Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) is a process through which members of armed forces and groups are supported to lay down their weapons and return to civilian life. As a complex process, it comprehends political, security, social and economic dimensions aimed at creating an environment where a peace process, political and social reconciliation, as well as sustainable development, can take place.

To compile lessons learned from DDR programmes implemented throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Inter-Agency Working Group on DDR (IAWG-DDR) developed and published the Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS) in 2006. The IDDRS have the objective to provide DDR practitioners operating in UN-mandated missions as well as non-mission settings with evidence-based guidance to jump-start new DDR processes. In 2017, to answer to the emerging challenges faced by DDR practitioners in new conflict contexts, the IAWG took the decision to undertake a comprehensive review of the IDDRS, which culminated with the launch of the revised UN Approach to DDR in November 2019. Such revision and the drafting of the new modules of the IDDRS has seen many IDDRS modules updated by the IAWG-DDR while other are under finalisation and validation from the 25 UN entities forming the IAWG.

UNITAR strategic goal in the thematic area of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) is to support national, regional and international stakeholders and practitioners through building and strengthening their capacities to implement emerging as well as traditional DDR programmes and processes in line with the international standards and guidelines, such as the UN Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS) and the African Union Operational Guidance Notes (OGNs).

UNITAR is an active member of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (IAWG-DDR) and of the Integrated DDR Training Group (IDDRTG).