African leaders failed to discuss home conflicts at UN, say analysts

Analysts of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) have condemned African leaders for their failure to speak up about conflicts happening in their own backyards, according to The Associated Press, September 29.

UNGA’s 80th session in New York this month saw leaders from around the world take to the podium to speak passionately, and often candidly, about issues facing the globe, from climate change and inequality, to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and their countless crimes against the Palestinians.

Leaders who spoke vehemently about the conflict in Gaza include: Nigeria’s Vice President Kassim Shettima, President Bassirou Faye from Senegal and Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.

Speaking to the chamber of delegates, Shettima explained, “the people of Palestine are not collateral damage in a civilisation that is searching for order. They are human beings, equal in worth, entitled to the same freedoms and dignities that the rest of us take for granted.”

One consistent theme across many African leaders’ speeches was the limited attention given to their own countries’ problems, conflicts, and wars.

The most notable lack of speaking time came in the shape of two conflicts; Sudan and Congo, which have seen thousands of lives lost, and devastation across the continent.

Chris Ogunmodede is an Africa affairs analyst who is experienced in African diplomatic circles. Speaking about the UNGA session, he said “African countries have sort of stepped back to some extent in terms of wanting to place African issues at the forefront of the U.N. agenda.”  Mr Ogunmodede laments the stark emptiness behind the attention given to African issues: “On the most important dates on the U.N. calendar, there is nothing to say about African issues in any substantive way.”

Although the world’s media has largely failed the people of Sudan in terms of reporting and attention given to the conflict, it is nonetheless the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.

Beginning in 2023 when a paramilitary force attacked the Sudanese armed forces, the conflict has torn the country apart in countless ways, with swathes of territory falling to either side in brutal fighting. Before the war started, both sides had once ruled the country together, but now their competing interests have destroyed it.

The Sudanese civil war has descended into chaos, with the Central African country effectively split in half between the warring factions. So far, over 40,000 people have tragically lost their lives.

The Sudanese Army have been making strong headways in the conflict of late, recently recapturing the capital, and pushing the rebel RSF paramilitary units into the west of the country to the Darfur region.

Meanwhile, the UN accuses both sides of committing atrocities, warning that famine is now a major risk across the nation with each side preventing critical food being delivered to the starving.

In a single drone strike earlier this month, 70 people were killed in the besieged city of El-Fasher.

Over in the Congo, Rwandan M23 rebels launched a series of attacks in January, with rapid momentum they seized various cities in the border regions. Congo has seen millions displaced by war and left 70,000 dead. There is believed to be over 100 groups fighting in the Congo’s east, a resource rich region.

Despite a peace agreement between Congo and M23 rebels being reached via a Doha agreement, fighting has continued.

Another expert, Beverly Ochieng, a senior security analyst at Control Risks, said “The cursory mentions of DR Congo and Sudan were a missed opportunity by African leaders to really highlight how pronounced the humanitarian crises have become.”

Analysts say that African leaders are absent at the tables where decisions to resolve these issues are made, demonstrating multilateral institutional failings, and their speeches appear to express little interest in advocating for solutions.

“We are seeing the reality of the limitations of African institutions and states, the limitations of their own ability to pursue their own international affairs,” Ogunmodede said.

These conflicts have drawn in surrounding countries to the conflicts which has created geopolitical complexities. Meanwhile, as fighting continues, outside mediators and negotiators seeking to end the wars, however some have been accused of being a party to one side in the conflict. The UAE is being accused of violating the Genocide Convention at a top UN court, for example, due to backing RSF forces in Sudan, which they deny.

Mr Ogunmodede described the complexity of the situation, noting that external parties have a great deal of power to leverage one side or the other: “The outside interests have leverage, and that compels armed actors to deal with peace mechanism coming from outside.”

In the end, however, he believes that African leaders’ speeches are a clear example of the distinct lack of political power and indeed will power that governments across the continent have to solve currently ongoing internal crises: “With African institutions, they do not have as much leverage institutionally or being able to provide additional incentives for peace and security initiatives.”

The Associated Press, Maghrebi.org