Public Symposium Held on "Preventing Violent Conflicts in Africa"

JICA-RI held a public symposium to present the final results of the research project “Preventing Violent Conflicts in Africa,” at International House of Japan, in Tokyo on July 26.

During the 1990s, violent conflicts in Africa broke out in several countries. Even in the 2000s, conflict occurs sporadically and the peace remains precarious. There are still concerns that conflict may recur in some countries in the near future.

Dr. Langer, another research member, discussed the historical causes of conflicts around the world, and emphasized that with the evidences from years of research, the major causes of conflict cannot be explained only by cultural or economic factors. Multidimensional Horizontal Inequalities (HIs), which Prof. Stewart advocates, can be the main factor of many conflicts.”

Next, Research Fellow Mikami presented a result of statistical analysis of the perception surveys. The surveys included questions about perceptions on inequalities, identities, and hostilities toward other groups. It selected 3,745 residents living in urban areas of seven African countries. Mikami showed the findings from the analysis of five countries (Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda). He concluded, “The horizontal inequalities among ethnic groups exist and are deeply rooted in the structure. The perceptions of political HIs affect the perceptions of socio-economic HIs.”

In the second session, presentations were made by the advisors; “Preventing Violent Conflicts: Policy Implications for Aid Donors,” by Prof. Fukuda-Parr, “Preventing Violent Conflicts in Africa and Economic Development,” by Prof. Mkandawire, and “Policies toward Horizontal Inequalities,” by Prof. Stewart.

In the concluding panel discussions, Visiting Fellow Takeuchi presented the results from his research focused on two countries—Rwanda and Burundi. He pointed out that these two countries have been called “twin countries,” because they have many in common including ethnic compositions (majority Hutu and minority Tutsi). A major difference in their political systems, however, existed since before colonization. They ended civil wars in different ways: In contrast to military victory of Tutsi-led forces in Rwanda, an international community intervened in Burundi, which adopted a power-sharing system. Takeuchi emphasized, “The role of international community is indispensable to realize power sharing arrangements, but an institution cannot be imposed from outside. Although institutional arrangements can contribute to conflict prevention, they always have a limit.”

Special Senior Advisor Kato concluded the symposium, stating, “In order to make effective use of such outcomes, research institutes including JICA-RI should send out the findings to development aid agencies, researchers, policy makers and the international community.”