African regions - building blocks or brakes for peace?

Afrika Nå

While ECOWAS was on the short-list for the Nobel Peace Prize for its intervention in the Gambia, the East African Community (EAC) struggles to produce meaningful progress and results in Burundi. The African Union (AU) has peace and security at the core of its mandate. However, much of the handling of conflict is usually delegated to one of the various regional blocks on the continent. What are the opportunities and pitfalls of such an approach? Should the AU be more forward leaning when there is a danger of inaction or when strategic regional interest hinders rather than helps conflict resolution? Researchers from the prominent think-tank Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Oslo Governance Center (UNDP) give us their thoughts in this breakfast seminar. In the panel: Yann Bedzigui, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Jide Okeke, Oslo Governance Center, UNDP