Internationally, Africa is believed to be the continent with the most wars and conflicts. The Heinrich Böll Foundation’s conflict management program concentrates on cooperation with local stakeholders.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation’s work in Africa is concentrated in the regions Southern Africa, Eastern Africa/Horn of Africa, and Nigeria. Our main mission is the support of civil society participation in political decision-making processes.

There can be no return to “business as usual” for as long as Russia acts as an occupying power in Georgia and refuses an internationally brokered solution to the conflict. The upcoming EU emergency summit must send a clear signal to this effect.

Only if Georgia succeeds in building a dynamic and attractive democracy, the populations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will have a real choice – between a democratic Georgia and an authoritarian Russia.

The Zimbabwean struggle for democracy looks set to continue for some time to come. The MDC-T needs to ensure that future rounds of mediation will take place within a more equitable, framework.

The EU should readjust its relations with Russia. In this it must bear in mind that Moscow no longer rules out military confrontations as a means of pursuing its interests. Accordingly the EU has to more clearly define its external policies. Should a country like Georgia, which has strategic importance for the West, be left to a Russian sphere of influence?