ACCOMPLISHING PEACE AND SECURITY IN AFRICA: THE HUMAN SECURITY IMPERATIVE

Abstract

Peace and security are priorities in the African Peace and Security Agenda. They are very clearly represented by phrases such as “end all wars in Africa” and “silencing the Guns in Africa.” While those phrases are manifest expressions of the desire to achieve peace and security, exponential increases in the number of Internally Displaced Persons, Refugee crisis, as well as perilous migration are indicative of the fact that not much has been achieved in that regard. The resultant human security crisis is the covert underlying enabler of the abysmal state of peace and security in Africa. This work postulates that accomplishing the desired peace and security in Africa would require a commitment, beyond grandstanding, to prioritizing the human security (freedom from fear and freedom from want) of citizens as such would engender peaceful coexistence that would make conflict unattractive as well as guarantee sustainable peace, security and development in Africa.