El Fasher, 29 June 2015 - UNAMID is concerned about recent media reports that the Mission has deliberately delayed assisting the Sudan Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (SDDRC).

UNAMID's role in the ongoing disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration process in Darfur is guided by the provisions set out in the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD). The DDPD provides for UNAMID supporting the SDDRC in its endeavour to disarm and demobilise former combatants from Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM-Sudan/Dabajo).

The SDDRC requested the Mission to extend its cooperation to the demobilisation of troops from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Popular Defense Forces (PDF) as well as those earmarked by the 2006 Abuja Agreement. While the Mission declined to support the proposed demilitarization of the SAF and PDF, on the grounds that this is a demilitarization as opposed to a DDR exercise, which falls outside the remit of the DDPD; UNAMID has nevertheless agreed, in principle, to help with the ex-combatants identified by the Abuja Agreement provided that the Commission presents a complete master list of potential combatants to be demobilised. However, up to the present time, the Mission has not received this list and hence the delay in processing Abuja Agreement caseloads.

There were also several delays in the timelines for the DDR process of the signatory movements on account of the movements not being forthcoming with necessary details. Despite such operational hurdles, UNAMID has managed to successfully complete the demobilisation of 534 ex-combatants in 2014 and is currently working with the Commission to demobilise the LJM caseload.

UNAMID continues to take its DDR mandate in full earnest and exerts every possible effort to expedite as well as swiftly execute the DDR tasks assigned to it within its capability and in the framework of the DDPD; it calls on the SDDRC to engage positively with the Mission to successfully conclude outstanding DDR activities. UNAMID has encouraged the SDDRC on several occasions to seek bilateral support for the demilitarization of the SAF and PDF.