Rank: Advanced Member
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Location: UK
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Fifteen representatives of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) components in peacekeeping operations gathered at the UN logistical base in Entebbe, Uganda on 30 and 31 March 2010 to validate and receive training on newly developed standard operating procedures (SOP) on monitoring and evaluation in DDR.
The two-day workshop also marked the first ever event that brought together technical-level DDR staff members from all field missions with a DDR mandate. The diverse experience among participants allowed for a rich discussion and exchange of thoughts, experience and best practices among the participants, representing mostly missions located on the African continent, but also the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and New York Headquarters.
A participant from the Disarmament, Demobilization Repatriation Resettlement and Reintegration (DDRRR) Section of the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), Helen Manuel, said: “I like the way that practical exercises were given a priority over theory during the workshop. This helped involve the participants and use their existing practical knowledge.”
Indeed, after a short introduction of the SOP itself, the presentations were mainly intended to introduce exercises or suggest topics for debate.
Active participation by all the attendees was necessary in order to ensure that the new procedures are fully operations-oriented and practitioner-driven. The participants learned how to put together a valid DDR result chain and how to recognize flawed indicators. They discussed ways of capturing how DDR contributes to the overall goal of the peacekeeping operation rather than to rely too heavily on simplistic numerical indicators showing numbers of collected weapons or ex-combatants processed in DDR camps. They also learned how to better analyze and report DDR results.
The DDR Section in the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) in DPKO initiated this project upon recognition that in addition to supporting increasingly complex DDR and Community Violence Reduction (CVR) programmes around the world, the steadily growing DDR budgets bring an increased expectation of scrutiny from both UN Headquarters and Member States. The project was initiated even before the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) last year formally identified the need for increased monitoring and evaluation in DDR programme management.
Currently, seven DDR programmes are implemented within six peacekeeping operations. MONUC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has two separate programmes for Congolese and non-Congolese armed groups. The global budget allocated for DDR activities in 2009 was larger than ever before.
“For us in Haiti, it is a very timely initiative,” said Stephanie Ziebell from the CVR Section in MINUSTAH. “Our programme is quite different from traditional DDR and focuses on change at the community level where assessing impact can be very challenging. This training is a step towards developing better tools to evaluate the progress of these kinds of programmes.”
The new SOP creates a standardized system for monitoring and evaluating DDR operations in peacekeeping contexts. The document has been crafted to be compatible with the procedures used by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), DPKO’s frequent partner in implementing DDR on the ground, thus adding to the integrated approach enshrined in the Integrated DDR Standards, a set of policies launched in 2006. It is also in line with other ongoing programme management processes and initiatives in DPKO and in other parts of the Secretariat.
In their final evaluations, the participants noted that the workshop was very useful, unequivocally concurring that similar workshops at the technical level should be organized in the future. They also underscored the importance of exchanging experience with peers from other missions.
Source: DPKO
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