomed, and 28 Too Many's recent research on the law and FGM has shown the importance of any new legislation being comprehensive, accessible to all and easy to understand. Adequate training must be put in place to successfully implement and enforce the new laws, and communities must be appropriately sensitised both before and after enactment.

Details: London: 28 Too Many, 2019. 138p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 4, 2019 at: https://www.28toomany.org/static/media/uploads/CountryResearchandResources/SomaliaSomaliland/country_profile_somalia_and_somaliland_v1_(march_2019).pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Community Engagement

Shelf Number: 156173


Author: Scheye, Eric

Title: Heart of Africa's Organised Crime: Land, Property and Urbanisation

Summary: Most analyses of organised crime in Africa focus on illegal trafficking of commodities such as drugs, arms and wildlife. However, there have been few studies of what may be the largest type of organised criminal activity in Africa: land allocation, real estate and property development, which includes infrastructure and the delivery of basic public services such as water and electricity, particularly in urban areas. All 10 of the world's fastest-growing cities are in Africa and Africa's urban population is projected to double by 2030 - 2035. By then, 50% of all Africans are likely to live in urban areas, mainly in informal settlements. This policy brief recommends steps that can make urban development less vulnerable to crime.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Enhancing Africa's Response to Transnational Organised Crime, 2019. 12p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 5, 2019 at: https://enactafrica.org/research/policy-briefs/heart-of-africas-organised-crime-land-property-and-urbanisation

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 156196


Author: East African Community

Title: East African Community Regional Policy on Prevention, Management and Control of Alcohol, Drugs and Other Substance Use

Summary: The East African Community is a regional intergovernmental organization established by a Treaty of 1999, is made up of six (6) Partner States namely: The Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania with its headquarters in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania - mainland. The EAC has an estimated population of over 150 million people. The region is mainly composed of a young population with up to 64.2% aged 0-24 years. The objectives of the EAC are to develop policies and programs for widening and deepening cooperation among the Partner States in political, economic, social and cultural fields, research and technology, security, legal and judicial affairs for their mutual benefit. In line with the Vision of the EAC Health Policy "A healthy and productive population in the East African Community" the region has prioritized health as one of the pillars essential for the attainment of the above objectives. With the coming into force of the EAC Common Market Protocol ratified by all Partner States there is increased movement of people goods and services across the region. The increased volume of people crossing from one partner state to another is likely to facilitate the movement of licit and illicit Alcohol, drugs and other substances. This is further compounded by the existence of porous borders across Partner States, nonadherence to existing regulatory mechanisms and inadequate human capacities.

Details: Arusha, Tanzania: East African Community, 2019. 39p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 8, 2019 at: https://idpc.net/publications/2019/05/east-african-community-regional-policy-on-prevention-management-and-control-of-alcohol-drugs-and-other-substance-use

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 156256


Author: Ostebo, Terje

Title: Islamic Militancy in Africa

Summary: - The rise of Islamic militancy in parts of the Sahel and Horn of Africa poses growing threats to regional stability. The appeal of these militants stems from their ability to tap into and persuade marginalized communities, particularly youth, that their grievances can be rectified by the establishment of a more pure Islamist culture. - Despite breakthroughs, Islamic militants in Africa typically do not possess great military power and may not seek to govern at the state level. Rather, they tend to be homegrown phenomena, focused on local concerns. - Islamic militant organizations in Africa generally only command the support of small minorities within Muslim communities. However, ill-considered interventions, especially those involving Western forces, can reinforce the militants' narrative, thereby strengthening their credibility and recruitment.

Details: Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2012. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Africa Security Brief No. 23: Accessed June 26, 2019 at: https://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ACSS-Africa-Security-Brief-No.-23-EN.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Africa

Keywords: Boko Haram

Shelf Number: 156699


Author: Robins, Simon

Title: Analysis of Best Practices on the Identification of Missing Migrants: Implications for the Central Mediterranean

