Progress in tackling Africa’s conflicts

Africa today is afflicted by fewer serious armed conflicts than it was just six years ago, says UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. When he issued his first major report on the causes of conflict in Africa in 1998, there were 14 countries in the midst of war and another 11 were suffering from severe political turbulence. Today, Mr. Annan notes in his annual follow-up report,* just a half-dozen African countries are suffering from serious domestic armed conflicts, among them Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. And very few other countries are facing deep political crises.