South Sudan Nhial Deng Nhial: We are on brink of war

South Sudan's foreign minister has warned his country is on the brink of war with Sudan following days of fierce fighting along the border. Nhial Deng Nhial told the BBC Sudanese forces had invaded the town of Jau, which was in the south. He urged the international community to intervene and said he hoped full-scale hostilities could still be avoided. South Sudan seceded from the north in July following years of civil war in which some 1.5m people died. The border between the north and south has not yet been officially designated. Since July Khartoum and Juba have accused each other of supporting rebels in the border areas. 'Tanks and aircraft' Mr Deng Nhial said the clashes in Jau, which he said was a town in Unity state, were the biggest threat to peace since South Sudan's independence. "Although there have been frequent aerial bombardments of different places in the Republic of South Sudan, we think that Khartoum has raised this offensive to an entirely new level by committing ground forces to cross into the Republic of South Sudan," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "We are still very much committed to the principle of dialogue with Khartoum - we are still hopeful that we can pull back from the brink of outright war." Earlier, Col Philip Aguer, spokesman for South Sudan's army - the South People's Liberation Army (SPLA) - told the BBC that Khartoum had used tanks and long-range artillery in the offensive on Jau, which started on Saturday. Read more

"Turning Pebbles": Evading Accountability for Post-Election Violence in Kenya

This report examines the police and judicial response to the violence following the 2007 elections, which pitted ruling party supporters and the police against opposition-linked armed groups and civilians. Human Rights Watch found that of the 1,133 or more killings committed during the violence, only two have resulted in murder convictions. Victims of rape, assault, arson, and other crimes similarly await justice. Police officers, who killed at least 405 people during the violence, injured over 500 more, and raped dozens of women and girls, enjoy absolute impunity Read more

Recovery and Development Politics: Options for Sustainable Peacebuilding in Northern Uganda

This Discussion Paper addresses questions related to the causes, evolution and legacies of the prolonged war in Northern Uganda between the rebel LRA and government forces. It critically examines the Government of Uganda’s experience in drafting and implementing various plans for recovery and peacebuilding in Northern Uganda and proffers explanations for their limited success. It also analyses the threats posed by the continued marginalisation of Northern region and the persistence of poverty and underdevelopment relative to the more prosperous regions of the country. Of note is the concern about a possible regression into violent conflict and the breakdown of the fragile peace in Acholiland. The paper providesan alternative reading of the conflict and makes a compelling case for a radical paradigm of economic recovery, sustainable peace and development based on conflict-sensitive, inclusive, socially just and people-centred policies. It is essential reading for scholars, peace and security practitioners, activists and humanitarian and development workers with a keen interest in post-conflict reconstruction, reconciliation and peacebuilding in Africa. Read more

Stabilising the Congo

The brief considers the ‘stabilisation approach’ adopted by both the international community and national government to address the continued insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Considering stabilisation also offers a way of conceptualising and engaging with the root causes of displacement. Political implications of the stabilisation agenda are brought into sharper relief by focusing on a single question: stabilisation by whom and for whom? Rather than continuing to support the State unconditionally, the brief calls on international actors to strengthen and exercise their combined leverage in critical priority areas that together form a comprehensive ‘road map’ to long-term peace and stability following the elections. Read more

Return to War in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains

This brief looks at what is driving the fighting in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. With Sudan facing financial collapse, economic normalization must be part of negotiations with Khartoum to end the war in the Nuba Mountains and promote democratization throughout Sudan. Summary points: 1. The response to the renewed war in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains has been • driven largely by a human rights and humanitarian crisis. 2. The crisis will continue indefinitely without a political agreement that acknowledges the Nuba rebellion is self-sustaining and reflects a wider malaise within the new Republic of Sudan. 3. With Sudan facing financial collapse, economic normalization must be part of negotiations with Khartoum to end the war in the Nuba Mountains and promote democratization throughout Sudan. Readmore

Selective Outrage: The Dangers of Children's DDR in Eastern DRC

This article offers a critique of the dominant approach to children’s disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Drawing on narratives of young people who were formerly associated with armed groups, the article highlights some of the mistaken assumptions of the discourse and practice of children’s DDR, and shows how far removed they are from young people’s actual experience. I argue that the global outrage against the “child recruitment” phenomenon is dangerously selective, and that it obscures the entrenched structural violence, which deeply and negatively affects the lives of young people in eastern DRC today. Since the mid-1990s, the use and recruitment of children by armed groups is an issue that has dominated international discourse on children’s experience of violent conflict. From the 1996 report by Graça Machel on the impact of conflict on children,1 to the 1998 adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) codifying the use and recruitment of children under the age of 15 years as a war crime, to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC), adopted in 2000, global attention has mobilized forcefully behind the “child soldier” phenomenon Readmore

Gender-Based Insecurity and Opportunities for Peace: Supporting the Reintegration of Young War-Affected Mothers

In conflicts throughout the world, armed forces and groups recruit children to fight, maintain their camps, perform labor and be used for sexual purposes. The experiences of children associated with armed forces and groups (CAAFAG) are not uniform, nor can there be a uniform approach to helping them when the conflict is over. This article examines the gendered experiences of girls prior to recruitment, during their time with the fighting forces, through disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes, and in their communities after formal DDR has ended. We also present some of the experiences of the Participatory Action Research (PAR) Study with Young Mothers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Northern Uganda—a study conducted predominantly with former CAAFAG which used a highly participatory methodology to help participants attain community-based reintegration. In the PAR study young mother participants took a central role in the design and implementation of their reintegration process. A mixture of self-help style psychosocial support and livelihood support were critical to their success. As this population had exceptionally low social status, lacked confidence and self-respect, and did not have rudimentary economic skills at the start, social support and community mobilization were critical in laying the groundwork for livelihood activities and facilitating the sustainability of these activities. Readmore