Closure of UNMIS

UNMIS wound up its operations on 9 July 2011 with the completion of the interim period agreed on by the Government of Sudan and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed on 9 January 2005.

The mission ended its six years of mandated operations the same day South Sudan declared independence, following a CPA-provided referendum on 9 January 2011 that voted overwhelmingly in favour of secession.

In support of the new nation, the Security Council established a successor mission to UNMIS – the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) – on 9 July for an initial period of one year, with the intention to renew for further periods as required.

DDR begins reintegrating ex-combatants

12 Jul 2009

DDR begins reintegrating ex-combatants

Sudan's Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programme marked a milestone on 24 March in Ed Damazin, Blue Nile State, when it began reintegrating ex-combatants into civilian life.

Reintegration is the last and most crucial phase of the multi-million dollar DDR scheme for more than 180,000 combatants of the country's north-south war. In reintegration, ex-soldiers receive technical and material assistance to socially and economically reintegrate into society.

Some 14 participants, including four women, were received by the Individual Counseling and Referral Service (ICRS) at the office of the Joint (north/south) DDR Commission in Ed Damazin on the first day and provided with the standard kit on income generation support.

They were the first DDR beneficiaries to be processed when the adult demobilization exercise kicked off in Ed Damazin on 10 February. Some 1,500 have been demobilized since the operation began, out of 5,000 to go through the programme in Blue Nile State this year.

The focus is in Blue Nile State, Southern Kordofan and Abyei during this initial phase of the DDR programme. Preparations are well advanced for demobilization to start in the South Kordofan localities of Julud and Kadugli in mid-April 2009.