STEP 7
Put DDR in the Peace Agreement
Peace agreements vary in the level of detail on DDR issues. Although clarity on key dimensions of the program is helpful when trying to minimize disagreements during implementation, such clarity is not always possible. DDR provisions in a peace agreement should at the minimum cover the following areas.
Craft a Clear Vision, Approach, and Desired Outcome for the DDR Program
The peace agreement should clearly reflect the vision, approach, and desired outcome(s) of the DDR program. Although DDR will contribute to the broader reconciliation, return, and repatriation of the displaced, as well as economic reconstruction, the most important outcome of DDR negotiations is often related to the reestablishment of security and the organization of related state security structures. The vision for a new security sector is clearly articulated as a major outcome in the Liberia 2003 Accra Peace Agreement; combatants of all the conflict parties had to submit themselves to the DDR program.
In some cases, conflict parties cannot agree to fully commit all of their forces for a DDR process because key political issues have yet to be fully resolved. In these situations, the approach to DDR issues may be more limited, consisting of agreement on some limited DDR activities and establishing the mechanisms for further DDR planning pending the full resolution of outstanding issues.
In the Sudan Comprehensive Agreement, pending the referendum on the status of South Sudan, there was no clear roadmap for the DDR of the main forces of the north and south. Instead, DDR planning institutions (DDR commissions) were established in the agreement to commence preparations for DDR programs. Preliminary DDR activities for a small group of participants were agreed to, mainly as a confidence-building measure. The initial participants in the early DDR program wer