According to the 2016 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), governance in Africa has overall slightly improved over the past decade but the security situation has clearly become worse: two out of three Africans live in a country where safety and the rule of law deteriorated over the past ten years. This is particularly the case in Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Chad. Overall, the ECOWAS area is the second best-performing African region, after southern Africa, having recorded the largest increase in its average score (52.4) for overall governance. Read on

The 29 September 2016 report of the UN Secretary General on the situation in Mali presents a bleak appraisal of the past three months. It barely masks the widespread frustration over the continued lack of concrete progress in the peace agreement’s implementation. Problems include: violations of the ceasefire in the Kidal region; inter-communal clashes in the Mopti region; attacks against United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), etc. Read on

On 11 July, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), delivered his first Security Council briefing on West Africa and the Sahel since the merging of the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA) and the Office of the Special Envoy for the Sahel (OSES), establishing UNOWAS. Read on

ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations have jointly appealed for a credible, inclusive and peaceful presidential election in The Gambia. The three organisations undertook a joint mission to consult with Gambian stakeholders ahead of the election scheduled for December 2016. Read on