The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will support the reintegration of 180,000 Sudanese ex-combatants as they return to civilian life under an agreement signed Wednesday with the Sudan Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan, according to the UN website.
Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) are important components of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended the long-running north-south civil war in Sudan.
The beneficiaries include some 24,000 members of the Sudan Armed Forces and 26,000 others pre-registered by the Popular Defense Forces. Nearly 5,300 women associated with armed forces and groups, and 17,500 disabled combatants are also eligible.
Under the agreement, they will receive social, economic and psychological support from the four-year programme to be implemented by the DDR Commissions of North and South Sudan with UNDP's support as they make their way back into civilian life and begin anew in their communities.
UNDP Associate Administrator Ad Melkert said, "we welcome the Government of Sudan's leadership in taking forward the DDR programme, and assisting the building of national and local capacities of the process."
"The dividends of peace are long overdue. Employment generation and re-integration of former combatants is key to this process," he added.
The agreement, built on the achievements of the disarmament and demobilization pilot phase launched in 2006, was signed at a DDR Donor Conference in Geneva co-chaired by UNDP and the Government of Japan.
During the conference, donors reiterated their full support to the Sudan DDR programme that requires 430 million U.S. dollars over a four-year period.
"The reintegration programme will complement existing programs of the Government of Sudan and UN that focuses on building peace at the community level,"said Ameerah Haq, UNDP Resident Representative in Sudan.
Source:Xinhua
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