Women in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration processes: a human rights assessment of the United Nations’ guidelines to the programmes

Abstract: To recover from armed conflicts, state authorities need to take on measures that will permit statebuilding to happen. Usually, the first type of measures put into place is the adoption of programmes called Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR). Because they target individuals who are deemed potential threats to the success of the peace process, namely combatants, DDR programmes are said to be essential in the post-conflict period. The manner by which said programmes have been planned and implemented so far tend to prioritize male combatants as the main targets, in spite of the increasingly large number of women who participate in conflicts. This gap has prompted the thesis to investigate the United Nations’ guidelines on DDR in search for answers to such discrepancy. The aim was to understand if human rights standards regarding the non-discrimination of women are reflected in these guidelines and, in case they are, to what extent. For that purpose, it was necessary to grasp the functioning of DDR programmes, as well as the challenges faced by women. Moreover, questioning if human rights law is applicable in peacebuilding settings was needed, as DDR is adopted in such contexts. Understanding the pertinent human rights standards was the next step. Having all this information, it was possible to assess the UN guidelines through a human rights perspective. The results of this research demonstrated that the United Nations’ guidelines do reflect human rights law with regard to the non-discrimination of women. However, there are limitations to that, due to a somewhat narrow endorsement of human rights as framework and language.