Saturday 2 January 2010

Women combatants and the demobilization, disarmament and reintegration process in Rwanda

Women, especially those who have been associated with armed groups, have essential roles to play in DDR processes, yet they are frequently excluded from the planning and implementation of these processes. Women ex-combatants, in particular, often make up very small numbers of the forces to be demobilized and are de-prioritized because they usually do not represent the same level of threat as male ex-fighters. They are frequently demobilized in countries where institutions are not only severely incapacitated by war but also have a history of excluding women. Even if there is a commitment to achieving gender equality in the peacebuilding period, countries newly emerging from armed conflict suffer from a lack of capacity in Demobilization Commissions, Ministries and other government organs, not to mention a scarcity of funds earmarked for the support of women ex-combatants as a special group. As a result, the needs of these women are inadequately addressed in the demobilization phase and sustainable support for their successful reintegration is lacking.
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Best Practices in Peace-Building and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution: Some Documented African Women's Peace Initiatives

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Friday 1 January 2010

The Role of Demobilisation in the Peace and Development Process in Sub-Saharan Africa: conditions for success1

In the past few years, several countries in sub-Saharan Africa conducted large scale demobilisation. This is a positive sign that would create opportunities for sustainable peace and human development. However, demobilisation is a complex process. It is closely linked to security issues, and the impact of demobilisation depends largely on whether former combatants are able to reintegrate into society. Demobilised soldiers and guerrilla fighters usually have great difficulties to re-establish themselves in civilian life. Frustrated former combatants may jeopardise the peace and development process. Based on recent experiences, this article identifies some of the risks involved in demobilisation and several conditions that have to be met if demobilisation is to attain a lasting and positive impact on peace and development in Africa.
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Peace Agreements in Africa

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Sudanese rebels renew promise to demobilise child soldiers

Sudan's main rebel movement on Sunday assured visiting UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Carol Bellamy that it was committed to the demobilisation
of child soldiers from its armed forces.

"We recognise that the military is no place for children and it
is the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) policy that children
under the age of 18 should not be in the army," SPLA deputy
commander Salva Kiir said.
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Violent Conflicts: Key Obstacles for Sub-Saharan Africa to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals – Where is the Evidence?i

This paper aims to stimulate a debate on how violent conflict (ranging from communal
violence to civil war or war among states) is a key obstacle for countries in Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It briefly
examines progress with the MDGs in Africa using officially published United Nation
Reports and global MDG monitoring information. It also provides readers with a
preliminary exposition on how violent conflicts pose the greatest challenges to progress
with achieving the MDGs. It argues that violent conflict makes chronic poverty even
worse – from household to national levels – and can create a downward spiral; some
specific examples of this are given. The paper warns that many countries in SSA will fall
far behind in attaining the MDGs by the targeted date of 2015 unless African states and
regional institutions such as the African Union can put a decisive end to the current
conflicts and address the threat of new conflicts. Having presented comparative evidence from various counties (those on track to meet the MDGs and those lagging behind), the author underlines the significance of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding in increasing the likelihood of Africa’s achieving the MDGs within the timeframe. Highlighting the critical importance of strengthening the link between durable peace and sustainable development, the author concludes that the MDGs, as a framework for policy, programs and international partnerships to reduce poverty, must explicitly articulate how to end violent conflict and support war-torn countries (and those emerging from conflict) as a matter of priority and that they must receive special consideration.
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Demobilization in the Horn of Africa

Proceedings of the IRG Workshop, Addis Ababa, 4-7 December 1994

This paper provides a summary of the proceedings of the IRG workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in December 1994, which examined the need for continued demobilization and disarmament in the Horn of Africa. The paper analyzes the past failures and successes of demobilization in East Africa, and provides suggestions for future measures to improve human security and regional development.

© 1995 Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC)
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Thursday 31 December 2009

Explaining Violence in Somalia

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Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics

The report has not undergone review accorded to official World Bank publications. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/the World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data involved in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on the map do not imply any judgment on part of the World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
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Oil and Violence in Sudan

There can be little question that access to and control of petroleum wealth plays a
critical role in sustaining and escalating the Sudanese civil war. Arguably, the degree
of stability and control enjoyed by the government in the North is at least partially a
function of the southern resources it controls3.
This case study urges the integration of the links between resource extraction and
community insecurity in corporate management decisions, and calls for greater
international political will in preventing the sale of valuable commodities – not only oil,
but also timber, diamonds, gold and other minerals from exacerbating conflict and
human suffering.
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Sudan: conflict in Darfur

