INTRODUCTION
As a result of armed conflict and civil strife over the past two decades, the north and west of Uganda were contaminated by mines/ERW, particularly along the country’s borders with South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since 2007, Danish Demining Group (DDG) has implemented a mine/ERW clearance programme in Uganda in association with the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF – Ugandan military) and the Uganda Police Force (UPF).
In October 2010, DDG expanded its operations in the country by initiating its first ever Community Safety Programme. The programme was introduced in the conflict-prone Karamoja region of Uganda,1 which was targeted due to its unique context. The region is characterised by cross-border cattle raiding facilitated by the widespread use and availability of small arms; unpopular and often brutal forced disarmament initiatives carried out by the UPDF; community mistrust of the UPDF and UPF; and scarcity of key resources like access to water and grazing land.
The purpose of this case study is to examine the rationale, approach and lessons learnt from DDG’s Community Safety Programme in Karamoja to date, including how DDG has adapted the programming approach first piloted in Somaliland to the unique complexities of the conflict-prone Karamoja region.2