Event Highlight

Experts Discuss Crisis in the Horn of Africa

Posted May 03 2024
Horn of Africa

SIPA's Kent Global Leadership Program in Conflict Resolution, joined by the Institute of Global Politics, convened on May 1 a panel discussion of the complex challenges gripping the countries of the Horn of Africa — a peninsula on the continent's eastern side that traditionally includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, along with neighboring areas.

The region faces a humanitarian crisis, with some 90 million people threatened by famine. War continues to rage in Sudan, while a fragile peace has taken hold in Ethiopia after the disastrous Tigray War of 2020–2022. Borders of the Horn states, unlike those in the rest of Africa, are in flux, as secessionist movements have successfully given birth to new states in South Sudan and Eritrea and a de facto state in Somaliland. Atrocities abound as weak central governments terrorize civilian populations in a desperate attempt to rein in violent rebel movements.

In the face of all this adversity, the peacekeeping landscape has never been more bleak. The African Union is beset by internal strife and dysfunction, while the UN is divided and distracted by events elsewhere. The Gulf States have indulged in destabilizing political patronage of African actors, creating perverse incentives which undermine the foundations of peace. With the attention of the world focused on Gaza and Ukraine, there is a danger that the Horn will be left to its own devices, which could mean mass starvation and continued war, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

This timely discussion brought together leading voices in the field, including:

  • Alex DeWaal, Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation and Research Professor at Tufts University

  • Mulugeta Gebrehiwot, World Peace Foundation at Tufts University; Meskerem Geset, human rights lawyer

  • Meskerem Geset, human rights lawyer

  • Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Director of SIPA’s Kent Global Leadership Program on Conflict Resolution and former UN Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping

  • Hillary Rodham Clinton, 67th Secretary of State and former Senator from New York as well as IGP Faculty Advisory Board Chair (moderator)

Watch the full program: