Reintegration of Ex-Combatants After Conflict

Walt Kilroy is Associate Director of the Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction at Dublin City University in Ireland, where he teaches on security and development. His PhD thesis was awarded the Basil Chubb prize for the best thesis on political science in Ireland (2012). He previously worked in development in East Africa, and in foreign coverage for public service broadcasting.

• 1. Does it Matter How Ex-Combatants Are Reintegrated After War? 2. The Context in Sierra Leone and Liberia 3. Learning Your Fate: What Ex-Combatants Knew About the Reintegration Process 4. Having a Say in the Reintegration Process and Shared Decision-Making 5. The Effects of a More Participatory Approach: Quantitative Measures 6. The Effects of a More Participatory Approach: Qualitative Measures 7. Conclusion: Why Does a Participatory Approach Matter?

'Walt Kilroy has made an important contribution to our knowledge of how societies emerge from war and how international peace-support interventions often have unanticipated outcomes. By focusing on Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration in Sierra Leone and Liberia he is able to show the everyday dilemmas faced by people on the ground. Based on very extensive fieldwork, this is an especially humane piece of work: accessible, empathetic and full of insights that only a deep immersion in context can bring.' Prof Roger Mac Ginty, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester, UK 'This book should become the standard text on DDR in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Its approach to ideas around local ownership also has wider repercussions and is of relevance to all DDR programmes. It should be read by academics researching DDR and combatants, and by donors involved in demobilising armed groups, who frequently do not consider the ways in which combatants could take ownership of their own pathways from combatants to peaceful citizens.' Prof Paul Jackson, University of Birmingham, UK 'A superb and clear-eyed view of a huge task: how to rehabilitate both people and the land after debilitating conflict. Peacebuilding is hard, and Walt Kilroy shows what can be achieved with participatory approaches that respect and involve people in creating new futures.' Prof Jules Pretty, University of Essex, UK