Responses to Pastoral Wars: a Review of Violence Reduction Efforts in Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya (HSBA Issue Brief 8)
Responses to Pastoral Wars: a Review of Violence Reduction Efforts in Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya reviews the causes and consequences of, as well as the responses to, conflicts in pastoralist areas in the Sudan–Uganda–Kenya region. A perspective that transcends borders is crucial: cross-border intertribal clashes frequently erupt in these areas (see Box 1), as well as among groups within each of these countries. Pastoral conflicts have become increasingly bloody and protracted, thereby contributing to a spiral of retributive violence. Over time they have also become entangled with outside political and commercial interests. The human costs range from widespread and indiscriminate intentional killings to long-term displacement of households and severe livestock depletion.
State responses to pastoral violence in Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya are often politically driven and typically consist of coercive measures that focus on disarmament without reconciliation. Although favoured by governments, weapons collections alone seldom reduce violence over the long term. Paradoxically, they can engender new vulnerabilities for some populations as well as stimulate violent resistance. Even when disarmament of pastoralist groups is peaceful, recent experiences in South Sudan demonstrate that promised security often fails to materialize, subjecting the same communities to violent attacks.
More positively, a number of civil society organizations (CSOs), often in cooperation with regional and international agencies, are stepping in to support traditional approaches to conflict mediation and resolution. Notwithstanding their limitations, these initiatives are helping to foster community safety where state presence is virtually absent. These initiatives are undercut, however, when states—sometimes with international support—engage in heavy-handed tactics to recover weapons from these communities.
Also available in ARABIC.
Have your say about Small Arms Survey publications and products: take 5 minutes to fill out our questionnaire.