Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

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 is now supporting the UN’s 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.

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.

FBA’s programme for young peacebuilders in Iraq inaugurated

After decades of war, Iraq needs to be rebuilt. Violent protests against the inability of the Iraqi state to provide its citizens with security and basic social services have rocked the country recently. FBA is now starting a programme for young peacebuilders in Iraq, in order to strengthen them in their non-violent efforts for a positive development.

2019-10-28 16:55

IN THE FIELD

Catalina Perdomo Rodriguez

Gender adviser in the DRC

Johan Chytraeus

Monitoring officer in Ukraine

Karolina Riedel

Statistician in election observation missions

Adam Bergman

Adviser to the UN in Nigeria

Mimmi Milligan

Reintegration adviser in Geneva

Björn Tedeman

Election observer

Julia Kempny

Political adviser in Somalia

Read our publications

Insights from the Inside: Women’s Mediation Networks as a Tool for Influencing Peace Processes

Civil society-led networks of women have for decades worked hard to promote peace in conflict areas around the world, and lately, a new wave of women's mediation networks are being established that are led by states or regional organizations. All these networks share a collective aim: To promote women's inclusion and influence in mediated peace processes.

Documents

Insights from the Inside.pdf

More Publications

THE FBA BLOG

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Posted by Kuisma Kinnunen
From policy to practice – gender as a perspective

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As a trainer, what could be better than to be part of a multinational group with a variety of backgrounds, eagerly wanting to learn new skills? Especially when you get to be the course participant for a change.

I had a dual aim when I recently participated in the Gender Perspective in the EU Common Security and Defence Policy Course, organised by FBA under the auspices of the European Security and Defence College. Besides learning new gender ... Read entire post »
2019-10-23 11:27
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Posted by Gabriela Elroy
Bureaucratic gender mainstreaming – what’s not to get excited about?

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The room is full of representatives from the Jordanian security forces. They are in Sweden on a study trip and have come to FBA to learn more about our work on promoting gender equality in the context of international peace and security generally, and our experience from supporting gender mainstreaming more specifically. I have decided to talk about the conceptual thinking behind much of the work that we do, whether it is with the EU’s Common ... Read entire post »
2019-10-08 15:50
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Posted by Andreas Berg
A fresh start for Ukraine?

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When I first arrived in Kyiv six months ago, I looked out over the city from the hilltop near the office of the EU Advisory Mission for Ukraine (EUAM) where I had just started a job as Coordination and Cooperation Officer. It became immediately clear why the city came to be founded here over 1,000 years ago and why it today is the capital of Ukraine. The mighty Dnepr River splits the city in half, flowing ... Read entire post »
2019-09-13 16:26