Day: February 7, 2023

A new report by the U.N. Development Program, UNDP, warns violent extremism is growing in sub-Saharan Africa and threatening to reverse hard-won development gains for generations to come.

Sub-Saharan Africa has emerged as the new global epicenter of violent extremism, with nearly half of global terrorism-related deaths in 2021. More than one-third of these deaths have occurred in just four African countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Somalia.

Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, said his agency’s report sheds new light on what drives people to join fast-growing extremist groups. He stresses the importance of understanding why “violent extremist groups are able to both succeed in penetrating nation states, communities, and essentially spread their networks of influence.”

Nearly 2,200 men and women in eight countries — Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan — were interviewed for the study. More than 1,000 are former members of these groups, both voluntary and forced recruits.

At the core of this report, said Steiner, is the effort to identify what factors are most influential in persuading people to join extremist groups.

“Is it religion that is attracting people and radicalizing them or is it a push factor that has a great deal to do with the economic reality.”

The lead author of the report and regional peacebuilding adviser, Nirina Kiplagat, cites work, not religion, as the main driving force. She said one-quarter of voluntary recruits cited job opportunities and the urgent need of livelihoods as their primary reason for joining extremist groups.

“It is only 17% that cited religious ideologies for the primary reason motivating them to join and this is compared to 40% in 2017,” she said.

This is a reference to UNDP’s 2017 groundbreaking study, the first that attempted to understand the journeys to violent extremism.

Kiplagat adds women’s reasons for joining extremist groups differ from those of men.

“Women were less likely to join for ideological reasons and tended to join with family and in particular their spouses, their husbands.

“And what we find in contrast, is that male recruits tend to join with friends,” she said.

In another interesting finding, the report notes that an extra year in school decreases the odds of voluntary recruitment by 30%.

Between 2017 and 2021, UNDP reports extremist groups were responsible for 4,155 attacks in Africa and 18,417 fatalities.

Achim Steiner said he agrees the numbers are alarming, but that he believes too much emphasis is being placed on security-driven militarized responses to counter violent extremism.

He said militarized approaches often exacerbate the problem, yet they continue to predominate in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Nearly half of the respondents cited a specific trigger event that pushed them to join violent extremist groups,” he said. “And a striking 71% of those quoted human rights abuse often conducted by the state security forces as a tipping point.”

Steiner said violent extremism is not just a localized phenomenon. He said it also has a geopolitical dimension.

“Whether it is the Wagner group, whether it is the spread of Boko Haram or ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] or al-Qaida, we have seen that…once these groups gain a foothold,” this inevitably sometimes becomes part of a geopolitical drama or competition.

This, he said “is very much the tragedy for many African countries because they become part of a larger battleground.”

Wagner is a Kremlin-linked mercenary military group. Nigeria-based Boko Haram is a militant terrorist group that has killed thousands of people in its bid to force the government to adopt strict Islamic law.

The report explores pathways out of violent extremism. Most interviewed said they left the groups they had joined because their financial expectations were unmet, and they no longer agreed with the actions or ideology of the group’s leadership.

The report recommends greater investment in basic services including child welfare education, quality livelihoods, and investing in young men and women to counter and prevent violent extremism.

Lead author Kiplagat said, “Research shows those who decide to disengage from violent extremism are less likely to re-join and recruit others.

“This is why it is so important to invest in incentives that enable disengagement,” she said.

Source: Voice of America

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemetti) Deputy Head of the Sovereign Council on Tuesday reiterated his commitment to the framework agreement and said that he would not back down from its implementation.

Hemetti’s remarks were obviously a response to criticisms addressed to the agreement by the head of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and another member of the military-led council Shems al-Din Kabbashi.

Speaking to dignitaries and local leaders of the Northern Bahri area in Khartoum state on Tuesday, he stressed that the framework agreement is a guarantor of the country’s unity, and the key to solving the economic crisis, pointing to the government’s incapacity to pay salaries to the civil servants.

The commander of the Rapid Support Forces further underscored the regional and international support for the framework agreement.

“This agreement will bring dollars, as they said,” he added referring to the signatories.

He further asserted not to move back from the framework agreement saying: “By God, we will not go back.”

“I and my friend will be outside the equation of power”, he added, hinting at the head of the Sovereign Council.

