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The document examines the 2020 Burundian election, which saw Evariste Ndayishimiye win with 68% of the vote despite allegations of fraud from the opposition and the Catholic Church. It highlights the president's need to balance internal CNDD-FDD party factions, specifically between the military generals who supported him and his predecessor, Pierre Nkurunziza. The author notes severe national crises, including a 74% poverty rate, massive displacement of people, and a destroyed professional middle class. The text argues that the African Union should engage with the new administration to encourage the restoration of civil society and media freedoms.

The report details how COVID-19 caused operational disruptions, reduced premium income, and accelerated digitalization within the insurance sector in Eastern and Southern Africa. While life and health products provided some coverage, business interruption insurance largely failed to support business resilience. Insurers face prudential stability concerns and liquidity challenges, though 50% expect premium income to recover within a year.

The report identifies cultural, structural, and workplace barriers that marginalise women in the male-dominated maritime sector in Africa. It highlights a critical lack of gender-disaggregated data and the phenomenon of 'sea blindness' as obstacles to visibility and recruitment. Using South Africa as a primary case study, the report suggests that the United Nations' Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda can provide a framework for improving women's inclusion. Key recommendations include launching public awareness campaigns, implementing gender-sensitive budgeting, and creating mentorship programmes to bridge the gender gap.

The document examines the gap between Africa's youth-related policy frameworks, such as the African Youth Charter, and the reality of youth participation in governance. It argues that youth are often treated as mere beneficiaries of services or tokenistic additions to processes rather than empowered stakeholders in decision-making. The author analyzes the role of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in promoting good governance and finds that while recent efforts like the N’Djamena symposium show progress, structural barriers and policy incoherence persist. The paper recommends establishing youth quotas in National Governing Councils and integrating youth into the technical tools and review missions of the APRM to ensure meaningful engagement.

The report examines the global banana market, noting that while bananas are the most valuable traded fruit, the sector faces significant challenges including climate change, the Tropical Race 4 fungal disease, and poor farmer livelihoods. It highlights the growth of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs), which accounted for 7% of production in 2016, and identifies opportunities to expand these standards in countries like India, China, and specific LHDCs such as Tanzania and Rwanda to improve environmental and social outcomes.

The report analyzes the 2020 Burundian elections, highlighting a transition from President Pierre Nkurunziza to Evariste Ndayishimiye within the CNDD-FDD. It describes a political environment marked by an "autocratic drift," systemic repression of opposition parties like the CNL, and a fragile economy where 65% of the population lives below the poverty line. The author argues that the new president faces a "double guardianship" from Nkurunziza and a circle of powerful generals, which may hinder necessary democratic and socio-economic reforms.

The statement argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent need for governments to focus all resources on public health, specifically the procurement of medical supplies, vaccines, and medicines. It calls for the immediate suspension of trade and investment negotiations at the WTO, bilateral, and regional levels, asserting that such activities divert critical resources and personnel. The authors highlight that intellectual property rules under the WTO's TRIPS agreement and free trade agreements may obstruct the affordability and accessibility of life-saving supplies. The document demands the removal of all trade barriers and unilateral sanctions that hinder medical procurement and urges a fundamental rethink of trade rules that encourage monopolies and limit healthcare access.

Friends of the Earth International and a broad coalition of global endorsers call for an immediate cessation of trade and investment treaty negotiations. They argue that governments, particularly in developing and least developed countries, lack the resources to engage in these negotiations while managing the COVID-19 health crisis. The statement demands that trade negotiators focus exclusively on removing obstacles, such as intellectual property rules and unilateral sanctions, that hinder access to affordable vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics.

The document argues that standard lockdown measures are often impractical and potentially more damaging than COVID-19 in Africa due to high poverty levels, weak democratic institutions, and a large informal economy. It highlights risks such as the erosion of democratic processes, food insecurity, and a disproportionate burden on women. The author advocates for localized, flexible responses and calls for wealthier Northern states to provide debt cancellations and aid to prevent regional instability.

The document analyzes how trade facilitation efforts in East Africa affect women informal cross-border traders, who constitute up to 70% of such trade in Africa. Using the Busia One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) as a case study, it evaluates the effectiveness of 'hard' infrastructure (like border facilities) and 'soft' infrastructure (like Simplified Trade Regimes and capacity building). While the Busia OSBP has reduced customs processing times by 80% and improved relations between traders and officials, significant gaps remain, including inadequate sanitation on the Ugandan side, limited access to formal finance, and the persistence of predatory middlemen. The paper recommends gender-sensitive infrastructure, simplified cross-border banking, and the use of the African Continental Free Trade Area to create continent-wide framework STRs.

