In my many years as an international civil servant with the United Nations in many post-conflict countries, I have had the rare opportunity to witness and to get intimately involved in planning, co-ordinating and implementing national social-security sector stabilization interventions and programmes. Restoring peace, stability and development after years of protracted war is an enormous task for post-conflict governments and societies.
For more than 10 years,I had the chance to work for the United Nations in post-conflict areas in Africa and during those years I worked very hard with both national and international actors to try to reverse the conflict into a positive agent of change. My area of specialization was to help the fragile states to restore its security apparatus and to stabilize communities throughout multiple interventions at different and parallel levels. However, this long and tough journeys had never diverted my mind and my heart away from my beloved country, and during my few moments of liberty, I was thinking of the tremendous effort that need to be deployed to trickle down the peace that was just signed in Naivasha to reach all communities across our beloved Nation: The Republic of South Sudan.
These security sector interventions are better known in our lexicon as the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processing of ex-combatants into a civilian life and/or mode through a deliberate social-engineering transformation process. DDR is a post-conflict and early peace-building tool largely used by the United Nations and other Development Agencies to help post-conflict societies to demilitarize in order to create an enabling environment for peace-building and socio-economic reconstruction. Therefore, DDR is NOT a tool for conflict resolution, but a way that helps nations to “consolidate” a peace that is almost impossible to be fixed by a formal signature of piece of papers.
There are many imperatives, both socio-political-economic and security sector that drive and inform the DDR process in a post-conflict country. ....click here to read more...
These imperatives are different and difficult depending on the method, environment and context through which the conflict/war and social upheaval is (was) resolved. The Republic of South Sudan is a case in point. His Excellency, General Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President and C-In-C of the Republic of South Sudan Armed Forces has instructed me, immediately after the overwhelming positive voting for an independent South Sudan back in January 2011 to start a new DDR tailored to our needs and aspirations. As a Government, we had reached a consensus over the inadequacy of the CPA DDR programme that was not meant to respond to the specific needs of our comrades in the national organized forces. It was also insensitive to the economic realities in Southern Sudan during the CPA transitional period.
One of main success factors for any DDR program according to the international norms and standards is national ownership. I also think that this is not enough unless the process is “nationally owned and led” in order to create a “demand driven” process that responds to the needs and aspirations of our DDR candidates and their communities of returns. Government leadership of the programme will also ensure the alignment of the DDR programme to the post-conflict country’s socio-political-economic transitional and transformational policies and programmes.
The key imperative and ingredient of a successful DDR programme/process being to draw in, develop, engage and excite the hosting civilian superstructure into accepting the universal need for security-sector harmonization and rationalization without compromising their security/safety needs.
Most importantly though, is to plan, formulate, package and implement the DDR process as an all win-win equation for the two most important stakeholders; the ex-combatants and the hosting civilian communities/population. In other words, DDR is itself a “bottom-up” socio-economic development plan that ensures a mutually reinforcing nexus of security and development. Foreign Investments and other “top down” development interventions are not likely to kick in unless we have a maximum security, social stability and basic working skills for our population.
The lack of national, cultural, social and economic sensitivity has been the bane of many DDR processes and programmes in many post-conflicts had always been a major challenge for a successful DDR to ripe its fruits. This is partly due to a lack of awareness by the donor communities with the local contexts while they insist to implement “one-size-fits-all” type of programme. In many cases in Africa, this flawed approach had led to poor programmatic results and surmounting frustration both among the donor communities themselves and the recipient countries as well. Nevertheless, donors’ contributions remain indispensable to support these complex and costly programmes particularly when post-conflict economies are lacking the sufficient resources to undertake a huge reconstruction agenda where everything is a priority.
In South Sudan, I must hasten to acknowledge and appreciate the support provided by both United Nations-our primary partner, and other bilateral donors to the DDR programme during and even after the CPA period, without which we wouldn’t have been in position to determine our expectations versus the possible means of support by the international community.
For this support, we are immensely grateful and forever indebted to this show of international solidarity. It is very much appreciated and I, on behalf of the people and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan wish to put on record our deepest gratitude.
In my DDR process/programme experience, I have had to explain, rationalize and articulate the background, context and environment behind the DDR programme, but never have I heard such a poetic and neat exposition as I heard recently from one of my State DDR Directors as to what the Republic of South Sudan DDR is all about.
Referring to the South Sudan as an Eagle, the mighty and beautiful bird that is part of our Country’s new Court of Arms, the Director encapsulated and captured the Republic of South Sudan’s urgent need for a comprehensive DDR process/programme thus, I paraphrase.
‘’ South Sudan is like a thirty-year-old Eagle that must shed its weight (feathers) if it wants to live up to be seventy years old, and must sharpen its talons and its beak to soar high into the sky and live up to be a hundred years old. If it (the Eagle) does not do any of the three things, then, it shall die at thirty years.’’
Unlike many other such articulations and expositions about the DDR that I have heard, indeed, been the author of, in my DDR engagement, implementation and planning; I have never heard a DDR process/programme so poetically articulated and rendered.
The DDR programme in the Republic of South Sudan is indeed about shedding the excess weight (feathers) of the security sector in particular, the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA) and other national organized forces as they are composed now. They are (feathers) an Albatross on the neck of the country and potentially a mill stone that can, unless, jettisoned sink our new Republic in the murky waters of a security sector behemoth and or monster.
The security sector reforms in our new Republic must as a matter of national security down-size, rationalize and harmonize before we can realistically talk about reaping the Peace Dividend; that we so earnestly desire and aspire for as a country and as people. There are no two ways about, the choices are few and far between, the die is cast- the Republic of South Sudan must shed off the security sector excess weight, if you like, or the South Sudan Eagle risks the prospect of sinking on its own weight
If the DDR process/programme in South Sudan is not intelligently initiated, planned and implemented, the Eagle could die – a prospect too frightening to contemplate for the people of the Republic of South Sudan, the region and the world at large.
The leadership of the Republic of South Sudan is more than fully aware of the dire consequences of an ill-planned and implemented DDR programme would entail. Further, the leadership is fully committed and determined to mitigating any untoward and unintended ramifications and fully appraised of the risks in such a national undertaking in such a sensitive realm of national entity and the threat such an undertaking, if haphazardly implemented without due and particular attention and reckoning.
In the first instance, and of paramount and cardinal importance is to sensitize, inform, educate and endear the DDR process and programme to the first stakeholders, the ex-combatants that this national programme is for their own best and national interests, before seeking the buy-in of the people of the Republic of South Sudan who will be the hosting communities (superstructure and architecture)
In the second instance is to ensure that the Republic of South Sudan, like its Eagle as envisioned in the Court of Arms is well disposed, prepared and empowered to protect the people, the territorial integrity and sanctity of the Motherland that so many millions of our heroes and heroines shed their blood for.
It is a solemn undertaking, pledge and honour; and if need be, a prize we are ready to pay to ensure that the Eagle of South Sudan will not die at thirty years of age after more than fifty years of Supreme Sacrifice to gain our Independence and Sovereignty.
The DDR process and programme is the beginning of a new journey for the South Sudan Eagle as it seeks to stay focused, and soaring high in its search for peace, restoring hope, and accelerating socio-political and economic development for its people that they so earnestly deserve that they so earnestly and dearly paid for.
We, at the Republic of South Sudan Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (RSSDDRC), the specialised Institution arm of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan are passionate, committed; and determined to do our national duty and honour for the South Sudan Eagle to soar high, and fly and live for a millennium, with our talons and beak sharpened to defend the sovereignty of our Motherland.
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