Pan-African Research Articles

A Review of South Africa’s Terms in the United Nations Security Council

ABSTRACT South Africa has served as an elected African member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) three times: in 2007–2008; 2011–2012; and 2019–2020. This article grapples with South Africa’s role as an active, voting participant on the UNSC during its third term, with reference to its previous UNSC tenures. Using a three-step model of voting behaviour analysis, the article highlights aspects of South Africa’s international peacekeeping obligations that interested observers have placed considerable value on, to determine its consistency in acting upon its declared foreign policy. This includes the Republic’s role in bringing the UN and African Union (AU) peace and security structures closer together and its efforts in strengthening the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda. The study finds that the Republic has consistently built on its memory from its previous two terms, and its failures and successes, enabling it to utilize its third term in the most optimal way possible to meet its multilateral foreign policy goals.

European Green Transition Implications on Africa’s Livestock Sector Development and Resilience to Climate Change

Green growth and the transition towards green growth are gaining scientific and public interest across Africa at an unprecedented rate. The Paris Agreement ratification by all 54 member states and the African Union (AU) goals in its Agenda 2063 on green economies are sufficient evidence of this. This is in line with the European Green Deal (EGD) aspirations, which envisages making Europe a carbon neutral economy by 2050. One of the EGD’s four main pillars is sustainable food systems. The success of EGD is premised on its ability to inspire and support green transition and effective climate action globally. The borderless nature of climate change necessitates a holistic approach to ensure the EU’s green transition does not come at the cost of development elsewhere. The main challenge is finding Africa’s space and position within the desired holistic approach, as Africa’s economy is agriculturally driven. One key African agricultural sub-sector significantly impacting livelihoods is livestock, which supports up to 80% of the rural livelihoods and which grapples with challenges in satisfying the needs of a fast-growing population. What could the EU green transition mean to this sector? We established that between 2010–2019, the African livestock population grew exponentially, and feed production followed the same path, with the share of land under forests, grasslands and meadows declining drastically. Over the same period, the percentage of land under arable farming increased while the animal-based protein and meat imports curve grew exponentially. This situation puts the continent in a dilemma about finding a sustainable solution for the food–feed and environmental nexus. Against this backdrop, a myriad of questions arises on how the green transition can be established to promote mitigating any loss that might occur in the process. We conducted a detailed sectoral trend analysis based on Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) statistics to find plausible solutions and pathways to achieve a greener transition. We coupled it with intensive policy mapping to develop science-policy-driven solutions that could promote the green transition sustainably. To sustainably accelerate the sectoral growth trajectory while addressing climate change, we recommend adopting and implementing raft measures geared towards increased sectoral efficiency, effectiveness, innovativeness and a holistic approach to the problem. Adopting transformative policies can promote the sector’s competitiveness through incentivisation, technological adoption, financial support, market support and increased awareness of its importance in sustainable development. However, exercising caution in implementing these practices is crucial to ensure there is no leakage effect in implementing the EGD across Africa and beyond.

The CONCP in Southern Africa and the OAU’s Liberation Committee: Settling Internal Disputes for the Independence of Angola and Mozambique

An important but surprisingly neglected player in the history of the struggle for independence in the African Portuguese colonies is the Conferência das Organizações Nacionalistas das Colónias Portuguesas (CONCP), an umbrella organisation uniting the Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC), for Guinea Bissau, the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA), for Angola, the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo), for Mozambique and the Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe (MLSTP), for São Tomé e Príncipe. Founded in Casablanca in 1961, the CONCP was not a participant in military action, but it strengthened the movements’ ideological cohesion and international diplomacy. Its most controversial goals were perhaps the settlement of internal divisions among the nationalists of Angola and Mozambique and the endorsement of the MPLA and Frelimo as the sole legitimate liberation movements in their countries. To this end, it also established a strategic relationship with specific nationalist movements in southern Africa opposing the white minority regimes and with the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Liberation Committee. After its second conference, held in Dar es Salaam in 1965, the CONCP intensified its pressures to secure the MPLA and Frelimo exclusive recognition and support by the OAU, but it was successful only in the second case.

African Union defense demand and spatial spillovers

The study of the determinants of African defense demand is of enhanced importance because of unique security challenges, growing defense spending, and changing African Union (AU) integration. From a political geographical vantage, this study presents the first analysis of AU members' demand for defense spending, which accounts not only for members' relative locations, but also for political considerations (e.g., state failure, coups, and armed conflicts). Our analysis marries the economics of alliances with spatial considerations that include members' contiguity, between-member distance, and contiguous threats. Given two-way causal concerns, we employ an appropriate defense demand estimator (i.e., two-step generalized method of moments) correcting for the endogeneity between a member's defense spending and that of the other allies. Evidence of defense free riding or relying on the defense spending of other AU members characterizes contiguous and nearby AU countries during 2002–2019. Defense spending is an income normal good, which generally increases with armed conflict. UN and non-UN peacekeeping troop contributions provide some free-riding opportunities within the AU. Given regional differences in armed conflicts and coups, the determinants of African defense demand are influenced by regional divisions.

Comparative Analysis of the Risk of Nature Management in Countries of European and African Unions

The partnership between the EU and the AU in the fi eld of protection against natural disasters leads to the rapprochement of Africa and Europe, strengthening economic cooperation, sustainable development, when both continents coexist in peace, security, democracy, prosperity, solidarity and human dignity. A comparative analysis of the risk of nature management in the EU and AU countries has shown that countries with a high level of economic development do not have a clear advantage. Moreover, the AU countries oft en look more favorable. The overall picture for the EU and the AU, both in terms of absolute indicators and in terms of the percentage ratio of natural hazards, protection from natural disasters and risk of nature management, is also not in favor of the European Union. The leadership of the EU, the European Commission and its specialized disaster management units often overestimate their economic capabilities. Dangerous natural processes catch the highly developed states of Europe unawares and cause significant damage also because of the very high level of development of the EU territory. In the AU, firstly, a significant part of the territory is pristine natural landscapes, oft en completely unpopulated, secondly, in many countries the adaptation mechanisms of the local population to natural disasters are widely developed, and thirdly, the AU countries practically do not spend their own resources to combat natural disasters, and provide this process at the expense of external fi nancial and humanitarian aid from donors — the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, various public organizations and, actually, from the EU. Nevertheless, the eff ective functioning of the entire disaster management system requires a strong economy in the EU and the AU as a whole, as well as in individual countries. Its basic subsystems should be: 1) market management — leadership at the level of company management, mentoring, creation of institutional conditions for development of innovative entrepreneurship, consulting and teaching entrepreneurs new methods of managing and running business; 2) financing — private investments, business projects, access to credit; 3) national-cultural and cross-cultural processes — entrepreneurial culture, formation of new progressive ideas on the principles of sustainable development, tolerance of entrepreneurial risk, self-employment, encouragement of success in innovation, establishment of business innovation summits; 4) regulation and promotion — regulatory framework, ease of starting and doing business, access to information and consulting infrastructure, new information and communication technologies, transport accessibility; 5) development and growth of human capital — universities and research centers as catalysts of innovation, promotion of employment and interaction with employers for employment of university graduates in innovative companies, talent management, availability of outsourcing; 6) new areas of activity — domestic market, large, medium, small companies as customers, including the state (state order, state procurement), logistics.

Waging Peace, towards an Africa Union Stabilisation Strategy for Somalia

Abstract Over the last few years, successful military operations across Somalia have helped to unshackle towns south of Mogadishu from al Shabaab, demonstrating the capacity of the African Union Mission to Somalia (amisom) to achieve parts of its mandate. However, friction between the Federal Government of Somalia and the Federal Member States have heightened tensions and rifts over elections, state management and overall security, despite significant international support. Despite amisom s efforts, the legacies of the 1990s civil war have remained unresolved, and state restoration has been disrupted by political, clannish, environmental and structural challenges. In contrast, al Shabaab remains adaptable, resilient and exploits grievances, local dynamics, and competition over resources. This paper argues, the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council needs to re-mandate and reinforce amisom in conjunction with an AU stabilisation strategy for Somalia which exploits experiences from the AU’s Regional Stabilisation Strategy for the Lake Chad Basin.

Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance

In 2001, the South African government adopted an imbizo (plural: izimbizo) as a model ofcommunication. Imbizo is a Zulu word for a traditional community gathering called by the chief tosolve pertinent community issues. The word imbizo has its variants in many African languagesin South Africa, e.g. pit o in Sepedi, kgotla in Setswana and Sesotho. In African indigenouscommunities, imbizo is used as a platform to resolve pertinent community challenges throughhonest engagement between the subjects and leadership. In this article, the ideological nuancesof the government’s decision in 2001 to appropriate imbizo as a model of communication andgovernance are explored. It is argued that, at face value, imbizo is presented by government asa communication and governance model to deepen participatory democracy and public participationespecially for the poor. It is argued in this article that the government’s appropriated imbizo appearsto be used to deepen the ideological positions of the government and ruling party, the AfricanNational Congress (ANC) amongst the masses. It is further argued in this article that an imbizois used by government of South Africa for the attainment of four interrelated ideological objectives.• It is a vehicle to advance the political strategy of the ANC.• It is used as an expression of the African Renaissance paradigm.• Imbizo expresses the ideology of African unity.• It is used as a manifestation of participatory democracy

A Community within a Community: Collectivism, Social Cohesion and Building a Healthy Black Childhood

This article features in‐depth interviews and ethnographic vignettes that explore collectivism, social cohesion, and Black educational leadership as a strategy to infuse liberatory practices in the educational process. The article examines how the social foundation of African‐centered ethos of collectivism can shift how marginalized students approach and experience learning and socialization inside mainstream K‐12 educational systems. Additionally, this article introduces a new theoretical concept entitled Ethno‐Cultural Responsiveness. This theory explains how sub‐culture groups socialize new members into their particular ideological and sub‐cultural communities. This research demonstrates how African‐centered leaders shape their schools through an ideological inquiry designed to challenge what they perceive as the cultural negation of African histories and understandings. Moreover, the leaders featured in this article use their public‐facing political project (an African‐centered institution) grounded in the politics of Black Nationalism and Pan Africanism to design and shape their institutional cultures to be responsive to people racialized in western counties as Black.

Training Farmers in How to Apply Pesticides and Other Topical Subjects

When the use of chemical pesticides began to increase, there were several commercially available insecticides that were considered to be highly hazardous pesticides (HHP) to use. Methyl parathion was one of these insecticides. In Zimbabwe, it was decided that the containers of insecticide should have a colour to indicate its toxicity level as defined by the World Health Organisation. Thus, the colour purple indicated an extremely hazardous pesticide (Class I), while the colours red, orange and green indicated Classes II, III and unclassified pesticide. Pesticides with a purple or red label were not displayed and those who wished to purchase these products had to know about their higher toxicity and precautions to be taken when used. Despite this system of simple colour codes, many smallholder farmers in cotton growing areas did not know the significance of this code. In Zimbabwe, pesticides are now sold over the counter regardless of the toxicological and ecotoxicological impacts. However, this government policy was intended to stimulate and grow the agricultural sector, but small-scale farming is prevalent and dominated by vulnerable populations. Due to these factors, beneficiaries of subsidised pesticides engage in uncontrolled vending of pesticides. Companies have not adopted this and unfortunately, responsible registration in many countries has not limited the sale of HHP products. Without proper training workers have died or suffered illness following use of these pesticides. According to Rother label information is a poor communication vehicle regarding risks, so it is argued that the use of the term "misuse" of pesticides in the literature, and by regulators and industry inappropriately allocates blame of poisonings and environmental contamination to end-users. In the UK, the Crop Protection Association introduced a Voluntary Initiative aimed at improving the standards of pesticide use. This resulted in setting up the National Register of Sprayer Operators (NRoSo), which is open to anybody who holds an appropriate certificate of competence qualification approved by the Chemical Regulations Directorate (CRD) for the safe application of pesticides. In some countries, the government has supported Extension Services, usually linked to a University. These provide training for farmers, but in many parts of the world there has been relatively little attention to providing farmers adequate training on the correct and safe way to apply pesticides. The Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (IAPSC), which is a part of the African Union (AU), was increasingly concerned about the safety and efficiency of pesticides used in Africa. In all member states, there were cases of pesticide abuse at the field level and lack of adequate control over the way pesticides were being used. In particular, small-scale farmers using knapsack sprayers and other portable application equipment were inadequately trained. Similarly, this was also a problem amongst plantation workers. An example of the problems in Nigeria is expressed by Asogwa et al and Onuegbu & Harbor. The lack of training was also reported from Pakistan, where the majority of the farmers (88%) in the study had never received any formal training on the use of pesticides and knapsack sprayers. Instead farmers learnt methods of spraying pesticide, handling and tank filling by imitating their relatives or neighbours. Another contributing factor in acute pesticide poisoning of farmers was due to knapsack sprayers being poorly maintained. When spraying, most farmers had wet clothes owing to leakage from ill-fitting nozzles and poorly kept equipment. It was observed that most of the equipment that was in use, was locally made and was of poor quality. Many of the knapsack sprayers had been there for years without any maintenance, repair or replacement by new equipment. The lack of training and unavailability of safetyequipment is consistent with other studies. In 2000, FAO organised a Training programme for agricultural staff in tropical countries, who were expected to utilise their training to organise training sessions in their own country. The initial course was aimed at farms in Cameroon, but for a second course, participants were invited from other African countries. One result of these training sessions was a 273 page booklet produced by FAO.

The Poverty and Its Implications among the South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda

Uganda is one of the countries out of 54 countries in the African Union (AU). It borders Rwanda in the Southwest, Tanzania in the South, Kenya in the east, South Sudan in the north, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the west. Uganda is still suffering from poverty despite many struggles to fight it. Uganda is hosting South Sudan refugees of about 1.5 million people who fled the country due to 2013 and 2016 political wrangling over the leadership among South Sudanese leaders. Most of the displaced people fled and crossed to Uganda, seeking protection as a refugee in northern Uganda. The majority of the refugees were women and children. The districts occupied are Adjumani, Moyo, and Arua in northern Uganda, respectively. Being homeless they had to rely on a ratio that was insufficient to cater to the family.It is not that straightforward to measure the level or degree of poverty. According to Anna Miller (2013), measuring poverty among refugees requires long periods. If we were to count all people below a certain poverty line at a particular time, we would know only half of the story behind those poor. Someone can fall below the poverty line in one period but climb above it in the next. On the other hand, someone can be persistently below the poverty line. Therefore, it is not enough to take only one snapshot of the scenario. One has to take into account that people can be either chronically or transiently poor and that there are a lot of movements in and out of poverty.According to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources, Uganda - Poverty gap at $1.25 a day (PPP) - actual values, historical data, forecasts, and projections were sourced from the World Bank in July 2022.

PROTEST ACTION WITHIN THE AMBIT OF THE LABOUR RELATIONS ACT 66 OF 1995 COSATU v Business Unity of South Africa (2021) 42 ILJ 490 (LAC)

Protest action is not a new phenomenon in democratic South Africa. In the 1980s and 1990s, many stay-aways were used by workers to demonstrate opposition to government policy. However, the Industrial Court was disinclined to grant such actions protection and, as a result, they were deemed unlawful under the Labour Relations Act 28 of 1956 (1956 LRA). Unlike protest action, strike action was regulated and defined under the 1956 LRA. Nonetheless, the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission on Freedom of Association criticised the narrow definition of “strike” in the 1956 LRA, stating that employees should be permitted to strike in protest against the government’s economic and social policies.Under the democratic dispensation, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution) clearly provides that everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions (s 17) and that employees have the right to strike (s 23(2)(c)). The term “assemble” in section 17 of the Constitution has been interpreted to cover meetings, pickets, protest marches and demonstrations that are aimed at expressing a common opinion. Based on these constitutional provisions, employees can therefore use economic power to support their various demands. In terms of section 1 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA), one of the aims of this Act is “to advance economic development, social justice, labour peace and the democratization of the workplace”. Among other measures, this is done through allowing employees and their organisations the right to engage in protest action. While a strike is focused on “matters of mutual interest” between employees and their employer, protest action is focused on the “socio-economic interests” of employees (s 213 of the LRA). Strike action is the most common and better understood of the two actions, while protest action is often misconstrued. Protest action assists employees, their trade unions and federations to play an important wider role in society. Through protest action, employees can influence policy decisions in society. Section 77 of the LRA gives effect to and regulates the right to engage in protest action.South Africa has experienced many protests and as a result, the country has been referred to as “the protest capital of the world”. Federations of trade unions such as the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have over the years organised a number of protests, including those against labour broking and high tolls. Protests are used for various reasons, including those related to service delivery. However, the focus in this discussion is on protests regulated by the LRA. Given the number of protests that take place in South Africa, it is important that the concept of protest action, and the nature and scope of the right to engage in protest action as regulated by section 77 of the LRA, be properly understood. The discussion focuses on COSATU v Business Unity of South Africa ((2021) 42 ILJ 490 (LAC)), which deals with the interpretation of section 77 of the LRA.

11. African Union

The African Union’s activity on environment, energy, and natural resources was not as abundant as in previous years. This slowdown is inevitably due to the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the main organs of the African Union (AU) held their regular annual sessions and decided on a number of matters. The AU Assembly had a range of business on its docket, including the launch of business for 2021 and its overall theme. The launching of this ordinary session had given the opportunity to the Assembly to deal with the problems related to the environment. For its part, the Executive Council, which met for two ordinary sessions, also had a rich order of business, which gave rise to a series of decisions. First, the Executive Council handed down a decision on the problem of desertification, drought, and famine, which is causing appalling humanitarian situations on the African continent. In line with this situation, it also took a decision on the AU Commission’s report on the humanitarian situation in Africa. Furthermore, another Executive Council decision underlined the growing problem of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa due to natural disasters and the effects of climate change. In this regard, it finally took a decision to encourage member states to build resilience in nutrition and food security in Africa and to maintain a convergence of actions related to the response to these various problems. As for the actions and decisions of the AU Commission, no significant activities on the environment, energy, or natural resources were reported this year. Our report will therefore focus on the activities of the Assembly and the Executive Council.

Nkrumah and Philosophy of African Unity

This article mainly focuses on African unity as understood by Nkrumah. African unity includes the struggle in various fields, political, social and economic. Nkrumah’s ideas about African unity were widely defined as a sustainable political strategy for the well-being of Africans across the continent. Such support fought against corruption and things that hold back the development of the continent. Such ideas also helped to develop African identity and social ideologies. The current leaders of independent African nations should learn from the founders of African nations due to their dreams that focused on the well-being all citizens. In the 21st century there is a need for greater cooperation between all countries within the African continent. What is the most important issue now is to promote African identity. This can be done in the implementation of development goals such as ending problems facing contemporary Africa like civil wars, poverty and individualism.

