On the initiative of the mission headed by Pierre-André Wiltzer, former minister and High Representative for Security and Conflict Prevention, a study is currently being conducted in liaison with various public and private bodies with a view to creating a civic development service in African countries interested in such a facility. This mechanism could prioritise two categories of countries:

• the poorest, and therefore those at risk of instability, as part of a development assistance policy (conflict prevention track);
• the countries emerging from crisis, to round out and underpin the effectiveness of the DDR reintegration processes (post-conflict track).

The Current Window of Opportunity to Respond

African youth, a central subject of the latest Africa-France summit in Bamako, should be a priority in any action taken to help Africa. The under-20s represent over 60 per cent of a booming population. They are crowded into the big cities without any work that will give them a real chance of integration into society. This youth is both the number one victim of the continent’s instability and the leading player in its crises. The phenomenon is dramatically illustrated by ‘child soldiers’, whose official designation of ‘Children Associated with Armed Forces and Groups’ (CAAFG) more generally covers the young boys and girls enrolled into the militia and armed gangs. These young people, who should be the driving force of African states, more often than not find themselves cast adrift with no future prospects other than to survive by means of the world of arms or emigration.

It is worth noting the number of conflicts on the African continent (22 in the last 12 years) and the failure of most attempts at crisis termination, especially the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) processes. Granted, this is due to the unwillingness of the belligerents, but also in particular to a lack of tools suited to the local situation for the combatants, especially the youngest, to find it more worthwhile to become part of a societal activity than to be a member of an armed gang. In addition, the international community usually takes more of a humanitarian stance in its handling of these crises. This is admittedly important, but it is not forward-looking: the underlying problem of human development is not really addressed due to a lack of resources and sufficiently in-depth actions.