Spotlight: African insights are vital for global peace and security
ISS research provides evidence that can improve global strategies on terrorism, international crime and mass migration.
Published on 09 March 2017 in
Impact
The international community is currently grappling with complex challenges like combatting terrorism, ensuring justice for victims of grave crimes, and responding to mass migration. While debates about these issues usually take place in Europe and the United States, African perspectives are needed for long-term solutions.
‘Africa should be at the forefront of discussions because these problems have a deep impact on the continent,’ says Ottilia Anna Maunganidze, Head of Special Projects at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). ‘Rather than repeating the platitude that Africa and Africans play an important role in global peace and security, we need to move towards real partnerships. That means working with African leaders and holding them to account.’
This is the key message that ISS took to government briefings and events in Germany, including the German-African Business Association’s 6th Managing Risk in Africa workshop and the Munich Security Conference (MSC) last month. A partner to the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, the MSC is the largest global gathering of policymakers and experts on security.
As a leading African organisation with a global reach, the ISS helps policymakers and business leaders better understand Africa’s human security challenges and how to find solutions that work.
Africa should be at the forefront of global peace and security discussions
In Berlin, Maunganidze met with State Secretary Thomas Silberhorn from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation. ‘The Ministry greatly appreciated the much-needed African perspective on irregular migration and human smuggling in Africa,’ says Dr Wolf Krug, Resident Representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in South Africa.
ISS’ ground-breaking migration research shows the risks associated with generalising the current ‘migration crisis’ and the importance of developing nuanced policies. By exploring the roots and routes of migration to Europe from the perspectives of migrants, the study brings a human voice back to responses.
These voices are key to getting the right responses that take into account people’s needs and realities. ‘We can’t begin to discuss addressing migration unless we understand the environment that people come from and the reasons why people move in the first place,’ says Maunganidze.
As one of Körber-Stiftung’s Munich Young Leaders, Maunganidze participated in a number of discussions with other young foreign and security policy experts on the sidelines of the MSC. She shared African views on security challenges, including migration, and was an official blogger for the Munich Young Leaders.
For more information contact:
Ottilia Anna Maunganidze, ISS: +27 12 346 9500, [email protected]
Picture: ©Ottilia Anna Maunganidze/ISS
