Chapter 2.2: Open Source Investigations on the Ground: Reflections on Experiences from South Sudan

This chapter demonstrates that open source research does not just involve advanced technologies and remote monitoring. Local knowledge is essential to effective investigations, as provided by trusted networks of people that have expert understanding of the local terrain and specific cultural, security and political contexts. However, such local expertise is often overlooked and undersupported. The chapter aims to rectify this by detailing work monitoring armaments in South Sudan, with a particular emphasis on small arms and light weapons (SALW). It considers the role of civil society organizations in verifying arms control instruments and discusses the possibilities of establishing global monitoring and verification mechanisms for arms control and humanitarian disarmament. The work of the South Sudan Network on Small Arms (SSANSA) is presented to showcase civil society work in South Sudan, demonstrating the value, reality and challenges of on-the-ground open source research.