UN Assistant Secretary–General Visits Wau, Mapel UN Assistant Secretary General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions Dmitry Titov visited Wau and Mapel in Western Bahr el Ghazal to assist in the National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration programme (DDR).
18 April 2013 Western Bahr El-Ghazal State Governor Rizik Zackaria Hassan (L) with the UN Assistant Secretary General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions Dmitry Titov (R) in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State. [James Deng Dimo] By James Deng Dimo WAU, 17 April 2013[Gurtong] – Titov who first landed in Mapel town where he made access on the South Sudan Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (SSDDRC) preparations for it first pilot phase launching postponed last Monday in Mapel held a closed door meeting with the state government officials led by the governor Rizik Zackaria Hassan and other delegates from the UN. Titov in his short brief to the media said his visit to Mapel was aimed to access the ongoing SSDDRC preparations in the area for the launching scheduled to take place soon but did not say when will the first pilot phase launching takes place since it was postponed last Monday. Titov ensured that the site construction is ongoing well and training of the trainers is also due to commence in Mapel. The construction of the facility and the training of the trainers are being handled by the UNDP, UNESCO and other UN partners in Mapel. “Mapel will soon become an everlasting institution camp in South Sudan since all necessary requirements are all in place,” he said. About 500 members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS) will enrol in the pilot training programme at a DDR training facility in the Western Bahr El-Ghazal state community of Mapel. Nearly two years in the making, the new programme has been allocated a budget of USD$1.5 Million and will run for three months. According to the UN, the process of disarming ex-combatants and reintegrating them into civilian life isn’t unknown to South Sudan. A DDR programme was launched in 2009 in what was then called southern Sudan as well as the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and over the ensuing two years 12,525 ex-combatants were processed under that DDR exercise. That figure fell way short of the 90,000 who were supposed to be demobilized during the transition from civil war to independence, and that DDR programme was halted in April 2011. As part of an overhaul of the programme, a National DDR Council was formed and instructed to design new policies that would transform the previous DDR program into one that would be sustainable for many years. About 80 per cent of the ex-combatants who have been chosen for the pilot programme cannot read and write or have limited literacy skills. In order to acquaint them with the DDR programme in advance, outdoor meetings were held last month in six locations scattered across the states of Warrap, Lakes, Northern Bahr El-Ghazal and Western Bahr El-Ghazal. The teams who organized those informal introductions to the DDR process were drawn from national and state DDR bodies, representatives of South Sudanese security services and staff members of the UNMISS DDR section. Participants will receive training in a wide variety of economic activities ranging from agriculture and carpentry to automotive repair and the operation of a small business. More specialized training will be available after the ex-combatants have completed the initial 90-day phase and rejoin their families in their respective communities. The SPLA is promoting the DDR programme as an opportunity for its ex-soldiers to acquire skills and a steady source of income, however modest that might be. Posted in: Home, Governance -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
