Demobilization, And Reintegration Programs Research Articles

Protection gaps: child soldier rehabilitation and militarized governance in Sri Lanka

Abstract Child soldier disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) practice has a strong normative commitment to protect children from harm and violence. However, there exist policy and research knowledge gaps in comprehending the translation of such norms in meeting the social and protective needs of children. In Sri Lanka from 2009, 594 former child soldiers from the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Elam (LTTE) underwent a national rehabilitation programme. National engagement with international child protection norms could not materialize from a militarized governance framework implemented at the end of the civil war. This article provides a primary source of data based on 45 semi-structured interviews with former boy and girl child soldiers from the LTTE. The Sri Lankan case-study demonstrates that the DDR programme resulted in the re-calibration of social and political control over child and adult participants. Former child soldiers' social and protective needs therefore remain complex and unresolved because of state generated structural violence related to poverty and militarization. The article advances a framework to account for a generational power dynamic of adult-child relations, and the politics of institutionalized protection to account for children's formal rehabilitation and return experiences.

The Impact of Civilians Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) on Post-Conflict Security in South Sudan

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the significance of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) interventions in post-conflict rehabilitation, specifically focusing on their role in ensuring sustainable peace and security sector reforms in South Sudan.
 Methodology: This study employed a comprehensive approach to evaluate the impact of DDR programs in South Sudan. It involved a critical review of academic literature, reports, mitigation programs, and credible news sources from reputable organizations to assess the effectiveness of DDR initiatives in promoting long-term peace and stability.
 Findings: The findings underscored the crucial function of DDR programs in post-conflict security within South Sudan. They highlighted the positive effects of DDR interventions in fostering reconciliation, curbing arms proliferation, and facilitating the successful reintegration of former combatants into society.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study will contribute to both theoretical understanding and practical implementation by emphasizing the indispensable role of consistent international support for DDR initiatives in fragile post-conflict environments like South Sudan. It recommended continued investment in DDR programs to sustain peace-building efforts and enhance security sector reforms in the region.

Rethinking the Nexus: DDR and SSR in Post- and Evolving Conflict Contexts in Africa

Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR) programs are critical components of postwar transitional processes. The interlinkages between the two programs have been essential, especially in determining how combatants in armed groups and armed forces could become part of reconstituted security sector institutions, including the military and the police. Additionally, these links help determine who may be eligible as participants in these processes, and why some actors should be excluded. Over the past four or so decades, academic and policy understanding of postconflict settings has led to the acknowledgment that the two programs reinforce each other and should be designed to ensure fluidity and complementarity. However, there are usually gaps in linking the two, which have negative implications for peace, security, and stability in countries in transition from violence to peace. While there are several studies on the links between DDR and SSR, this paper seeks to examine both previous and current practices in both conflict and postconflict settings, with the aim of interrogating the changes that have been introduced over time to strengthen the links, and some of the gaps that are still existing, or emerging, especially as the nature of armed conflicts continue to change in Africa. Methodologically, the paper adopts a qualitative approach, through which interviews were conducted with practitioners, policy makers, and academics in the fields of DDR and SSR, across countries that previously implemented and those that are currently implementing DDR and SSR programs.

Pathways of Disarmament and the Challenges of Unmaking of a Girl Soldier in South Sudan

This article focuses on the analysis of the girl soldiers’ pathways out of violence in the rebels’ camps and the identification of the difficulties as experienced by former girl soldiers as they transition from the military to civilian life. This research adopted phenomenological research approach. The source of the primary data was from interviews of 71 former girl soldiers who participated in the South Sudan’s civil war in the defunct Gbudue State and who were attending vocational training as part of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program undertaken at Tindoko Interim Care Centre for Children. The 71 girls were selected through purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. This study found that girl soldiers exit armed forces either through an official demobilization process or by escaping on their own (self-demobilization). Unlike the official demobilization process in different parts of the world have typically had a military-and security-oriented approach where the surrender of weapons serves as a criterion to be included in the DDR programmes, the Child DDR programs in South Sudan seek to pave ways in which former girl soldiers are reintegrated into communities by providing them with suitable programmes in their civilian lives. Though they the ex-girl soldiers successfully returned home, they were confronted with frustration as they never received what were promised to them during the disarmament stage. Finally, the former girl soldiers experienced huge challenges of social reintegration into the community as they were feared as rebels, unequally treated in the family and they perceived the child DDR programmes into different views: one group viewed the reintegration programme as a betrayal because of the hindrances of many environmental factors and they considered themselves as unequally treated in the community and the second group who self-demobilized viewed the reintegration programme as a redeemer because they received what they wanted, and they considered themselves as equally treated.

