Socio economic reintegration of former combatants is one the most complicated stages in the aftermath of armed struggles and there is never a straightforward answer to its implementation. Although there has been theoretical and practical progress in these regards, ex-combatants often must face formal an informal constraints before regaining their citizenship. In these contexts, institutional interventions are crucial to facilitate the transition of this population into civilian life. This research analyses the role of the institutional framework and its impact in the proper economic reintegration of former politically motivated combatants in Colombia and Northern Ireland since 2000. Through a rigorous review of international examples, previous experiences in reintegration programmes, public policies and the examination of extensive literature, it was possible to identify punitive legislation, limited employment opportunities, discrimination, lack of skills and informal economies as main factors affecting the reintegration process. This overview was confronted with data collected through six semi-structured interviews with key actors in Colombia and Northern Ireland who have been deeply involved in conflict resolution matters. As a result of this triangulation, this exploration compares and concludes that the Colombian institutional framework is more advanced in terms of socio-economic reintegration of ex- combatants in comparison to the Irish case in which ex-prisoners’ role after the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement is not clear yet. In addition, this research identifies that former politically motivated combatants are still experiencing similar problems such as discrimination, exclusion and high levels of deprivation that official interventions have not been capable of addressing in both countries. Finally, two recommendations are stated in order to strengthen these programmes from a people-centred perspective and a sensitive approach that takes into account specificities of ex-combatants in terms of employment, self-employment and training.

Abstract: A recent petrophysical formulation states that all the storage mechanisms present in shale reservoirs are best represented by a quintuple porosity system that is further fed by dissolved gas in the solid kerogen. The quintuple porosity system is made up of: 1) adsorbed gas in the pore walls of the organic matter. 2) free gas stored in the inorganic matrix porosity. 3) free gas stored in natural fractures (microfractures and slot porosity) 4) free gas stored in the hydraulic fractures created around the wellbore by the stimulation job. 5) free gas stored in the organic nanopores. This thesis presents a new material balance methodology for shale gas and shale condensate reservoirs that considers all the aforementioned storage mechanisms. Results lead to the conclusion that ignoring the effects of gas diffusion from kerogen in shale material balance calculations can lead to pessimistic estimates of both OGIP and production forecasts. Resumen: Una formulación petrofísica reciente indica que todos los mecanismos de almacenamiento presentes en yacimientos de lutita son representados por un sistema de quíntuple porosidad que, además, se alimenta de gas disuelto en el kerógeno sólido. El sistema de quíntuple porosidad está compuesto de: 1) gas adsorbido en las paredes de los poros en la materia orgánica. 2) gas libre almacenado en la porosidad de la matriz inorgánica. 3) gas libre almacenado en las fracturas naturales (microfracturas y porosidad ranurada). 4) gas libre almacenado en las fracturas hidráulicas creadas alrededor de la cara del pozo por el trabajo de estimulación. 5) gas libre almacenado en los nanoporos de la materia orgánica. Esta tesis presenta una nueva metodología para balance de materia de yacimientos de lutita de gas y gas condensado que considera todos los mecanismos de almacenamiento previamente mencionados. Los resultados permiten concluir que si los efectos de la difusión de gas del kerógeno son ignorados en los cálculos de balance de materia en yacimientos de lutita, pueden obtenerse estimados pesimistas tanto de gas original en sitio como de los pronósticos de producción.