Peace, security and democracy on the African continent are increasingly promoted and ensured through regional organizations. African regional organizations such as the African Union (AU) or the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS) mediate following political crises or deploy peacekeeping forces. In this way they shape the politics and order of many African states and thus also the reality of life for many Africans.
How these interventions affect local people and their living conditions, however, has so far barely been examined scientifically. The project "Local Perceptions of Regional Interventions: AU and ECOWAS in Burkina Faso and The Gambia", led by Antonia Witt, focuses precisely on these perspectives. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has now approved funding for the project for three years. From January 2020 on, Antonia Witt and Simone Schnabel, will use case studies on Burkina Faso and The Gambia to investigate how regional interventions are perceived and evaluated locally and what knowledge and general expectations exist for regional organizations. The project will be carried out in close cooperation with scholars from both countries with whom joint field research and publications are planned.