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International public adaptation finance for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) averaged just over $2 billion annually in 2021–2022, representing only 0.2% of global climate finance. This is significantly below the estimated annual need of $11.7 billion required between 2023 and 2035. The report highlights a critical reliance on debt, which accounted for 44% of flows, and a lack of correlation between finance volumes and climate vulnerability. It advocates for replacing ODA eligibility criteria with a multidimensional vulnerability index to improve access to concessional funding.

The report establishes a positive correlation between inclusive governance—measured by Voice & Accountability (VA) scores—and broad-based development, measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), across global, continental, and regional scales. It argues that accountable governance fosters political stability and consistent policymaking, which in turn sustains economic dynamism. Using Angola as a case study, the document illustrates how the repression of participation and human rights abuses can lead to the stagnation or reversal of human development outcomes. The report concludes that private sector companies have a financial and reputational incentive to support inclusive governance, anti-corruption policies, and civil society capacity building to mitigate 'above-ground risk' and secure long-term investments.

The policy brief advocates for the G20 to push the IMF for a new $650 billion SDR allocation to address the intersecting debt and climate crises in the Global South. It argues that SDRs are a critical alternative to debt-based financing, as they do not require repayment and can be used for fiscal support, climate adaptation, and mitigation. The brief also recommends that the IMF revert its accounting of SDRs from liabilities to equity (as per BPM5) to prevent artificial increases in debt-to-GDP ratios and facilitate the donation of unused SDRs from advanced economies to indebted nations.

The monograph examines the transition of private military and security companies (PMSCs) from combat-oriented 'markets for force' to support-oriented 'markets for peace' in Africa. It analyzes the legal ambiguities surrounding PMSC status under international humanitarian law, the challenges of accountability and transparency in hybrid missions in countries like Liberia and Sudan, and the tension between the pragmatic need for private capacity and the moral concerns regarding the privatization of state security functions. The authors propose a 'steering and rowing' framework to ensure that the UN and AU maintain strategic control while utilizing private firms for non-core technical and logistical support.

This policy brief by the South African Institute of International Affairs examines the gap between the African Union's (AU) normative commitments to democracy and human rights and the actual foreign policies of its member states. The author argues that strong sovereignty norms and a state-centric approach have hindered the domestication of human rights, leading to a state of 'stasis' or reversal in several countries. The brief recommends that the AU embrace global partnerships with civil society and that pivotal states like South Africa rejuvenate human rights as a core pillar of their external engagements to ensure continental stability.