Demobilization And Reintegration 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.

A self-fulfilling prophecy? Constructions of youth-as-troublemakers in UN DDR processes

Youth as a category that informs international interventions in conflict-affected settings has gained currency in the past decade. This article traces the rising rhetoric of youth in UN Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) discourse and demonstrates how changes in its dominant representations have implications beyond the matter of semantics. Drawing on post-structuralist traditions, the article highlights how the DDR discourse delineates problems through particular framings that call forth certain solutions, which in turn reinforce the very (mis)understandings that underlie the interventions. A case study from the Central African Republic illustrates how the hegemonic representation of youth-as-troublemakers in UN documents, together with a compelling narrative that naturalized the link between youth, unemployment and violence, made possible and conferred legitimacy to the proliferation of projects with an overwhelming economic focus. The article discusses how the resource landscape, such as opportunities to unlock earmarked funding, incentivizes the reproduction of certain constructions of youth that align with today’s policy panic around violent extremism. In so doing, it puts into question the instrumental approach towards discourse by pointing to surprising ways in which discourses become appropriated by both international peacebuilders and the ‘subjects’ of these interventions.

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.

Traditional authorities as both curse and cure: the politics of coping with violent extremism in Somalia

ABSTRACT This paper explores community perceptions about traditional authorities’ roles during the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants. We have selected the case of Somalia, where both government institutions and traditional authorities have partnered with international actors and institutions, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE). International actors have related to traditional authorities based on the assumption that these actors wield a kind of social power that facilitates the reintegration of former members of the violent extremist organisation al-Shabaab. Based on mixed methodology research we explain social reintegration in Somalia from the community perspective, and find that P/CVE programmes are expressive of co-optation of traditional authorities. We make the case that ‘risk coping’ helps explain why a majority of civilians prefer the government-led formal reintegration pathway of ex-combatants to the traditional authorities pathway. We conclude by discussing the implications that this has for NGOs/INGOs active in this P/CVE sector.

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.

Can the Rebel Body Function without its Visible Heads? The Role of Mid-Level Commanders in Peacebuilding

ABSTRACT Mid-level commanders are commonly considered the visible heads of the rebel body: as leaders of combat operations, they are often targeted in counterterrorism or counterinsurgency operations. While their role during conflict has been theorized extensively, only recent scholarship has focused on mid-level commanders in post-conflict transitions. Specifically, it is not clear how mid-level commanders function within ex-combatant groups to create divergent peacebuilding results. This paper argues that transitions from conflict involve fraying of wartime bonds and rebel command-and-control structures, which is counterproductive to peace when rebels demobilize collectively. In peacetime and in the absence of wartime command, social groups formed through military logic struggle to redefine individual roles. Mid-level commanders, responsible for shaping intergroup bonds during conflict, are essential for allocating ex-combatant roles and redefining rebel-civilian relations. Against the common practice of breaking rebel wartime command-and-control structure during demobilization, this paper argues that ex-combatant groups can demobilize and reintegrate more successfully if they maintain their wartime cohesion and are provided the necessary tools for building sustainable livelihoods. To support the argument, the paper provides original qualitative and quantitative evidence from the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programme with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

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.

Developing Transitional Justice for Youth: An Assessment of Youth Reintegration Programmes in Colombia

ABSTRACT∞ Young people, or ‘youth’ are one of the key groups affected by armed conflict as well as in the process of transitioning from it. This article explores what a youth-inclusive process of transitional justice may entail. It looks at the reintegration of youth, who were previously associated with armed groups, into civilian lives through Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes and broader community-based initiatives with a prevention focus that lie outside a traditional transitional justice framework. The article scopes the study to the context in Colombia. A selection of programmes is assessed alongside international standards on youth reintegration, particularly the UN Integrated DDR Standards on Youth and complemented with empirical evidence that attests the ways in which youth experience these interventions. In doing so, the article analyzes potential ‘blueprints’ for the programmatic response to youth reintegration and contribute to an under-researched area that links youth, transitional justice and guarantees of non-recurrence.

How Wartime Bonds Affect Ex-Combatant Political Attitudes: A Natural Experiment with the FARC

ABSTRACT What determines political attitudes of ex-combatant after conflict, specifically the inclination towards rearmament? And to what extent do these attitudes depend on ex-combatants’ individual profiles? I argue that ex-combatant political attitudes are determined by whether wartime bonds are maintained after conflict. The argument indirectly implies that the impact of individual characteristics, such as gender, age, education, time in conflict, and family relations, fade in the face of group-level factors determined both during and after conflict. The argument highlights the challenge of post-conflict peacebuilding, where keeping intact the organizational structure of rebel groups might lead to peace but discourage reintegration into the country’s political (non-rebel) institutions. The Colombian Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) program’s design with a long demobilization process in camps lends itself to a natural experiment to distinguish community effects from individual-level influencers of ex-combatant political attitudes. Relying on data I have collected through 121 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with FARC ex-combatants residing in five ETCR, I find ex-combatants that have maintained their primary group cohesion in the post-conflict era have stronger secondary group cohesion, more favorable attitudes towards DDR, and less enthusiasm towards rearming. However, they have less trust in the government.