LGBT Perspective in the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programs in Colombia

The aim of this paper is to discuss the incorporation of the LGBT perspective in the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) policies implemented by the Colombian State. To raise these reflections, a documentary review of the reports published by the Reincorporation and Standardization Agency (ARN by its acronym in Spanish) and its predecessor organizations, a series of interviews with officials of the institution and a workshop with a regional team were carried out. In general, we argue that despite the incursion of LGBT perspective in other policy areas of the Colombian transitional process, its integration in DDR programs is scarce since it presents some conceptual and political premises that prevents its recognition and administration process.

SIERRA LEONE: MAPPING THE DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILISATION-REMOBILISATION AND REINTEGRATION OF EX-COMBATANTS. PROSPECTS FOR SUSTAINABLE PEACE

Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programmes are necessary in states that experience armed conflict. Several post-conflict societies are usually characterised by the activities of individuals who undermine state-building efforts and prefer to work against joint problem solving aimed at sustaining peace. The study explores the change and continuity in the DDR programme and prospects for sustainable peace in Sierra Leone. With primary and secondary sources, including key informant interview with a former Minister, the paper responds to these questions: To what extent did remobilisation undermine peace agreements? How were the weapons and ex-combatants controlled by the government? What were the lessons and challenges of the DDR programme? How are the stakeholders sustaining post-DDR peace at the community level? The success of the state-building was occasioned by the joint problem-solving approach adopted by the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR), ECOMOG troops, the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leon, and other stakeholders at the community level. This paper stresses that the remobilisation of ex-combatants increased the intensity of the war which necessitated more external intervention to create enabling environment for state-building and security sector reforms. Sustaining peace in Sierra Leone demands continuous empowerment of youths and their active involvement in informal peace education. Post-DDR peacebuilding should be more youth-focused and development-oriented to prevent the resurgence of armed conflicts. Keywords:DDR, Ex-combatants, Peace agreement, Remobilisation, State building.

DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILIZATION AND REINTEGRATION (DDR) PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES IN AFRICA

The implementation of post conflict disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programme is usually characterised by several problems and challenges at various stages hence, this paper examined DDR problems and challenges in Africa. The paper argues that DDR programmes can only be effective if it is conducted in line with approved international standards as enshrined in the Integrated, Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS) manual. The study adopted the basic human needs theory as its theoretical framework and derived its data from secondary sources. The data collected were analysed qualitatively since the study was a descriptive study. The study revealed that DDR programme is a post-conflict nonviolent conflict resolution framework which been applied in several African countries including Nigeria, Angola, Liberia etc. Findings from the study also shows that the implementation of DDR programme in Africa is faced with series of challenges yet it has helped in transforming and resettling several ex-combatants and warlords back to normal civil society. Thus, for any DDR programme to be effective, attention must be paid to monitoring, supervision and the general welfare needs of ex-combatants and trainees in order to build trust and confidence from all the parties and stakeholders.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Employment Programmes for Ex-Combatants: A Case Study of Nigeria’s Post Amnesty Programme (PAP)

Employment of ex-militants is an important part of disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) programmes in societies emerging from armed conflicts. In this article, I examine the potential of Nigeria’s Post Amnesty Programme (PAP), a locally designed DDR programme, to contribute to the employment of ex-militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. I show that although the programme has focused on training, its design and implementation has not been informed by a clear understanding of the private sector environment where ex-militants are expected to find work in the Niger Delta. I demonstrate empirically how programmes that are designed to address employment of ex-militants can easily fall short of expectations. I suggest that a baseline understanding of the needs of private sector employers is an essential part of youth employment programmes in fragile and conflict-affected societies.

Veto Players in Post-Conflict DDR Programs: Evidence From Nepal and the DRC

ABSTRACTUnder what conditions are Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programs successfully implemented following intrastate conflict? Previous research is dominated by under-theorized case studies that lack the ability to detect the precise factors and mechanisms that lead to successful DDR. In this article, we draw on game theory and ask how the number of veto players, their policy distance, and their internal cohesion impact DDR implementation. Using empirical evidence from Nepal and the Democratic Republic of Congo, we show that the number of veto players, rather than their distance and cohesion, explains the (lack of) implementation of DDR.

The Conundrum of DDR Coordination: The Case of South Sudan

This article analyses the nature of coordination between the various stakeholders during the design and implementation of a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process. It makes detailed reference to the contemporary DDR programme in South Sudan as this African country is a relevant example of significant international and local efforts to facilitate DDR coordination in a fragile and complex political and operational environment. The analyses showed that in South Sudan, coordination appeared to have been negatively affected by hierarchical, convoluted and inflexible organisational structures and arrangements. In addition, further contributing factors included: inadequate communication; uncertainty over roles and responsibilities; and unequal access to financial resources. Moreover it was apparent that these arrangements and dynamics fostered inter-organisational tensions and eroded trust between stakeholders. This ultimately resulted in fragmented and sub-standard DDR outcomes.

