Can you Disarm, Demobilize and Reintegrate Armed Non-State Actors?

Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programs comprise a range of elements with the objective of facilitating the transformation of combatants into civilians. But they are not designed for current situations of armed violence in which militias and other armed non-state actors are important players.

This policy brief by Jairo Munive and Finn Stepputat presents 3 recommendations as how to improve DDR programs. First programs should mirror current forms of armed violence and build on political economic analyses of armed non-state actors. Secondly disarmament and demobilization does not necessarily secure peace and stability. Policy makers should consider a gradual process in which the management of violence rather than the monopoly of violence is the short term aim of programs. Finally policy-makers must revise the assumptions behind current approaches to reintegration.