Briefing Paper

National and Regional Responses to the Cabo Delgado Crisis: Failures and Opportunities for Change

Northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province has been the site of an escalating insurgency since 2017. As the severity of the insurgency has grown, so too has the potential for the conflict to negatively impact upon the wider region. SADC’s response has been slow and has failed to take into account the broader dynamics of the insurgency, while the Mozambican government has pursued a militarised approach. Without significant efforts to address the transnational dimensions of the wider conflict system and the local socio-economic grievances that fuel recruitment, the insurgency is likely to continue to deepen and spread across the region.