| Third International Workshop on Combating Transnational Crime in Africa | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=9847 | | Third International Workshop on Combating Transnational Crime in Africa | Professor F. Vreÿ | <p>The partnership between SIGLA (Stell Univ) and DTRA of the USA has since 2016 resulted in a series of International Workshops on Combating Transnational Crime in Africa. This year the third event held in Stellenbosch over 3 days focussed on countering cybersecurity threats with about 85 delegates from African countries, INTERPOL, the African Union, UNODC, the RSA, UK and USA participating. The themes covered INTERPOL measures, the African Union, critical infrastructure, SABRIC, maritime cyber threats, and included grassroots measures to protect and empower vulnerable groups such as the women and the youth. Enquiries: Prof Francois Vreÿ - <a href="mailto:fvrey@sun.ac.za">fvrey@sun.ac.za</a> (0825934225)<br></p> |
| SU Research Fellow co-authors a report on the oversight role of parliaments during the COVID-19 pandemic | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=8928 | | SU Research Fellow co-authors a report on the oversight role of parliaments during the COVID-19 pandemic | Professor Francois Vreÿ (SIGLA) | <p><br><br></p><p>
<strong><img src="/english/faculty/milscience/sigla/PublishingImages/Photos/WilhelmJvR.jpg" class="ms-rtePosition-1" alt="" style="margin-right:15px;width:123px;height:123px;" />Dr Wilhelm Janse van Rensburg</strong> (PhD), Parliamentary Researcher on Defence and Research Fellow with <a href="/english/faculty/milscience/sigla/Pages/Conferences-and-workshops-2022b.aspx">SIGLA</a> (Stellenbosch University), co-authored a report on the oversight role of parliaments during the COVID-19 pandemic funded by the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://dcaf.ch/&data=04%7c01%7c%7c97702a52c560475d35ce08d9f8433b1b%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637813791145602632%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=xtwxr3WalajIt4IRpZaAx4PBltyXWaZ2KhBQqqRAJZA%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank"><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-9-5"><strong>Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance</strong></span></a>. Titled <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://dcaf.ch/parliaments-contributions-ssgr-and-sdgs&data=04%7c01%7c%7c97702a52c560475d35ce08d9f8433b1b%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637813791145602632%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=E57FeC1FTby7HQbXtmYbcdQMTQ%2B%2BoZgAkxgTVD6qipY%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank"><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-9-5"><strong>Parliament's contributions to SSG/R and the SDGS</strong></span></a>, the research covered the use of the security sector during Covid-19 and the related roles of parliaments in South Africa, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. The study identified a need for a rapid parliamentary oversight capability of security sector utilisation, especially in cases of extraordinary deployments coupled with an elevated risk of executive dominance.</p><p>The paper was co-authored by Ms Nicolette van Zyl-Gous (Parliamentary Police Researcher) and Prof Lindy Heinecken (Stellenbosch University).<br></p><p><br></p> |
| Stellenbosch University Research Fellow the lead author on the costs of piracy to Gulf of Guinea countries | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=8878 | | Stellenbosch University Research Fellow the lead author on the costs of piracy to Gulf of Guinea countries | Professor Francois Vreÿ | <p><img src="/english/PublishingImages/Lists/dualnews/My%20Items%20View/CurtisBell.jpg" alt="CurtisBell.jpg" class="ms-rtePosition-1" style="margin-right:20px;width:150px;height:185px;" /><strong>Dr Curtis Bell </strong>(PhD), Associate Professor, US Naval War College and Research Fellow with the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa (SIGLA), was the lead author of a 2021 report, commissioned by the UNODC and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs of Norway, to determine the economic costs of piracy to twelve countries in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). Professor Bell is also a director at the
<a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.stableseas.org/&data=04%7c01%7c%7ceb32e1d4d58a4d60ee5d08d9df132883%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637786096790374033%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=y7MN2B2aSbRiiW9JEaKiU1FIAaokKI4RAeIibUxCtLE%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank"><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-9-5"><strong>Stable Seas Foundation</strong></span></a> and developed the Maritime Security Index, a measuring instrument to assess maritime security of African coastal countries. </p><p>The report accounts for direct, indirect and opportunity costs faced by countries and concluded that a total cost of approximately $1.925 billion burdens GoG countries due to piracy, affiliated costs, and responses from littoral states. The report, Pirates of the Gulf of Guinea: A Cost Analysis for Coastal States, is available at:
<a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.stableseas.org/post/pirates-of-the-gulf-of-guinea-a-cost-analysis-for-coastal-states&data=04%7c01%7c%7ceb32e1d4d58a4d60ee5d08d9df132883%7ca6fa3b030a3c42588433a120dffcd348%7c0%7c0%7c637786096790374033%7cUnknown%7cTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7c3000&sdata=5AyCoizMnZJECkf4MbskyXkKU3SR1%2B/yk4FK4T5xiDM%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank"><span class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-9-5"><strong>https://www.stableseas.org/post/pirates-of-the-gulf-of-guinea-a-cost-analysis-for-coastal-states</strong></span></a><br></p> |
