20 March 2011 - More than two dozen ex-combatants from the Sudanese Armed Forces participated in El Fasher, North Darfur, in a training aimed at their social and economic reintegration. The three-day exercise, which concluded today, was conducted by the African Charitable Society for Motherhood and Child Care, a NGO contracted by the North Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Commission.

At the close, the beneficiaries received toolkits to assist them in starting different types of businesses, including shoe-making, auto repair, kitchen utensil rental, varied grocery items for small shops, and spare parts for repairing water pumps, among others.

UNAMID took part in the ceremony and will monitor the reintegration of the former soldiers.

Ahmed Ali, after 23 years as a member of the Sudanese Army, is already reintegrated and running a restaurant in El Fasher.

Photo by Albert Gonzalez Farran

Communication and Public Information Division Media Contacts
Kemal Saïki, Director; saiki@un.org; tel.: +249 (0) 92 244 3529; mobile: +249 (0) 92 241 0020

Chris Cycmanick, Officer-in-Charge, Media Relations, cycmanick@un.org, mobile: +249 (0)91 253 8436

Guiomar Pau, Media Relations, paug@un.org, mobile: +249 (0)90 090 5097