Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration (DDR) & Weapons and Ammunitions Management (WAM) with human rights approach

Photo credit: UNDP Mali

The UN-AU partnership enhances executive and legislative oversight roles of South Sudan’s National Transitional Committee, Legislative Assembly and Council of States in implementing DDR, the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangement of Peace Agreement, to prevent escalation of violence and sustaining peace.

UNOAU, together with the UN Department of Peace Operations, ensures the development of a gender‑ and child‑sensitive legal framework for returnees in place, as part of AU’s Quick Impact Project (QIP) Assessment in Burundi, for repatriating foreign armed groups from the DRC.

UNOAU supports the AU High Representative on Silencing the Guns initiative with Koffi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center.

Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC)

UNOAU, together with the SRSG for Children And Armed Conflict, advocates for the protection of the rights of children affected by conflict through the AU Banjul Process.

This includes prioritizing children’s needs in DDR processes and ensuring their protection, access to education, psychosocial support, and the rehabilitation of Children Associated with Armed Groups, including child soldiers, to prevent re‑recruitment.

In collaboration with UNICEF and UNESCO, UNOAU also supports AU efforts to advocate the right to education of children and youth formerly associated with armed groups, taking forward the African Union Decade of Education 2025 to 2034.