Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa by intensity 2022

After falling from 2013 to 2019, the number of conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa started to increase again, reaching a total of 90 in 2022. Of these, 16 were defined as wars and five as limited wars.What is a conflict? According to the new conflict methodology in Heidelberg, the HIIK understands a political conflict as a positional difference regarding values relevant to a society, between at least two involved actors, for example ethnic or religious groups or governments. The conflict must be carried out using observable and interrelated conflict means that lie beyond established regulatory procedures and threaten a core state function or the order of international law, or hold out the prospect to do so.Regarding the intensity of a political conflict the HIIK distinguishes five levels of intensity: dispute, non-violent crises, violent crises, limited war und war. These levels of conflict are distinguished by the stage of physical violence applied in the course of conflict. The last three are violent conflicts, whereas a dispute is a political conflict carried out completely without resorting to violence, in a non-violent crisis one of the actors is threatened with violence. Violent conflicts are measured by the instruments for the use of force (use of weapons and use of personnel) and the consequences of the use of force (casualties, refugees and demolition).

自2013年至2019年间，撒哈拉以南非洲的冲突数量经历了下降，但自那时起又逐渐上升，至2022年累计达到90起。其中，16起被定义为战争，5起为有限战争。何谓冲突？依据海德堡新冲突方法论，海德堡国际冲突研究所将政治冲突理解为至少涉及两个行动者之间，就与社会价值相关的立场差异，例如种族或宗教群体或政府之间的冲突。此类冲突必须采用可观察且相互关联的冲突手段，这些手段超出了既定的监管程序，并威胁到国家核心职能或国际法秩序，或预示着可能发生此类威胁。至于政治冲突的强度，海德堡国际冲突研究所区分了五个强度等级：争执、非暴力危机、暴力危机、有限战争和战争。这些冲突等级根据冲突过程中应用的物理暴力的阶段来区分。最后三者属于暴力冲突，而争执则是一种完全未诉诸暴力的政治冲突。在非暴力危机中，至少有一个行动者面临暴力威胁。暴力冲突的强度通过使用武力（武器使用和人员使用）的指标以及使用武力的后果（伤亡、难民和破坏）来衡量。