Introduction Truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) are temporarily established to investigate and document war atrocities committed against civilian populations.[1] They promote reconciliation between erstwhile enemies, as well as victims and perpetrators, and make recommendations to the post-conflict governments that have supported their establishment on how to avoid any recurrence of abuses. Despite the engagement [...]
Congolese Crisis and Demographic Problems in the African Great Lakes
The frequent violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is part of a series of interlinked, complex conflicts[1] encompassing the African Great Lakes region. The DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda all appear to be connected by geographical and historical factors and the legacies of decades of conflict interspersed by episodes of peace. Conflict in [...]
From Ethnic Violence to Seeds of Peace: Pastoralists, Youth, and Intercommunity Peacebuilding in Northwestern Kenya
Introduction Northwestern Kenya has been a theatre of violent conflict pitting the Pokot, Samburu, and Turkana communities against one another in a fierce and deadly competition. This has been catalyzed by diminishing pasture and water resources, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, political incitement, disputes over land and ethnic boundaries, the absence of [...]
Peacebuilding in the African Union: Law, Philosophy and Practice, by Abou Jeng
Despite its encounters with the international community in the past five centuries, Africa’s socioeconomic, legal and political development remains a source of grave concern for many observers and scholars. While some trace the source of the continent’s underdevelopment to the foundational problems embedded in its historical engagements with the western world, others maintain that the [...]