Lana H. Haroun / X
In an influential image of African protests for peace and democracy, captured by Lana H. Haroun, 22-year-old Sudanese architectural engineering student Alaa Salah (@oalaa_salah) chanted poetry from the top of a car.
Peace and stability are the essential foundation for every other human need - adequate food, health care, education, jobs, shelter. The devastating effects of climate change are intensified by conflict, and the competition for food and water amid droughts and floods breeds further instability. Although most African countries enjoy relative peace, conflicts are flaring across the continent, threatening lives and livelihoods - and in some regions, undermining national cohesion. In collaboration with African media partners and African researchers and research organizations, the AllAfrica Foundation is examining the tough issues of peacebuilding.
The need for more informed, research-based peacebuilding strategies for Africa - conflict prevention and interventions and post-conflict peacekeeping - is known to specialists in the field, but even they often lack facts and data from areas outside their specialized expertise. A key element of this initiative is giving voice and visibility to the work of African scholars and researchers in universities and policy institutes, as well as to the courageous peacebuilders who bring inspiration and hope in the worst circumstances.
AllAfrica's peacebuilding reporting, featured on AllAfrica and freely available to online, print and broadcast media, is supported by funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a philanthropic organization. An element of AllAfrica's peacebuilding initiative is organizing interactions among peace and security scholars, non-governmental organizations, policy makers and print and broadcast journalists across Africa.
