PKSOI Lessons Learned Report January 2019 | Page 14

3. DDR LESSONS
Community Action Plans vs. Arms Proliferation in South Sudan
(Lesson #2693)
Observation:
A community-based project launched by Saferworld in 2017 in South Sudan achieved
notable, positive impacts in reducing the dangers posed by widespread proliferation of
Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW). Although not tied to a broader national level
program, this Saferworld intervention made a significant dent in “disarmament” across
several communities and offers lessons with regard to building and expanding community
capacity to effect change in conjunction with local officials.
Discussion:
In April 2017, Saferworld, with support from the United Nations Mines Action Service
(UNMAS), implemented a 1-year project that built capacity in three major communities of
South Sudan – Kuajok, Rumbek Central, and Rumbek East – to address the problems
posed by the widespread availability and access to SALW. Saferworld organized and
facilitated several educational, experience-sharing events in these communities – attended
by 90 community members that included people from civil society organizations (CSOs),
women’s groups, youth groups, and local authorities. UNMAS essentially brought
community members together to share ideas and inclusively develop “community action
plans” to help solve their local SALW problems. The objectives of the “community action
plans” were: to build community capacity, raise community awareness of the dangers posed
by SALW proliferation, tackle the demand for SALW by addressing the root causes of
localized conflicts, and engage local authorities through advocacy meetings to encourage
the adoption of measures to improve citizen security.
Best practices and key ideas that surfaced in the “community action plans” were:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Improving knowledge and influencing attitudes and behaviors;
Building local knowledge and capacity of communities and local authorities;
Addressing demand for SALW; and
Mitigating dangers posed by SALW in communities.
1) Improving knowledge and influencing attitudes and behaviors (Information/awareness
campaign):


The most successful campaigns used media such as radio, television, print media,
and social media platforms, as well as employed physical distribution of information/
educational materials through posters, flyers, banners, t-shirts, etc.
Campaigns that collected data on deaths, injuries, robberies, and sexual and gender-
based violence involving the use of SALW and that then “armed” community members
to report the facts to local authorities (with requests for action) proved to be powerful.
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