Africa Up Close

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) October 2020 session will debate the future of its peace mission (MONUSCO) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to UNSC Resolution (UNSCR) 2502 adopted last December, MONUSCO’s mandate will end on December 20, 2020. This completion date conflicts with the recommendation made last year by an independent assessment of MONUSCO ordered by the UNSC. The report advised a period of three years for the Mission’s drawdown and exit, to be completed at the end of 2022.

The provenance of the coronavirus pandemic (the COVID-19 virus) has been traced to Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei Province. To China’s rivals and detractors, this fact is an effective tool in their efforts to undermine China’s growing global influence and its expectations of being a leader in providing public goods and combating disease. The COVID-19 virus presents the world’s most threatening health crisis in more than a century. Due to the rapid spread and severity of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, in March the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.

The ban on single-use plastic bags in Kenya was prefaced by vigorous sensitization campaigns undertaken by various international bodies like UNEP’s Environment’s Global Plastics Platform. These sensitization efforts highlight the lasting harmful effects of plastic pollution, and have accelerated global momentum toward reducing plastic pollution. For example, various UN member states, including Kenya and Rwanda, have made ambitious efforts toward banning single-use plastic bags.

Lake Chad is the fourth-largest lake in Africa and the largest in Central and Western Africa. While there are only four states that border the lake—Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger—river tributaries feeding into the lake pass through other countries such as the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan, and Libya. Since 1960, Lake Chad has shrunk to a mere 10 percent of its original size, the result of rainfall variability, drought, and the high number of irrigation schemes around the lake.[i] The surface water on Nigeria’s side of the lake has almost completely receded, leaving only small pools of water. It is within this climate crisis that the Congo River Interbasin Water Transfer, a project that would redistribute water from the Ubangui river into Lake Chad, has emerged.

The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting African countries recently emerging from violent conflicts, already struggling with violent conflicts, or transitioning from conflict to peace. The initial impact of COVID-19 in these countries is on health and the economy. As a result, response measures have significant socio-economic impact that may hinder these countries’ attainment of the UN Strategic Development Goals on poverty, food security, inequality, and peace.

The year 2020 will live in infamy as the global economy reels under the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that has seriously impacted lives, jobs, and trade. The virus has so far claimed 582,125 lives and infected more than thirteen million people globally. African countries are already challenged in stemming the spread of the virus, but the task is even more complicated for countries that are constitutionally mandated to hold elections during this unprecedented time. COVID-19 mitigation measures during elections have massive implications for peace and security in these countries, as the measures have the potential to upend the electoral process, lead to bans on campaigning, and abuse by incumbents.

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has devastated the global human security landscape. Currently, there are 7,068,144 confirmed cases and 400,857 deaths worldwide, while 3,496,290 persons have recovered.[1] Beyond the human toll, the pandemic is projected to contract the global economy by 5.7 percent in 2020, with severe consequences on economic development in countries across the world. In Africa, 194,141 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been recorded as of June 7, with 5,304 deaths and 85,447 recoveries. In West Africa, the pandemic has spread across the 15-member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with 42,206 confirmed cases and 882 deaths. Although recorded cases in West African states are relatively low for now, their governments have nonetheless introduced a suite of responses including restriction on movements to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. In addition to the health aspect of West African states’ responses, measures have also been taken to mitigate the acute economic impact of the pandemic. Notwithstanding this, the region’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic appear to be generalized, with relatively less attention devoted to the specific vulnerabilities of women. This inattention to the gender aspect has heightened the impact of the pandemic on West Africa’s health and economic security. Given the significant role women play in socio-economic development in West Africa, disregarding the gender gap in COVID-19 responses has the potential to exacerbate the already entrenched gender inequalities in the socio-economic sphere of societies in the region.

The May 7, 2020 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is alarming: “An estimated 12.8 people are in need of humanitarian assistance (…) This figure represents 10 percent of the total worldwide humanitarian caseload. Those affected by this complex and widespread crisis remain exposed to (…) chronic malnutrition and epidemics, notably cholera, measles, and the Ebola virus.” The majority of people affected are in the eastern DRC’s volatile Kivu region. This situation in Kivu, according to the UN OCHA, is the consequence of a long period of insecurity and the result of continuing fighting between the Congolese Army and non-state armed groups. The region’s long-standing fragility and instability are now facilitating the spread of yet another humanitarian emergency in the DRC: the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. In short, one health emergency (COVID-19) is exacerbating another (Ebola, cholera, and measles).

It is one of the fastest-growing economic sectors across the African continent. It could help answer some of Africa’s most pressing challenges, including food and nutrition security, employment, climate adaptation, and gender equality. Yet it is chronically underexploited and underfunded by both donors and governments.

Notable African cultural values and systems revolve around communal living, large families, festivals, funerals, and other social gatherings that bring people together and enhance relationships and community. With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the ways of life of Africans have dramatically changed, possibly for a long time. COVID-19 has disrupted the “normal” way of life and imposed a “new normal” that feels alien to Africans. The pandemic and responses to it are essentially dictating to Africans a new culture that emphasizes individualism over communalism, distancing over congregation, and virtual work over physical work. It has altered Africans’ daily routine of warm close physical contact with families and friends.