Britain gives more money to DDR programme

Britain has pledged another 5.5 million pounds sterling (US $8.5 million) for the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration programme (DDR) following a recent visit by Clare Short, the secretary of state for international development, a spokesman at the British High Commission in Freetown told IRIN on Friday. Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) has been funding an emergency response team involved in setting up and servicing the five demobilisation centres at Lungi, Port Loko South, Port Loko North, Kenema and Daru. Another two centres are being built in the northern towns of Makeni and Magburaka. Sites have been identified for two more in Gondama (Bo District) and Levuma (Moyamba District) in the south, the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) reported on 10 March. The pledge by the UK government brings its total support to the DDR programme to some 14 million pounds, the spokesman said.