The UNMIS Pakistani Contingent has been labouring behind the scenes to help make ongoing Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) a success in Ed Damazine, Blue Nile State.

The UNMIS Pakistani Contingent has been labouring behind the scenes to help make ongoing Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) a success in Ed Damazine, Blue Nile State.

In preparation for the event, Pakistani engineers worked for almost a month to set up the DDR camp. They built sentry posts for the site and set up about 25 tents for security and verification of combatants, medical testing, a bank and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Once DDR began on 10 February, Pakistani medical personnel began conducting medical examinations for all combatants. The contingent's soldiers are providing security for the inner perimeter of the DDR site as well as combatants being transported from the assembly area. They are also transporting combatants from the assembly area to the site and back.

As of 3 March, some 461 combatants from the 21-year north-south civil war had been demobilized in Ed Damazine. The DDR programme in Blue Nile State alone aims to demobilize about 5,000 out of an overall figure of 180,000 combatants.