Ethnic conflict, weak economies, health crises, and fragile governments dramatically hinder sustainable economic and political development in Africa’s Horn and Great Lakes regions. Although a wave of democratic transitions in Southern Africa has helped decrease the likelihood of large-scale civil war and cross-border conflict, the use or threat of violence as a political strategy continues, especially prior to elections. The region remains vulnerable due to interrelated, root causes of conflict—including health, demographic, social, environmental, economic, and political factors.

CPMR-ESA supports implementation of the conflict prevention, mitigation, and response programs of the USAID/East Africa Office in Nairobi, Kenya, and the USAID/Southern Africa office in Gaborone, Botswana. The goal of the program is to strengthen the capacity of African organizations to understand, manage, and respond effectively to actual and potential sources of conflict.

The DAI team provides long- and short-term technical assistance in conflict-related areas such as conflict vulnerability assessments, conflict sensitive programming, conflict monitoring and reporting; specialized training on conflict management and mitigation related issues; direct grants and grants management support for nongovernmental implementing partners; institutional capacity building and other direct support for government and nongovernmental partners; information and communication technology assistance; knowledge management; and project monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment.

The USAID/East Africa-funded Peace in East and Central Africa (PEACE) component is focused primarily on addressing cross-border conflict issues affecting local and regional peace and stability in the Horn of Africa, with particular emphasis on border areas of the pastoralist arc that includes parts of Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia. PEACE activities include support for localized peace-building efforts through civil society and community-based organizations as well as coordination with regional organizations such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism. Other components of the East Africa program include support for Somalia reconciliation and a regional anticorruption program to increase transparency and reduce opportunities for corruption in the East African regional freight forwarding and clearing sector.

In Southern Africa, the programmatic focus has been on preventing, managing, and mitigating potential violent conflict resulting from political competition stemming from the slate of scheduled elections in eight countries throughout the region between 2003 and 2006.