Conflicts

Opinion
When Covid-19 leads to dangerous variants of nationalism
India, Brazil, Hungary… Regimes that openly profess militant nationalism are among the hardest hit by the pandemic. However, outside these countries, Covid-19 has given rise to nationalistic variants in crisis management policies, with varying degrees of effectiveness
Other news

Opinion
Conflicts: The multilateralism crisis has caused the failure of international interventions
In a geopolitical context in turmoil and faced with the failure of international interventions, there is an urgent need to change the approach to try to resolve the conflicts of today.

Press Review
In Argentina, a major legislative win
Argentina lawmakers have passed a bill to legalize abortion. A major and unprecedented step for the fourth country to make abortion legal in Latin America. As issues around climate, democracy and human rights are being fought over, solutions are also implemented.

Opinion
How to move from humanitarian aid in Africa to African humanitarian workers
Based on its own experience, the NGO ALIMA is advocating for a real localization of humanitarian aid. An emergency brought to the fore by the COVID-19 crisis.

Interview
International humanitarian aid needs transformation to avoid paralysis
International humanitarian aid relies on voluntary contributions from a small number of Western countries—a model that puts the capacity for action by NGOs into jeopardy. In his latest book, 0.03%! (published in French by Éditions Parole), Pierre Micheletti, President of Action Contre la Faim...

Opinion
Providing aid to Lebanon, an impossible mission?
What can be done to help Lebanon recover from the devastating explosion on August 4, amid a serious political crisis and the collapse of its banking system?

Opinion
In Mali, the first victim of the coup of 18 August is politics
Could the forced resignation of President Keïta offer a fresh start for Mali? Thomas Hofnung, editor-in-chief of iD4D, sees above all a long-term danger of increasing people’s mistrust of politicians.

Opinion
Aid Workers in Conflict Zones: not heroes, not spies
In areas disputed by various armed groups, aid workers must constantly make practical trade-offs. This article presents two examples from the troubled conflict zone of the Sahel.

Opinion
Schools under attack in Anglophone Cameroon
In Cameroon, 850,000 students have been deprived of school since 2016 due to the conflict that is shaking up the country and dividing the population.

Opinion
The ICRC in Mali: going beyond humanitarian aid, to development?
Jean-Nicolas Marti is now serving his second field position in Mali for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Here he talks about the ICRC’s operational doctrine in areas of armed conflict and mentions its development actions, a turning point for this institution.

Opinion
Pastoralism: a crucial factor of stability in the Sahel
The dynamics of livestock markets in West Africa are still poorly understood and rarely studied. Yet, pastoralism is crucial for resilience and economic stability in the Sahel region, as climate specialist Lucie Royer and economist Stéphanie Brunelin explain here.

Opinion
Africa: COVID-19 Exposes the Vulnerability of Urban Food Systems
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of people living in food insecurity in East Africa could increase from 14 million to 23 million. In addition to emergency measures, this crisis has highlighted the need to improve the resilience of food systems, especially in the worst-affected...

Opinion
New conflicts require better coordination among international actors
The new contemporary conflicts facing us are more difficult to resolve. The forms of action taken by international actors coming to the aid of the most fragile societies must be reviewed if we are to boost their impact.

Opinion
From beneficiaries to co-operants: overcoming conflicts of perception in the Sahel
Why try to reinvent the wheel in conflict zones, taking the viewpoint that these areas are frozen in time, when these communities can innovate and find solutions for themselves? Researcher Bakary Sambé (Timbuktu Institute) discusses this issue.

Opinion
COVID-19 is a war… But what kind?
If “we are at war” against COVID-19, then what kind of war is it? In Bertrand Badie’s view, this war is unlike any we have seen before. Its outcome depends on the emergence of solidarity and global governance.

Opinion
Turning the spotlight on crises forgotten by the media is a way of providing aid
A press article cannot equal food, drinking water or medical assistance when it comes to saving lives. But drawing attention to a crisis is also a way of providing humanitarian aid according to Philippe Lévêque from NGO Care France.

Opinion
Complex wars require a change in approach
According to Xavier Lhote, wars between States have given way to violence of social origin. Short-term humanitarian, political and military responses are no longer sufficient in resolving these crises: development stakeholders have an important long-term role to play.

Opinion
Anti-terrorism laws must take humanitarian principles into account
In their desire to protect themselves from the threat of terrorism, governments have adopted drastic measures that could hinder the work of humanitarian organizations. Pierre Micheletti, President of Action Contre la Faim, calls for the urgent revision of these rules

Interview
“The majority of conflicts arise from problems of governance”
Parfait Onanga-Anyanga considers that the challenges of governance and the establishment of States governed by the rule of law, as promoted by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, are a prerequisite for attaining all the other goals.

Interview
“Development is a factor in mobility and migration.”
With tensions over the issue of migration running higher than ever, Catherine Wihtol de Wenden believes the solution does not lie in a security-oriented approach. Making it easier for people to move around would make development fairer for all.

Development news
Reconstruction of Rwanda: “miracle” or mirage?
With its lasting peace and stable growth, Rwanda is the prodigal child of sub-Saharan African development. Yet 25 years ago, the country went through one of the worst genocides in world history. Is the “Rwandan miracle” a mirage?

Interview
“Venezuelans are leaving because of hunger, instability and poverty.”
Tomás Páez, sociologist and professor at the Central University of Venezuela, is coordinator of the Venezuelan Diaspora Observatory. He gives us his analysis of the unprecedented migratory crisis which has been striking Venezuela for over two years.

Interview
“In most cases, wars are not fought over water”
Management and sharing of waters are said to provoke conflicts in the world between States sharing the vital resource. A look on the concept of water conflicts with Stephen McCaffrey.

Development aid: “We need to radically change the way we do things!”
A decade after The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier, a British economist, Professor at Oxford University, former World Bank researcher and pioneer of the economics of conflict, has just issued a report on fragilities.

Opinion
Sahelian women, both central and marginal
Laurent Bossard, Director of the OECD’s Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat, takes a look at the paradox of Sahelian women: despite the key socio-economic role they play in communities, they remain marginalised and are sometimes deprived of their fundamental rights.