Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies

Border regions in the Greater Sahel are often hot spots of long running conflicts. At the same time, these regions are spaces where people connect socially, culturally, and economically and build communities. We believe that these border complexes have unique historical and socio-economic features that need to be considered when developing approaches to dealing with armed groups in these spaces.

To bring the regional dimension to the attention of practitioners and policy makers we conduct research on regional conflict systems as they emerge in the Lake Chad Basin and the Niger-Chad-Libya-Sudan border region. Looking at these regional complexes through a system lens allows us to better understand the complex dynamics and interdependencies involved, including the linkages between armed actors, conflict economies, governance systems and socio-economic predispositions.

Our field research is guided by a mixed methods approach which involves conducting interviews, peer group discussions and quantitative surveys at the community level.

Particular emphasis is placed on the cooperation with local researchers in Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon, who are closely involved in the research design and implementation. In the form of a fellowship programme, this cooperation includes mid-term research residencies of the Sahelian researchers at bicc in Germany and short-term residencies at the UN in New York and the AU in Addis Ababa. These residencies aim to facilitate the exchange among project partners (AU, UN and bicc) and local researchers, offering insights into the different institutional settings and perspectives as well as networking opportunities with other researchers at bicc and beyond.

We aim to distil policy recommendations from our research. These can be utilized by the UN, AU and other national, regional, and local actors to improve regional cooperation and support sustainable peace processes. The project’s research findings are published through a variety of publication formats for different audiences, including a peer-reviewed research paper, a comparative study, and various policy briefs. Additionally, we also organise events, evidence-based discussions and other knowledge-sharing formats with our partners.