HISAR SCHOOL JUNIOR MODEL UNITED NATIONS 2017 Confronting Extremism Economics Economic Inclusion of Africa to Prevent Violent Extremism RESEARCH REPORT Recommended by: 1
Forum: Economics (GA2) Issue: Economic Inclusion of Africa to prevent Violent Extremism Student Officer: Introduction Over the past two decades the growth and the threat of multiple violent extremist groups in Africa has been observed. The Colonial period and the undemocratic rules that identified most governments created anti-western and jihadist movements in the middle east. These movement presented religious rules and act as a solution and protection for modern societies social problems. Around 1990s it was possible to spot these movements is Africa which reveals that these ideologies had begun to spread to Africa where porous borders, poor security apparatuses, weak governance, corruption, ethnic divisions, and high youth unemployment created conditions which was a suitable habitat where violent extremist groups could develop. But as it is easy to guess the results of this impacted the community negatively. As the delegates may know JMUN 2017 s theme is Confronting extremism and violent extremism is a significant part of this theme, which impacts people negatively and posing a threat to their freedom. This issue must be prevented immediately and violent extremism must be stopped and this can be done by the economical inclusion of Africa. In this committee the delegates goal is to accomplish this by coming up with solutions and clauses. 2
Definition of Key Terms Violent extremism: encouraging, condoning, justifying, or supporting the commission of a violent act to achieve political, ideological, religious, social, or economic goals. Economic exclusion : Economic exclusion is a process particular groups are prevented from participating fully and equally in the economic life of their city. Economic inclusion: equality of opportunity for all members of society to participate in the economic life of their country as employers, entrepreneurs, consumers and citizens Jihadist movement / jihadism : is a 21st-century neologism found in the Western languages to describe Islamist militant movements perceived as military movements "rooted in Islam" and "existentially threatening" to the west General Overview 3
In Nigeria and Somalia violent extremist organizations began as ethnically homogenous movements and with the overthrow of their respective governments. As the time past their goals spread towards more ambitious and political goals and they were present in neighbor states. These groups were more active in border regions due to the fact that government presence and security lower there which caused the neighbor countries to be affected too. This problem challenges not just the internal stability of many countries, but also the stability of the broader region. As a result of increasing levels of violence and insecurity, a large percentage of the children living in the African continent are no longer able able to attend school or any university which is undermining their quality of life both now and in the future. Also as a result of the activities of Al Shabaab, there has been an 25 percent drop in tourism in Kenya, a sector that provides a vital source of jobs and income for the country. Similarly, because of the increasing number of attacks by Boko Haram foreign direct investment flows into Nigeria have declined by 21 percent between 2011 and 2012 leading to even more worrying levels of unemployment. On the other hand multiple effects caused lots of security issues in this region. Due to these multiple violent extremism attacks which were constantly happening the trust in police force was decreasing constantly in the Africa region and also the rate of unemployment, health issues, education issues, transportation problems, poverty, housing, food storage problems and economical issues increased and appeared to be easier to spot in Africa. And most 4
importantly the rate of citizens loses inside this region increased dramatically. For the prevention of these attacks and extremism lots of precautions were taken, mostly for security and politics but they were inefficient. Most of these problems link to economic exclusion. In 2015 meeting of the Club de Madrid to prevent extremism in the Arab world, Which is an organization where president come together to come up with effective solutions to prevent important world issues. In this meeting the members managed to develop a 10 point framework to stop violent extremism and one of the points was economic inclusion. This means only focusing on politics and security related problems are not sufficient but in addition to that economic opportunities and inclusion should be emphasized. According to the former world leaders gathered at the conference, systematic exclusion creates injustice and unfair treatment, it can produce a toxic mix that allows violent extremism to flourish. They also state that political leaders everywhere have a duty to represent all their citizens, empower women and young people, and ensure that individual, group and community has equal access to economic development and other opportunities. Most observers agreed that economic exclusion is one of the main obstacles for the prevention of extremism and decided to focus economic ways to prevent this. In Africa because some particular groups are banned from contributing to the economy the citizens were treated unfairly. Due to the frustration going on in the country the the attacks increased and situation got serious. Moving on the president of south Africa Jacob Zuma stated that the scale of inequality and exclusion in South Africa is an important challenge that needs to be confronted as soon as possible Social justice cannot be achieved if we allow the status quo to persist. Economic inclusion since 1994 demonstrated that we can grow the size of the economy. We have though failed to ensure that the growth is shared. 5
