Mr. William Swing, Special Representative to the UN Secretary General in the DRC and MONUC force commander General Babacar Gaye paid a visit to Bunia in Ituri district on August 13 and 14 2007, in particular to evaluate the progress of the third Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) phase, accompanied by a high level UN delegation. 

The UN delegation, which also included MONUC eastern division commander General Singh and UNDP Director for the DRC Babacar Cisse, were part of a DDR meeting on August 13, co-chaired by MONUC Ituri director Charles Gomis and DRC Defence Ministry Representative Colonel Kazumba.

At the meeting, which was also attended by the National DDR Programme (PNDDR) head Tumba Luaba and Ituri Police chief Petronille Vaweka, Mr. Swing reiterated the importance of the concept of “one man, one weapon,” which is a requirement of the third phase.

“There are issues relating to registered troops who present themselves for DDR but do not have weapons, and others who come with a weapon but are not registered for the programme,” he explained.

According to Mr. Swing, they are important issues because they are “of concern for the Kinshasa government, and the donors who finance the programme.”

In addition, Mr. Swing asked of the participants to strictly adhere to the programme timetable, in order to progress strictly according to programme criteria.

As a donor representative, UNDP country director Babacar Cissé said it was important to underline that “an assessment of the operation’s first phase up to 17 August 2007 is underway, and a lessons learned report will be produced.”

“On the basis of the lessons learned now, we need to discuss with the Minister for Defense to see up to what point we can still take into account those which are not on the registered lists, and to pinpoint the people that need to be disarmed and inserted into the programme,” he added.

In addition, he also stressed that the leaders of the armed groups - the MRC, FNI and the FRPI- did not register the expected number of combatants for the programme.

On August 14, the delegation visited the DDR transit site in Bunia, where Mr. Swing congratulated the ex-combatants for their decision to join the programme. He then went to Rwampara military training camp -situated 10 km from Bunia -where the second battalion of the 13th FARDC* integrated Brigade were undergoing training by Pakistani blue helmets.

During a subsequent briefing, the training instructors insisted on the importance of working to change the soldier’s mentality and attitude, considered more important than the technical military training.

Mr. Swing also stressed the importance of the training, which encourages the soldiers to give up “typical militia behavior, in favour of an attitude of protection towards the population, with a respect for human rights and humanitarian laws”.

During his visit Mr. Swing also met with local UN agencies and international NGO representatives, who gave him a progress report on the humanitarian situation in Ituri district.


*DRC Armed Forces