Planning for Ex-combatants' Reintegration in a Post-conflict Society: African Lessons for the Kivu in the Drc

This study seeks to critically assess an alternative approach to reintegrating ex-combatants into the Local Economic Development (LED) process, using the experiences of other African countries. It also offers practitioners guidance on how planners might successfully address the challenges of reintegration within the context of a Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes. The study unpacks the role of Public Works Projects in a post-war torn society for this purpose. The strength of Public Works Projects in a post-conflict society lies on the fact that these projects aim to provide rapid and visible relief for the reintegration of ex-combatants and/or other socially marginalised people into civil society. Public Works Projects build the capacity of communities for development, keeping the marginalised members productive and self-reliant in the new society in which they find themselves.