Major Parties Involved and Their Views Al-Sehbab, also known as Haraka Al-Shabaab al-mujahidin, is an Islamic extremist group operating out of Somalia and Kenya. Al sehbab has created lots of issues in the africa region Boko Haram, which calls itself Wilayat Gharb Ifiqiyyah is an Islamic extremist group based in northeastern Nigeria and is active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. United Kingdom and United States of America, these two countries have provided a lot of aid to Africa in terms of both monetary and security. for example in the last few years both uk and us send lots of military forces to the africa region in order to prevent violent extremism. Central Banks of Africa, in some countries, such as Burundi and Kenya, Central Banks are taking a prominent role in developping and implementing financial market instruments that address their countries particular financial inclusion agenda. The Central Bank of Burundi is just beginning to design a demand-side survey, while the Central Bank of Kenya is launching, a collaborative effort of the Financial Access Partnership of Kenya. Spreading banking system, ATM, credit lines for SMEs ( Small and Medium Sized Enterprizes) accross country. Evaluation of Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue In Nigeria, a Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) was established in 1998 between Nigeria, Chad and Niger as a strategic mechanism for combating transnational crimes in the Lake Chad region, prior to the threats by Boko Haram. Member states of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria) and Benin pledged troops to the MNJTF, also United states of 6
America, united kingdom and European Union send further support. In January 2015, military operations were conducted by AU for the prevention of the expansion of book haram by approving a West African Task Force of 7 500 troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin to fight the insurgent The cases of human rights violation are a serious concern and also is a source to question the way in which the military has been operating. In June 2015 a report has been released by amnesty international which revealed shocking levels of deaths in military custody extrajudicial, executions, torture, unlawful detention and arbitrary arrests by the military. Somalia presents an example of a primarily military intervention to counter al-shabaab. In 2007, the AU s Peace and Security Council (PSC) created AMISOM. Initially with a six-month mandate, the mission aimed to provide support to the transitional government of Somalia and to take all necessary measures appropriate and, in coordination with the Somali national defence and public safety institutions, to reduce the threat posed by al-shabaab and other armed opposition groups,12 among other responsibilities. AMISOM has been working together with the Somali National Army (SNA) and through coordinated efforts during the course of 2014, gained back some towns initially seized by the insurgents. Whilst some progress has been made by AMISOM and the SNA s counter-efforts, al-shabaab continues its attacks, specifically targeting these military operations. Apart from the attacks and human rights abuses orchestrated by al-shabaab, reports by Human Rights Watch indicate that government security forces, AU troops and allied militias have also been responsible for indiscriminate attacks, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests and detention. These attempts were not efficient because they were mostly security related and the whole issue had lots of drives which included economy. Possible Solutions Resolutions by the Committee should target to the economic inclusion of Africa to prevent violent extremism. For example, developing more inclusive and accountable economic institutions; creating more opportunities for youth. This way the government would be able to establish trust in the citizens and because there will be more job opportunities the public will be more included to the economy and citizens will be equal in an economic path. Another idea that should be explored in this root is empowering women and encouraging them to contribute to the economy. This way women that is living in this region would be sharing the 7
same opportunities as men and all the citizens will the included in the economy with no discrimination involving different sexes. Bibliography Buchanan- Clarke, Stephen, Violent Extremism In Africa, afrobarometer policy paper no.32, June 2016 The Economic Impact of Terror Activities, June 2, 2017 by Africa Policy Institute Ghanem, hafez, Economic inclusion can help prevent violent extremism in the arab world, november 10, 2015 Devarajan, Shantayanan, Mottaghi, Lili, economic and social inclusion to prevent violent extremism, october 2016 cesluk-grajewskı, marcin the EU and Africa, at a glance, 8-1-2016 8