Lydia Stone, author of the Small Arms Survey (SAS) report, Failures and Opportunities - Rethinking DDR in South Sudan, told IRIN, "It is not always the case that ex-combatants want to return to civilian life, or that they feel stigmatized by their role in the conflict; nor is it necessarily the case that DDR automatically brings greater security in a post-conflict setting.

 

 "For example, for the time being... greater security is achieved by keeping the soldiers in the army and paying them a salary than by pushing them out into a civilian life that offers little hope of finding a livelihood," she said.

 

 In many cases DDR is utilized in post-conflict states because, if left to their own devices, armed, unskilled, unpaid ex-combatants pose a clear threat to the success of the peace dividend in post-conflict states, 40 percent of which return to war, according to some estimates.

 

"The concept of 'reintegrating' ex-combatants back into a civilian life is largely redundant. This is because the dividing line between combatants and civilians is extremely blurred. Furthermore, the 'normal' society of Southern Sudan had been broken down during the war, so it wasn't as though there was a 'normal civilian life' to reintegrate into," Stone points out.

 

 There is also an absence of stigma attached to SPLA fighters, unlike members of abusive armed groups such as Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone, who were reviled for their war-time conduct. "The SPLA are seen as heroes, the liberators of Southern Sudan," she said.

 

 "There is not the same shame attached to having been a soldier during the war, nor the same imperative to leave the soldier's life. In fact, quite the reverse. So not only do SPLA soldiers have pride, they also have money. Clearly, this is not the target group envisaged in the 'traditional' DDR model."

 

 

 

Losinu criticized their efforts. "I had 500 cows before the war and then I lost everything. If the international community doesn't give me those cows and instead you construct schools and say that reconciliation is collective, I still always remember the 500 cows. We are different culturally. A Lendu and Hema cannot live in symbiosis."

 

 

 

Use of video in assessment of teachers

The schools don't have electricity but you set out in the morning from
your base with a lot of batteries and powerpacks.

General rule do what the local kids do. I am sure in Ethiopia weddings
are video'd even deep in the village, and youth entrepreneurs show combat,
porno movies etc - I haven't recently seen any village without its video
parlour even in the deepest rebel parts of Congo.

In fact in Bunia I spent a lot of time persuading the mayor that a large
picture of Rambo armed to the teeth on the main drag (over a video
parlour) was not that good at convincing donors that the town was now
peaceful;. Failed on that one - it's probably still there. If only I
could have had a picture of him (Rambo, not the mayor) going to evening
classes as well. We did convince a lot of militia youth to go part-time
and attend school when they were not patrolling at night shooting places
up in the name of village defence. (Having an AK47 is great for getting
the girls too, or at least for getting sex. )

Somalis set up internet wherever they are. A small generator is less
than 100 dollars, after all, and a satellite dish in the 50 dollars range.
The Somalis' middle name is Hacker.

Here in Cd'I I gave each field office a field training kit - small
generator, video, largeish screen, etc all in a robust wooden box that
would easily go on the back of our pickups. Biggest problem the
expatriate field director taking the training TV to his guest house and
forgetting to bring it and the the cables back to the office when
he went on leave. I must say it was easier when we were taking a 16mm
projector around rather than a video. Far more could watch it at a time as
well.

Somewhere ("African Affairs" of the RAS?) there is a fascinating
comparison of a PROJECT to bring Internet to Mwanza and the area around it
- half a million dollars, some big donor with a big idea (that Internet
might be useful), Their cybercafes worked less than half the time and the
project eventually collapsed.

The great part of the comparison report is that they pulled no punches
and pointed out that during the whole period youth were running internet
cafes with quite a density almost 24/7 and charging a quarter of what the
project charged. They innovated, they went for the cheapest solution and
had a great relationship with their customers and provided a whole range
of services including training, typing up for you, downloading, piracy etc