SSR & DDR Linkages

This comprehensive but succinct report explores issues related to violence and conflict in complex settings , highlighting clearly the blurred lines across which many development and stabilisation programmes have to operate. It contains an in depth analysis of DDR objectives and considers why 'traditional' DDR responses are inadequate / insufficient to deal with many of the situations in which they are often called for.

This report questions mainstream approaches to the reintegration of youthful ex-combatants. Most ex-combatants are currently unemployed
or underemployed as the programmes initiated first and foremost prepared them for jobs
that did not exist. The authors suggest that reintegration can better be achieved through peaceful remobilization that allows the ex-combatants to make use of the skills, experiences and networks gained through the war

This paper explores the concept of interim stabilisation in the immediate aftermath of conflict. As well as exploring the synergy between SSR and DDR it suggests that in many complex situations there may be a strong case for delaying DDR - arguing that the potential impact of DDR needs to be carefully considered in the early stages of a stabilisation process. Drawing on case studies from South Africa, Uganda and DRC it explores the benefits, as well as some of the potential risks of the creation of 'Interim Stabilisation Approaches' as alternatives to immediate DDR and SSR.

Discusses conflict dynamics in West Africa, examining the structural causes and triggers of conflict, as well as key actors and their interests, and makes recommendations on regional approaches required

Focused on research undertaken in South Sudan Examines several factors that might influence an ex-combatant's satisfaction with DDR, including economic concerns, security concerns, external security guarantors, and ethnicity