18 Jul 2007: ISS Today: Demobilisation And Reintegration In The Eastern DRC: On The Wrong Track?

18 July 2007: Demobilisation And Reintegration In The Eastern DRC: On The Wrong Track?

The Democratic Republic of Congo`s Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme is supposed to be in its completion phase. However, the continued presence of armed militia is indicative that disarmament and demobilisation are far from complete, and the way in which those demobilised have been reintegrated risks not only failure, but also the possibility of contributing to a recurrence of new cycles of violence.

The problems that beset the DDR programme stem, on the one hand, from poor technical, logistical and financial coordination and management and, on the other, from poor conceptualisation, not only by CONADER  (a government agency established to manage the DDR programme), but also by the ‘donor community’, including the UNDP and the World Bank. Although donors accuse CONADER of mismanaging funds and delaying the DDR programme,(1)CONADER contends that the conception and the micro-management of the DDR programme has been done largely by the donors themselves. Meanwhile, caught in the crossfire are the former fighters and the civilians.

The bottom line is that there are serious inefficiencies on the part of both national and international players that have been carried forward into implementation of the DDR programme. Far from having promoted the effective demobilisation and reintegration into civilian life of former fighters, the DDR programme has engendered frustration among them. The inefficiency and problems faced by DDR in the DRC do not augur well for the future of peace and stability in this country.

The 21st Report of the UN Secretary-General on MONUC echoes this concern and indicates that thousands of disgruntled ex-fighters across the country continue to experience late payment of stipends, presenting an ongoing threat to security and stability in the DRC. At the beginning of the DDR programme, donors pledged US$200 million towards the civilian component of the national DDR programme. This was to consist of a joint contribution from the World Bank (50%) and the donor community (50%) under the Multi-Country Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme (MDRP) framework. Not all money pledged was received, and that which came in has been exhausted. Yet, many demobilised ex-fighters are still waiting to be  reintegrated.

The North Kivus has the second largest number of demobilised persons, 13,433 (389 of whom are female). Of these only 8,202 have been reintegrated. CONADER estimates that 10,000 combatants still need to be demobilised in the Eastern DRC alone. In these provinces CONADER has five implementation partners. The partners receive $400 per ex-combatant reintegrated. This has to cover their administration costs and they have to buy the “kit” (cost $150) that each person who has completed a course receives. These partners however sub-contract the work to a number of NGOs.

Reintegration assumes stability, a community or family to be reintegrated into, and the existence of socio-economic conditions that will enable those trained/retrained and “kitted” to re-enter economic life. These conditions are hardly applicable in North Kivu. One only has to look at the spectrum of courses offered to know that the conceptualisation of the programme is flawed: farming, fishing, hairdressing, sewing, carpentry, shoe repairs, etc. These do not offer meaningful job opportunities since many of these areas are already ‘saturated’. Often, after waiting months to undergo the course and to receive the kit and then, too, not assured of income, in a context where militia are still recruiting, many find their way back, either by force or voluntarily, to the armed groups: a circulation of demobilised, remobilised and then demobilised again? There is no follow-up to track what is happening to ex-combatants and therefore little useful assessment of the programme itself.

North Kivu is in need of an emergency DDR programme. But, this cannot be more of the same. The national government and the donor community have jointly to develop a more effective DDR strategy. This has to take place in the context of resolving the politically based tensions that persist in the East and of focusing on the root causes of conflict, and the implementation of sustainable reintegration programmes.

Cheryl Hendricks and Emmanual Kisiangani, Southern Africa Human Security Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)