“Nobody Listens to Us”: Minors in DDR Processes – The Gender Dimension

Minors in armed groups represent a challenging issue in peace and DDR processes. This report takes the international framework on children in armed groups as its point of departure – particularly the UN operational guide to the integrated disarmament, demobilization and reintegration standards (IDDRS). It looks into the main recommendations in the UN guide and holds these recommendations up against the gendered experiences of female and male minors in DDR processes. Research and case studies on the gender dimension of DDR processes are increasing, but gendered case studies of minors in DDR processes are still very rare. This report builds on two new case studies from Colombia and Nepal and includes interviews with a total of 47 minors – females and males – from FARC-EP in Colombia (22) and PLA in Nepal (25). A key research question in the project on which this report is based concerns whether the international DDR framework, particularly the IDDRS, is sufficiently gender sensitive, and whether it serves the best interests of the minors in DDR processes in Colombia and Nepal, as well as in the large variety of conflict contexts globally.