Progress on global collective action to deal with climate change is a necessity and the last UN report on where we are at shows that we are not close to meeting the targeted emissions by 2050
People in African countries have long been identified as among those most likely to be adversely affected by catastrophic climate change.
At present, SAMIM is operating in Cabo Delgado with the full consent of the Mozambican government. Despite initial resistance to SADC involvement, Mozambique has consented to the SADC deployment.
In 2020, the government of South Africa announced a new Border Management Act that introduces a single authority to oversee the border environment, and it has also amended the Refugee Act.
From a general perspective it can be said that every actor in the Sahel is walking on a tight rope trying to achieve limited objectives, without remaining stuck in the many complexities of the local political milieu.
Amid the climate emergency, access to freshwater is a potential source of tension and conflict between states. One example of tension tied up to a transboundary watercourse is the on-going dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the water resources of the River Nile. A long-standing dispute between the countries has gained tension due to the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) by Ethiopia.
Though it is shared by 11 riparian countries, Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia dominate the contesting debate over the Nile water resource. Historically, the Nile basin has been dominated by unilateralism, exclusion, colonial and neo-colonial drives to justify Egypt’s and Sudan’s monopoly over the utilization of the shared water resource.
At the Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held in Mozambique on June 23, 2021, the regional body endorsed a decision to deploy a SADC Standby Force mission to the Republic of Mozambique, by October this year.
On 24th May 2021, news broke of yet another coup d’état in Mali, the third in the last decade following the 2012 and 2020 military takeovers. The ‘palace’ coup sees Col Assimi Goïta, yet again, seizing power in Mali and detaining transitional President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, after accusing them of failing in their duties and trying to sabotage Mali’s transition to democracy.
At the UN Security Council and in other forums in Africa and Europe, diplomats are debating different options for increasing international support to the G5 Sahel Force. The aim is to enhance its operational capacity and effectiveness to restore stability in the Sahel. Despite the presence of the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the Group of Five Sahel (G5 Sahel) Force, as well as French and European Union missions, the security situation in the Sahel has significantly deteriorated over the last few years.