Consolidating or Corrupting the Peace? The Power Elite and Amnesty Policy in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

After granting unconditional amnesty to militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta region in 2009, the Nigerian federal government launched a comprehensive peace-building program anchored on disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) in a bid to arrest violent attacks on oil infrastructures. Puzzlingly, nearly a decade of costly DDR programming has not engendered sustainable peace in the region. This study, which draws on both primary and secondary sources of data, examines the resurgence of violence in the Niger Delta by problematizing the informal relations between power elites and youths. Analysis of responses from in-depth interviews with various stakeholders in the peace process reveals that politics in the region is embedded in and governed by the informal logic of patron–clientelism and corruption. As a result, the post-conflict peace-building mechanisms of amnesty and DDR programs designed to build peace through youth empowerment have been captured and corrupted by power elites. In their do-or-die struggles for power positions and oil revenues, the elites have criminalized some ex-militants by mobilizing them as thugs, kidnappers, and oil thieves, thus posing a huge threat to sustainable peace and democratic consolidation in the region. The study indicts political desperation, systemic corruption, poor policy execution, and weak public institutions for the impunity of the elites and criminalized youths. It recommends value re-orientation and strengthening of public institutions to mitigate corruption and social violence among leaders and followers alike.

High Risk or Low Risk: Screening for Violent Extremists in DDR Programmes

ABSTRACTProgrammes of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) are increasingly implemented in contexts of violent extremist conflict. In such settings, DDR practitioners may need to distinguish between ex-combatants who can be safely reintegrated into civilian life, and ex-combatants who are likely to present a danger to the community in terms of violent and/or extremist re-offending. To help practitioners make this assessment, this paper explores how risk assessment tools used by psychologists in criminal justice settings may be adapted to screen for violent extremist offenders in DDR programmes. The findings suggest that the method of structured professional judgment (SPJ) can be used to assess the risk that individual ex-combatants will re-offend upon return to civilian life. By extension, SPJ can also: (1) help practitioners to understand what type of deradicalization and disengagement programming former members of extremist groups may require and (2) contribute to decisions concerning the release of ex-combatants from prisons and transitional DDR centres.

Girl child soldiers: Towards a gender-sensitive approach?

Though the recruitment of child soldiers is a violation of universally accepted human rights and humanitarian law, hundreds of thousands of children participate in armed conflicts today all over the world. Among these child soldiers, girls are the most vulnerable group. Apart from actively participating in the conflict, they usually experience other grave human rights violations, including forced marriage and sexual abuse. Yet, they still constitute the most invisible group of those participating in armed conflicts. The paper aims to fill this gap and examines the current situation of girl child soldiers with particular attention to the post-conflict reconstruction process and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes. It builds on the assumption that the experience of girls is distinct from that of boys, and argues that a gender-sensitive approach has not yet been sufficiently incorporated into strategies. Therefore, the paper proposes the adoption of a distinct protection regime in international law and the recognition of the complexity of girl child soldier experiences during policy making. The implementation of this approach can lead to more efficient DDR programmes and higher participation rates, while it can also transform the public perception that places boys at the core of the child soldier phenomenon.

Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in unconventional settings: the case of MINUSTAH’s community violence reduction

ABSTRACTDisarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes form part of standard post-conflict peacebuilding tools regularly applied in the context of UN peacekeeping operations. Yet, the limitations of such templates become evident when peacebuilders are confronted with unconventional settings, such as the urban environment. So far, there is a scarcity of research on UN-led DDR efforts in cities, even though the proliferation of urban armed groups is projected to pose an intractable challenge for decades to come. Based on six months of fieldwork in Port-au-Prince, this article presents new empirical evidence on innovative DDR programming in Haiti, the only country where a United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) tried to implement a traditional DDR programme for gang members. As this attempt proved to be a failure, the mission subsequently changed its approach to a more community-focused armed violence reduction and prevention programme which aims to disincentivize at-risk sections of the population from joining gangs. Even though the current community violence reduction approach is better adapted to the unconventional conflict environment in Haiti and is seen by many practitioners today as a role model, it shares a number of limitations with traditional DDR programmes and is not a panacea for urban peacebuilding.

Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) in Rwanda, 1997-2008: A Desk Exegesis and Agenda for Praxis

This paper examines the Rwandan experience of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) from 1997 to 2008, with a view to x-raying the nature, pattern, principles, and legacies of DDR in that context, in addition to setting agenda for the practice of DDR elsewhere in Africa. By way of a desk exegesis, the paper posits that DDR was significantly successful given the fact that it led to successful demobilisation and reintegration of a large number of ex-combatants who participated in the Rwanda crisis. The paper notes, however that the Rwanda DDR failed to a large extent in disarming and demobilizing many of the ex-armed groups operating in the country and its proximate region. In the light of the limited success of the Rwandan DDR efforts, it is therefore recommended that future DDR programmes in Africa should be holistic and pragmatic enough to address the concerns of DDR within the formal military sector as well as frontiers of militia formations. This entails considering DDR not merely as a Security Sector Reform (SSR), but essentially, an effort at state building in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Implementing DDR in Settings of Ongoing Conflict: The Organization and Fragmentation of Armed Groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Although it is common for armed groups to splinter (or “fragment”) during contexts of multi-party civil war, current guidance on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) does not address the challenges that arise when recalcitrant fighters, unwilling to report to DDR, break ranks and form new armed groups. This Practice Note addresses this issue, drawing lessons from the multi-party context of the DRC and from the experiences of former members of three armed groups: the Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma), the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), and the DRC national army (FARDC). While the findings indicate that the fragmentation of armed groups may encourage desertion and subsequent participation in DDR, they also show that active armed groups may monitor DDR programs and track those who demobilize. Remobilization may follow, either as active armed groups target ex-combatants for forced re-recruitment or as ex-combatants remobilize in armed groups of their own choice. Given these dynamics, practitioners in settings of partial peace may find it useful to consider non-traditional methods of DDR such as the use of mobile patrols and mobile disarmament units. The temporary relocation of ex-combatants to safe areas free from armed groups, or to protected transitional assistance camps, may also help to minimize remobilization during the reintegration phase.

Destructive entrepreneurship and the security context

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to deliver insight from the concept of destructive entrepreneurship to program design considerations in conflict regions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper discusses and connects destructive entrepreneurship – an important yet largely unexplored question in the entrepreneurship literature – with security policy, related to evolving directions in the counterinsurgency literature and the traditional disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) literature. Findings – Counterinsurgency is increasingly the approach used by international and domestic policymakers when dealing with regional conflict, and DDR processes have been used for decades to transition former combatants into civilian life. Three broad considerations are particularly salient (timing/sequencing/phasing, benefits and beneficiaries, and measurement) for DDR programs in the counterinsurgency context. Practical implications – An incentives-based approach to understanding destructive entrepreneurship can provide useful insights for these two approaches and in particular, how they can be used together. Originality/value – This paper expands the current scope of understanding of destructive entrepreneurship to the previously unconnected security policy contexts related to counterinsurgency and DDR.

Rethinking Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programs

This article introduces the special issue on DDR and ‘Armed Non-Statutory Actors’ (ANSAs) which we prefer to the less precise label of Armed Non-State Actors. The understanding that disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs are essential in helping to prevent the recurrence of war in post-conflict situations is at the heart of current peacebuilding practice and the academic literature on peacekeeping and stabilization. But the changing strategic context of DDR programs and in particular the proliferation of ANSAs presents new challenges, the responses to which have been characterized as ‘second generation’ DDR. The changing context poses new questions and forces us to rethink assumptions and templates of DDR as the concept is blurred and expanded. The question is if it makes sense to hold on to the concept or whether the assumptions associated with it will get in the way of rethinking templates for violence reduction in the future.

Next Generation Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

The process of disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating ex-soldiers at conflict’s end is as old as war itself. The results of these efforts are far from even. Even so, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) has assumed a central place in the imagination of the peace, security and development communities. It is frequently advanced as a key pillar of multilateral and bilateral stabilization and reconstruction efforts at war’s end. Yet, the contexts in which DDR is conducted are also changing. As the United Nations and others grapple with the new geographies of organized violence, it is hardly surprising that they are also adapting their approaches. Organizations operating in war zones (and also outside of them) are struggling to identify ways of ‘disengaging’ Al Shabaab in Somalia or northern Kenya, Jihadi fighters in Syria and Iraq, Taliban remnants in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Boko Haram militia in Nigeria. There are increasingly complex legal and operational challenges for those involved in DDR about when, how and with whom to engage. In order to effectively engage with these dilemmas, this article considers the evolving form and character of DDR programs. In the process, it considers a host of opportunities and obstacles confronting scholars and practitioners in the twenty first century, offering insights on future trajectories.

Invisible Labour: The Political Economy of Reintegration in South Sudan

This article considers the 2005–12 Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programme in South Sudan. Current DDR practice centres on ex-combatants' reintegration through encouraging entrepreneurship and self-employment and thereby their willingness to take risks and responsibility. However, South Sudan's DDR programme invisibilizes and obscures the ex-combatants' endogenous capacity to adapt and generate an income. Based on in-depth interviews with participants of the DDR programme and key stakeholders, the article argues that DDR interventions seldom capture the labour market experience of demobilized combatants. The article concludes that self-employment is the solution to the process of reintegration, empowerment and ultimately a key to statebuilding.