Peace and Security in Africa More action is needed by both Africa and the wider international community. Building peace and security is essential both for economic development and for poverty reduction. Leadership is being taken by Africa itself. The number of conflicts has fallen. But even so one fifth of the population of Africa still live in conflict zones. More action is needed both to strengthen and support Africa’s own efforts to bring peace to the continent and to tackle the wider global drivers of conflict including the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and the trade in conflict resources.