DDR and SSR

The publication is aiming to provide a critical overview of the legal and institutional framework for intelligence oversight in Macedonia. Moreover it looks into whether the security and intelligence services are governed in a way that promotes accountability, transparency and respect for the rule of law and human rights.

Myanmar has experienced one of the world’s longest armed conflicts. More than two  dozen ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), militias and insurgents have been engaged in the conflict. In 2015, eight of the EAOs signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). This paper explores the dilemmas around the management of armed groups in the peace process in Myanmar, with a focus on the future of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR). It explores security, economic and political factors that affect, either positively or negatively, the future of a DDR or SSR program. The paper also argues that a clear conceptual understanding and consensus between EAOs and the Union government on how to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate armed groups must be embedded in the framework of political dialogue and peace negotiation. Recognizing the sensitivities associated with dealing with EAOs, this paper suggests that avoiding the sensitive language of DDR and SSR during political negotiations while broadly focusing on aspects of the management of armed groups and their weapons in accordance with the principles and practice of security sector governance may help reach a consensus between EAOs and the government.  The paper also discusses critical considerations for security sector governance as a way forward .

This paper intended (in 2009) to reflect the ‘accelerated integration’ strategy adopted by the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at that time in the framework of the Congolese processes of Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of ex combatants.

A large part of rebel combatants were invited to integrate immediately in the national army and to participate in a DRC-Ruanda joint military operation taking place then against the FDLR. This accelerated integration was a previously untried strategy that repeated from the beginning certain errors that have been already made before and gave rise to anxiety and fears amongst a part of the political sphere, humanitarian and development bodies and, above all, Congolese civil society and population.

Economic rehabilitation of ex-combatants, which plays a salient role in transforming ex-combatants into civilians, is a highly context-specific transformative process often taking place in post-conflict peace building. Its context-specific nature means that every rehabilitation programme is considerably different from the other. On one hand, there is a lack of understanding of the micro-macro factors and dynamics that affect the process and outcome of a rehabilitation programme; on the other hand, there is also a lack of an analytical framework that can be applied to assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes. This article develops a four dimensional analytical framework which is applied to study the economic rehabilitation of verified minors and late recruits Maoist ex-combatants in Nepal. The framework is based on the data collected in eight districts of Nepal.

During the first two weeks of October, Iraqi authorities were confronted with a wave of mass protests over years of administrative inefficiency, financial mismanagement and endemic corruption. Evidence of a disproportionately violent crackdown on demonstrators emerged, incriminating both state and non‑state armed elements, implying their engagement in a highly non‑transparent and rather worrisome “burden sharing” in their attempts to “protect the public order”. The accountability gap generated by such an approach has once again exposed the limitations of superficially cataloguing commissioned security providers as “state”, “non‑state”, or – currently the far more fashionable term – “hybrid” actors. Acknowledging the transactional dealings between ruling elites and the plethora of armed auxiliaries, this report seeks to show how, despite being generally considered devalued, the label “state actor” has nonetheless become a bargaining chip that unlocks access to agenda‑setting powers and institutional leverage. Once negotiated, state endorsement can often come at the expense of the state’s own institutional backbone, the bureaucratic apparatus of which can easily be transformed from hostage into enabler and, eventually, accomplice to its own debilitation. As a comparative consideration on state‑sanctioned paramilitarism shows, the paramilitary umbrella known as Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) presents no exception to this rule.

