The Complexities of DDR: Identifying Challenges and Possibilities in Post-Conflict Societies

This paper analyses how DDR programs often fail to secure long-term stability due to inadequate funding, restrictive admission criteria, and the systemic exclusion of women and girls, arguing that more inclusive and well-resourced strategies are essential for achieving sustainable, positive peace.

Introduction

DDR is an acronym for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. Its programs and initiatives have become essential in peacekeeping efforts and have aided in many post-conflict reconstruction activities in countries across the globe, such as Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Angola. However, implementation is still seen as complex and problematic. While DDR primarily focuses on former combatants, victims are often indirectly affected by its programs in several ways, and sometimes, there are combatants and victims that are overlooked entirely.

In this paper I will use the theory of negative peace and positive peace, as introduced by Johan Galtung, in order to better assess DDR processes in post-conflict societies, aiming to present the findings in a clear manner. Negative peace refers to the absence of direct violence or conflict, which DDR programs often achieve by disarming combatants and reducing immediate security threats. While, in contrast, positive peace encompasses the presence of social justice, equality, and the resolution of underlying causes of conflict, as well as reconciliation and societal structures that promote long-term stability and peace. These are all key areas where DDR initiatives often fall short, with the majority of challenges seemingly stemming from the reintegration component, which seeks to promote the social and economic participation of former combatants within their former communities. Addressing these reintegration challenges more effectively, often technical in nature, could significantly enhance the odds of achieving long-term positive peace in post-conflict societies.

Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping

To further understand what DDR entails it is important to first grasp the concepts of peacebuilding and peacekeeping and how they relate to DDR programs and initiatives. Peacebuilding involves addressing the root causes of conflict, promoting social cohesion, and establishing institutions that can prevent the resurgence of violence. This has been key when it comes to addressing any conflict, in many regards thanks to the work of formerly mentioned Johan Galtung (Ramsbotham, Woodhouse and Miall, 2016, p.266), with peacebuilding being closely linked to the ideas of positive peace.

Peacebuilding ideas have been revised over time, thanks to scholars working within the field. Realising its complexities and that the peace processes must focus more on ground level initiatives, empowering communities instead of having peace agreements done and controlled by the elites only (Ramsbotham, Woodhouse and Miall, 2016, p.274). This further shows the strengths behind the concepts of positive peace, the ideas of reshaping society towards social justice and equality to enhance the chances of a successful and lasting peace.

Peacekeeping, on the other hand, involves the deployment of international forces to maintain ceasefires and ensure security, and provide immediate stability. Peacekeeping is primarily used in three instances: to contain any violence in order to prevent it from escalating into war; to limit the intensity, stopping it from spreading to new areas and finally to strengthen and stabilise any ongoing ceasefires (Ramsbotham, Woodhouse and Miall, 2016, p.173). This, and the whole idea of peacekeeping is primarily a negative peace, which means that the stability created is unlikely to last should the peacekeeping forces leave, as root causes, social justice or any societal structures have been kept unaddressed.

Some challenges towards sustainable peace

One key issue identified by Theissen (2004) concerns the reintegration process, where pursuing criminal prosecutions immediately after civil strife may be unfeasible. The lack of procedural standards could either provoke renewed violence or lead to new injustices. This, of course, makes reintegration difficult in some cases where victims must welcome back former combatants into their communities without the closure that justice from the law might have provided them with. Unresolved grievances may therefore prolong tensions between former fighters and those who suffered during the conflict. It is also common that local communities are resistant to the return of ex-combatants. In Angola for example, it was identified that the abuses committed by ex-combatants, coupled with fear of them triggering localised conflicts upon their return, created significant resistance from local communities (Brussels, 2003).

Another challenge that has been identified in post-conflict peacebuilding is whenever the conflict involves an external intervener, such as the U.S with its coalition in Iraq. The U.S and coalition may have had the responsibility to address and aid with assistance in the peacebuilding efforts, but neither the U.S with its coalition nor even the United Nations had the necessary local credibility (Lambourne, 2003). This raises the question of how any kind of effective reconciliation or reintegration processes can be done in such a case.

A third issue identified is that Reintegration programs frequently overlook girls for its programs and initiatives, partly because there is a limited awareness and research identifying the girls’ roles and drivers within conflict. The girls in post-conflict areas are also often facing serious stigmatisation and rejection upon connecting with their families again, as they are perceived as having been sexually "used" (Haer and Böhmelt, 2018). Further, the research by Haer and Böhmelt (2018) highlights the complexities of defining child soldiers, which is far more challenging than it might initially seem. Does the term include individuals affiliated with armed groups but does not bear arms? Are girls recruited or forced into sexual roles considered child soldiers? Collecting information on child soldiers, particularly girls, is an equally difficult task. For one, the numbers of girls involved are rarely documented, especially in cases of forced recruitment. Secondly, girls often hesitate to disclose their experiences due to shame and fear of retribution (Haer and Böhmelt, 2018). These challenges contribute to the lack of awareness mentioned previously of the roles and drivers of girls in conflict and may explain why girls are frequently overlooked in DDR programs, as a universally accepted definition of child soldiers remains to be written.

