Mine Action for Peace helps reintegrate ex-combatants

Many former combatants are now joining de-mining agencies as part of the UN-backed disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme. More than 700 such ex-combatants throughout the country have so far joined the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA) project. "It is a very interesting programme from an international perspective because this has never been tried before," Phil Lancaster, DDR project manager for UNMACA, told IRIN in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wdnesday. He explained that this was the first time that such a project had been tried as part of formal reintegration efforts that attempt to include reconciliation and which focus on psychosocial, literacy and basic education problems. UNMACA recruits the ex-combatants through its Mine Action for Peace (MAFP) project. It is part of the DDR programme to provide a quality reintegration package to ex-combatants through community-based de-mining. According to Lancaster, the aim is not to get more de-miners, but to try to help people reintegrate. He explained that de-mining was used as a means of making people able to do useful work for their communities. "I feel very comfortable and happy now that I am working here as a de-miner and serving my family, community and country," Mohammad Qasim, a 27-year-old ex-combatant now working as a de-miner, told IRIN. He explained that, before the start of the DDR process, he had been living in poverty with his wife and three children. He had been working as soldier in a militia post, but now that he has been disarmed and reintegrated he can easily support his family. The project not only gives at least 12 months employment to ex-combatants and removes mines. It also provides opportunities for ex-soldiers to attend literacy classes and receive vocational and community mobilisation training. Most importantly, ex-combatants return to their own communities and often risk their lives to remove mines for them. Lancaster said the community's support that this created helped to build confidence in the reintegration programme. "The project is being implemented in five regions - Kunduz, Parwan, Kabul, Mazar and Kandahar," Lancaster said. So far some 700 ex-combatants had been involved and there was space and funding for 200 more, he noted. The project is supported by contributions from Japan and the European Commission.