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One of two demobilisation centes in the northern town of Port Loko is now “ready and due to open imminently,” a UNOMSIL official in Freetown told IRIN.
Under Sierra Leone’s disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme, combatants will surrender their weapons and ammunition and be taken to demobilisation centres after being registered and issued with identification documents.
In the initial stages of the demobilisation process, the disarmed fighters will receive basic necessities and “pre-discharge orientation sessions” to prepare them to re-enter civilian life, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report on 23 September.
They are also to receive the first installment of a “transitional safety net allowance” before being returned to their home communities.
As at 24 September, there were 869 ex-combatants at the only fully operational demobilisation centre, located in Lungi, near the international airport.
Centres in Kenema and Daru in the east are scheduled to open in mid-October, according to the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU). However, in the northern town of Makeni rebels have not allowed the inspection of DDR campsites, HACU reported.
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