Some research on why girls join armed groups do exists, research by Mazurana (2004) showed that some girls joined for revenge purposes, or to fight for justice. Others joined simply to escape abusive families, while in contrast some joined to please their families. Reasons vary, yet we must acknowledge that girls in armed groups do exist, and the failures to properly reintegrate girls reflect a missed opportunity. Ignoring their needs hinders the necessary steps which must be taken in order to achieve sustainable and positive peace.

Sierra Leone: Examining the admittance process

To further see how girls have been overlooked, in a study from Sierra Leone presented by Mazurana et al. (2004) they identified that the  DDR program overlooked specifically women and girls. In the admittance process, many of them would be labeled as “dependents”, making them unavailable to partake in any of the programs or receive the benefits it had to offer, which only those identified as “combatants” would receive (Mazurana et al., 2004, p.4). This issue is likely linked to the issues of the requirements for entry into the DDR program. First, you would have to be 18 years of age. You would then need to present a weapon, and finally you would be asked questions and also often required to disassemble and reassemble a gun, usually an AK-47, which was seen as a proof of participation in the conflict (Mazurana et al., 2004, p.18).

Children (17 years of age and below) would however be able to go to Interim Care Centers (ICCs) and there go through skills training or an educational program of their own choosing (Mazurana et al., 2004, p.18). Children were officially not required to present a weapon to enter DDR (Mazurana et al., 2004, p.3). Unfortunately, “nearly all interviewees who passed through DDR, despite official policy the weapons test was repeatedly administered to children to determine their admission into programs”(Mazurana et al., 2004, p.18).

This study from Sierra Leone presents a serious problem in the DDR’s admittance processes, especially for young children, but also women who have been recruited or forced into sexual roles, or as cooks, messengers or any other form of role in an armed group that does not include having access to a weapon. Testing children's, or anyone's knowledge and familiarity with an AK-47 should never be seen as any kind of requirement for the admission into DDR programs. By not incorporating proper admission tests, there is a risk that individuals, who turned away from DDR, may hide their grievances and traumas, which could lead to further grounds for conflict, meaning you might unintentionally be left with a negative peace. This could have easily been avoided as it is merely a technical challenge, like so much else is.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Returning ex-combatants

One challenge identified in DRC can be read in a study written by Martínez et al. (2021). They found that ex-combatants would return to the armed groups after participating in DDR programs. In the last two decades, three DDR programmes have been implemented, and the report focuses their effort on trying to find reasons and drivers for their return to the armed groups and violence (Martínez et al., 2021, p.7). In DRC there are more than 130 armed groups by estimations, and the third and latest DDR program was launched in 2015 but ended in 2018 due to lack of funding (Martínez et al., 2021, p.9). This presents us with yet another challenge towards sustainable and positive peace, namely the lack of funds. The third program had other shortcomings while it was still active, some of which may be rooted in precisely the  lack of funds. They saw continued violence among armed groups, which discouraged some combatants from demobilising, and national and local authorities were not involved enough to make a difference (Martínez et al., 2021, p.10).

The fact that the nation has seen so much conflict and have had DDR programmes come and go may be reason enough for ex-combatants to re-arm as the threat of violence seems to linger and not go away any time soon. The report found that further reasons for returning into armed groups may be weak family ties (including not having kids) and lack of possibilities in educational systems along with the continuation of violent groups being a constant presence (Martínez et al., 2021, p.11).

While the UN still has its MONUSCO mission in the area – giving them authority to take any necessary actions towards protecting civilians, humanitarian workers and human rights defenders facing immediate threats of physical violence, as well as assist the government of the DRC towards stability (United Nations, 2016), the challenges towards positive peace are still significant and many. With adequate funding and proper organisation, however, a DDR program might provide meaningful change.

Funding of DDR

As most challenges are merely technical in nature and could theoretically be addressed effectively through proper planning, resource allocation, and collaboration. The biggest hindrance for this is funds. So who is funding DDR programs and its initiatives?

In short, DDR is supported through a combination of sources. These include contributions from the peacekeeping assessed budget, core funding from UN agencies, voluntary donations to UN-managed trust funds, bilateral support from member states, as well as contributions from other agencies, donors, and the host government’s own budget  (DDR Budgeting and Financing, 2022).

As of June 21st 2024, 14 peacekeeping missions were underway and a nearly $5.6 billion budget was approved, which is over $700 million less than the budget of the year prior (Un.org, 2024).

So while the inflows are coming from all over, it is clearly not enough and it’s astonishing to see how funds decreased while conflicts worldwide seemingly just kept increasing, and programmes tainted with faults and inefficiencies.

