Security promotion seen from below: experiences from South Sudan

This report is based on seven weeks of field research in Jonglei, WES and EES, and was undertaken shortly after the results of the referendum for independence were declared. South Sudan was preparing for its official independence on 9 July 2011, after decades of cataclysmal conflict in which tensions within the south have been exacerbated, and development hardly took place. The focus of the report is on interventions aiming at security promotion in this context, specifically at DDR and SALW control, and to a lesser extent SSR. The point of departure for the research is the local security context.

What are the security problems people face in the communities; what security actors are there available; and to what extent are these actors able and willing to deal with the security issues faced by communities? It is from this perspective that the research looks at the interventions taking place, investigating their contribution to the improvement of security at community level.

Peace Security and Development Network 2011

This publication is an outcome of the in 2008 established ‘Network for Peace, Security and Development’. The Network aims to support and encourage the sharing of expertise and cooperation between the different Dutch sectors and organisations involved in fragile states. The PSD Network is an initiative under the Schokland Agreements in 2007.