Practical pathways to peace

The report argues that inclusivity is vital for sustaining peace and must be integrated into every stage of the peace continuum, from mediation to state-building. Using Liberia and South Sudan as case studies, it contrasts Liberia's relatively successful inclusive frameworks and unified regional support from ECOWAS with South Sudan's elite-driven processes and fragmented regional response from IGAD. The document highlights that technical exercises in security sector reform (SSR) and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) often fail if they do not address underlying political power structures and incentives for spoilers. It concludes with recommendations for the UN to prioritise joint analysis, community consultation, and support for institutionalised regional governance frameworks to ensure sustainable, inclusive peace.

• Liberia's mediation process successfully balanced power by including warring factions, political parties, and civil society in the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), while ensuring that NTGL appointees could not contest the 2005 elections to prevent them from dominating the political process.
• In contrast, South Sudan's mediation efforts, such as the 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCISS), focused narrowly on two main parties and failed to address the incentives of these actors or the grievances of excluded groups.
• Liberia's DDR and SSR processes were more effective because they completely disbanded the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and engaged communities in the design, though they struggled with high unemployment (approximately 75%) and the exclusion of some power brokers.
• South Sudan's DDR and SSR efforts failed due to a lack of political inclusivity, ineffective reintegration, and a 'big tent' approach that expanded the army through amnesty packages to militias rather than downsizing it.
• State-building in Liberia benefited from inclusive national frameworks like Liberia Rising 2030, although it still faces challenges regarding constitutional reform and governance-focused decentralisation.
• State-building in South Sudan was hindered by a predominantly technical approach by donors that prioritised central state institutions in Juba and failed to distinguish between the SPLM ruling party and state institutions.
• The effectiveness of regional bodies depends on their unity; ECOWAS provided a unified response to Liberia after moving beyond individual member state interests, whereas IGAD's response to South Sudan was hindered by the conflicting interests of member states like Ethiopia, Uganda, and Sudan.

APA

Lucey, A., & Kumalo, L. (2018). Practical pathways to peace. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar-10.pdf

Chicago

Lucey, Amanda, and Liezelle Kumalo. Practical pathways to peace. Institute for Security Studies, 2018. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar-10.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lucey |first1=Amanda |last2=Kumalo |first2=Liezelle |title=Practical pathways to peace |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=June 2018 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar-10.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lucey2018practical, author = {Lucey, Amanda and Kumalo, Liezelle}, title = {{Practical pathways to peace}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar-10.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }