Gender and Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration in Post Comprehensive Peace Agreement South Sudan

Abstract

This chapter discusses gender, peace, and the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programs for former Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) combatants and Women Associated with the Armed Forces (WAAF) in South Sudan, based on field research in Juba and Wau in South Sudan in 2013. The chapter examines the distinct impact of DDR on women former combatants and on (WAAF), in a militarized ‘post’-conflict setting where gender inequality prevails, and in light of the government of South Sudan’s and the international community’s endorsement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. A key finding is that in post-CPA South Sudan, DDR compounded social exclusion for most women ex-combatants and WAAF. The chapter calls for a rethinking of understandings of peace as mere cessation of hostilities, and as gathering of arms from former combatants. It also calls for restoring the voices of former combatants of both sexes, and of citizens in local communities directly affected by conflict, into policy and scholarly discourses on Security Sector Reform (SSR), and post-conflict reconstruction.