The “Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration, and Rehabilitation” (DDRR 5) of ex-combatants has emerged as a major pillar for post-conflict peace consolidation in Africa. It concludes with a few observations on the future of DDR in Africa, as well as practical recommendations to policymakers and practitioners, taking expressly into consideration the prevalent conflict landscape in Africa, made up of “the continuing volatility of local conflict dynamics,” 2 which is aggravated by the mounting scourge of violent extremism, terrorism, 3 and the “democratization of armed violence” in a number of countries and areas.ĭDR is defined as an operation that consists of the assembly and cantonment of ex-combatants, consistent with the provisions of a peace agreement, with a view to collecting their weapons, disbanding their formal military framework, and assisting them in reintegrating into society, either as civilians or formal members of national armed or security (e.g., national police, gendarmerie) forces.
The chapter reviews the evolution of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs in Africa over the last 30 years, highlighting, in particular, trends and challenges relating to their implementation as well as the lessons learned and the best practices recorded. This chapter is an analysis of three decades of efforts to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate former combatants as part of conflict resolution and post-conflict peace consolidation, particularly in contexts of peacekeeping operations carried out by the United Nations.
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