Negotiating disarmament and demobilisation in peace processes: what is the state of the evidence?

This   report   considers   the   extent   to   which   disarmament,   demobilisation   and   reintegration   (DDR)   and   related   concepts   are   accounted   for   in   peace   processes   and   peace   agreements.   It   focuses   on   the   scale   and   scope   of   provisions   for   disarmament   and   demobilisation   in   peace   agreements,  the  nature  of  their  sequencing  and   inclusion   in   such   agreements,   and   the   types   of   security   mechanisms   intended   to   promote   confidence   among   parties.   It   finds   that   key   provisions  for  DDR  are  present  in  over  half  of  all   comprehensive   peace   agreements   (numbering   37   in   total)   and   fewer   than   5%   of   all   related   peace   accords,   protocols   and   resolutions  (numbering   640   in   total).  

This   review   does   not   discern  clear  patterns  of  where  key  concepts  are   located   or   distributed   in   peace   agreements.   In   reviewing   negotiating   experiences,   however,   it   finds   that   “disarmament”   and   “demobilisation”   are  often  relegated  to  the  end  of  talks  and/or  left   ambiguous   in   peace   agreements   themselves.   Mediators   or   parties   to   a   conflict   thus   seldom   regard   disarmament   and   demobilisation   as   preconditions   for   negotiations.   They   are   nevertheless   central   to   wider   questions   of   security   sector   transformation   and   transitional   justice  in  the  aftermath  of  war.