INTRODUCCIÓN Como su propio nombre indica, razonamiento o aptitud verbal, es la capacidad para razonar con contenidos verbales estableciendo entre ellos principios de clasificación, ordenación, relación, significados, entre otros. La práctica demuestra que el razonamiento verbal es una de las capacidades intelectuales que se encuentran menos desarrolladas en los alumnos. ¿Por qué? ¿Cómo solucionarlo? La razón de que esto sea así responde a una doble vertiente. En primer lugar observamos que en la mayoría de Instituciones educativas no se le da la suficiente importancia a esta capacidad, ya que la importancia de objetivos fundamentales del área de Comunicación (lectura, comprensión lectora, ortografía, expresión escrita o gramática) no deja lugar a espacios para razonar con contenidos verbales. Para compensar este desequilibrio sería positivo introducir momentos de debates, exposiciones orales, presentaciones, ejercicio de vocabularios, etc. que otorguen a los alumnos, en definitiva, la oportunidad de hacer uso del lenguaje. Como una segunda razón, la encontramos en el cambio que está experimentando la sociedad hoy en día. Si nos fijamos en los juegos de nuestros niños vemos que estos suelen ser el ordenador, las videoconsolas u otros juegos individuales. Del mismo modo el tiempo libre suele ser empleado en deportes de carácter individual, en ver la televisión y en ocasiones en pasar bastante tiempo fantaseando con su imaginación. En resumen, no hay un uso del lenguaje. Por ello sería bueno volver a potenciar prácticas que han caído en desuso, tal y como los juegos colectivos entre iguales, actividades extraescolares que les obliguen a interactuar con sus semejantes (por ejemplo grupos de teatro) o veladas familiares donde se establece un diálogo entre los miembros de la familia. Existen algunos ejercicios destinados a potenciar el razonamiento verbal que a continuación exponemos junto a algún ejemplo que pueden servir de ejemplo para

Ce travail présente brièvement le processus DDR en RDC, ses objectifs, ses réalisations et ses défis. Au delà des réalisations en présence, le conflit récurrent, alimenté par l'existence continue et le recyclage permanent des groupes armés demeure un défi majeur et de survie même de la RDC en tant qu'Etat; entre autres défis actuels ciblés nous avons notamment :
3.1. La persistance de l’insécurité dans certaines zones du pays suite à la présence des groupes armés qui ne peuvent pas permettre aux acquis du DDR de se pérenniser,

3.2. Les difficultés et la lenteur de la Réforme du Secteur de Sécurité particulièrement de la défense perpétuellement recommencée,
3.4. Insuffisance des ressources matérielles et financières disponibles pour l’exécution complète du programme DDR,
3.5. La lenteur dans la restauration effective de l’autorité de l’Etat sur l’ensemble du territoire national,
3.6. Une réintégration socio-économique dans un environnement économique d’Etat post conflit et d’infrastructures de base quasi désarticulées en reconstruction, n’offrant que peu d’opportunités et où la majorité de la population est vulnérable et constituée d’un nombre important de groupes de sinistrés (victimes de violence, mineurs chef de ménage, orphelins, veuves, déplacés, rapatriés …) nécessitant aussi un accompagnement pour favoriser leur relèvement ;
3.7. l’absence de mécanismes officiels de réconciliation pendant que ceux-ci étaient prévus dans l’accord de paix et avait été institué pendant la transition sous forme d’institution d’appui à la démocratie, Commission Paix et Réconciliation, laquelle malheureusement n’avait pas pu fonctionner correctement et n’existe plus depuis 2007,
3.8. le déficit dans la prise en compte de la dimension genre,
3.9. La mauvaise réputation du DDR consécutif à son état de processus incomplète et sans fin en RDC, avec des retards dans l’exécution du programme ou de ses composantes ; pour le DDR de la RDC, en dépit des résultats réalisés, la mise en œuvre incomplète particulièrement de la première phase, a particulièrement alimenté la récurrence du conflit à l’Est de la RDC et au Nord Katanga.
En définitive,s’il est vrai que la première phase du PNDDR avait été un échec de part l’écart entre le nombre de combattants démobilisés et celui des combattants réintégrés ,la seconde phase du PNDDR a eu le mérite de tirer profit des erreurs de la phase précédente et même de révolutionner dans sa partie finale dite « Extension » où des efforts accrues se sont focalisés à concilier le bénéfice des combattants et de la communauté d’accueil pendant la réintégration et en s’occupant en plus des combattants ayant perdu leur bénéfice à cause de la résurgence du conflit ou encore de ceux ayant fait preuve d’efficacité dans la gestion du bénéfice reçu.
En dépit du besoin encore existant du DDR de part la prolifération des groupes armés particulièrement à l’Est du pays, l’autorité de la République Démocratique du Congo devait user de tous les moyens pour éradiquer le phénomène des groupes armés et faire subir à ces derniers un DDR révolutionné où par une réintégration du bas vers le haut les combattants et les communautés d’accueil trouverait leurs comptes en priorisant un DDR contre actions de développement.
Dans ce cadre, la première composante du DDR, le premier « D »devrait faire l’objet d’une attention particulière, pendant que la réintégration devrait en plus disloquer le circuit d’appui des groupes armés et transformer l’économie de guerre avec l’aide des autres processus ad hoc de la nation,STAREC,..., en économie de temps de paix profitant à tous.

Between 1991 and 2002, the Sierra Leone civil war left approximately 70,000 people dead, hundreds of thousands mutilated and displaced over half of the population of five million. The country’s history, culture and political and social environments combined with the complexities of natural resources and economic issues ignited and propagated the conflict. This paper analyzes Sierra Leone’s independence and the roots of the conflict, child soldiers and atrocities, intervention and peace settlement, post-conflict events, DDR and its failures and persistent issues. The aim of this research is to investigate the severity of events and violent acts along with how society functions today that can provide pertinent information on Sierra Leone’s stability and what threats to security may currently exist or are likely to occur.

This chapter undertakes a process-oriented study of genocide to consider how the gendered nature of genocide continues to influence security policies in postconflict Rwanda, and informs Rwandan women’s motives for joining state security organs. I argue that while the RDF’s gender program supports once shared national policy goals to mainstream gender equality across politics, economy, and culture, the program has been designed to help improve the reputation of the national armed forces, and in doing so, sets out to strengthen the legitimacy of the authoritarian state. This is achieved in three ways: by supporting the implementation of internal security policy goals; by attempting to improve civil-military relations; and, by transforming societal perceptions of military women.

This report provides lessons from a broad spectrum of SSR and DDR interventions – covering various countries of Africa, as well as Timor Leste.  The report places a “spotlight” on DDR in the Lake Chad Basin region with a special section of contributions from personnel assigned to the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF).

Ce mémoire a pour objet l’étude des processus de Désarmement, Démobilisation et Réintégration (DDR) en parallèle de la problématique des enfants soldats. Elle essaie de comprendre la manière dont sont pris en charge ces derniers dans les programmes de DDR élaborés et mis en œuvre en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), plus spécifiquement dans le Plan National de DDR III lancé en mai 2015, en se basant sur les standards internationaux traitant de la question.

The conflict in Somalia has gained a position in the world’s top 10 countries for terrorist attacks, with al-Shabaab becoming Africa’s most prominent terrorist group. Over half of al-Shabaab’s forces are now children. Nearly 30 years of conflict has resulted in a ‘lost generation’- children who have only experienced chaos and violence, left with few opportunities to survive. Over half of the population of Somalia is under the age of 25, indicating youths’ preponderancy in the future of stability in the country. This paper analyzes al-Shabaab’s strengths, factors that contribute to the ‘lost generation’, the use of child soldiers in Somalia, atrocities by the SNA and AMISOM, US involvement and the rehabilitation of children. This paper argues that there is a direct relationship between the youth of Somalia and terrorism, with youth being the determinant in either the acquirement of stability or the growth of terrorism in Africa and worldwide.

The following example from Socialist Germany of the young Matthias Domaschk, who was imprisoned in 1981 on the occasion of the Tenth Party Congress of the State Party as a so-called “Asocial” and died. The Stasi successfully spread the news that he had killed himself because he had committed himself as a spy for the state security. The case shows how the repressed past was mirrored in the intertwining of politics, justice and education.
Ten years after the survivors tried to prosecute the involved Stasi officers. However, the murder charge was dismissed for lack of evidence. However, after 1989, the judges had not been able to decode the words of the secret bureaucracie. This refers to institutions and procedures that caused the memory loss to forget the violence and left only accidental traces. The investigators did not know that they were placed on the periphery of society. They asked different questions and determined differently than the marginalized.