| Maritime cyber security threats off Africa | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=8575 | | Maritime cyber security threats off Africa | F. Vrey | <p>Mr Abdul Hakeem Ajijola, Chair of the African Union Cyber Security Expert Group was the keynote followed by two panel discussions on <strong>Maritime cyber security and governance in Africa – challenges and solutions</strong> and <strong>Emerging threats and the African maritime cyber landscape</strong>. Proceedings available at https://issafrica.org/events/maritime-cyber-security-preparing-for-rough-seas-ahead <br></p> |
| Navy ‘indispensable power instrument in the hands of policy-makers’ | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=7839 | | Navy ‘indispensable power instrument in the hands of policy-makers’ | Francois Vreÿ & Mark Blaine | <p>Navies must be seen as indispensable power instruments in the hands of policy-makers to successfully negotiate and secure the shifting naval and maritime security landscapes of the 21st century, write Prof Francois Vreÿ & Captain Mark Blaine (Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa) in a recent opinion piece for <em>Cape Times</em>.<br></p><ul><li>Read the article below or click <a href="/english/Documents/newsclips/Vrey_Blaine_CapeTimes_Nov2020.pdf"><strong class="ms-rteThemeForeColor-5-0" style="">here</strong></a> for the piece as published.</li></ul><p><strong>Francois Vreÿ & Mark Blaine*</strong></p><p style="text-align:justify;">In a world that constantly changes, military forces must keep in step and adapt to remain relevant instruments of policy. Navies are no exception and pressures for adaptations to better defend maritime territories are a constant feature of what naval forces face in the early 21<sup>st</sup> century. Given the indisputable importance of the oceans amidst threats from state and non-state actors operating at sea, navies have a critical role to play in the overall security architectures aimed at securing the maritime interests of countries through awareness, policing, enforcement and maritime defence when required.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Navies remain primary instruments of military coercion operating on and from the sea. Second only to land warfare in its theoretical underpinnings, naval warfighting developed over centuries and rests on an established theory of naval warfare, roles and tasks that enable them to be much more than mere warfighting organisations. In this vein, 21st-century navies must react to multiple political demands to do more than just warfighting and these pressures compel them to respond. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">Navies react in different ways to what their foes and policy-makers demand. As opposed to shedding warfighting roles as proposed by some, they show flexibility and rather migrate along their roles and tasks to keep in step with changes and demands in their operating environments. Some large navies execute several roles simultaneously, smaller navies change in a sequential way between warfighting and secondary roles while several navies prefer to dedicate their resources largely to roles other than warfighting. <br></p><p style="text-align:justify;">Navies also tend to adapt to changes in their environment rather than shedding 'old' and assuming 'new' roles and tasks. In the case of China for example, a large naval militia augments the Chinese navy (PLAN) with certain naval tasks executed by civilian vessels when required. In the case of Iran, the traditional Iranian Navy features alongside a smaller, but independent naval force (the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Navy) geared for asymmetric warfare in the Persian Gulf. Sri Lanka, in fighting the Tamil insurgents, and countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea off West and Central Africa show how navies choose to respond to threats below the warfighting level to protect their maritime and national interests by fighting asymmetrically or turning to policing and enforcing the rule of law.<br></p><p style="text-align:justify;">While narratives for slashing warfighting roles continue to pressure decisions about navies, a more nuanced reality underpins their contemporary roles. Although their operating environments change, decisions about their tasks and roles tend to shift along a spectrum that includes cooperation with other maritime agencies to address non-traditional maritime security threats below the level of naval warfare. As one of the more flexible instruments of military coercion, navies have evolved over time to ply their trade over this shifting landscape of maritime threats and vulnerabilities, rather than heed calls to reject the old and assume new roles.<br></p><p style="text-align:justify;">It should be mentioned that not all navies are organised and equipped to respond successfully to ever-changing maritime threats. They rather dedicate their organisational culture and assets to address the rise and decline of maritime threats and vulnerabilities. Modern blue water navies from China, the USA, Japan, Russia and the EU for example simultaneously conduct policing, diplomatic and simulated warfighting postures off Africa and in the South China Sea. The small Sri Lankan navy demonstrated early in the 21<sup>st</sup> century how a navy can sequentially migrate between traditional and non-traditional roles and tasks when national interests are threatened by insurgents operating at and from the sea. The Gulf of Guinea, in turn, exemplifies how navies cooperate with multiple state and non-state agencies across local regions to mitigate a growing maritime threat landscape comprising non-traditional maritime threats that collectively endanger national and regional security and, more specifically, human security.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">It's clear that navies remain an important coercive power instrument for governments to ensure they can use the oceans as a safe and secure landscape for transportation and extracting living and non-living resources. We've reached a point where opposing navies are no longer the only or even most dangerous threat for navies to respond to. Powerful and armed non-state actors are also part of the modern maritime threat spectrum and decision-makers must empower their navies to adapt, build partnerships and strengthen capacities to keep the world's oceans safe and secure. The collective outcome is one of role migration, rather than a stark rejection of traditional naval tasks and roles amidst a policy and security environment calling for multiple naval contributions. <br></p><p style="text-align:justify;">Overall, navies must be seen as indispensable power instruments in the hands of policy-makers, and policy tools that offer more than warfighting capabilities to successfully negotiate and secure the shifting naval and maritime security landscapes of the 21<sup>st</sup> century.