Demilitarising sub-Saharan Africa

The document examines the link between poverty, human insecurity, and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that the 'security first' approach of international donors is flawed because it focuses on state security while ignoring the structural economic collapse caused by neo-liberal structural adjustment programmes and unsustainable debt. The author describes 'new wars' in Africa as rational economic responses to exclusion, where warlords utilize global markets for lootable commodities. The paper advocates for a shift toward 'human security' and a significant increase in official development assistance (ODA) to meet Millennium Development Goals, warning that current donor strategies continue to prioritize market liberalization over genuine poverty alleviation.

• Sub-Saharan Africa is the only developing region where human development is declining, with 46% of the population living on less than a dollar a day and 33 of 43 economies shrinking during the 1990s.
• Neo-liberal structural adjustment programmes imposed by the IMF and World Bank have exacerbated poverty and eroded the state's capacity to provide basic public goods, contributing to a loss of state legitimacy.
• Africa's 'new wars' are often 'post-modern' conflicts where violence is a rational economic system for profit and power, driven by the extraction of natural resources and integrated into global markets.
• The 'security first' policy of international donors is criticized for attempting to restore the security of the state in regions where the state has effectively imploded and no longer holds a monopoly on violence.
• The Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative is described as an abject failure that prioritized limiting losses for rich countries over providing sustainable debt relief for poor nations.
• To meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reduce poverty, OECD governments would need to increase official development assistance (ODA) to 0.7% of GNP, which would raise total aid flows to $114 billion per annum.

APA

Willett, S. (n.d.). Demilitarising sub-Saharan Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ACHIEVINGWILLETT.PDF

Chicago

Willett, Susan. Demilitarising sub-Saharan Africa. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ACHIEVINGWILLETT.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Willett |first1=Susan |title=Demilitarising sub-Saharan Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ACHIEVINGWILLETT.PDF |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{willettnddemilitarising, author = {Willett, Susan}, title = {{Demilitarising sub-Saharan Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ACHIEVINGWILLETT.PDF}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }