The Horn of Africa has suffered through decades of destruction and extraordinary human suffering due to long and interrelated wars.

Post-war societies are fragile, and in each case they are in danger of regressing to open armed conflict.

The continuing threats to human security, sustainable development and political stability include:

• small arms and light weapons;
• scarce resources;
• economic disparity;
• political corruption;
• HIV/AIDS; and
• ongoing armed conflict.

To tackle these problems, a broader security building process needs to take shape and gain momentum in the region.

From 2007 to 2009, Project Ploughshares and Africa Peace Forum undertook a research and public dialogue project, with support from the International Development Research Centre, to gradually elaborate credible analyses and policy options for co-operative security arrangements in the Horn of Africa.

This effort resulted in a book entitled, Human Security: Setting the Agenda for the Horn of Africa (ed. Makumi Mwagiru, published by Africa Peace Forum, Nairobi, ISBN 9966-7349-0-2) that gathered the research papers produced in the course of the project.

Recent Publications

South Sudan's Unsteady Start October 2011

South Sudan's New Battle: Building a State amid Internal Violence April 2011

Brinksmanship, Delay and Broken Agreements: The Southern Sudan Independence Referendum December 2010

photo: Les Neuhaus/IRIN