Since the late 1990s, the concept of security sector reform (SSR) has increasingly shaped international programs for development assistance, democracy promotion, security cooperation and post-conflict peacebuilding. SSR is driven by the understanding that a
poorly governed and unreformed security sector represents a decisive obstacle to the promotion of sustainable development, democracy, peace and security. Thus, SSR is aimed at developing an affordable, effective and efficient security apparatus, i.e., one that is able to provide security to the state and its people within a framework of civilian oversight and democratic accountability. Addressing both capacity and governance dimensions of security provision is the uncontested core of security sector reform though,in practical terms, SSR varies substantially according to the specific reform context.

“The utility of a cup is in its void”
General Sir Rupert Smith, 2011
The objective of this thesis is to examine the interdependence of a comprehensive approach and strategy.  Both are required, ideally in collaboration with explicit foreign policy objectives, to achieve the successful creation of grand strategy that meets national interests and benefits multiple stakeholders. 

Tactically, UK forces, diplomats and development agents are excellent but at higher levels a lack of strategic insight leads to incoherence.  Military power has been the most significant instrument in the plan to clear, hold, build and transition from Afghanistan, but the implementation of COIN doctrine has been wrought with difficulty and may ultimately fail because the root causes of the grievances in Afghanistan have not been understood or dealt with in harmony across all lines of operation or the region as a whole.  A comprehensive approach and strategy must be paired, and conducted as one, to be effective and enable a better peace.

The utility of a cup is in its void.  If correctly constructed, the comprehensive approach should act as a 'collaborative wrap' to actively balance, challenge and discipline the components of strategy by providing the void in which it is conceived and executed.  If a comprehensive approach is not constructed at all, effective strategy will not be conceived.  If it is too small or cracked, strategy will overflow or leak out.  Without policy and the reconciliation of ends, ways and means that is good strategy, a comprehensive approach is futile.  Both cup and void are essential components of the other. These central principles explain the utility of the comprehensive approach to challenge, contain and enable successful strategy.

Although the 2001 intervention into Afghanistan is well explained, there is much debate as to the veracity of the UK’s strategic decision-making that accompanied the UK’s re-investment into Helmand Province in 2005/6.  An examination of these events provides the medium through which the thesis is demonstrated.

Estudio realizado el 2009 para FCI y la OPS, con el apoyo de AECID, con los siguientes objetivos específicos:
- Investigar y acopiar información disponible sobre la salud de adolescentes y jóvenes indígenas en Bolivia, con énfasis en su SSR.
- Proponer un marco conceptual para abordar la temática de la salud de adolescentes y jóvenes indígenas.
- Desarrollar un estado del arte sobre los conocimientos disponibles en Bolivia sobre la situación de salud y las necesidades específicas de SSR de sus poblaciones de adolescentes y jóvenes
indígenas.
- Evaluar  la  inclusión  de  una  perspectiva  étnica-cultural  y  de  género  en  las  políticas,  planes  y programas de salud dirigidos a los y las adolescentes y jóvenes, en particular aquellos de salud sexual y reproductiva.

Die Umgestaltung der DDR-Universitäten verdankte sich Personen, die sich der Erziehung der Nachwachsenden zum "sozialistischen Menschen" verpflichtet hatten. Diese richteteten Strukturen ein, mit deren Hilfe missliebige Universitätsangehörige stigmatisiert und verdrängt wurden. Das Beispiel thematisiert die Verhaftungen der Angehörigen des "Eisenberger Kreises" und das Vorgehen gegen kabarettistische Einlagen auf Studentenbällen an der Jenaer Universität von 1956 bis 1958. Es zeigt, wie sehr Repression vom Handeln der Einzelnen abhing. Die Infrastruktur der Propaganda, so die Jenaer Universitätszeitung "Sozialistische Universität", wurde von diesen Personen aufgebaut und wirkte durch Feind-Bilder, die sich im Text als weit reichendes Konstrukt herausstellen. Die Konstruktion verhinderte nicht den Widerspruch aus der Bevölkerung. Allerdings änderte das nichts an der Verurteilung der Studierenden und an der Verdrängung der Kritiker*innen von der Universität.
Obwohl die Verurteilungen geheim gehalten werden sollten, berichteten westliche Medien, so dass die politischen Motive der DDR-Behörden in die Diskussion gerieten. Dennoch erreichten die eiligst einberufenen Agitationsabende gemeinsam mit den "Agitpropgruppen", dass schließlich viele das Bild von der Jenaer "Agentengruppe" glaubten. Nicht zuletzt deutet sich damit der "Kalte Krieg der Medien" an.

