Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

UN personnel at a site for disarmament of ex-combatants.

Photo: UN Photo/Steen Johansen

The signing of a peace agreement in a country affected by violent conflict marks the beginning of a sensitive transitional period from war to peace. This commonly entails the dismantling of armed groups, the collection and destruction of illegal weapons, and projects aimed at helping former combatants reintegrate into civilian life, for example through support to find housing and employment or reuniting with missing family members.

Programmes for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants form an important part of efforts to rebuild war-torn societies.

Peace treaties often include an agreement on the creation and design of a DDR programme. An external, international actor such as the UN is commonly tasked with implementing or overseeing such a programme.

A successful DDR process helps reduce the risk of ex-combatants taking up arms again, and thus reduces the risk of renewed armed conflict.

What does the FBA do?

Training and advice
FBA offers training and advice on DDR. For example, FBA has given advice on DDR to the parties of the peace process in Colombia. FBA also played an important role in the creation of the UN guidelines for DDR in 2006, and supports the UN’s continuous work to update the guidelines.
Research
FBA conducts and supports international research on DDR.
Secondments
FBA seconds personnel working within the field of DDR to international peace operations that Sweden contributes to, led by the EU, UN and OSCE. Click here to see a map of where our personnel is currently deployed.
Our partner countries
Within the framework of Sweden’s international development aid, FBA carries out projects concerning DDR. Click here to read more about the countries where we work.

Support to civil society
FBA grants yearly funds to Swedish civil society organizations working to promote dialogue and debate and to spread knowledge about peace and security related issues, for example issues concerning disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants.

New report about Sweden’s work on women, peace and security

Demands for a mandatory gender perspective in all development aid projects in conflict-affected countries, and more funding for women’s organizations working for peace. Those are some of the actions taken by Sweden in order to comply with the national action plan on women, peace and security, according to a new report compiled by the FBA on behalf of the Swedish government

2021-02-23 12:29

On international deployment

Kristian Edqvist

Training manager in Brussels

Catalina Perdomo Rodriguez

Adviser to the UN in Colombia

Johan Chytraeus

Monitoring officer in Ukraine

Karolina Riedel

Statistician in election observation missions

Johan Fredborn Larsson

Political adviser in Mali

Vanda Dahlbom

Analyst in Iraq

Björn Tedeman

Election observer

Read our publications

Youth, Peace and Security Adviser’s Handbook

Never before in history have there been so many young people on the planet. A very important cornerstone for reaching sustainable peace and security is to ensure that young people have the rights, tools and opportunities, to participate in a meaningful manner in statebuilding and peacebuilding processes.

Documents

Youth, peace and security adviser’s handbook

More Publications

THE FBA BLOG

>

Posted by Kristin Valasek
Time for a joint vision on gender-responsive leadership

>

Right before the winter break, 236 women and men from 105 different organizations and 46 countries around the world joined our International Dialogue on Gender-Responsive Leadership, to discuss an absolutely critical and often missing part of the gender equality puzzle: gender-responsive leadership.

After twenty years of struggling to achieve the commitments of the global women, peace and security agenda, we at the FBA have learned that executives and managers are essential to success. Not just as supporters, ... Read entire post »
2021-02-10 16:09
>

Posted by Hanna Bertelman
Creating space for dialogue in Colombia

>

In Colombia, four years after the signing of the historic peace agreement between the government and the FARC guerrilla, local civil society actors are a pivotal force for promoting change. The FBA, together with CIASE, a network of women´s organizations, and the Colombian National Police is enabling a space for joint learning for civil society actors and police officers on human security, leadership, and dialogue and mediation.

As most of those who have seen a peace process ... Read entire post »
2020-12-16 12:44
>

Posted by Annika Folkeson
Avenues for accountability and participation: harnessing the power of the streets

>

While much of the world awaits the upcoming US presidential elections in November, Iraq remains ensnared in its own deliberations over elections. Following the protests that escalated significantly in October 2019, the government resigned and early elections are now set for June 2021.

The lack of jobs and public services, as well as rampant corruption, are among the grievances that have set off demonstrations across much of southern and central Iraq, as well as parts of Kurdistan ... Read entire post »
2020-10-22 12:19