Building bridges in turbulent times (2025-2026)
Authors
Building bridges in turbulent times: The role of Africa and Europe in shaping global multilateralism reforms on peace and security
Between May 2025 and March 2026, ECDPM is involved in the project ‘Building bridges in turbulent times: The role of Africa and Europe in shaping global multilateralism reforms on peace and security’, funded by the Global Challenges Foundation. Together with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), we will contribute to policy processes and discussions on multilateral reforms on peace and security, to strengthen opportunities for Europe and Africa to jointly shape an inclusive and effective global system ready for 21st-century challenges.
About the project
The current global order is facing a crisis of legitimacy, credibility and inclusiveness. Recent crises – from the COVID-19 pandemic to the wars in Ukraine, the DRC, Sudan and Israel-Gaza – have exposed critical weaknesses in the multilateral system, particularly in safeguarding peace and security. These events have widened the divide between the 'Global North' and 'Global South', revealing imbalances in resources, access to technology and capacity to address urgent global challenges such as climate change, pandemics and food insecurity.
The crisis of legitimacy is further deepened by global fragmentation, rivalry between major powers like the United States and China, and shifting regional dynamics, such as Africa’s stronger push for strategic autonomy and the growing influence of groupings like BRICS.
In this turbulent environment, both Europe and Africa are re-evaluating their roles and partnerships. But besides some disagreements, particularly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both continents remain committed to multilateralism. This was reaffirmed in the 3rd EU-AU Ministerial Joint Communiqué of May 2025, where ministers underscored their support for inclusive, rules-based multilateralism and stressed that by addressing shared global challenges together, African and European countries can help shape multilateral fora.
The ‘Building bridges in turbulent times’ project aims to strengthen opportunities for Europe and Africa to jointly shape an inclusive and effective multilateral system. It will identify shared priorities in peace and security governance, enable joint reform agendas and enhance their collective influence in global governance. Ultimately, the project seeks to build a coalition of key actors from both continents, committed to advancing reforms in global peace and security governance within multilateral institutions.
More specifically, the project will:
- Map common positions, interests and challenges on peace and security governance reform across both continents and align perspectives through research and exchange.
- Facilitate dialogue and knowledge sharing by creating a platform for European and African actors to discuss shared reform agendas and bridge differences.
- Promote coordinated action on reform agendas and identify shared goals and solutions.
Project brief and event
We will present common positions and challenges in a final policy brief, to be published in March 2026. It will incorporate inputs from a closed-door event in Addis Ababa in November 2025, which aims to identify shared commitments and realistic solutions. Given the centrality of multilateralism reform in AU-EU relations, key findings and observations from this roundtable will be shared ahead of the AU-EU summit on 24-25 November 2025 in Angola.
Get in touch
If you would like to know more about the project, please get in touch with Sophie Desmidt or Sara Gianesello.