The document examines the impact of COVID-19-related food export restrictions on vulnerable importing nations. It identifies high-risk areas in Central Asia, North Africa, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa, noting that many affected countries already suffer from high undernourishment and calorie production deficits. The authors argue that because global food stocks remain plentiful, countries should refrain from banning staple food exports to prevent hunger and potential famines.

The document argues that South Africa's influence in global peacebuilding has waned since the late 2000s due to a lack of strategic coordination, political will, and effective financial mechanisms. It highlights the failure of the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund (ARF) to prioritise conflict resolution and the long-delayed establishment of the South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA). The author recommends that the government professionalise its foreign service, expedite the Partnership for Development Bill, and align peacebuilding efforts with trade and investment priorities to reclaim its international standing.

The document examines the link between armed conflict and forced displacement in Africa, noting that the number of forcibly displaced people more than doubled from 11 million in 2013 to 25.7 million in 2019. It assesses the African Union's (AU) 'Silencing the Guns' initiative, arguing that while infrastructure like the Continental Early Warning System (CEWS) and the Panel of the Wise exists, implementation is hindered by a lack of conceptual coherence and poor governance. The brief highlights that governance deficiencies, corruption, and the illicit trade of firearms—with over 40 million civilian-held firearms in Africa—drive conflict and displacement. It recommends that the AU move from early warning to early action, improve interdepartmental coordination, and address the structural root causes of conflict to facilitate durable solutions like repatriation.

The document argues that the African Union's PCRD framework is essential for youth-focused peacebuilding, but its success depends on prioritising socio-economic and political opportunities for young people. It highlights that the absence of inclusive youth policies increases the risk of returning to violence. While some states like Côte d'Ivoire have established dedicated youth ministries to foster policy development, others like Libya and the Central African Republic struggle with implementation due to fragile governance and recurring conflict. The brief recommends that the AU and member states prioritise early youth policy development, create dedicated youth ministries, and ensure all policies are accompanied by monitorable action plans.

The report analyzes the fragile political alliance between President Felix Tshisekedi's CACH coalition and former President Joseph Kabila's FCC, which dominates the DRC's parliament. It identifies key priorities for the 2019–2023 period, including reforming the CENI and Constitutional Court, addressing socio-economic needs, and stabilizing the eastern DRC. The author presents several scenarios ranging from a best-case transition to democracy to a fragmentation and chaos scenario, while emphasizing the role of the international community and regional neighbors in supporting transformational change.

The document is a collection of scholarly essays celebrating the career of Professor Maxi Schoeman. It examines her theoretical work in constructivism and human security, her critiques of South African foreign policy from the Mandela era through the Zuma administration, and her analysis of the South African National Defence Force's role in regional peacekeeping. The text highlights the tension between South Africa's constitutional human rights values and its pragmatic, often contradictory, international engagements.

The document examines the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), arguing that while they offer a progressive 'whole of society' approach to refugee integration, their non-binding nature and flawed funding mechanisms hinder their effectiveness in Africa. It highlights a gap between liberal policy and implementation in South Africa and the failure of the CRRF in Tanzania due to financial burdens. The authors advocate for a results-based management system and a stronger link between security, development, and migration to address the root causes of displacement on the continent.

The report examines South Africa's historical and recent involvement in Burundi, highlighting a transition from significant military and diplomatic leadership during the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement to a more peripheral role following Burundi's 2015 political crisis. While South Africa has provided tangible support in electoral capacity building and civil service training, the report finds that bilateral agreements have been implemented in a fragmented manner. It emphasizes the value of 'citizen diplomacy' through civil society and academic exchanges, particularly in supporting Burundi's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The authors argue that South Africa should leverage its remaining political capital and technical expertise through a holistic strategy that navigates complex regional dynamics involving the East African Community (EAC) and the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

The August 2019 Peace & Security Council Report examines the African Union's (AU) struggle to define 'unconstitutional changes of government' in the context of popular uprisings in Algeria and Sudan. It highlights the risks of increasing foreign military presence, particularly in the Horn of Africa, and the resulting rivalry between global powers like the US and China. The report also advocates for the inclusion of women in Sudan's peace process and warns of potential political instability in Côte d’Ivoire ahead of the 2020 elections. Finally, it discusses the limited access civil society organizations have to AU and regional economic community structures.

The report examines the actions of 14 African countries at the UN Human Rights Council in 2017. It finds that the African Group is no longer a unified voting bloc, with significant divergence in how members approach human rights. Botswana, Ghana, and Rwanda are identified as the strongest defenders of international human rights among the group, while Burundi, Egypt, and Nigeria are characterized as the most antagonistic. The analysis highlights a recurring tension between the principle of national sovereignty and the universality of human rights, particularly regarding 'item 4' resolutions that mandate investigations into specific countries without their consent.