Africa and the Global Human Rights Agenda: The African Group at the UN Human Rights Council

This policy briefing examines the behaviour of African countries in country-specific situations at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), focusing specifically on developments and examples that occurred between July 2010 and July 2014.
South Africa’s Diplomacy 20 Years On: Implementing the African Agenda around Core Values, Principles and Issues

After 20 years of democracy, post-apartheid South Africa has been successfully reintegrated into international affairs.
China and Zimbabwe: The Context and Contents of a Complex Relationship

China’s relationship with Africa has been the subject of considerable interest and controversy.
Promoting Peer Review as a Compliance Mechanism for Regional Integration

Multilateral organisations have long used peer review as a means to encourage compliance with commitments made in the pursuit of various socio-economic goals.
Chinese Resources-For-Infrastructure Swaps: An Escape from the Resource Curse?

This paper discusses whether resources-for-infrastructure (R4I) swaps employed by the Chinese government and companies reduce or increase the risk that a resource-rich country will fall prey to the resource curse.
Will Rising Democracies Adopt Pro-human Rights Foreign Policies?

Democratic governments worldwide behave hypocritically when it comes to human rights and foreign policy. The international community should hold them accountable and help them to close the gap between rhetoric and practice.
Do African Union Governance Reviews Work?

Does being an active member of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the instrument adopted by the African Union to improve the quality of governance across the continent, help a country improve its rankings in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG)?
Getting Down to Business: Lessons from the African Peer Review Mechanism

As part of its multi-pronged inquiry, the APRM devotes a great deal of attention to investigating corporate governance in Africa.
Global Eradication of Poverty Day: What can regional associations do?

The 2014 Commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, to be held on Friday 17 October, focuses on the theme: Leave no one behind: think, decide and act together against extreme poverty.
What are Mozambique’s prospects for peace?

On 15 October 2014 Mozambicans go to the polls to vote in the fifth round of democratic elections to be held in the country since they first took place in 1994. Twenty years after this watershed event, concerns about the sustainability of peace are more urgent than ever.