19 April 2023 I believe the drafters of the Constitutive Act anticipated scenarios similar to the one obtaining in Sudan, when they coined article 4(h). Africans can not stand by and continue to watch atrocities being committed in Sudan without taking all necessary measures to stop them. Shuvai Nyoni, Executive Director, the African Leadership…
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR When I was joining IRRI in the first quarter of 2019, I could not have imagined the dynamism and shifts we would experience by the end of 2019. We changed. Simply put. At the milestone of 15 years, we determined that we needed to re- strategise and rethink IRRI, and what…
On Wednesday 2 May 2018, the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), organised a workshop in Uganda on the Right to Nationality, ahead of the second meeting of African Union’s Member States Experts on the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Specific Aspects on the Right to a…
“African States should seize the opportunity to set clear standards on the recognition of nationality and the eradication of statelessness”, urged a coalition of African civil society organisations working on the issue. Member States are meeting in Abidjan, 7-11 May 2018, to discuss the text of a draft protocol to the African Charter on Human…
IRRI’s 2017 Annual Report highlights our work in a year of significant achievement for us, as we continued to work on our three main programmatic areas of: -identifying the violations that cause displacement and exile; -protecting the rights of those who are displaced, and -ensuring resolutions to their displacement are durable, rights respecting, safe and timely. The…
Their priority is not the people of Somalia,” a Somali woman who had recently fled to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya said about peacekeepers in her home country. “It is the government and themselves.” Unfortunately, this view is not unique. Civilians in countries with peace operations often experience a wide gap between them…
(Kampala – 6 September 2017) International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) today published a new report on the African Union and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), exploring how this principle has taken root within the continental union, in the form of non-indifference. The internationally agreed principle of R2P provides that states are primarily responsible for protecting their populations…
Is UNAMID next on the UN peacekeeping chopping block? It seems likely, as years of advocacy by the Government of Sudan and the current US administration’s eagerness to cut UN peacekeeping costs seem to come together. But many civilians continue to rely on the peacekeeping mission’s relative protection, as attacks on civilians continue. Today,…
To all Members of the African Union Peace and Security Council Your Excellencies, RE: URGENT: Ensuring the Independence, Neutrality and Impartiality of the AU PSC Field Mission to Burundi Your Excellencies, as Burundian and African civil society organisations, we welcome news that the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU PSC) will conduct a…
International Refugees Rights Initiative (IRRI) today launched a report about civilian perspectives on the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), whose mandate has been recently renewed. This report is based on interviews with 62 Somalis and is the third in a series on civilian perspectives of peacekeeping forces in Africa. The report highlights that many in Somalia…
In October 2009, the African Union adopted The Kampala Convention, (the Convention) which was designed for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa. It came into force in 2012, 30 days after its ratification by the 15th member state. According to paragraph k of the 1st article of the Kampala Convention,…
We, the undersigned organizations from the continent in solidarity with the people of South Sudan, urge you to seize a potentially powerful opportunity for a sustained peace in South Sudan by committing your leadership to the development of an open and inclusive national dialogue for our continent’s newest nation at the 28th Ordinary Session…
The Right Honourable David Cameron MP 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA Saturday 4 June 2016 Dear Prime Minister, 5th YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF CONFLICT IN SOUTH KORDOFAN AND BLUE NILE, SUDAN We, as representatives of the population in the Nuba Mountains and wider international and African civil society organisations, as shown in the logos above…
The African Union and UN appear to have found a new sense of urgency, but Burundi’s current crisis will only be resolved if it is seen as part of a longer legacy. Olivier* was studying at the University of Burundi in April 2015 when unrest began to escalate in the country following President Pierre Nkurunziza’s…
On 17 October 2015, Alpha Condé, the incumbent president of the Republic of Guinea was declared the winner of Guinea’s presidential elections. With 58% of the vote, Condé was able to avoid a second round. The opposition, led by Cellou Dalein Diallo however, described the election as a “masquerade” and refused to recognise the results….
Published in the EACSOF Newsletter The Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC), Dr. Richard Sezibera, is reported to have said recently that the issuance of East African passports will kick off in November 2015. This is aimed at facilitating trade and movement of persons in the region. “Physical borders are being removed for…
Members of the AU Peace and Security Council African Union Headquarters P.O. Box 3243 Roosevelt Street Old Airport Area W21K19 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Cc: Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson, AU Commission Ambassador Smaïl Chergui, Commissioner, Peace and Security H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairperson, AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan Your Excellencies, RE: PUBLICATION OF THE…
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Excellencies, Representatives of the AU Peace and Security Council Member States, H.E. Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, African Union Commission, H.E. President Thabo Mbeki, Chair of the AU High-Level Implementation Panel, Your Excellencies, We, the undersigned Sudanese and African civil society organizations, write with deep concern about the decision of the African…
All Members of the African Union Peace and Security Council Addis Ababa 10 June 2014 Re: Call to end targeting of civilians in Sudan’s conflict areas Your Excellencies, As a coalition of civil society groups from Africa and the Middle East providing assistance to civilians in South Kordofan and Blue Nile or supporting peace in…
(This blog first appeared in Politico.It has been republished with permission from the author.) The debate around the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Africa is one that has polarised the continent, with equal-opportunity-mud being slung at African countries and the African Union (AU), as well as the ICC and the international community. Among the myriad…
