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Purpose South Sudan is embroiled in a conflict that erupted in December 2013. This study examines what people in South Sudan think is necessary to achieve reconciliation and how trauma exposure and PTSD are associated with those beliefs. Methods 1525 participants (51.0% female) were selected using random and purposive sampling in six states and Abyei. Participants reported on traumatic events, PTSD symptoms, and attitudes towards reconciliation mechanisms. Results Results indicated that 40.7% met symptom criteria for probable PTSD. Most participants thought reconciliation was not possible without prosecuting perpetrators or compensating victims and did not support amnesty. Participants with probable PTSD were more likely to endorse confessions (OR 2.42 [1.75, 3.35]), apologies (OR 2.04 [1.46, 2.83]), and amnesty (OR 1.58 [1.21, 2.08]), and to report that compensation (OR 2.32 [1.80, 3.00]) and prosecution (OR 1.47 [1.15, 1.89]) were not necessary for reconciliation. The more traumatic events people experienced, the more they endorsed criminal punishment for perpetrators (OR 1.07 [1.04, 1.10]) and the less they endorsed confessions (OR 0.97 [0.95, 0.99]). Conclusions People with PTSD may prioritize ending violence via opportunities for reconciliation, while those with more trauma exposure may support more punitive mechanisms. Policy makers should take mental health treatment and trauma into account when designing conflict mitigation, peace building, and justice mechanisms.

Progress in adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) remains unequal: adolescent pregnancies are more likely to occur in marginalised communities, or in very poor households. This study aimed to comprehend from adolescents' own perspectives, the circumstances of falling pregnant and coping with motherhood in informal settlements in South Africa, to better understand the SRH challenges adolescents in these settings may face. A qualitative study was carried out over a two-month period in 2019 to analyse the perceptions held by adolescents in informal settlements served by four community level clinics in the adjacent township. We found that adolescents face overlapping barriers in seeking to avoid unintended pregnancy in informal settlements.

With the rapid increase in the number of mega-infrastructure projects underway across East Africa, how the social, economic, political and environmental repercussions of these projects intersect with ongoing conflict dynamics is a poorly understood topic. Although recent interest in large-scale land acquisitions has led to a number of detailed investigations into specific projects and trends, there has not yet been a broad, systematic review of how large-scale infrastructure developments in East Africa interact with previous, ongoing and potential conflict in their areas of operation. The objective of this article is to report on an analysis of 26 mega-infrastructure projects across Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda, with an explicit focus on the common tension points that contribute to security dynamics. The methodology used involved two composite indicators of risk—a conflict risk score and a project impact score. The study found seven common tensions across all projects: in-migration, population displacement and relocation, a negative history of community relations with previous or follow-on developments, land rights, securitisation, environmental degradation and expectations of the local population relative to benefits delivered by the project. The study recommends increased attention on prior assessments that focus on the broader and more interconnected impacts in addition to those confined to the immediate project location, as well as in-depth examination of possible mitigation measures. JEL Classification: O1, O2, Q2, Q3, Q4, R1, R4