My dissertation project focuses on conceptualizing gender in  Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs, by analyzing previous programs through a feminist lens. Looking beyond the formal UN guidelines on the inclusion of women, I examine how gender is included in DDR, including how gender identities shape programs, how gender stereotypes and prevailing gendered hierarchies are reinforced, and how women are often coupled with other 'vulnerable' groups which fails to account for their key contribution during conflict. 

Using a novel dataset on gendered dimensions of DDR programs, I examine the predictors of women and girl's inclusion in these post-conflict processes. This analysis examines how various conflict and peace dynamics predict the strength of gendered inclusions in DDR programs. I additionally explore the formal and informal DDR processes that took place across Uganda for four rebel groups: the LRA, the ADF, the HSM, and the UPA. In doing so, I examine how local characteristics and rebel group variation shaped gendered inclusion in DDR programs in Uganda. 

This work builds on key feminist theory to highlight the faults in dichotomizing gender and the dangers of reinforcing gender stereotypes during post-conflict processes. It has practical policy implications for DDR donors and practitioners, by highlighting that DDR programs in their current form do not go far enough to dismantle potentially harmful gendered divisions during and after conflict.