Summary: Over the last decade crossing the Mediterranean has become one of the deadliest journeys in the world for migrants, with nearly 18,500 migrants having died crossing the Mediterranean since 2014. In 2017 and 2018, more than 4,100 people have died on the Central Mediterranean route (CMR), constituting 77 per cent of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, without considering the many bodies that are never found. As such, the CMR is at the heart of the epidemic of death and disappearance in the Mediterranean. The vast majority of bodies found are not identified, with net identification rates of migrant bodies around 22 per cent between 1990 and 2013 (Deaths at the Borders Database (DatBD), 2015). For every migrant body retrieved from the sea or found on the shore and not identified, there is a family living with ambiguity, not knowing if their missing loved one is dead or alive. Narratives around missing migrants focus not on individuals who are missing, but on bodies that are found, characterizing the challenge they present as a technical one of labelling these anonymous bodies, rather than of addressing the range of needs of the families who are missing the people those bodies represent. The primary need of families is to know if their loved one is dead or alive and, in any case, to know their whereabouts. Identifying the dead, whilst constituting the worst answer for a family searching for a missing person, offers closure: an end to ambiguity and a chance to honour their relative. This analysis focuses on the challenges faced in identifying dead migrants on the CMR and informing the families of the deceased. Migrant deaths at international borders and on migratory routes have become distressingly commonplace in a world where so many are on the move; as a result, there is now a body of practice in identifying migrant bodies. This analysis reviews existing practice to identify those who die crossing borders globally with a view to contributing to a more effective identification process in States on the CMR. This is done in light of Objective 8 of the Global Compact for Migration, which calls on States to "Save lives and establish coordinated international efforts on missing migrants" (United Nations (UN), 2018) (see Annex I). Here we seek to use the results of the analysis to make a set of recommendations to increase the effectiveness of work on identification, the goal of which is understood as addressing the needs of families of missing migrants to know the fate of loved ones. The analysis focuses on bodies found on Italian territory, as the principal destination of the CMR and the State managing the largest number of bodies.

Details: Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Migration, 2018. 68p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 14, 2019 at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/identification_of_missing_migrants.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Border Security

Shelf Number: 156741


Author: KPMG

Title: Illicit Cigarette Trade in the Maghreb Region

Summary: A recent study from KPMG explains that more than 93% of cigarettes consumed by Libyans are illegal; 7 million cigarettes come from United Arab Emirates' free zones and; 5 billion cigarettes have transited through Algeria toward different destinations in 2015-2016.

Details: London: KPMG, 2019. 66p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 19, 2019 at: https://www.pmi.com/resources/docs/default-source/pmi-sustainability/report-on-the-illicit-cigarette-trade-in-the-maghreb-region.pdf?sfvrsn=67a69ab5_2

Year: 2017

Country: Africa

Keywords: Cigarettes

Shelf Number: 156731


Author: Tranquilli, Sandra

Title: Protected Areas in Tropical Africa: Assessing Threats and Conservation Activities

Summary: Abstract: Numerous protected areas (PAs) have been created in Africa to safeguard wildlife and other natural resources. However, significant threats from anthropogenic activities and decline of wildlife populations persist, while conservation efforts in most PAs are still minimal. We assessed the impact level of the most common threats to wildlife within PAs in tropical Africa and the relationship of conservation activities with threat impact level. We collated data on 98 PAs with tropical forest cover from 15 countries across West, Central and East Africa. For this, we assembled information about local threats as well as conservation activities from published and unpublished literature, and questionnaires sent to long-term field workers. We constructed general linear models to test the significance of specific conservation activities in relation to the threat impact level. Subsistence and commercial hunting were identified as the most common direct threats to wildlife and found to be most prevalent in West and Central Africa. Agriculture and logging represented the most common indirect threats, and were most prevalent in West Africa. We found that the long-term presence of conservation activities (such as law enforcement, research and tourism) was associated with lower threat impact levels. Our results highlight deficiencies in the management effectiveness of several PAs across tropical Africa, and conclude that PA management should invest more into conservation activities with long-term duration.

Details: San Francisco, California: Plos One, 2014. 21p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 11, 2019 at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0114154&type=printable

Year: 2014

Country: Africa

Keywords: Africa

Shelf Number: 156942


Author: Eligh, Jason

Title: The Evolution of Illicit Drug Markets and Drug Policy in Africa

Summary: Globally, support for drug policy reform has grown over the past 10 years. Even as the drug prohibition consensus-keepers in Vienna have voted for yet another 10-year extension to their still unsuccessful 20-year strategy for global drug control at the March 2019 Commission on Narcotic Drugs High Level Review meeting, a reform movement among global member states has been gaining credibility and strength.The purpose of this report is to reflect on the changing drug policy environment in Africa, particularly in the period leading up to and after the seminal UNGASS 2016 meeting of member states. It also examines the politics of continental drug policy prohibition and reform in the context of the growing global movement to embrace drug policy alternatives to the once universal approach of strict prohibition. Observations and recommendations are made regarding incorporating drug policy reform in the context of achieving developmental success with respect to the continental Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 goals.

