Aly Verjee is a nonresident senior advisor to the Africa program at the U. S. Institute of Peace and was formerly a visiting expert at USIP. 

While a visiting expert at USIP, he led research efforts in the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Sudan. In 2019, he received the Oslo Forum PeaceWriter Prize “for bold and innovative responses to today’s peacemaking challenges,” for his work on reforming and innovating cease-fire monitoring. Prior to joining USIP, he was deputy and then acting chief of staff of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, overseeing the implementation of the 2015 peace agreement in South Sudan. From 2014-2015, he was senior advisor to the chief mediator of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development-led peace process for South Sudan. 

He lived and worked in Sudan from 2005-2010 and returned in 2011 as chief political analyst for the European Union (EU) observation of the South Sudan independence referendum. He was chief political analyst for the EU election observation missions to Zambia (2016) and Tanzania (2015); directed Free Press Unlimited’s media development initiatives in Pakistan and Afghanistan (2011-2012); directed Democracy International’s election observation mission to Djibouti (2011); was deputy director of the Carter Center’s political and electoral observation mission to Sudan (2008-2010); helped manage the first-ever election observer network established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2006) comprising some 7,000 Congolese observers; and managed international election observation missions in Somaliland (2005, 2010, and 2012).

Verjee has provided expert testimony before the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, the British Parliament and the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is also the author of more than eighty publications. 

Publications By Aly

What BRICS Expansion Means for the Bloc’s Founding Members

What BRICS Expansion Means for the Bloc’s Founding Members

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

By: Heather Ashby, Ph.D.;  Daniel Markey, Ph.D.;  Kirk Randolph;  Kirtika Sharad;  Henry Tugendhat;  Aly Verjee

After more than 40 countries expressed interest in joining, the question of whether BRICS would admit new members was finally answered during the group’s summit last week. Despite pre-summit reports of division over the potential expansion, leaders from the five-nation bloc announced that Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would join the group starting in 2024.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Three Early Lessons from Kenya’s Elections

Three Early Lessons from Kenya’s Elections

Thursday, August 18, 2022

By: Aly Verjee

On August 15, William Ruto was declared president-elect of Kenya, following a vote last week. His chief competitor, Raila Odinga, rejected the results and says he will go to court to seek their invalidation. So far, little evidence of electoral misconduct has been presented, with most observers suggesting the conduct of the polls improved compared to the last vote in 2017. As the country waits for the judicial process to unfold, here are three takeaways from this year’s Kenyan experience.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance

Countering Coups: How to Help Rebuild Democratic Rule

Countering Coups: How to Help Rebuild Democratic Rule

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

By: Joseph Sany, Ph.D.;  Aly Verjee;  USIP Staff

The past year’s surge in coups around Africa’s greater Sahel region highlights the need for the United States, other democracies and African governments to improve past practices that often have been ineffective in preventing armed seizures of power and in reversing them when they occur. Many Sahel countries have suffered repeated coups—a warning that we need to strengthen the ways that we shape our efforts at restoring democracy. USIP experts suggest that these transitions must become periods for broad, national dialogues to set agendas for change that can make strengthen democracy and interrupt cycles of failed governance.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyDemocracy & Governance

Six Alternative Ways to Measure Peace in Nigeria

Six Alternative Ways to Measure Peace in Nigeria

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

By: Yagana Bukar;  Chris Kwaja;  Aly Verjee

When measured by the death toll, Nigeria seems beset by violence. By some accounts, the COVID-19 pandemic has made experiences of violence even more common — notably, Nigeria recorded a 169% increase in abductions between 2019 and 2020. While quantifying violence is relatively straightforward, defining what peace means to ordinary Nigerians has been largely overlooked, even if such definitions may be more meaningful. By exploring more nuanced understandings of peace, how these vary between and across communities, and finding which indicators of peace are most valued, peace might be better pursued. We went in search of how people in the states of Bauchi, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Plateau define peace. Here are six of our most important findings.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionFragility & Resilience

Five Steps to Sustain a Cease-Fire in Northern Ethiopia

Five Steps to Sustain a Cease-Fire in Northern Ethiopia

Friday, July 2, 2021

By: Aly Verjee

After months of war and amid an intensifying humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, the Ethiopian government unilaterally declared a “humanitarian cease-fire” on June 28. If Ethiopia wants this truce to end the war it needs to persuade Tigrayan forces, which have so far vowed to keep fighting, to agree to a deal. As a prelude to wider negotiations, the odds of ending the conflict would improve if confidence building measures are urgently undertaken and five key areas of a truce expanded. U.S. and international partners can promote these steps while recognizing that Ethiopians must own any cease-fire process.

Peace Processes

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