Post-Conflict Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration in Yemen: Lessons Learned from Other Conflicts

Since 2015, Yemen has experienced multiple different conflicts. Once settlements are achieved, several questions remain regarding the quality of peace: What is going to happen to the weapons that were used by conflict parties? How will combatants’ relationships with each other evolve? And how will ex-combatants reintegrate into post-conflict Yemen? These questions encapsulate the essence of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs which are aimed at preventing the recurrence of conflict. Although the country has experienced multiple conflicts since the unification of northern and southern Yemen in 1990, no DDR program has been implemented, and general armament levels have been high even before the onset of the current conflicts. This chapter builds on newly collected data on 126 DDR programs between 1975 and 2021 and identifies lessons learned for an eventual DDR program in Yemen. It argues that given the multitude of conflict types, both territorial and over government, pre-conditions for country-wide DDR programs are unlikely to be in place. Hence, alternative sequencing models (reintegration-first, disarmament-later), gender-sensitive reintegration, and sub-nationally tailored community violence reduction (CVR) programs are possible options. However, for these models to be implemented, sufficient external funding, security sector reform, and domestic institutional capacity building will be crucial.