CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD

Building peace is complicated. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration add to the complication but can also contribute to the realization of sustainable peace. During the workshop, much time was spent on debating the details of DDR and identifying lessons and responses. This conclusion does not restate the lessons found in each section. Instead, it emphasizes basic principles and observations that deserve to be restated.

The workshop began with a presentation on the topic of DDR as a requirement for peace. While, perhaps obvious, the focus was the starting point for a process of presentation and discussion that illustrated the broader context within which DDR is located and highlighted some of the key areas for future focus.

The building blocks of a DDR programme are the peace process, including peace agreements, the mandates for peace missions, and the coordinated efforts of actors at national, regional and international levels. A thorough understanding of this foundation, combined with sustainable resources and sufficient political will, should go a long way towards demystifying the challenges of DDR.

However, the real world dictates that none of the essential elements of DDR, alone or in combination, are easy or simple to achieve. And thus there remains a need for still longer-term planning and international commitment, greater involvement of national actors, and the pursuit of greater coherence and complementarity in DDR efforts.

It is hoped that this report will make a contribution to understanding the complexities of DDR, and lead to concrete initiatives towards bridging the narrowing gap between conceptual development and operational realities. The recommendations which follow are not exhaustive. Rather, they represent some of the key lessons noted and suggestions on how these lessons might be converted into new and better practices. Their credibility stems from the collective experience and wisdom of the participants, many of whom, as either practitioners or researchers, are themselves in a position to take some of the recommendations forward.

Recommendation

Clarity of purpose

DDR can suffer from trying to be too many things to too many people. The objectives of each DDR programme will be country specific and need to be identified and agreed by the UN mission, the national organization responsible, the wider public and the donors. If DDR is too broad and tries to include everybody affected by the war, it becomes impossible to implement.

To the degree possible, DDR planning should take into consideration the extra-territorial dimension of flows of people, arms and resources in Africa and where possible collaborative approaches identified for addressing these challenges.

Preparation and planning

Military intelligence and other forms of information and analysis need to be incorporated in UN missions in order to ensure proper communication and response to changes on the ground.

DDR planners need to have proper knowledge of the history of the conflict, how it was fought, its politics, its ethnic dimensions and the probable impact of these variables on the peace process.

There is a need to move towards a new DDR framework that is based on human rights. DDR based on human rights will expose war criminals and ensure there is justice.

Spending money on planning is not futile. Greater support needs to be generated for this essential stage of the DDR process.

The UN should use “cross-cutting collaboration” to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of programme delivery. This may include using local staff for core functions and bringing in more local organizations.

The reports of the UN Secretary-General should be used as a dynamic tool for monitoring the implementation of DDR and outlining specific roles and responsibilities for UN agencies. These reports should also focus on presenting more indicator-based assessments of progress, including qualitative measurements for reintegration.

Reintegration and national recovery

National recovery must form a basic element of the peace agreement, much as DDR, and be developed in concert with DDR and UN mission planning. A clear process must link reintegration to the broader national recovery plan.

Peace processes, DDR and security sector reform are interlinked, and support for security sector reform should be included as part of peace mission support. Donor constraints in supporting army or police reform need to be identified and addressed.

Activities that promote societal reconciliation and reintegration need to be emphasized. For example, in Sierra Leone children who went through care centres were accepted more easily in their communities than those who were realised directly by the rebels.

Need for information and training

Consideration should be given to providing DDR-focused training for military officers going to UN missions.

The work of the UN DPKO Best Practices Unit is valuable in evaluating UN missions. However more focused monitoring and evaluation of DDR programmes would benefit the individual mission and provide valuable lessons for future programmes.

There is a paucity of information on reintegration and a need for more research into post-reintegration experiences of combatants. Mechanisms to generate this research and support sharing this information should be explored. A workshop with a longitudinal focus on reintegration may be an important initial contribution.

A database of NGOs working on DDR in Africa and the identification and documentation of successful NGO interventions would make a valuable contribution to the available information on DDR.