It was not clear why al-Burhan and the army generals have opted for this new position. However, the statement of the RSF commander confirms a clear disagreement within the military component.

To explain his difference with the army leaders, the RSF leader underscored that the framework agreement was forged and its parties were determined by those who censure it today.

He said he had called to open the agreement for more people but his request was disregarded.

The first meetings to end the political crisis were initiated by the QUAD diplomats in Khartoum. Then the FFC and the army leaders held indirect discussions followed by meetings that took place at the command of the army in Khartoum.

“Do not let them deceive you, there is a document that we agreed upon and we signed it,” he said.

He further called to fulfil the political agreement adding “we have lost our credibility after the change,” he said referring to the coup.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) has condemned last week’s killing of over 20 people in Kajo Keji of South Sudan’s Central Equatoria State.

The condemnation is contained in a statement it issued on January 7.

“The violence and displacement of civilians is unacceptable, particularly when the strong hope of the people of South Sudan is that the messages of peace delivered by the Ecumenical Peace Pilgrimage will inspire implementation of the Revitalised Peace Agreement at greater pace and scale,” partly reads the statement.

The peace monitors urges the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) to investigate and to hold perpetrators accountable.

According to RJMEC, the events in Kajo Keji fit into a larger and very concerning picture of violence at the subnational level across South Sudan, reiterating the position it recently gave at its monthly plenary.

“There is a very serious picture of escalating violence, negatively impacting the environment in which the R-ARCSS is being implemented. RJMEC therefore appeals to the parties involved and the RTGoNU to address the root causes of these armed conflicts and find lasting solutions to resolve them and ensure accountability for crimes committed,” further stressed the statement.

The embassies of Norway, United Kingdom and United States also expressed concerns over the killings, urging authorities to hold perpetrators accountable.

At least 2,000 people, mainly women and children, have become internally displaced, including 30 unaccompanied children, the United Nations said on Monday.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Both West and North Darfur witnessed several robberies and other violent incidents in the past days that resulted in at least one death and multiple injuries and sparked complaints about the deteriorating security situation in both regions.

A man was killed and three others were injured in an armed robbery on a road near El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, yesterday morning.

Dawelbeit El Degeir, member of the Sirba Youth Association, told Radio Dabanga that a group of passengers on their way from El Geneina to Kulbus in a commercial Land Cruiser were subjected to an armed robbery and gunfire in Bourta area.

Another person was injured when armed robbers intercepted a passenger vehicle in Tendelti yesterday.

Those passengers were on their way to El Geneina when they were shot and robbed of all their belongings, El Degeir explained.

He said that the security situation in West Darfur is rapidly deteriorating. “Almost every day we hear reports about armed robberies.”

‘Almost every day we hear reports about armed robberies’

He said that the government of West Darfur announced the deployment of a security force of about 30 vehicles in the area to maintain security. The government will also send a force to the border between Sudan and Chad.

“We heard that there are forces that will be deployed, but we do not know where they are because armed robberies and other crimes are still continuing.”

North Darfur robberies

In Saraf Omra in North Darfur, a second-hand telephone dealer sustained a bullet wound when he was attacked on the road by two gunmen on a motorcycle yesterday.

“Hashem Osman was returning from his workplace at the Mawaseer Market, when they shot him in the back from behind, took his bag and fled,” a listener told Radio Dabanga. “This happened in the centre of the town.”

He told Radio Dabanga that security breaches are constantly repeated, due to the spread of weapons and gunmen on camels or motorcycles wreaking havoc in the area.

The source also told Radio Dabanga about another violent incident. The house of Hasan Adam Ishag was heavily shot at on Wednesday evening and his horse was killed.

He said that they found a note left by the attackers outside the house warning him not to interfere in the matter of a dispute between native administration leaders between members of the Beni Hussein clan, an Arab nomadic herding tribe, especially since he does not belong to the clan.

Last Sunday, three vehicles were subjected to armed robbery while they were returning from the weekly El Sereif market to Saraf Omra. One person was injured.

‘There is a noticeable security deterioration these days’

“There is a noticeable security deterioration these days, and the reasons are due to the proliferation of heavy weapons and other arms in the hands of criminals,” the source noted.

Source: Radio Dabanga