Neither Nationalist nor Communist, but Independent: The Origins and Consolidation of Mauritian Trade-Unionism, 1935–1950

The Republic of Mauritius is situated in the Indian Ocean. A former colony of both France and the UK, it is a member of the African Union and has a population of 1.37 million, with an exceptionally high degree of ethnic and linguistic diversity. Its treatment as an African country is customary although the majority of its population are Hindus of Indian origin. This article explores how Creoles (that is, Mauritians of African origin) led the movement that created the island’s trade unions in the 1930s. These unions, currently one of Africa’s more effective and influential union movements, were formed amid a widespread, if uneven, international upturn in organized labour’s fortunes from the late 1930s to the immediate post-war years. If their inception was, in global terms, unremarkable, then what emerged was distinctive in the African colonial context. Mauritian unions were class-based, social-democratic, combative, internationally well-linked and, crucially, relatively independent of both nationalists and communists who played an important role in many African union movements of the era.

에메 세자르(Aimé Césaire)의 A Season in the Congo에 나타난 콩고의 탈식민 실패의 원인에 관한 연구

Aimé Césaire’s A Season in the Congo dramatizes the causes of the failure of the Congolese Decolonization. The Democratic Republic of the Congo suddenly becomes independent in 1960 from Belgium, which it had been a colony of since 1884. Although completely unprepared at the moment of independence, Patrice Lumumba, the democratically elected Congolese prime minister, wants to pursue a complete breakage with Belgium rather than maintain the neocolonial tutelage established by Belgium. However, Lumumba miscalculates the domestic and international situations of the Congo in three ways. First, the Congolese people did not win their independence for themselves. Congo’s independence was given to them from the Belgians. Furthermore, Lumumba is not the revolutionary who led and won the independence. Given the situation, therefore, he is faced with the challenges not just from Belgium but from his own people. To maintain their influences on Congo, the Belgium government tries to reengage with Congo by sending their troops into Congolese territory. Inside of Congo, the military threatens to topple the government if the government does not proceed with the rapid Africanization. In addition, in the mineral-rich Katanga area, the secessionists declare the independence from the central government with the supports of Belgium and western multinational corporations.BR Second, Lumumba is very uninformed about the world’s politics. To break through the crisis, Lumumba not only asks the U.N. but also the U.S. to help Congo. However, the U.S., fearing that it may lose a NATO ally in Belgium, does not want to help the Congolese government. Likewise, the U.N., being a pro-western organization, mirrors the same stance on Congo. Especially, in the midst of the cold war, the U.S. is suspicious of Lumumba’s ideological orientation as a possible socialist, and thus the U.S. government wants to oust Lumumba from power. Third, Lumumba’s belief in Pan-Africanism does not save him or his country at all. Since it prioritizes politics over economic unity, Pan-Africanism remains as an ideal but unrealistic political rhetoric. However, by adhering to Pan-African principles including non-violence to the last moment of his life, Lumumba emerges as the symbol of African independence, freedom, unity, and democracy among the people around the world.

Legal and illegal ruck cleanouts in South African non-professional youth rugby

The ruck area is responsible for the second-highest number of rugby union injuries, therefore it is necessary to investigate and understand the ruck better for improved player safety. The study aimed to investigate and compare incidents of legal and illegal ruck cleanouts in non-professional youth rugby. Using Nacpsort Scout Plus software, 118 South African Rugby Union under 18 Youth Week tournament matches were coded between 2015 and 2019. In total, 35,545 ruck cleanouts were coded, of which 32,641 (91.8%) were legal and 2904 (8.2%) were illegal. Of the 2904 illegal cleanouts, 2676 (92.2%) were deemed ‘not dangerous’ and 228 (7.8%) were considered ‘dangerous’. The ‘dangerous’ ruck cleanouts represented 0.6% of the total ruck cleanouts. Of the most common illegal ruck cleanouts, ‘not supporting own body weight’ were mostly ‘not dangerous’ (2498; 99.4%, p = 0.01); and all ‘neck rolls’ were considered ‘dangerous’ (147; 100.0%, p = 0.02). The findings of the study suggest player behaviour can still be improved, with regular participation in regular safe and effective technique training drills. The risk of injury during the ruck can further be influenced positively by coaches, through regular coaching and training on safe and effective ruck techniques.