Details: Geneva, Switzerland: Enhancing Africa's Response to Transnational Organized Crime (ENACT), 2019. 76p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 12, 2019 at: https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-06-30-continental-report-3.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Drug Control

Shelf Number: 156961


Author: Bird, Lucia

Title: Trafficking in Persons in Conflict Contexts: What is a Realistic Response from Africa?

Summary: This brief draws on field research conducted on trafficking in persons in four protracted conflicts in Africa - Central African Republic, Libya, Nigeria and Somalia - to explore what constitutes realistic and effective responses to trafficking in persons in conflict contexts. It argues that counter-trafficking efforts should be part of broader work to enhance community resilience to organised crime and to address long-standing needs, while responses which rely on the state, or approach the issue through a criminal lens, should be treated with caution.

Details: Geneva, Switzerland: Enhancing Africa's Response to Transnational Organized Crime, 2019. 16p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 12, 2019 at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/2019-06-30-tip-policy-brief-10.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 156963


Author: Babuta, Alexander

Title: Commodity Smuggling in the Maghreb: A Silent Threat

Summary: Though largely silent, and not often associated with the same levels of violence as other forms of organized crime, illicit trade threatens national and broader regional security in myriad ways. Insufficiently appreciated, first and foremost, is the way in which the cross-border smuggling of everyday commodities can open up pathways for trafficking in illegal goods, such as drugs and arms. Far from being an 'innocent' phenomenon, it can form a critical part of much broader, larger-scale illicit networks, with significant negative impacts on national and regional security. In many cases, it intersects with higher-profile forms of trafficking, and with the operations of non-state armed actors. In light of this, it is clear that effective responses are needed; and the current response must not treat illicit trade as a distinct, discrete problem, to be addressed separately to other criminal activity in the region.

Details: Rabat, Morocco: OCP Policy Center, 2018. 8p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 18, 2019 at: https://www.policycenter.ma/sites/default/files/OCPPC-PB1814.pdf

Year: 2018

Country: Africa

Keywords: Arms Trafficking

Shelf Number: 157019


Author: Small Arms Survey

Title: Weapons Compass: Mapping Illicit Small Arms Flows in Africa

Summary: In the first-ever continental analysis of illicit arms flows in Africa, the African Union Commission and the Small Arms Survey identify the scale, availability, characteristics, and supply patterns of illicit small arms in Africa. The African Union (AU) Master Roadmap of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa by Year 2020 was adopted in January 2017 and sets out practical steps to address the underlying drivers of conflict as well as the tools and enablers of violence. Preventing the illicit flows of weapons within Africa, including to conflict zones, is a vital component of the AU Roadmap, and this report aims to provide AU member states with a synthesis of relevant information on the topic. Weapons Compass: Mapping Illicit Small Arms Flows in Africa finds that cross-border trafficking by land is the most prominent type of illicit arms flow affecting countries on the continent. The weapons trafficked comprise both those sourced from within the continent - such as legacy weapons recycled from earlier conflicts and weapons diverted from national stockpiles - as well as arms sourced from other parts of the world, including embargo-breaking transfers from the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The report provides practical recommendations for AU member states to tackle illicit arms flows by noting specific assessments that can be generated to fill knowledge gaps; practical guidance and tools to develop; and ways in which to support and coordinate the implementation of those recommended actions.

