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Reintegration programme faces shortfall

[Sierra Leone] Peace keepers registering combatants in Sierra Leone Sierra Leone News Agency
Peacekeepers registering ex-fighters in Sierra Leone
    ABIDJAN

    A reintegration programme for former combatants in Sierra Leone faces a shortfall in funding as many more ex-fighters have handed over weapons than expected, Francis Kai-Kai, executive secretary of the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, told IRIN on Thursday.

    "We know we are going to face a shortfall," Kai-Kai said.

    The disarmament programme, which formally ended on Saturday, collected weapons from over 45,000 pro-government and rebel combatants between 18 May 2001 and 6 January 2002, the UN reported.

    The NCDDR originally budgeted that some 26,000 former fighters would hand over arms. This was revised to between 32,000 and 35,000, "and now we have 10,000 more", Kai-Kai said. He added that the budget was currently being revised to take the higher numbers into account and the actual shortfall figure would be available at the end of January.

    The government-run reintegration programme aims to help former rebel and pro-government fighters return to civilian life after 10 years of civil war.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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