NRC Drafts Program for Demobilizing Reintegrating Ex-combatants
ADDIS ABABA – The National Rehabilitation Commission (NRC) is developing a program to demobilize and reintegrate ex-combatants in Ethiopia.
The national program aims to support the demobilization and reintegration of up to 250,000 ex-combatants.
It will be implemented in several parts of the country by the commission established by the Government in November 2022 for a period of two years.
Today, the NRC has tabled the draft program for discussions with development partners in Addis Ababa – two weeks after the first National Consultation on demobilization and reintegration was held in Mekelle.
Similar consultations are expected to take place in Bahir Dar, Semera, and other parts of the country.
The draft National Demobilization and Reintegration Program (NDRP) prepared by the Commission follows the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between the Federal Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in November 2022.
The discussion on the program, held under the chair of NRC commissioner Teshome Toga, was attended by government officials, ambassadors, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Catherine Sozi, and UNDP Resident Representative Turhan Saleh.
The Government underscored at the meeting that resource mobilization and implementation of the broader national recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction program for conflict-impacted areas of Ethiopia will take place in a coordinated manner.
Promoting sustainable peace and development, and ensuring that disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former combatants remains an integral part of the process, authorities say.
Support for the demobilization and reintegration process by partners is expected to play significant in creating an environment in which a peace process, political and social reconciliation, access to livelihoods as well as sustainable development can take root.
The program will make “an important contribution to national efforts to consolidate peace and promote stability,” the UNDP said.
Based on the request of the Government, the United Nations (UN) is providing technical and financial assistance to the NRC through the operational coordination of UNDP.
