ACCORD’s Training for Peace (TfP) in Africa Programme has conducted a Specialisation Course in Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), from 18-22 September 2006. This was the second course in the Civilian Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Course (CPPC) series that ACCORD has organised for 2006.
The DDR training was an advanced-level specialised course aimed primarily to benefit civilians that are already engaged in DDR-related activities with basic to medium-level experience. The training aims to enhance the participants’ existing skills by learning from resource persons who already have extensive knowledge in the field.
The course hosted eleven civilian participants and eight members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). The civilian participants were professionals working in a variety of positions throughout the African continent, with a strong representation of DDR officials from the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and from the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC).
The course curriculum covered a range of challenges in present-day peacebuilding in Africa, including the security sector reform, DDR planning, the role of public information in DDR and a range of practical elements, such as DDR camp site management and the handling of small and light weapons.
The facilitating panel included experts from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), the UN Information Centrein South Africa and a senior guest facilitator, Dr. Namanga Ngongi, the former Under Secretary General of the United Nations and the former Special Representative of the Secretary General in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The training was funded by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
