PKSOI Lessons Learned Report January 2019 | Page 20

Gender-Sensitive DDR Processes:
Integrating Female Ex-Combatants in Sierra Leone
(Lesson #2486)
Observation:
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) processes have narrowly defined
women’s roles in armed conflict by focusing on women primarily as victims, showing
reluctance to identify them as soldiers. Because of this lack of gender sensitization in
programming, female ex-combatants, such as those from Sierra Leone’s 11-year civil war
(1991-2002), have largely avoided participating in DDR processes.
Discussion:
The DDR process for ex-combatants in Sierra Leone has been harkened internationally as
a model for success. It was implemented by the UN peacekeeping mission United Nations
Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and its partners following the signing of the Lome
Peace Accord in 1999. “Under the programme, UNAMSIL disarmed combatants from the
main warring factions, the RUF and the Civil Defence Forces, a government militia, as well
as elements of the former Sierra Leone Army and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council,”
(UNAMSIL, p. 1). By the completion of the DDR process in February 2004, over 75,000
adult soldiers and more than 6,800 child soldiers had participated in the process. “Demo-
bilized combatants got small cash stipends while undergoing six-month training after which
they were then sent back into civilian life with start-up tool kits to help them find work,”
(UNAMSIL, p. 1). Almost 55,000 ex-combatants received reintegration benefits such as
skills training programs, formal education, and/or tool kits, and over 42,000 weapons were
collected and destroyed.
While Sierra Leone’s DDR process was recognized internationally as a success, the vast
majority of both adult and child beneficiaries were male. The percentages of women/girls
who participated in the DDR process were very low compared with the number who actually
participated in the war – only 5,000 out of the 75,000 adults in DDR were women, and only
8% of the participating child soldiers were girls. While the exact number of females involved
in the fighting in Sierra Leone remains unknown, estimates range from 10-50% of the armed
factions. Some female ex-combatants in Sierra Leone joined armed factions voluntarily and
many achieved high military ranks, leading lethal attacks, fighting, and killing, in addition to
often acting as sex slaves. Some also had children from the rebels. According to interviews
with over 50 former female soldiers in the post-war context, over 75% of those interviewed
described their roles as ‘active combat duty.’ “From these interviews it becomes clear that
women and girls participated in all facets of war including active combat, commanding, and
military training,” in addition to various supporting roles, (MacKenzie, p. 249).
Despite this lived reality, few if any programs were directed towards female ex-combatants
as soldiers. The DDR program in Sierra Leone used several labels to refer to ‘girls and
women associated with the fighting forces,’ including ‘camp followers,’ ‘sex slaves,’ ‘bush
wives,’ and ‘abductees.’ In this way, even if these women had actually taken an active
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