Communitarian Reintegration in DDR Programs: An Analysis of the Communutarian Component of the Reintegration Program in Colombia, 2002 - 2008

The process of reintegrating excombatants into civilian live has at least two dimensions: the ex-combatant and the recipient community. The ex-combatant oriented reintegration process provides for individual reintegration solutions to the ex-combatants who are perceived ‘as continuous threat to long-term security’ . This is the traditional perspective that has been applied in different DDR programs around the world since 1980s. The second dimension is the community reintegration, which can be understood as the process by which the communities get the required tools and skills to accept and help the ex-combatants in their process of resettling and reincorporating into civilian life . By including the communities into the reintegration process, not only the programs are creating conducive conditions to reintegration, but also they are creating a space for reconciliation in which both former combatants and host communities (which includes vulnerable populations and victims of violence) would benefit in the same way. Thus, a more equal and fair environment would be created in the process of reintegrating ex-combatants into civilian life. This statement is analyzed in two contextual cases in Africa, and the case study of Colombia.