very day across Africa, people care for one another where formal systems fall short. A nurse piecing together mental health care in an overcrowded clinic. A group of mothers creating a food–sharing network. Young people offering peer support where institutions are absent. Africa is not waiting to be governed. It is already governing, just differently.
This shift is not driven by sweeping reforms, but by a quiet force: harm reduction. Once a public health strategy, it is now emerging as a governance philosophy. It begins with reality, not ideology. It chooses adaptation over control, accompaniment over imposition.
What once seemed temporary is becoming structural. Local practices, often invisible, are repairing the fabric of governance from below. They are deeply rooted in need, shaped by vulnerability, and powered by care. And they are not isolated. Through South–South networks and regional alliances, they are speaking to one another, and gaining strength together.
These practices are now influencing national policies and even shaping international debates. Africa’s harm reduction models—flexible, community–led, and grounded—offer insights into how we can govern with humility, resilience, and humanity.
But this emergence comes with a warning. Without shared frameworks and coordination, we will face a fragmented governance landscape—a patchwork of disconnected efforts, noble but incoherent. Avoiding this “chimera governance” means investing in collective architecture: regional collaboration, ethical alignment, and scalable structures that can hold diversity without diluting it.
Harm reduction does not replace the state, it reimagines it. It invites a different kind of authority: one that learns and builds in imperfect environments. It reminds us that effective governance does not demand control, it demands connection.
The future of governance should not be dictated from above. Instead, we should help it to rise from the margins with courage and understanding.
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Africa’s emerging harm–reduction approach to governance
Photo by Carlos Torres on Unsplash
July 21, 2025
Across Africa, harm reduction is emerging as a quiet force not only in public health, but as a governance philosophy. Local practices are changing governance for the better, writes Dr. Imane Kendili.
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very day across Africa, people care for one another where formal systems fall short. A nurse piecing together mental health care in an overcrowded clinic. A group of mothers creating a food–sharing network. Young people offering peer support where institutions are absent. Africa is not waiting to be governed. It is already governing, just differently.
This shift is not driven by sweeping reforms, but by a quiet force: harm reduction. Once a public health strategy, it is now emerging as a governance philosophy. It begins with reality, not ideology. It chooses adaptation over control, accompaniment over imposition.
What once seemed temporary is becoming structural. Local practices, often invisible, are repairing the fabric of governance from below. They are deeply rooted in need, shaped by vulnerability, and powered by care. And they are not isolated. Through South–South networks and regional alliances, they are speaking to one another, and gaining strength together.
These practices are now influencing national policies and even shaping international debates. Africa’s harm reduction models—flexible, community–led, and grounded—offer insights into how we can govern with humility, resilience, and humanity.
But this emergence comes with a warning. Without shared frameworks and coordination, we will face a fragmented governance landscape—a patchwork of disconnected efforts, noble but incoherent. Avoiding this “chimera governance” means investing in collective architecture: regional collaboration, ethical alignment, and scalable structures that can hold diversity without diluting it.
Harm reduction does not replace the state, it reimagines it. It invites a different kind of authority: one that learns and builds in imperfect environments. It reminds us that effective governance does not demand control, it demands connection.
The future of governance should not be dictated from above. Instead, we should help it to rise from the margins with courage and understanding.
