From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone ended its national disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) program in December 2003. Since the program began in 1998, 72,500 former combatants have been demobilized, including 4,751 women (6.5 percent ) and 6,787 children (9.4 percent), of who 506 are girls. From the outset, there was some recognition that women and child soldiers made up a significant portion of the . In theory, the DDR process was designed to include them. But while the program was effective in reaching out to make combatants, ultimately women and children were underserved. Despite this shortcoming, the plan has been hailed as a success and a model upon which other DDR processes could be based.