ACCORD’s TfP Programme, represented by Senior Programme Officer, Karishma Rajoo participated in the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) meeting that was held in Berlin, Germany from 26-28 April 2006. Several organizations involved in the field of peace and security, mainly across Europe, attended a workshop in Brindisi, Italy to discuss the standardization of DDR training
in accordance with the United Nations Integrated DDR Standards (IDDRS). Following this meeting, a DDR consortium was set up and this first meeting included the Centre for International Peace Operations (ZIF – www.zif-berlin.org) and the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC – www.bicc.de) as key partners. The TfP Programme was also invited to participate due to the programme’s initiative to develop an African-centred DDR curriculum for peacekeeping operations on the continent, and the conducting of DDR trainings using the curriculum developed this year.
The TfP Programme is interested in coordinating the programme’s DDR initiative with that of the consortium, and the United Nations Inter Agency Working Group on DDR. The meeting reflected on the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of the consortium and it was agreed unanimously that the group of training institutions be referred to as the Integrated DDR Training Group (IDDRTG). The IDDRTG is in the process of adopting a cooperation agreement, and partners discussed ways in which they could share training information and material, and how best the IDDRTG could create synergies among the partners.
The meeting also reflected on the two DDR training simulation exercises, Carana and Gazebo. The group discussed the simulations in detail reflecting on gaps in the programme, and issues of strengths and weaknesses, and whether there was a need to for two separate simulations that were obviously very similar. The Carana and Gazebo exercises will be developed into a hybrid training simulation, to reflect UN and non-UN operations, for use by the partner organizations for upcoming trainings this year. The next meeting of the IDDRTG is scheduled for 13-15 December in Pisa, Italy, where the group will review the effectiveness of the hybrid simulation and matters in regard to funding.
