V-11. The EU and Africa: Security – Development Nexus

Convener: Olga S. Kulkova (Institute for African Studies, Moscow, Russia); e-mail: kulkova-olga@yandex.ru

The panel will be devoted to the consideration of the complex political, economic, social and cultural ties between the EU as a supranational organization, as well as between its individual member countries, and the countries of Africa and African continental and regional organizations, at the present stage. The analysis of the new challenges in the field of security provision and development assistance, which the EU and Africa face, as well as the new prospects of cooperation between the EU and the African countries in these areas, is welcomed. The authorities of the European Union are aware that to ensure long-term stability in African countries is hardly possible without assisting them in solving urgent problems of the socio-economic and human development. The task of ensuring peace and development on the continent is also a priority for the African Union’s leadership and regional economic communities (RECs). These questions are of particular relevance in connection with the adoption in 2016 of the new Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy, as well as in the light of the implementation processes of the African Union's "Agenda-2063" adopted in 2015 and the "Road map" for the implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy for 2014 -2017 years, adopted in 2014. Participants are offered the following general topics for discussion:
- The nexus between the security and development issues in the interaction between the EU / EU member countries and African countries / African continental and regional organizations;
- "Securitization" of development assistance and/or "developmentalization" of security issues: the European and African contexts;
- Political discourse and practice of the EU on the security-development nexus issues in Africa;
- Political discourse and practice of African countries/ African organizations on the issues concerning the security-development nexus;
- The concept of "human security" in relation to African realities: a view from the European Union;
- Processes of conflict prevention and resolution, post-conflict reconstruction, peace-building, and state-building in Africa and participation of the EU in them;
- Interaction between the EU and the African countries in the field of counter-terrorism, tackling illegal migration and organized crime;
- Cooperation between the EU and Africa in the regulation of legal and illegal migration between the continents;
- The issue of migration from Africa to the EU as a point of intersection of security, development, and human rights’ protection issues;
- The interaction between the EU and Africa in the area of coping with the climate changes and in ensuring food security on the African continent;
- EU-Africa cooperation in the implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals introduced by the UN in 2015;
- Cooperation between the EU and African countries in the development of human potential in the countries of Africa; protection and promotion of women's rights in Africa; the interaction between the civil society organizations of the two continents; continents’ cooperation in the exchange of innovative technologies and in the field of education.