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.

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Meet the youth fighting for peace in Iraq

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IN THE FIELD

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

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Election observer

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Read our publications

UN Peace Operations and the Rule of Law 1989–2017

This report contains unique empirical data from 76 UN peace operations between 1989 and 2017. The data paint a picture of the kinds of rule of law assistance that have actually been provided, and allow discussion on how important shifts in peacekeeping and rule of law policy reflect in practice.

Documents

UN Peace Operations and the Rule of Law.pdf

More Publications

THE FBA BLOG

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Posted by Jessica Rothman
Peace-making and cheese-making in Georgia

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Exactly ten years had passed since I last worked in Georgia, when I returned for my deployment to the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM), in the country that has a special place in my heart. I arrived with so much curiosity and excitement, wondering how Georgia had developed and recovered after the war in 2008. The first thing that struck me was the condition of the cars, where were all the dilapidated Ladas and Volgas that used ... Read entire post »
2019-12-05 11:19
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Posted by Eric Mellado-Åhlin
Revising the UN guidelines for support to the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants: a high-hanging fruit

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One of my first tasks as a desk officer at FBA, working with disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants, was to assist in arranging a conference in Stockholm. As the conference approached, I understood that the goal – to unite the 25 UN agencies of the Inter-Agency Working Group on DDR and come to agreement on the way forward for the revision of the Integrated DDR Standards (IDDRS) – was more complicated than I ... Read entire post »
2019-11-26 16:22
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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