This Policy Brief examines Germany’s new budget orientations and their consequences for Mali, a country facing insecurity, conflict, climate shocks, displacement, and rising humanitarian needs. Germany is among Mali’s key financial partners through the Federal Foreign Office (AA) and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). However, from 2025 onward, significant budget cuts are expected, sharply reducing German contributions to the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). German aid currently supports essential sectors such as nutrition, health, water and sanitation, infrastructure, protection, displacement management, agriculture, and the Humanitarian–Development–Peace (HDP) nexus. Reductions in funding could exacerbate vulnerabilities, intensify population movements, and weaken local NGOs, which are central to service delivery and conflict mitigation. The brief offers recommendations to mitigate these impacts, improve coordination, promote aid localization, and strengthen community resilience.

State, Economic Development, Natural ressources, Education, Mediation, Gold, Social, Cooperation, Dialogue, Civil Society

The report carried out by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Côte d’Ivoire assesses the country’s health sector policy aimed at achieving universal health coverage (UHC) for women, children and low-income populations. It highlights achievements but also significant barriers: regional inequalities, low public health financing, reliance on external aid, and limited access to essential services. The survey uses both quantitative and qualitative data collected from health authorities, service providers and beneficiaries. It offers recommendations to strengthen system effectiveness: enhanced coordination, sustainable resource mobilisation, improved governance, and prioritising access for vulnerable groups. Although Côte d’Ivoire has a favourable policy framework, implementation remains uneven. The report is pivotal for guiding future UHC strategies in the country.

Women, Health, Enfant, Santé publique, Protection

This UNESCO report (January 2024) provides an in-depth overview of Guinea-Bissau’s education system. It highlights a severe learning crisis: nearly half of school-age children are out of school due to the scarcity of complete primary schools and high dropout rates. Data also reveal gender disparities, limited access to secondary education, and the absence of regular national learning assessments. The report examines six priority areas from the KIX initiative: learning assessment systems, early childhood education, teaching and learning, data management, gender equality, and inclusion. Persistent challenges include inadequate infrastructure, insufficiently trained teachers, limited implementation of inclusive education policies, and weak educational management information systems (EMIS). Although recent steps—such as creating a preschool inspectorate, adopting minimum standards, and launching teacher development initiatives—represent progress, they remain insufficient without long-term investment and stronger governance.

Governance, Gender, Education, Poverty, Inclusion, Equality

This article evaluates the impact of Senegal’s free health insurance programme for poor households, implemented through the National Family Security Scholarship Programme (PNBSF). Using 2019–2020 data from the rural area of Niakhar, the study assesses whether free enrollment in community-based health insurance (CBHI) improves healthcare utilisation and financial protection. Despite the programme’s intentions, the findings reveal major implementation failures: limited awareness among beneficiaries, unintentional or “virtual” enrollments, weak communication, and structural shortcomings within CBHI schemes. As a result, free insurance did not increase healthcare consultations during illness, antenatal care visits, or protection against catastrophic health expenditures. The only significant positive effect observed was an increase in facility-based deliveries. The authors conclude that the limited impact stems from implementation gaps rather than the concept of free insurance itself, stressing the need for stronger government commitment and measures to reduce barriers to accessing covered services.

Governance, Inequality, Gender, Conflict, Religious education, Education, Health, Threat, Soicial sciences, Researh, Knowlege production, Politique publique, Protection

The article examines the expansion of Jama’at Nasrat al Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) into western and southern Mali, marked by seven coordinated attacks launched by the Macina Liberation Front (FLM) on July 1, 2025. These operations targeted Kayes and Nioro du Sahel—two strategic economic and religious hubs—opening a new front far from the group’s traditional strongholds in central and northern Mali. JNIM’s strategy aims to isolate Bamako by attacking key trade routes, fuel convoys, and industrial sites, causing shortages, rising prices, and severe disruption of commercial activity. Despite strengthened military checkpoints, ambushes continue, resulting in kidnappings, destroyed tankers, and population displacement toward Senegal and Mauritania. The FLM’s growing reach, combined with the junta’s increasing political repression and its break with international security partners, deepens Mali’s fragmentation and heightens risks for neighboring coastal states.

Politics, Political party, Natural ressources, Security, Justice, Political Violence, Gold, Human security, Violence, Threat

The article examines how the resurgence of senior military figures in the political arena of Guinea-Bissau during a tense post-election period poses a serious threat to the country’s stability. More than three months after the second round of the presidential election on 29 December 2019, the country is stuck in an institutional deadlock. The lack of political will among national actors, combined with a too weak response from the international community (especially ECOWAS), has created a window for military interference. The army—traditionally sidelined after the 2012 coup—has re-emerged as a major player, disrupting the civilian-military balance. This undermines institutions, erodes the credibility of the electoral process, and calls for improved regional and international coordination to mitigate the risks of escalation.

Governance, Election, Military activity, Crisis, Stabilisation

The article examines the evolution of assisted deliveries in community health centres (CsCOM) in the Malian districts of Mopti and Bandiagara amid rising insecurity. Using a mixed-methods design combining spatial analyses, health centre performance indicators, and qualitative interviews, the study highlights strong territorial disparities. While most communes show declining or stagnant assisted delivery rates, some centres located near areas of violence experience increasing numbers. This paradox is explained by large-scale population displacement toward perceived safer areas hosting better-performing health centres, often supported by NGOs providing free maternal care and awareness campaigns. Conversely, remote centres show reduced utilisation due to the departure of qualified staff, reduced household income, and fear of travelling during insecurity. The findings demonstrate that conflict does not affect all services or territories equally and emphasise the need for fine-scale analyses to accurately assess how insecurity shapes maternal healthcare utilisation.

Security, Conflict, Political Violence, Education, Human security, Threat, Soicial sciences, Researh, Knowlege production, EMPLOYMENT

The article critically examines the dominance of Western AI ethics frameworks and the limited integration of African epistemological perspectives in global AI governance. It explores the growing claim that Ubuntu could serve as a foundation for an African approach to AI ethics. However, the author argues that Ubuntu is too conceptually fluid, context-dependent, and normatively ambiguous to function as a practical ethical framework for governing AI systems. The review of five African national AI strategies (Mauritius, Egypt, Ghana, Benin, Rwanda) and African Union initiatives shows that none articulates a distinct African AI ethics model. Even where Ubuntu is referenced, its influence remains superficial and lacks operational guidance. The article concludes that an explicit, coherent, and implementable African AI ethics framework has yet to be developed. Such a framework is essential to counter epistemic injustice and ensure that African perspectives meaningfully shape global AI governance debates.

State, Governance, Economic Development, Justice, Conflict, Development, Threat, Researh, Knowlege production, EMPLOYMENT

Nearly 25 million Nigerians – including some 6 million children under five – are at high risk of facing severe food insecurity between June and August 2023 unless urgent measures are taken. According to the October 2022 Cadre Harmonisé, this represents a significant increase from the 17 million people already threatened. The main drivers include ongoing armed conflicts (notably in the northeast), climate change, inflation and rising food prices. Extensive floods in the 2022 rainy season damaged more than 676,000 ha of farmland, further undermining food access. In the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY), and in the north-west region (Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto), displaced and returning populations are particularly vulnerable. The article calls for immediate support to prevent a dramatic worsening of hunger.

Climate change, Conflict, Enfant, Food insecurity