Insurgency in Mozambique: The role of the Southern African Development Community is covering the escalating insurgency in Mozambique and the far reaching political, security, humanitarian and cross-border implications. It is in the interests of SADC to urgently address the insurgency in Mozambique before the insurgents develop a regional terrorist hub and spoke networks, as has been the case in the Sahel region, Lake Chad Basin and the Horn of Africa. Elections and electoral violence in Côte d’Ivoire: ECOWAS’s efforts towards stability describes the political trajectory of Côte d’Ivoire that has been characterised by electoral violence, which has often resulted in the loss of lives and property. The peaceful transfer of power has eluded the country since 1993. The hope of consolidating stability and development was dashed by the contentions and violence that marred the 2020 presidential election. Female participation in peacebuilding efforts in Africa: A review of recent academic contributions has taken stock of some recent empirical studies of the WPS agenda on the African continent, with an emphasis on the participation pillar of Resolution 1325. Currently, there are several interesting studies of female participation in national and local peace processes, as well as ambitious projects on how to decrease barriers to female participation that are being conducted. The next article is titled: Patriarchy is the constraint: resolution 1325 two decades later. Two decades ago, history was made as far as gender security is concerned. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) led a revolutionary policy change by passing Resolution 1325 – also known as the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda – on 31 October 2000. The resolution marked the United Nations’ (UN) full-fledged attention to gendered aspects of peace and conflict. This article argues that since we recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325 in Africa, and elsewhere, a reality check is in order. The article: Mission to civilise: The French West African federation analyses the French imperial project in Africa, with a focus on the Federation of French West Africa consisting of today’s Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal). It outlines differences and similarities between the French mode of direct rule and the British mode of indirect rule. The last article is titled: Youth engagement in peace processes in Africa. As the theme of 2020’s International Youth Day stated, “Youth Engagement for Global Action”, the time is now to ensure meaningful and sustainable engagement of youth in peacebuilding and for it to be mainstreamed in broader peacebuilding programmes at various levels, by involving the youth in key decision-making processes. Activities and programmes led by youth activists and youth-focused organisations need to be linked for maximum impact, from the grassroots level all the way to the continental level.