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"><strong>*</strong><strong>Prof Francois Vreÿ & Captain Mark Blaine are affiliated with the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa at Stellenbosch University. This article is based on their chapter in </strong><strong><em>Global Challenges in Maritime Security: An Introduction </em></strong><strong>(2020).</strong></p><p><br></p> |
| The UN and Africa: Progress towards achieving the SDGs | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=6235 | | The UN and Africa: Progress towards achieving the SDGs | Prof Francois Vrey | <p></p><p></p><p style="text-align:justify;">Wednesday to Friday, June 19-21, 2019 <br><br></p><div style="text-align:justify;">Stellenbosch University | South Africa<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><div>In 2017, UNSG Antonio Guterres and African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat signed a Joint UN-AU framework for Enhancing Partnership in Peace and Security. Both leaders, however made clear that peace and security is just one of many fields in which the two organizations intend to cooperate more closely. The relationship between the UN’s Agenda 2030 and the AU’s 2063 was mentioned, as was migration, climate change, terrorism, human rights, good governance and the rule of law. The Summit not only marked a new beginning in the relationship between the UN and the AU, but also signalled a new understanding of the relationship between the UN and Africa, and its nations and people. UNSG Antonio Guterres made that univocally clear at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, in January of this year. Africa faces many interrelated challenges such as keeping the peace, developing its economies, managing migration, and countering terrorism and crime: 7 out of 14 peacekeeping operations in the world are deployed in Africa; 33 African countries are classified as least developed (out of 47); 30% of Africa’s population is internally displaced, and transnational organized crime and terrorism are on the rise on the African continent. Within the new partnership between the UN and the AU; between the world and Africa, possibilities may arise for new approaches to development, new roles for African states and <span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;">organisations </span>, new socio-economic and political solutions. Whatever these solutions are, they must be – to use the words of UNSG Guterres: “Africa owned, Africa-driven and Africa-led.”<br></div><div><br></div></div><div style="text-align:justify;">We welcome proposals for individual workshop papers and full workshop panels addressing the following themes related to the relationship between the UN and Africa and the cooperation between the UN and African nations in addressing global and African issues:<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><div>>How is the partnership between the UN and the African Union to be operationalized in such policy <span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;">areas as </span>peace and security, SDGs and human rights?</div><div>>What is the role of other regional organizations like ECOWAS, SADC, EAC, IGAD and ECCAS?</div><div>>How can the UN and Africa work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals?</div><div>>How are the most pressing humanitarian issues in Africa to be addressed and tackled?</div><div>>What is the role of African states in global governance beyond the African continent?</div><div>>What is the role of civil society and the private sector in the sustainable development of Africa? <br></div><div>>What is the role of women and youth in achieving the SDGs? <br></div><div><br></div></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Special attention will be given to proposals related to the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) thematic areas.<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Climate Change</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Poverty and Inequality</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Food Security</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Unemployment and Skills Development</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Non-Communicable Diseases</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Notions of Identity</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Materials Development and Nanotechnology</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Good Governance</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Water Conservation</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Post-Conflict Societies</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Energy</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Urbanisation and Habitable Cities</div><div style="text-align:justify;">>Mobility and Migration<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Call for Papers - Workshop Panels and Posters<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">The Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) now is accepting workshop papers, panel proposals, and posters for presentation at its thirty-second Annual Meeting, to be held Wednesday to Friday, June 19 – 21, 2019 at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Proposals on the Annual Meeting theme – “The UN and Africa: Progress Towards Achieving the SDGs” – and on the subthemes and issues raised in the introductory note, in addition to other topics relating to the UN system and the broader mandate of the Council, will be considered.