The United Nations mission in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste during and after the process of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) in the years 2000-2004 did not achieve an acceptable level of security. This article, using a DDR maximalist perspective and a liberal perspective in security studies, examines the UN limitations in providing a solid problem-solving process and its implications for DDR. The qualitative data collected from several personal interviews to different stakeholders is analyzed using thematic analysis. Based on these interviews and observations this research finds that the UN had several limitations to carry out DDR in Timor-Leste, being the most salient, the weak legitimacy and the lack of professionalism in human resources.

Assessing the Challenges of Armed Groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Kivu Region

Whilst the role of various peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was to restore sustainable stability in the eastern parts of the country, the protracted armed conflicts and increase of armed groups in the Kivu region raises concerns and poses peace and security problems not for the DRC alone, but also for the Great Lakes region. To stabilise and neutralise armed groups in this region, the DRC government and its international partners have implemented various peace efforts since the escalation of wars in 1996 to the present, including the six-country ceasefire signed in July 1999 in Lusaka, the July 2002 peace deal between the DRC and Rwanda for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops and the disarmament of Rwandan Hutu militias in eastern DRC, the January 2008 accord between the DRC government and rebel groups, and a series of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programmes to neutralise non-state armed groups. However, despites these efforts, armed groups have increased and the situation in the Kivu region remains precarious. Using theories such as the human needs theory of conflict and the economic theory of conflict, this study investigated various factors behind the increase and resistance of armed groups in the Kivu region. The study reveals that long-standing grievances and unresolved crises are behind the resistance of armed groups in the Kivu region, and delineates better approaches to address the problem of armed groups such as the establishment of a long-term reconciliation mechanism to address ethnic resentment and a national development plan to address socio-economic deprivation and hardships of life. This qualitative study used the documentary review method for data collection and analysis.

SECURITY WITHOUT JUSTICE: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILISATION AND REINTEGRATION PROCESSES IN THE NIGER DELTA, NIGERIA

The Niger Delta inhabitants became radicalised after Kaima Declaration under the auspices of Ijaw Youth Movement. The conference extensively considered the activities of the multinational oil companies as related to oil exploration and exploitation, and underdevelopment of the Niger Delta region. The decisions reached at the conference included positive and negative consequences towards peace and security in the region. Following this conference, militant groups were formed by various communities that represented at the conference. The militant groups involved in nefarious activities such as kidnapping and killing of oil workers, government officials and foreigners; they also involved in destruction of oil installations. Nigerian Government deployed military to enforce law and order in the region. The presence of military in the region led to confrontation with the militant groups. To resolve the conflict, government began de-radicalisation processes. Amnesty was given to the militant groups, Ministry of Niger Delta was created; this was followed by disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process. It was discovered in this study that radicalisation was a result of neglect, divide and rule, inequality, lack of development. The paper therefore suggested a long process of de-radicalisation programme to sustain fragile peace in the region; this is expected to be combined with transitional justice processes in order to serve the interest of victims of the conflict.

Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration in Colombia: Lost human rights opportunities for ex-combatants with disabilities

This article examines whether and how the circumstances of Colombian ex-combatants with disabilities were recognized in the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) processes in the period following the adoption of the 2016 peace agreement. Our results suggest severe procedural and substantive shortcomings during the drafting of the peace agreement and the implementation of the DDR processes that exacerbated the exclusion of ex-combatants with disabilities from available opportunities for their social, economic, and political reintegration. We conclude that a better understanding of the disabling impact of conflict and the experiences of impairment and disability could have mitigated such neglect.

Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) after proxy wars: reconceptualising the consequences of external support

The phenomenon of war by proxy has received inadequate academic analysis. At the same time, an understanding of how ex-combatants are demobilised, disarmed and reintegrated into society after conflicts that have seen large-scale third-party intervention has been systematically overlooked. In seeking to rectify this gap and transform understanding of peacebuilding after proxy wars, this article will enhance the conceptualisation of the effect of proxy wars on post-conflict development. In order to achieve this, the article is split into five main parts. The first section assesses disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) and proxy wars in theory and practice to establish some conceptual fundamentals. The second section analyses the nature of proxy war and highlights the problems it poses for the commencement of DDR policies. The third section analyses how the implementation of DDR policies has historically accounted for the role played by external actors. The fourth section utilises a case study approach to look at the DDR consequences of the recent proxy war against Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq. The fifth section ties the policy and scholarly issues together by exploring some important lessons for DDR policy design and implementation after proxy wars.

Rethinking female ex-combatants, reintegration, and DDR: towards political reintegration?

