Once peace agreements have been signed, what happens to those seasoned guerrilla fighters and government soldiers who have been battling with their neighbours during years of civil war? After an average nine years' fighting, can they just go home and resume former lifestyles? A study for USAID by the UK Refugee Studies Programme of post-war reconstruction in Mozambique, tracks the fate of soldiers demobilised from the government and Renamo armies as they negotiate their re-entry into civilian life. How useful and effective are projects set up by national and international agencies to help integrate them into the new Mozambique? The study's findings sketch a picture of mixed success.

Following the peace accord between the government and Renamo in 1992, some 91,000 soldiers were demobilised. 75 percent were from former government forces, the rest from the Renamo rebel army. These demobilised soldiers formed only a small fraction of those forced to move by the war. UNHCR estimated the number of returning refugees at almost two million and a further three million were displaced inside Mozambique. Even so, the demobilisation programme and the return to society of the ex-soldiers was regarded by national politicians and international donors as vital to the country's future stability.

International agencies such as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) worked with the new government to establish programmes to hand out demobilisation kits and financial aid as well as to encourage skills development and create employment opportunities. The study probed how successful these programmes were and how self-sufficient the ex-soldiers proved to be two years after their demobilisation. The research thus looked at how to measure the point at which an individual can be said to have successfully returned to society. It asked: how does the return of ex-soldiers fit into the wider issues of post-war reconstruction? The research was carried out in 1995 and 1996 in Manica, Zambezia, and Maputo provinces. It involved 780 interviews, participatory enquiries, and economic surveys.

Key findings were that:

• Ex-combatants often proved to have maintained social bonds with society during the war, making the transition from soldier to civilian smoother.
• The definition of reintegration is still a problem between different institutions and individuals. Ex-combatants' own understanding of the term need to be better understood and taken into consideration by policy makers.
• Economic and political reintegration are as crucial as social reintegration.
• Cash subsidies allowing ex-soldiers to set up their own households, to reunite with families, and begin agricultural production proved effective.
• Income generation and job creation programmes were often ineffective because they were not well-integrated into a broader programme for post-war reconstruction.

Pointers for future demobilisation programmes were that:

• Reconciliation efforts between soldiers of different fighting parties should be initiated as early as possible, even before demobilisation.
• Political and economic reintegration needs the backup of external intervention and can be prioritised over social reintegration which is more the concern of individuals and communities.
• Measures to resolve economic problems should take into account the socio-cultural context or they risk being ineffective.
• Benefits for demobilised soldiers need to be standardised regardless of their affiliation during the conflict.
• Economic reintegration must consider household as well as individual economic security.
• Reintegration activities should form part of a wider regional and national rehabilitation programme.

Source(s):
The reintegration of ex-combatants in Mozambique: Manica and Zambezia provinces > Refugee Studies Programme Report, by C. Dolan and J. Schafer, 1997
Reintegration of Ex-combatants in Mozambique: Maputo Province Refugee Studies Programme, Oxford by Joao Paulo Borges Coelho, 1997 >

Funded by: USAID, December 1995 to June 1996

id21 Research Highlight: 30 July 1999

Further Information:
Jessica Schafer
Queen Elizabeth House
21 St. Giles
Oxford OX1 3LA
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1865 553351
Contact the contributor: jessica.schafer@st-hughs.ox.ac.uk

Queen Elizabeth House

Chris Dolan
Dean Bradley House
52 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 2AF
UK

Tel: +44 (171)227 8600
Fax: +44 (171) 799 1868
Contact the contributor: acord@gn.apc.org

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