"The Tribal-Military-Commercial Complex and the Challenges to Security Sector Reform in Yemen" in Addressing Security Sector Reform in Yemen (2017)

Chapter in a report entitled Addressing Security Sector Reform in Yemen Challenges and Opportunities for Intervention During and Post-Conflict. The report was edited by Marie-Christine Heinze and published by the Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) in cooperation with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) on 20 December 2017.

This report is the result of a conference with the same name, which was jointly organized by CARPO and the Regional Office Gulf States of the KAS at the Dead Sea in April 2017. The papers by prolific experts on Yemen included in this publication discuss the changes, obstacles and limits for successful security sector reform in Yemen during and after the conflict and offer respective recommendations for national and international policy-makers in the field.

Bericht zum 80. Geburtstag von Reiner Kunze bringt  einen Überblick über sein lyrisches und übersetzerisches OEuvre samt bisher kaum gestreiften Momenten der Editionspolitik in der DDR aufgrund persönlicher Zeugnisse (am Beispiel der Anthologie der tschechischen Lyrik Die Sonnenunhr).

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a new generation of Auto Identification and Data collection technology which helps to automate business processes and allows identification of large number of tagged objects like books, using radio waves. RFID based Library Management system (LMS) would allow fast transaction flow for the library and will prove immediate and long term benefits to library in traceability and security. The proposed system is based on UHF RFID readers, supported with antennas at gate and transaction sections, and library cards containing RFID-transponders which are able to electronically store information that can be read / written even without the physical contact with the help of radio medium. This paper presents the experiments conducted to set up RFID based LMS. 1. INTRODUCTION RFID technology is being implemented in a number of industries. Supply chain implementation is perhaps one of the most frequently mentioned applications of RFID tags and equipment. Retailers such as " Wal-Mart " and grocery stores such as " Albertson's " have begun to make it mandatory for their suppliers to tag merchandise destined for their stores. There is, however, a key difference to the library's inventory as compared to that of a warehouse or a retail outlet. In the warehouse and retail supply chain, goods come in and leave. Only occasionally are they returned. The retail sector is looking at RFID as a "throw-away" technology that hands an item to a customer which gets discarded. Yet the item wise unit cost of including an RFID tag is much more than the cost of printing a barcode on a package. In libraries, items are taken out and returned many times. Thus the same RFID tag is re-used many times. [1] The libraries across the globe started to use RFID to speed up the self check in/out processes, to control the theft and to ease the inventory control in library. The barcode technology is slowly getting replaced by the RFID technology. The RFID tag does not have to be visible for detection. It can be read even when it is embedded in an item, such as in the cardboard cover of a book or in the packaging of a product. It can also store data such as stack number, accession number, book number, author information etc., but barcode is limited to just an identification number. The paper presents the study taken and corresponding experiments conducted for integrating RFID to existing LMS of CDAC. The remaining sections of this paper are organized as follows: Section II describes about Library, the tasks involved in that, problems faced by librarians and RFID's role in automating some of the tasks of library, Section III describes about the technical specification of the hardware and tags used in project (RFID based LMS), Section IV describes about the modules developed in project, Section V describes about the experiments conducted to find out the proper tag position in book and Section VI describes about the benefits of the project.

