Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants in Ethiopia: The Case of Gumuz Peoples Democratic Movement (Gpdm) Armed Group

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Date

2022-12

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Addis Ababa University,

Abstract

Ethiopia has a long history of numerous armed conflicts that include civil war in different periods. To stabilize the conflict situation, the country introduced several Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program under the contexts of both post-conflict and on-going conflict in different times. This thesis studies the 2021 DDR process of Gumuz People Democratic Movement (GPDM) armed group that was implemented in Benishangul Gumuz region of Ethiopia under the context of an on-going conflict situation; this makes it distinct from former researches of Ethiopian DDR experience that were conducted under the context of post-conflict situations. Thus, profile of GPDM armed group and its position for armed struggle, involved actors, negotiation and implementation of the 2021 DDR of GPDM analysed and addressed throughout this thesis. Furthermore, by analyzing the overall DDR process, this thesis identifies the major challenges of the program. A qualitative research design method with case study approach was used during the course of this research. Data collected from both primary and secondary data sources. Accordingly, thirty-seven key informants participated in both in-depth interview and focus group discussions. The finding of the study revealed that, the overall 2021 DDR of GPDM failed to attain its primary goal and led to remobilization and re-introduction of 2022 DDR program of the armed group. All the three phases of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration failed to attain their goal. The program planned to incorporate 4500 ex-combatants, while it targeted and demobilized 3200. Only 2.67% ex-combatabts reintegrated from original planed number, while 3.75% ex combatants reintegrated among those who were actually approached. In addition, the study distinguished several major challenges that contributed to its failure. Those are lack of commitment to the peaceful means, lack of inclusiveness, lack of trust, lack of national and local coordination, conflict entrepreneurs, characteristics of ex-combatants, on-going conflict, and external factors.

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Keywords

Benishangul Gumuz Region, GPDM, DDR, Ex-Combatant

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