ABSTRACT United Nations-led Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes have increasingly included female ex-combatants; however, the contribution of such DDR programmes to female ex-combatants’ empowerment and reintegration, as well as to peace-building, remains debated. Drawing on 77 semi-structured interviews with female ex-combatants and DDR officials in Liberia and Nepal, this article explores the potential of political reintegration to better support female ex-combatants’ reintegration and the building of an inclusive, positive peace. This article contends that political reintegration can provide female ex-combatants with peaceable means to address grievances and bring together ex-combatants and non-combatants to work towards peace. Political reintegration support should not be a substitute for economic and social reintegration or physical and mental health support, but rather should work to compliment these. To be meaningful to female ex-combatants and to peace, political reintegration support must prevent a ‘triple burden’ of productive, reproductive, and peace-building/political labour. Lastly, this article argues that UN-led DDR has potential to contribute to or undermine building an inclusive, positive peace if it were to provide reintegration support to female ex-combatants.

‘Together at the Heart’: Familial Relations and the Social Reintegration of Ex-combatants

ABSTRACT Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) processes will often dismantle the command-and-control structures of non-state armed groups (NSAGs) to prevent possible remobilization. Recent studies demonstrate that in some cases ex-combatant networks provide important social and economic support that hasten transitions to civilian life; however, this literature focuses exclusively on networks that emerge among commanders, peers, and foot soldiers. In this article, we broaden existing literature on ex-combatant networks by examining the role that family relations play in combatants’ war and post-war trajectory. Drawing on 18 life history interviews with former male combatants from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) we argue that the familial can often be as influential as peer-relations. Specifically, our study shows that, first, familiies can shape the defection, demobilization, and reintegration processes of ex-combatants, and, second, ex-combatant networks can play an important role in facilitating the reunion of families in the aftermath of war. The endurance of familial relations forged within NSAGs pose important considerations to DDR policies.

Notes on Optimal Reintegration Contracts

ABSTRACT Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs are known to be a necessary component to achieve sustainable peace after an armed conflict. The main goal of this type of program is to help the transition for former soldiers from war to a sustainable legal economic activity. However, due to weak institutions and poor design and implementation, such programs often result in many former soldiers ending up unemployed, in criminal activities, or returning to armed rebel groups. In this paper, I propose an optimal reintegration contract using tools from unemployment insurance literature. In this model, a principal (government) collects taxes from the community to fund a reintegration program that gives incentives to agents (insurgent soldiers) to leave war and search for a job. I describe how information asymmetries and the conditions of labor and crime markets shape the benefits scheme offered by the principal and the selection of insurgents who join the reintegration program.

Home Is Where the Heart Is: Identity, Return and the Toleka Bicycle Taxi Union in Congo’s Equateur

Abstract Since the end of the 2006 post-war transition, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the international community have struggled to design, finance and implement a host of national and regional disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes. The weak capacity of implementing institutions, widespread corruption, funding gaps, Western-driven processes and a misdiagnosis of local needs have all been raised as core reasons behind failures. Little is known about how processes of ex-combatant return shape and reshape public authority, where former combatants return to, how they negotiate and experience ‘return’ and how viable ways of life are successfully constituted post return. While many ex-combatants in the DRC continue to be re-recruited into militia groups, one group that has reintegrated successfully is the Toleka—a several-thousand-strong group of ex-combatants who returned (or remained) in the provincial capital of Mbandaka (Equateur province). The Toleka formed a bicycle-taxi organization and unionized its membership, providing protections and collective-bargaining authority to the group, while providing a public good. It also helped to reshape identities, produce a sense of civilian solidarity and provide a bridging function from life in the military. This article looks at how this organization was formed, how the former fighters identified and capitalized on a local need and the conditions that allowed them to successfully unionize and protect their rights as they re-entered civilian life. Based on extensive fieldwork and interviews, this article seeks to understand a case of ‘successful’ return in a region with few such successes.

NONVIOLENT COUNTERTERRORISM MEASURES AND INTERNAL SECURITY OF AFRICAN STATES: A REVIEW OF NIGERIA’S AMNESTY POLICY

This paper strived to unravel the impact of nonviolent counterterrorism measures on the internal security of African states with specific reference to Nigeria’s amnesty policy in Niger Delta region. The study adopted the rational choice theory of terrorism as its theoretical framework and derived its data from secondary sources which included official policy documents from, Nigeria’s amnesty office including textbooks, journal articles and internet materials etc. Data collected from these sources were analysed through qualitative method and content analysis. Findings from the study shows that nonviolent counterterrorism measures and strategies through post-conflict disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programmes have helped in resettling several ex-combatants and their families back to the society in several African states including Nigeria, Burundi, Rwanda, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) etc. In the same vein, the study observed that the use of military force (violent counterterrorism measures and strategies) by states has also helped to escalate and prolong conflicts in Africa. Some recommendations were made which included the need to strengthen civil-military relations especially in the area of intelligence gathering and dissemination. There is need for African states to also engage in counter-radicalization of their citizens through massive investments in education, public enlightenment and socio-economic development, and the provision of basic social amenities.