The HIV-AIDS pandemic, wars, civil strife and famine, marginalization in the world economy - most of what one hears from Africa is negative. What is the role of the United Nations and regional and sub-regional organizations such as the African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the Economic Community of West African States in dealing with the challenges confronting contemporary Africa? What are these organizations as well as NGOs and civil society doing in the efforts towards conflict prevention and resolution and in the search for sustainable development? This course takes an inside view of the current situation in each major region of the continent, addressing the numerous conflicts which beset it as well as examining the political, economic and social factors which can lead to its revival.