Professionalization of Educational Leadership for the Members of the Association of African Universities

This study sets out to theorize and conceptualize internal stakeholders’ provision of Educational Leadership for the Members of the Association of African Universities (AAU). It reviews research materials, policies and modalities in developing educational leadership, African Philosophies of Education (APE) and interviews of university academic staff and students in measuring the success of professionalization of educational leadership. The purposive sampling technique of data collection is used to ensure representativeness and qualitative methodology, including the use of document-based content analysis in order to generate valid, reliable and rich data based on interviews with academic staff, administrators and students. The findings of this study will contribute to the deeper understanding of internal stakeholders’ provision of a decolonized Educational Leadership Curriculum (DELC) objective at Postgraduate Diploma, Master’s and Doctorate programmes in Educational Leadership is therefore proposed for African universities. This will enable education leader, schools and School system leaders to play a critical role in having a clear vision, the ability to communicate the vision to team members, the ability to organize in an effective and efficient manner, inspiring subordinates towards the fulfillment of the organization’s goals, and balancing the conflict of interest of all subordinates and stakeholders. The proposed leadership learning programs focus on the actual improvement of schools and the educational systems to achieve equity, diversity, social inclusion, peace, economic growth and prosperity. These leadership programmes will address the challenges of developing human capital and well-being, promoting employment and economic integration, governance, strategic management and democracy in the different African union countries.

After All Is Said and Done: On Fluid Solidarity and Survival

After All Is Said and Done: On Fluid Solidarity and Survival

“Experiences of African student migrants in Moscow”: Understanding the uses of digital technologies for social services during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has attracted a plethora of research from medical-related disciplines other than sociological and migration disciplines . While a significant number of research papers have considered the impacts of the COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures on students, their observations are not directly applicable to the over 5.3 million international students across the globe. The purpose of this study is to understand how African Student Migrants (ASMs) used technologies for social services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Moscow. This study adopted a qualitative research approach to understand the use of digital technologies for social services among 40 ASMs sampled through purposive and snowballing techniques. The findings established that, the use of digital technologies by ASMs played an instrumental role in social services such as accommodation, learning and purchasing patterns rather than social communication, religious or cultural practices, psychological and physical health, and dieting during the COVID-19 pandemic. For policy-level recommendations, tech-savvy developers, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Educational Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the African Union (AU) should collaborate and create digital technologies that are suitable for social services; devise an information platform to capture basic information about ASMs that will enable them to streamline welfare stimulus packages essential to their survival in times of pandemics. This will also serve as a coping mechanism for society to prepare for new social emergencies and use digital technologies to calibrate international education and inform future policies on public health, school closures and mobility beyond borders.

Adoption, adaptation or chance? Inter-organisational diffusion of the protection of civilians norm from the UN to the African Union

Norms can be adopted without modifications or adapted to regional contexts for strategic or principled reasons. Norm adoption and adaptation can also happen by chance. When adoption takes place without consideration of the norm’s effectiveness or appropriateness, we speak about imitation. When adaptation takes place in such a manner, we lack conceptual tools to analyse it. We propose a novel concept of incidental adaptation – divergence between promoted and adopted norms due to fortuitous events. This completes the typology of scenarios leading to norm adoption and adaptation. We apply the typology to the transmission of the protection of civilians norm in peace operations from the United Nations (UN) to the African Union (AU). The AU adopted the UN’s approaches in pursuit of interoperability and resources, and out of recognition of the UN’s normative authority. It also happened incidentally when the AU temporarily followed the UN’s approaches. The AU engaged in adaptation to reflect the nature of its operations and normative orientations of AU member states. Incidental adaptation accounted for the presence of the rights-based tier in the AU’s protection of civilians concept. These findings nuance our understanding of norm diffusion, inter-organisational relations and the role of chance in international affairs.