180,000 ex-fighters across Sudan will be demobilised under the DDR scheme

Over 5,600 ex-combatants were disarmed on Monday, 10 August 2009, through DDR scheme in Blue Nile state, E. Sudan.

It is hoped that eventually as many as 180,000 ex-combatants across Sudan will be demobilized under the DDR scheme.



Photo: Former SPLA soldier displays civilian ID card at launch of DDR in Ed Damazin (UN News Centre)

Source: UN News Centre, 11 August 2009 - excerpt:
First phase of ex-combatants’ demobilization wraps up in Sudan

Thousands of former fighters have taken part in the first phase of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programme, marking a key milestone for the 2005 agreement that ended Sudan’s north-south civil war, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country reported today.

The last of over 5,600 ex-combatants earmarked for demobilization were processed yesterday in the first phase of the DDR scheme in Blue Nile state, in Sudan’s east, according to the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which celebrated the achievement in a brief ceremony.

It is hoped that eventually as many as 180,000 ex-combatants across Sudan will be demobilized under the DDR scheme.

The joint North and South Sudan DDR commissions, along with UNMIS, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), are assisting with the process in Blue Nile.