The end of hostilities between warring factions in Congo-Brazzaville has marked a decisive moment in the state’s developmental history. Postconflict reconstruction is a foundational component of public policies that restore order within society, igniting the engines of economic development, and in obtaining sustainable peace. In recent years, Africa has experienced a disproportionate share of conflicts compared with other regions; and leads the world in the number of present intrastate conflicts. Since the end of the Cold War, some African states have made advances in postconflict peacebuilding and intergroup reconciliation. This article focuses on postconflict reconstruction through the lens of security sector reforms, primarily disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs. This study asks, how can postconflict scholars and practitioners determine if a DDR program has been a success or failure? Using Congo-Brazzaville as a case study, this article integrates the literature of political science and program evaluation to assess the level of “success” in Congo’s DDR programs. DDR is a highly complex and contingent process, complete success or failure is unlikely, with most program outcomes result in a series of mixed effects. In summing the successes of individual indicators (e.g., weapons collected, munitions destroyed) DDR may be commonly perceived as successful, however, the conflict context, power dynamics, level of development, or social reintegration of ex-combatants may retard short-term gains for long-term instability. DDR programs should not carry the burden of peacebuilding themselves, and donor summary reports should not rely on easily quantifiable indicators in decreeing a program’s success without contemplating domestic power politics and elite co-optation mechanisms.

Demobilized combatants are generally portrayed as threat to security in post-conflict countries. In this article, I assess how much ex-combatants actually contribute to violence in the case of demobilized paramilitaries and guerrilla deserters in Colombia. I present evidence that puts the assumed ex-combatant-threat nexus in perspective. First, participation of ex-combatants in violence in Colombia is too small to unsettle overall criminal dynamics. Second, ex-combatants grow older and less interested in violence as well as more interested in family life. And third, criminal organizations that emerged after the paramilitary demobilization have continuously replaced ex-combatants and quickly relied on a new generation of recruits. An obsession with the ex-combatant category may inhibit more focused attention on key populations with high damage potential, like mid-ranking ex-combatants, and a broader inclusion of marginalized youth vulnerable to recruitment. Also, my analysis shows that the continuity of war economies is largely independent from whether ex-combatants or other people exploit criminal rents. Overly focusing on persons, like ex-combatants, instead of dealing with malignant structures might thus produce futile results.

Since the 2011 secession, the governments of Sudan and South Sudan have yet to agree on a solution to determine a permanent border, and it has continued to be a major contention between the two nations. Both states are focused on combating their own domestic insurgencies, with the conflict in South Sudan progressively threatening the security status of Sudan. 

Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, wie die Forschung und Thematisierung des Genozids an den Armeniern in der DDR verlief. Wie wurde in der DDR das Wissen zur armenischen Frage konstruiert? Mit welchen Kategorien und mit welchen Trägern wurde dieses Wissen produziert? Wie wurde der Genozid in der Öffentlichkeit behandelt?

Political engagement for ex-combatants is essential for their reintegration (reincorporation) process, especially if they were in a politically-motivated armed group. This dissertation studies the political reincorporation process (part of the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration/Reincorporation or DDR) of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or FARC) leftist rebel group in Colombia from 2016 to 2020. The FARC, founded in 1964, signed a peace agreement with the Colombian government in 2016 and started the DDR process that continues until today. Using the methodology of an in-depth qualitative case study and process-tracing, 44 interviews and over two months of participant observation at seven Territorial Spaces for Capacitation and Reincorporation (Espacios Territoriales de Capacitación y Reincorporación or ETCRs) and two New Areas of Reincorporation (Nuevas Áreas de Rincorporación or NARs) were done. The results highlight that more of the political and not less will motivate individual ex-combatants to continue in the peace process and their personal reincorporation processes. Ex-combatant engagement with political activities during their reincorporation process gives them meaning in their personal lives and allows them to maintain and evolve their political identity that were formed during their time in the politically-motivated armed group. Peaceful mobilization as a politically-motivated group in the reincorporation process can strengthen and solidify their commitment to the peace process instead of weaken or destroy it, by offering members identity and group support, leadership, and direction. This raises the likelihood of their engagement with the peace process and their reconciliation with civilian institutions and activities, regardless of the ongoing intractability of the armed conflict.