Steve CookSteve Cook has over 30 years experience in developing and managing programs primarily pertaining to reintegration and resettlement activities ranging from resettlement of Indochinese refugees in the U.S., preparation for resettlement of Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees in Sudan and Indochinese refugees in the Philippines, resettlement processing for Vietnamese refugees in Thailand and Vietnam, reintegration of returning “boat people” in Vietnam, livelihoods recovery programs for earthquake victims in Armenia, reintegration of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine, return and reintegration programs for victims of trafficking in Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Indonesia, IDP protection and integration programs in Indonesia, among others. Most recently, he guided the development and managed the implementation of an innovative Post-Conflict Recovery Program in Aceh focused on the reintegration of former combatants and political prisoners coupled with targeted community stabilization programming. This was complemented by Security Sector Reform programming through a comprehensive Police Training program in community policing and human rights which forged trust and confidence building between the former antagonists of the conflict in Aceh. All of these initiatives required the ability to analyze and synthesize the complex and intricate emergency, post-conflict and developmental dynamics of various countries and beneficiary populations in the context of developing and implementing innovative program responses in strategic countries undergoing profound political and social reform processes. While only the Aceh Post-Conflict Program was in the direct context of DDR, all of the above program initiatives were re/integration programs at their core and therefore have direct relevance to the “R” of DDR. Steve’s extensive operational experience has been supplemented by successful participation in the Nodefic DDR Planning Course, the Transition International/International Alert Advanced Peace Workers Course, the Folke Bernadotte Academy Security Sector Reform Course and the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Security Sector Reform Assessment Course.
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