This paper examines the background to the conflict, and looks at the international response to the humanitarian crisis. Maps of Sudan and Darfur are included as appendices. The recent progress made in resolving the decades-long Sudanese civil war between the north and south is the subject of a separate Standard Note, SN/IA/2155, Sudan.
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Economic Issues in Sudan’s North-South Peace Process

This case study on Sudan is a reminder that economic factors do not necessarily need to be directly responsible for higher levels of violence to be able to contribute to the de-escalation of conflict and the initiation of a peace process. In Sudan, the presence of oil has often been simply considered a compounding factor to the main drivers of violence. But after nearly four decades of armed conflict, the prospect of oil revenues has changed the incentive structure for violence and contributed to the development of tactically informed choices favouring negotiation over the continuation of conflict. In his analysis, Achim Wennmann shows that identifying the incentive structures for violence among belligerents may be an important conceptual tool to assist mediators in making decisions as to when to engage armed groups and how to assess their possible attitudes towards a peace process.
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Wednesday 30 December 2009

Sudan: Towards an incomple peace

With the signing on 25 September 2003 of a framework agreement on security arrangements, the Sudanese government and the insurgent Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLA) are closer to peace than at any time in the past twenty
years. However, considerable hurdles remain before any final deal is signed, and a separate, intensifying war in the west already threatens to undermine it. As
the parties press forward with the last phases of negotiation, the international community’s engagement should intensify in support of the final deal, in preparation for helping with implementation if successful, and in ensuring coordination between
the main peace process and the conflict in the west.
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Grievances and the Roots of Insurgencies: Southern Sudan and Darfur

The importance of economic agendas for civil war formation has attracted attention in some academic circles and led to economic analysis of the causes of civil wars. As a result, the Collier-Hoeffler framework has emerged in the literature that considers rebel economic opportunity to be the main factor causing civil conflict. Although it has been applied to explain conflicts in Africa, the Collier-Hoeffler framework does not provide sufficient tools to analyse the underlying conditions that have led to the major insurgencies in Sudan. This paper argues that it is not principally rebel economic opportunity behind the two southern rebellions and the insurgency in Darfur, but rather socio-economic grievances derived from culturally and regionally imposed political marginalisation, which require broader analysis. This article conducts a historical analysis of the origins of conflict in Southern Sudan and Darfur, which permits a more comprehensive understanding of the emergence of conflict than an analysis based on rebel economic agendas alone.
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Elections in Sudan 2008/9: A Complex Challenge in Need of Urgent Donor Attention

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on 9 January 2005 marked the formal conclusion of the civil war between the Sudanese Government (based in Khartoum) and the southern-based Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). According to the CPA, in 2011, after a six-year Interim Period following the peace agreement, “there shall be an internationally monitored referendum … for the people of South Sudan to confirm the unity of the Sudan by voting to adopt the system of government established under the Peace Agreement; or to vote for secession” (Ch. I, Para 2.5).
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NDA Memorandum to US government delegation peace and democracy in Sudan

The Sudan had a viable democratic system whose government was on the verge
of reaching a peace agreement in 1989. To abort that agreement, a minority
party, the National Islamic Front, staged a military coup d'etat and established an
oppressive dictatorship imposing its partisan program on the majority of the
peoples of the Sudan claiming diviue suction for its program. The NIF regime
branded the majority Moslem citizens of Sudan as heretical, and the Christian
and other denominations of the Sudan as infidels who should be converted, if
necessary, by force. The regune applied the same judgements to Sudan's
neighbouring coutthies. They claimed they had a divine mission to apply their
W brand of Islam ark the peoples of the Sudan, their neighbours, and beyond. Their
means to realise those aims are a Jihad policy which justified them to suppress
internal opposition, wage holy war ngainst armed resistance, and apply
expansionist and terrorist policies regionally and internationally.
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Civil Society, Democracy and Development: International Experiences and the Ethiopian Context International Conference

There are different definitions to the term civil society but what is unique in most definitions is that there is consensus on the fact that civil society activities are driven to benefit citizens by groups, individuals and associations. More often than not the term Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) is erroneously taken to mean civil society. Civil society involves a broad range of civic elements including trade unions, faith-based organisations, community-based organisations and associations, social movements and networks and people who participate in public discourses and activities. Over the last decade or so there has been a profound increase in the number of civic organisations with concomitant increases in their capacity, scope of influence, public profile and audiences. This proliferation of civic networks has been facilitated by the same factors that have enhanced globalisation including technological advancements and socio-cultural, economic and political integration. These processes in this era of globalisation have not been devoid of challenges for coalition building for civil society but they have also been accompanied by new opportunities.

