Come Out and Live Among Us: How Zande communities can influence combatants to surrender from the LRA
Written by Lindsay Branham, Editing and Research Assistance by Margaux Fitoussi
The report argues that local Zande communities, the population group most affected by the LRA today, can play a critical role in defection. Zande communities are too often ignored, marginalized, and not fully collaborated with by international defections actors. Defection is a non-violent strategy to remove the LRA from the battlefield. Encouraging and facilitating the peaceful surrender of LRA combatants is one of the most effective ways to reduce threats to communities in central Africa and weaken the LRA’s ability to effectively operate. However, what happens when LRA combatants escape? Are communities prepared to receive them? Can communities play a role in persuading the LRA it is safe to surrender?
“If the LRA defects and we are aggressive towards them, this could get back to the LRA in the bush. It’s better to encourage the LRA to surrender, which could, in turn, encourage others in the bush to surrender too.” – Hunter, Mboki, Central African Republic
Executive Summary English Full Report
“We Suffer From War and More War”: An Assessment of the Impact of the Lord’s Resistance Army on Formerly Abducted Children and their Communities in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Written by Lindsay Branham and Jocelyn Kelly
This study highlights the voices of individuals currently affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army to detail the extensive and systematic devastation felt specifically by formerly abducted children and their communities in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Respondents stressed that the international community must assist with providing essential services through long-term engagement, including life-saving health services; improving water and sanitation access; and providing psychosocial and educational interventions to formerly abducted children and adults. While these communities are facing emergency-level challenges now, the need for solutions that will last into the future. This study is a collaboration between Discover the Journey and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
Executive Summary English Full Report French Full Report
Written by Lindsay Branham, Editing and Research Assistance by Margaux Fitoussi
The report argues that local Zande communities, the population group most affected by the LRA today, can play a critical role in defection. Zande communities are too often ignored, marginalized, and not fully collaborated with by international defections actors. Defection is a non-violent strategy to remove the LRA from the battlefield. Encouraging and facilitating the peaceful surrender of LRA combatants is one of the most effective ways to reduce threats to communities in central Africa and weaken the LRA’s ability to effectively operate. However, what happens when LRA combatants escape? Are communities prepared to receive them? Can communities play a role in persuading the LRA it is safe to surrender?
“If the LRA defects and we are aggressive towards them, this could get back to the LRA in the bush. It’s better to encourage the LRA to surrender, which could, in turn, encourage others in the bush to surrender too.” – Hunter, Mboki, Central African Republic
Executive Summary English Full ReportWritten by Lindsay Branham and Jocelyn Kelly
This study highlights the voices of individuals currently affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army to detail the extensive and systematic devastation felt specifically by formerly abducted children and their communities in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Respondents stressed that the international community must assist with providing essential services through long-term engagement, including life-saving health services; improving water and sanitation access; and providing psychosocial and educational interventions to formerly abducted children and adults. While these communities are facing emergency-level challenges now, the need for solutions that will last into the future. This study is a collaboration between Discover the Journey and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
Executive Summary English Full Report French Full Report