Topic: African Union

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Somalia: A timeline of change in a troubled country

Here is a timeline of changes, intervention, and mediation in 5 bite-sized bits.
3 questions US forces must answer before declaring victory in Libya

Even as fighting in Libya continues, Pentagon officials and US commanders overseeing operations on the ground are wrestling with tough questions about the future of the campaign – and what military forces still need to do before they can consider it a victory.
Four reasons help is slow to reach Somalia’s famine victims

As more information about East Africa’s famine reaches Western audiences, the situation looks increasingly grim – but aid doesn’t seem to be keeping pace with the publicity. What challenges do humanitarian organizations face?
Uganda election: Four reasons donor nations won't turn their backs on President Museveni

As recent events in Egypt have shown, international support for aging despots can wane quickly once crowds hit the street and violence kicks off. Here are some reasons why the international community might not want to push Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni too hard.
Why Tunisia's winds of change aren't blowing south to sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa has remained quiet even as protests spread across North Africa from Tunisia to Egypt and onward to Yemen and Jordan.

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Africa Monitor
What will make the Libyan rebels' government-building attempts successful?

Guest blogger Laura Seay interviews the author of a book on governance by rebel groups about what Libya's National Transitional Council will need to do to build a stable government.
How NATO could find itself protecting Qaddafi loyalists in Libya

NATO's mandate in Libya is to protect civilians, and with rebels now promising to attack cities loyal to Qaddafi, the alliance could be called on to protect civilians there. It is one complication that has NATO pressing for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Global News Blog
Good Reads: Al Qaeda's No. 2, Africa hearts Qaddafi, and an American (jailed) in Pakistan

Today's top stories feature deeper looks at Al Qaeda's No. 2 man, why Africa still loves Qaddafi, and what Alabama has to do with Pakistan.
Africa Monitor
Why aren't African leaders giving more for famine relief?

African leaders talk often of 'African solutions for African problems,' but the paltry $70 million pledged at an AU famine-relief conference raises questions whether this mantra is just rhetoric.
Backchannels
Lessons from Iraq for Libya? Don't do what the US did.

And remember that it is a very different place.
Africa Monitor
Global Stories to Watch Today: Libya's rebels and the search for Qaddafi

It's so not all about Muammar Qaddafi, except it mostly is.
Africa Monitor
Nigeria clout to rise in post-Qaddafi Africa

Nigeria recognized Libya's rebels yesterday, a move criticized by South Africa as 'jumping the gun' ahead of the African Union's official decision on whether to recognize the fall of key AU donor, Muammar Qaddafi.
Africa Monitor
How the US-Ugandan strategy of chasing the LRA backfires

While the Ugandan and US strategy of chasing the brutal Lord's Resistance Army leader, Joseph Kony, has produced some attrition, it has also generated a massive recruitment campaign by the LRA.
Will Africa miss Qaddafi?

Even with Muammar Qaddafi's deep financial ties across Africa, many of the continent's leaders are ambivalent about his departure.
African musicians look to launch new 'Band Aid' to fight East Africa famine

Sara Mitaru, a Kenyan singer-songwriter, is rallying artists across the continent to raise money for the East Africa famine – and to put pressure on African governments to chip in as well.
Africa Monitor
Al Shabab not the only guilty party in Somalia's famine, violence

A Human Rights Watch report documents abuses by the Somali government and African Union peacekeeping forces, as well as Al Shabab.
Change Agent
Ghana schoolboy launches his own Somalia famine fundraiser

An 11-year-old boy in Ghana, Andrew Adansi-Bonnah, has started his own effort to raise millions of dollars to help hungry refugees in Somalia.
Africa Monitor
Somalia famine: Lessons we can take away

Somalia expert Ken Menkhaus spoke with a guest blogger from the Enough Project about what policies need to change for a durable solution to the famine.
Somalia famine could cause militant Al Shabab group to splinter

The Somalia famine has exacerbated divisions within the Islamist militant group Al Shabab, whose more pragmatic leaders want to allow Western food aid into the areas they control.
Africa Monitor
What does Al Shabab's withdrawal from Somalia's capital mean?

The Islamist group Al Shabab withdrew from Somalia's capital city, Mogadishu, this weekend, but whether that is a sign of success for the African Union mission and Somalian government is unclear.
Would Al Shabab agree to humanitarian corridors in Somalia?

Rep. Christopher Smith wants the US to press for 'corridors of tranquility' to get aid to famine-stricken south Somalia. But that would mean negotiating with Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab.
Darfur ... and now more genocide in Sudan?

Evidence is piling up that genocide is taking place in the southern border region of Sudan, affecting tens of thousands of Nuba people. But the world is dillydallying, just as it did with Darfur, Rwanda, and Srebrenica.
Four reasons help is slow to reach Somalia’s famine victims

As more information about East Africa’s famine reaches Western audiences, the situation looks increasingly grim – but aid doesn’t seem to be keeping pace with the publicity. What challenges do humanitarian organizations face?
Africa Monitor
US is right to give aid to Somalia, despite risk of helping Al Shabab

Guest blogger Alex Thurston writes that the US made the right call by giving aid to Somalia because it is the moral thing to do and because it could have unexpectedly positive political results.
What North and South Sudan need now: more women at the negotiating table

Sudan may have split into two new countries, but the violent disagreements continue. New talks must include more women. Their exclusion from these negotiations is a cause of instability, not its cure.
Africa Monitor
US drone strikes in Somalia likely to rally local support for militants

Even Somalis who are not members of the local militant group Al Shabab may see US drone strikes on the group as an unwelcome foreign intervention.
World's newest country: South Sudan's oil remains a sticking point

As its independence draws near, South Sudan has yet to agree how to divide oil revenues with its northern neighbor, which has the infrastructure to export the oil the south needs to sell to survive.
Why Ghana doesn't love Obama anymore

Obama told Ghanaians in 2009: “Africa’s future is up to Africans.” So why is the US bombing Libya, they rightly ask. No lasting peace will take root in Libya without strong African support. Ditto for America’s ongoing struggle against terrorists there.
Terrorism & Security
Libya rebels prepare for push on Tripoli: reports

Libya rebel leaders said this weekend that will try to recapture territory on the road to Tripoli, which could put them within striking distance of the capital.
Terrorism & Security
France admits it armed Libyan rebels

France's admission Wednesday that it provided weapons to Libyan rebels renews debate on the legality and wisdom of arming rebels in conflicts whose outcome is unpredictable.