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Indigenous systems of conflict resolution in Oromia, Ethiopia

This paper describes the role of the Gadaa system, a uniquely democratic political and social institution of the Oromo people in Ethiopia, in the utilization of important resources such as water, as well as its contribution in conflict resolution among individuals and communities. It discusses ways to overcome the difference between customary and statutory approaches in conflict resolution. A synthesis of customary and statutory system of conflict resolution may facilitate a better understanding that will lead to improved management of resources, which are predominant variables for the socio-economic development of the country. It suggests that top-down imposition and enforcement of statutory laws that replace customary laws should be avoided. Instead, mechanisms should be sought to learn from the Lubas, elders who are knowledgeable in the Gadaa system, about the customary mechanisms of conflict resolution so as to
integrate them in enacting or implementing statutory laws.
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US Policy and democracy in Africa

With a population of sixty-seven million, Ethiopia is the second largest nation in Sub-
Sahara Africa. It is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Christianity adopted
since the third century of the Christian era and Islam as of the sixth century. Its
geopolitical sphere spans over East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Middle and
Near East. It holds a special place in the African context as a symbol of independence
and for its active role in the liberation of the continent from colonial rule. It is the seat of the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, and many other
International Organizations. Ethiopia was a member of the former League of Nations
and later a founding member of the United Nations, the World Bank and IMF and
similar organs. Ethiopian and US relations were established in 1902, centenary of
which was celebrated recently in both countries.
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Democratic governance and political leadership in Africa

Current Situation in Africa: Every time one reads about Africa there is always a sense of ennui especially when the state of political instability, economic and social hopelessness seems to be a permanent feature of the continent. One would have wanted to say that this chaos characteristic of Africa is limited to a few isolated places. But it is not. From the Maghreb to West Africa and from Central Africa to East and Southern Africa, the continent suffers from fissiparous political tendencies leading to internal implosion and occasionally to full scale civil wars in which Africa’s neighbours and outsiders are directly or indirectly involved.
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US Policy in the Horn of Africa under the Obama Administration.

The Horn of Africa has recently seen renewed interest from several competing global economic powers including China, Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Brazil. Part of these nations’ attraction to the region seems to be the region’s richness in oil, minerals, overseas farmlands, its being an ideal arms deal and piracy destination, as well as the strategic importance of the region for military purposes. For these reasons, the Obama Administration has every responsibility to synchronize US policy and interests in the region with democratization and stability.


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Ethnic conflict in the Horn of Africa

This paper looks at the formation of ethnicity and ethnic conflict in the Horn
of Africa with particular attention to the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Firstly, conflict in the Horn of Africa at large is mapped out. Ethnic and political
groups within Ethiopia and Eritrea are looked at respectively so as to analyse
the outbreak of war in the two countries. The extent of external role players'
involvement in this conflict is examined. Finally the essay also attempts to assess
the social and economic consequences of the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

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Avoiding Conflict in the Horn of Africa

U.S. Policy Toward Ethiopia and Eritrea
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The Horn of Africa: Background, Scope And Regional Initiatives

The Horn of Africa is one of the most important and strategic areas of Africa and the global economy. It is a bridge between Africa and the Middle East, as well as a gateway to the oilfields of the Persian Gulf. It is a culturally and historically rich region of the world with great natural resource potential. Specifically, the Region is endowed with rivers, lakes, forests, livestock, and high agricultural potential including untapped potential of petroleum, gold, salt, hydro-power and natural gas.
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For a democratic Horn of Africa in the new millennium

In these twilight days of the second millennium, the four countries that constitute the Horn � Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea � are in the grip of political, economic and cultural crises that could spell even more disasters in the New Millennium.
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Opinion: How to stop Africa's democratic backsliding

Fifty years after the first wave of independence, most of Africa is still waiting to benefit from democracy. Rulers extending their terms in office certainly aren't helping matters any.
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Tuesday 29 December 2009

The Dynamics of Conflict in the Tri-Border Region of the Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic

The analysis in this study and the information
contained herein are based on the many years of
experience of the author working as a country
expert on the Sudan for various organisations.
In this context he repeatedly travelled to various
regions of the country over the period 2002-2006,
including the south, Darfur and the border region
with Eritrea.
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