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From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613801584525312 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Buhrmann, Rolien Margarethe |
| author2 | Lamb, Guy |
| author_browse | Buhrmann, Rolien Margarethe Lamb, Guy |
| author_facet | Lamb, Guy Buhrmann, Rolien Margarethe |
| author_sort | Buhrmann, Rolien Margarethe |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135653 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:41:54.752Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135653 From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions Buhrmann, Rolien Margarethe Lamb, Guy Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science. Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Buhrmann, R. M. 2026. From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/2defc200-7b9e-4dc0-8662-76ad28269ffc United Nations (UN) post-conflict peacebuilding practices, including the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants, have been shown to reduce violence and prevent post-conflict rearmament under certain conditions. Nevertheless, many DDR programmes, most of which are in Africa, continue to produce mixed results, with reportedly limited sustainability and inadequate responsiveness to local conditions. Despite the theoretical “local turn” in peacebuilding and DDR literature, aimed at addressing these deficiencies, the concept of “local ownership” continues to fall short of being translated from rhetoric to practice in many instances. Adopting a post-liberal theoretical lens, this study addresses the underdeveloped analysis of these shortcomings in DDR literature by examining why there have been variations in the local ownership of DDR programmes in the context of UN peace missions in Africa. Drawing on data from 14 semi-structured interviews with DDR experts and practitioners, complemented by secondary desktop data, the study adopts a qualitative, most-similar comparative research design to investigate variations in local ownership across three African case studies: the MINUSCA DDR programme in the Central African Republic (2015–present), the UNOCI DDR programme in Côte d’Ivoire (2012–2015), and the UNMIS(S) DDR programme in South Sudan (2009–2012). By conducting a cross-case analysis of three potential variables, informed by prominent peacebuilding literature, the study examines how the nature of (i) local actor capacity, (ii) internal UN coordination, and (iii) operational flexibility influences the degree to which local ownership is realised in UN DDR programmes in Africa. It finds that the following conditions may inhibit genuine local ownership: limited organisational capacity of domestic actors, particularly government-representative actors; insufficient coordination between UN branches; and rigid operational frameworks and norms. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the influence of local actor capacity is overstated in the literature, while the flexible and collaborative approach of external stakeholders carries more weight. This analysis also underscores the inherently interactive nature of variables influencing local ownership, as well as how their effects may vary across different spheres of local actors. In light of the escalating conflict trends in Africa, local disillusionment with UN efficacy and legitimacy, and pending funding cuts to UN peace operations, the study’s findings are significant as they inform a preliminary framework of variables that might assist scholars and practitioners in better understanding how local ownership could translate from rhetoric to practice. In addition, the study illustrates how the UN’s institutional tendency of holding responsible local actors’ inevitable lack of post-conflict stability and resources for limited local ownership may risk legitimising liberal, interventionist imposition of international peace formulae. Finally, it suggests that the UN pivot away from overly standardised DDR frameworks in order to adopt a more flexible, streamlined, and contextually responsive approach to peacebuilding on the continent. Masters 2026-04-07T08:51:03Z 2026-04-07T08:51:03Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135653 en Stellenbosch University 171 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Buhrmann, Rolien Margarethe From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions |
| title | From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions |
| title_full | From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions |
| title_fullStr | From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions |
| title_short | From Rhetoric to Practice: Understanding Variations in Local Ownership of UN DDR Across Three African Peace Missions |
| title_sort | from rhetoric to practice understanding variations in local ownership of un ddr across three african peace missions |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135653 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT buhrmannrolienmargarethe fromrhetorictopracticeunderstandingvariationsinlocalownershipofunddracrossthreeafricanpeacemissions |