The UN Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) has hailed the launch of the third phase of the national Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program (DDR) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).
“We welcome the launch of the third phase of the DDR and we congratulate the Congolese government for this initiative. We want to promise them our support to execute the program across the country,” the deputy special representative of the UN secretary general in DR Congo David Gressly said in a statement over the weekend.
The third phase of the DDR national program was launched on Saturday in Kitona, a locality within the newly created Kongo central province.
It was launched by DR Congo’s national defense minister, with over 2,000 ex-combatants who are awaiting to be reintegrated, taking part in the process.
Another ceremony is scheduled to take place in Katanga province, to include ex-combatants in the province, the statement from the UN mission said.
“The launch of the program is a move in the right direction which will encourage other active combatants to surrender their arms and join the national DDR national program across the country, ” Gressly said.
The third phase of the national DDR program which is expected to last for four years, is targeting about 12,000 combatants from different armed groups. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