<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Current ACUNS members in good standing (including new or newly-renewed members) will be given priority consideration for their proposals, but non-members are welcome to submit proposals.</div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Applicants from African countries outside South Africa are invited to inquire about partial funding that may be available.</div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">APPLICATION PROCEDURE<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">>To register, and to submit proposals for presentation, visit: www.acuns.org/am2019>Deadline: The deadline for uploading your proposals at www.acuns.org is Monday, February 25, 2019.>Submissions: To submit an individual proposal, full panel proposal, or poster proposal you will be required to upload full contact information, the paper/presentation/panel title(s), abstract(s) of no more than 200 words, and biographical note(s) of no more than 200 words.>Registration: Once your proposal is accepted you are required to register for the 2019 Annual Meeting at www.acuns.org/am2019Registration Fees:<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">ACUNS Member $150 US ACUNS Student Member $75 US<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Non-Member $225 US Student Non-Member $125 US</div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Event location:</div><div style="text-align:justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Stellenbsoch University, visit www.sun.ac.za<br></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><div>Questions about submissions: contact the ACUNS Secretariat</div><div>at: admin@acuns.org<br></div><div><br></div></div><div style="text-align:justify;"><div>For general questions about the Council and its activities, please contact: <br></div><div><br></div><div>Prof. Math Noortmann,<br></div></div><div style="text-align:justify;">Executive Director, ACUNS,</div><div style="text-align:justify;">E-mail: math.noortmann@acuns.org <br></div></div><div><br><br><br></div><p><br></p> |
| SIGLA @Stellenbosch participates in maritime security workshop | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=5570 | | SIGLA @Stellenbosch participates in maritime security workshop | Francois Vrey | <p>SIGLA participated in a maritime security governance workshop in Victoria Seychelles over the period 19-23 March 2018. The hosts were the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (USA) and the government of Seychelles. The 5-day workshop comprised selected speakers on maritime security (Prof Francois Vrey from SIGLA @ Stellenbosch presented on maritime strategy formulation), followed by daily panel discussions to assist maritime officials from West, North, East and Southern Africa with strategy formulation. The workshop culminated with a visit to the newly-built piracy court in Victoria. The latter included a briefing by the Chief Justice and Judge President of Seychelles and the judge that heard al the appeals stemming from piracy trials. The Indian Ocean Commission and regional maritime co-ordination center also hosted and briefed the workshop group to highlight co-ordination of threats-responses and dealing with incidents in the Western Indian Ocean.<br></p> |
| Safe Seas Project: Best Practices for Maritime Security Capacity Building | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=5511 | | Safe Seas Project: Best Practices for Maritime Security Capacity Building | Professor Francois Vreÿ | <p>The British Academy funded the Safe Seas project that researched and published on the best practices for maritime security capacity building in the Western Indian Ocean. Bristol and Cardiff universities partnered with Stellenbosch University (SIGLA), Nairobi University and the University of Seychelles in order to research the topic. SIGLA (Stellenbosch University facilitated a round table for contributing authors in Stellenbosch 9-10 December 2017. Contributing authors from Bristol and Cardiff universities, SIGLA, Kenya, Pakistan, Somalia, Djibouti, and Seychelles participated in the author round table. The Safe Seas team launched the toolkit in Nairobi on 02 March 2018. See http://www.safeseas.net/safeseas-best-practice-toolkit-published/ and the book publication is earmarked for launch during the middle of 2018. SIGLA housed the principle investigator, Prof Christian Bueger, Cardiff University, for 2 months to prepare the best practices toolkit and set up the launch.<br></p> |
| First International Workshop on Combating Transnational Threats-Opening Speakers | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=4902 | | First International Workshop on Combating Transnational Threats-Opening Speakers | Prof Francois Vrey | <p>Opening Speakers of the First International Workshop on Combating Transnational Threats</p><div><br></div><div>Combating Transnational Maritime Threats off Africa through Collaborative Efforts in Policy Making, Enforcement and Capacity Building</div><div>Jointly presented by SIGLA (Stellenbosch University) & DTRA/NCIS (USA)</div><div>3-5 May 2017</div><div>Stellenbosch, South Africa<br></div><div><br></div><div>Prof Tshehla, Dean, Faculty of Military Science ; the CDA of the USA to South Africa, CDA Jessye Lapenn , and Prof Hester Klopper, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Strategic Initiatives and Internationalisation.<br></div><div><br><br></div><p><br></p> |
| Group of delegates attending the First International Workshop on Combating Transnational Threats | http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=4903 | | Group of delegates attending the First International Workshop on Combating Transnational Threats | Prof Francois Vrey | <p>Group of delegates attending the First International Workshop on Combating Transnational Threats<br></p><div>Combating Transnational Maritime Threats off Africa through Collaborative Efforts in Policy Making, Enforcement and Capacity Building</div><div>Jointly presented by SIGLA (Stellenbosch University) & DTRA/NCIS (USA)</div><div>3-5 May 2017</div><div>Stellenbosch, South Africa<br></div><p><br></p> |
