Conflict & Resilience Monitor – 28 May 2024

Women – those who carry the heaviest brunt of suffering and the most painful wounds of victimisation amid conflicts – have perspectives and aspirations that are critical to lasting conflict resolution and effective nation-building. They are not only victims, but they bring solutions. Their pain informs their unique insights upon which the foundations for sustainable peace and nation-building can be grounded. We must create spaces to listen to and respect the different voices, the diverse intonations, and the varied octaves in women’s perspectives, in order to enjoy the harmonious and lasting chords of peace.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) departed from Mali at the end of December 2023. Given the circumstances in which MINUSMA exited – a request by the host in June 2023 for a withdrawal ‘without delay’ – as well as the subsequent security and political developments in the country, it is no surprise that a number of observers concluded that the Mission had failed. Some went even further, predicting if not the demise, at least a long-term decline of large United Nations multidimensional peacekeeping operations.

“We can do better than this.” That’s the rallying cry echoed throughout the 2023/24 Human Development Report titled, Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarised World. The report presents a narrative shift – going beyond pointing out gaps, problems, and challenges to prompting us to think about our collective responsibility for action. Our existential survival depends on this action. If we persist in polarisation, vulnerabilities deepen, crises worsen, and global inequalities widen. This isn’t just a warning—it’s a wake-up call demanding global cooperation and collective action. The consequences of an alternative will be far-reaching, transcending national borders. This is not a hypothetical scenario. It is a pressing reality that demands collective action and cooperation on a global scale.

We are living through a major phase shift in the Global Order. Europe has dominated the Global Order for the last two to three centuries. America has had a significant influence on global politics for the past 80 years, and since the collapse of the Soviet Union 35 years ago, has been the sole superpower. For the last few decades, we all lived in what we – in the study of International Relations – call a Unipolar world order, dominated by the United States and its allies in the West.

South Africa is gearing up for its national & provincial elections (NPEs) on 29 May 2024. As the country celebrates 30 years of democracy, it is an opportune time to reflect on the resilience of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa and related institutions, such as the Judiciary. The 2024 elections have already been, and will continue to be, the greatest litmus test for these institutions and their resilience since 1994. They are already facing significant political pressure and scrutiny in the wake of a number of election-related court cases and public utterances by politicians that the IEC may be compromised.

It has been seven years since the inception of the National Action Plans (NAP) for the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda in Cameroon, and it has catalysed the rise of women-led organisations, igniting a drive to engage in peacebuilding. In an age where efforts to end violent conflict and build peace have become increasingly digitised, women peacebuilders in Cameroon find themselves treading challenging waters that transcend the physical realities of conflict into cyberspace. While the digital era holds a wealth of opportunities for peace-related processes to thrive, along with these empowering tools comes a pending and often overlooked frontier of vulnerability—cyber ills. Such a security loophole questions the effectiveness of cyber legislation and the scope of the WPS NAP that have been present in Cameroon since 2010 and 2017 respectively.