Details: Geneva, Switzerland: Small Arms Survey, 2019. 98p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 25, 2019 at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/SAS-AU-Weapons-Compass.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Firearms Trafficking

Shelf Number: 157055


Author: Mixed Migration Centre

Title: Players of Many Parts: The Evolving Role of Smugglers in West Africa's Migration Economy

Summary: The trade and smuggling of people and goods have long played an important part in Sahelo-Saharan livelihoods. There are established patterns of migration between the Sahel and North Africa, including seasonal, temporary and circular movements. The so-called migration economy involves not only those facilitating the movement of people across borders, but also other aspects of the economy, such as hotels, restaurants, businesses offering phone calls, mobile credit and internet access, as well as food and water vendors. The Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4Mi) carried out a total of 153 interviews with smugglers and 3,406 interviews with refugees and migrants in Mali and Niger between August 2017 and August 2018. The surveys provide unique insight into the role of smugglers and their interaction with refugees and migrants. 4Mi survey data was complemented by semi-structured interviews and focus groups, and a literature review. Key findings: - Profiles of smugglers: Of the 153 smugglers interviewed, 142 were men and 11 were women, and the average age of the smugglers interviewed was 38. Smugglers interviewed in Mali originated mainly from Mali (68%), Algeria (14%), Mauritania (6%) and Cote d'Ivoire (5%), while in Niger they were for the most part from Niger (87%). Most reported to have started smuggling because they make more money with smuggling than their previous job (90% in Mali; 77% in Niger). While some reported that smuggling was their only job (32% in Niger; 19% in Mali), most said they had other jobs alongside their smuggling activities. - Nature of smuggling networks: West African smuggling networks are predominantly horizontal and rely on regional connectivity. Smugglers carry out one or several roles, and some have young assistants helping them, suggesting a more informal collaboration between different members of the network rather than a fixed chain of command. 4Mi data shows that in Niger smugglers have multiple roles and commitments within their networks. However, particularly in the region of Agadez, restrictive measures against smuggling implemented since 2016 have led to networks becoming more professional and less accessible for new players, with more fixed roles for those operating within these networks. In Mali, the modus operandi of smuggling networks is defined by state absence and the important role of armed groups in the political economy of the north. Networks operating in northern Mali are characterized by more professional and criminal-like activities and by the single allegiance and fixed roles of their members. - Refugees and migrants starting their journey with a smuggler: in Niger 20% of refugees and migrants said that smugglers had helped them start their journey, compared with 8% in Mali. Refugees and migrants interviewed in Niger who reported starting their journey with the help of a smuggler were mainly from Nigeria (26%), Guinea (12%) and Cote dIvoire (13%). In Mali they were mostly citizens of Guinea (28%), Burkina Faso (20%) and Cote d'Ivoire (12%). Role of smugglers in encouraging migration: 4Mi data suggests that smugglers are not instigators of migration. Only 6% of refugees and migrants interviewed by 4Mi in Mali and 5% interviewed in Niger said they had been encouraged to migrate by a smuggler. A much greater role in decision-making is played by friends (46% Niger; 37% Mali) and/or relatives. In many cases (51% Mali; 24% Niger) migrants made the decision alone. - Services provided by smugglers: the services provided by persons involved in the migration business in Mali and Niger are diverse. Most smugglers interviewed by 4Mi reported that they mainly provided accommodation (86% in Mali; 80% in Niger). This is followed by transportation to a holding place (71% in Mali; 52% in Niger), recruitment of clients (52% in Mali; 74% in Niger) and transit across a border (40% in Mali; 46% in Niger). - Protection incidents attributed to smugglers: according to refugees and migrants interviewed in Niger, smugglers were responsible for almost half (45%) of the 424 protection incidents reported. Other groups, such as thugs/criminal gangs and security forces were identified to a lesser extent as perpetrators (10% and 8% respectively). By contrast, in Mali, respondents attributed just 6% of all (648) protection incidents to smugglers, compared with 30% to security forces.

Details: Dakar, Senegal: Mixed Migration Centre, 2019. 32p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 1, 2019 at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/69916.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Smuggling

Shelf Number: 157079


Author: Herbert, Matthew

Title: 'La Mal Vie': The Routes, the Drivers and Politics of North African Irregular Migration

Summary: Between 2016 and 2019 irregular migration by North Africans to Europe increased noticeably. The rising numbers are driven by economic pessimism, social frustration and structural inequality. Old routes, which stretch from North African to European shores, have resurged in popularity. While some North African migrants engage with smugglers to take them north, a growing number are opting to organise their trip themselves, buying boats and heading for Europe. This dynamic has changed the politics around migration for both North African governments and those European nations offering aid.

Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2019. 36p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 2, 2019 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/nar-3-2.pdf

Year: 2019

Country: Africa

Keywords: Human Trafficking

Shelf Number: 158101