Incorporating Gender into DDR

According to a research report written by Donnelly (2022), since the 1980s, women have been included in only about one-third of all DDR programs and there is still much research and guidance lacking on the integration of gender into DDR (Donnelly, 2022, p.7). Furthermore, Donnelly (2022, p.11) highlights that much of the available literature seems to focus on the necessity to design “gender-responsive DDR”. Two main reasons have been identified in the report, the first one being the “right-based” framework, meaning that since half the population are women, “affected by the conflict and as political actors” they have rights. The second being that advocating for gender-responsive DDR highlights that incorporating a gender perspective improves long-term effectiveness.

So, while seemingly most agree that there is a need for more, very little has been done, at least in the form of literature and research on the issues addressing this, making it difficult to analyse the issues or possibilities of how it might contribute to more effective peacebuilding outcomes. Good news though is that now DDR program budgets, including those from agencies, funds, and initiatives, should allocate at least 20 percent of the budget towards gender-related activities and interventions specifically targeting women (DDR Budgeting and Financing, 2022). This could make analysing the issue easier down the road, as more funds are poured toward this.

One case that identified significant outcomes in relation to gender in DDR was in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where data on reintegration pathways through the DDR process reveals that out of 110,000 combatants formally registered for demobilisation, only 4,524 were women. The significance of it is that among the 4,524 women who registered for demobilisation, 2,396 opted for reintegration into civilian society, while the remainder chose army integration (Donnelly, 2022, p.17-19). This near equal split between these choices clearly warrants further analysis and research to build upon our understandings of women's roles and drivers in both conflict and post-conflict areas. This, in order to have better plans in future DDR programmes and initiatives.

Conclusion

DDR programmes have the power to end violence and create lasting peace in post-conflict societies, so long as it does not take the reintegration component lightly, nor’ miss out on admittance processes in the prior components, in order to not ‘leave anyone behind’. While the challenges are many, with proper funding, political support, and a clear focus on positive peace, DDR programs have the potential to make a significant and lasting difference.

Examining challenges identified in the DDR programmes in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other conflicts, it becomes evident that the initiatives must be more inclusive and gender-responsive to achieve true positive peace, something the DDR programmes should strive towards even more going forward.

Having identified at least 10 challenges even within this brief essay, it is clear that there is still a long way to go. However, as we move forward we hopefully learn from past missions as well as continue funding those working in the field to share their insights and theories.

References and further reading:

Brussels, L. (2003). DEALING WITH SAVIMBI’S GHOST: THE SECURITY AND HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES IN ANGOLA. [online] Available at: https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/58-dealing-with-savimbi-s-ghost-the-security-and-humanitarian-challenges-in-angola.pdf [Accessed 10 Jan. 2025].

DDR Budgeting and Financing. (2022). [online] Unddr. Available at: https://www.unddr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IDDRS-3.41-Finance-and-Budgeting_23-Mar-2022.pdf [Accessed 14 Jan. 2025].

Donnelly, P. (2022). Written by Phoebe Donnelly Gender and DDR: Lessons Learned from DDR Research. [online] Available at: https://fba.se/globalassets/publikationer/ddr-and-gender-lessons-learned-from-ddr-research.pdf.

Haer, R. and Böhmelt, T. (2018). Girl soldiering in rebel groups, 1989–2013. Journal of Peace Research, 55(3), pp.395–403. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343317752540.

Theissen, G. (2004). Supporting Justice, Co-existence and Reconciliation after Armed Conflict: Strategies for Dealing with the Past. pp.421–440. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-05642-3_20.

Martínez, L., Malm, J., Kovacs, M., Triana-E, S. and Wrede, S. (2021). Reintegration or Recidivism? Why ex-combatants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) return to arms. [online] Available at: https://fba.se/contentassets/0f0f7e4165894b2982e900e2ed6d0667/fba_report_drc_web.pdf.

Mazurana, D. (2004). Women in Armed Opposition Groups Speak on War, Protection and Obligations under International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law Report of a workshop organized in Geneva by Geneva Call and the Program for the Study of International Organization(s). [online] Available at: https://www.genevacall.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/20040829_women_armed_opposition_speak_war_protection_obligation1.pdf [Accessed 28 Oct. 2024].

Mazurana, D.E., Carlson, K., Sanam Naraghi Anderlini and Peace., W. (2004). From combat to community : women and girls of Sierra Leone. Washington, Dc: Hunt Alternatives Fund.

Nilsson, A. (2005). Reintegrating Ex-Combatants in Post-Conflict Societies. [online] Sida. Available at: https://cdn.sida.se/publications/files/sida4715en-reintegrating-ex-combatants.pdf [Accessed 10 Jan. 2025].

Un.org. (2024). Fifth Committee Approves $5.59 Billion Budget for 14 Peacekeeping Operations, Service Centres, Headquarters Support Staff, Concluding Resumed Session | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. [online] Available at: https://press.un.org/en/2024/gaab4463.doc.htm.