Donor nations and organisations pledged around $60-million to an international effort to help former combatants in war-ravaged Central Africa back to civilian life, officials said on Wednesday after an aid meeting in Paris.
Maria Correia, an official with the World Bank-backed Multi-Country Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme said the pledges, which have not yet been confirmed, would come from donor nations, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
The figure represents roughly half of the estimated funding still required for a programme totalling about $570-million, officials said.
The programme aims to offer education and training to about 400 000 former soldiers and militia members who often have little notion of peace after years spent fighting.
”It’s in everyone’s interest because failed integration means insurrection or permanent insecurity,” said Jean Sayinzoga, chairperson of the Rwanda Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission. ”Otherwise, the first temptation is just to go back to the bush and carry on as before.”
The MDRP covers Burundi, Angola, Uganda, the Central African Republic, Rwanda, and the two Congos but it has built on the experience of reintegrating fighters, including thousands of child soldiers, in countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Officials said the programme faces a potent mix of problems, from weak government and shattered economies to wrecked roads and marauding militias.
”You’re moving from a situation of war to a situation of extremely fragile peace,” Major Junior de Fabribeckers, a Belgian foreign ministry official said. – Reuters