Disarmament Deja-vu

Recommendations for peaceful civilian disarmament in Jonglei

On 20 January 2012 the Government of South Sudan announced a compulsory civilian disarmament campaign in Jonglei State, the fourth in the state since 2005.

The situation in Jonglei has seriously escalated in the last few months and has (rightly) received a lot of attention from government, civil society and international stakeholders in South Sudan. While there is an urgent need to reduce the violence and create enabling conditions for dialogue, reconciliation and long-term peacebuilding to take place, there are also differences of opinion about how this could best be achieved. In particular, much discussion is being had about civilian disarmament and the best modalities for this.

This briefing paper by Saferworld, Danish De-mining Group and PACT setting out the lessons to be learned from past civilian disarmament in Jonglei and recommendations for the current situation.

“Disarmament’s failure to adequately reduce violent conflict is, in part, because disarmament is not viewed as neutral, has been incomplete, has not guaranteed civilian safety, has not met the expectations and needs of the population, and has not been located within broader processes that address the key drivers of conflict.”

Disarmament Deja-vu