African Security Challenges: Now and Over the Horizon - Voices from the NGO Community

摘要

The NGO think pieces focused on: weapons of mass destruction, small arms and light weapons, disease (specifically HIV/AIDS due to the specialty of the author), displacement and militancy, and security sector reform. This report offers those think pieces in full. However, readers should bear in mind that they represent the voice of one or two NGO workers on a specific security issue and not the entire community. Think pieces commissioned from other NGO representatives may have offered a different perspective. Each author was asked to consider the following sets of questions in his/her think piece: (1) How is this challenge manifesting itself in Africa today. How is it evolving. Which dimensions of the challenge need to be understood and addressed; (2) What are some of the analytical and practical dilemmas facing the non-government community, including local civil society representatives, as it addresses the challenge; (3) What principles should shape any plan to address this challenge over the near and long-term in Africa. Are there principles that apply to multiple African contexts and transcend particular situations; and (4) What issues must be considered when formulating government (including military)/non- government partnerships to address the challenge. Do such partnerships exist in the African context and what do they entail. What are the benefits and drawbacks of such partnerships. What is needed to make them effective (if they should exist at all).