Ethiopia: Tigray Launches DDR Program for 75,000 Ex-Combatants, Mekelle to Receive 320 in First Week

The disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) program for 75,000 former combatants in Tigray officially began today, November 21, 2024, the National Rehabilitation Commission (NRC) announced.

Mekelle, one of three designated DDR centers, is set to process 320 combatants within the first week, alongside Edaga Hamus and Adwa, which will also serve as hubs for the program.

Temesgen Tilahun, Commissioner of the National Rehabilitation Commission (NRC), stated that the identification and disarmament process for over 371,000 former combatants from seven regions has been completed, clearing the way for reintegration efforts. The two-year DDR program has a budget exceeding $760 million, with the first phase in Tigray funded by 1 billion birr from the government and $60 million from international partners.

The African Union will oversee the DDR program through its Monitoring, Verification, and Compliance Mission to ensure compliance and transparency.

The launch follows months of anticipation after the Embassy of Canada in Ethiopia disclosed in April that the NRC was “committed to launching the Demobilization and Reintegration program in Tigray in June.”

The delay in fully implementing the DDR process, which is part of the Cessation of Hostilities agreement that ended the two-year war in Tigray, has been a point of contention between the federal government and Tigray’s interim administration.

Ethiopia’s National Security Council had previously stated that while significant progress had been made since the signing of the Pretoria Agreement in November 2022, “there is still work to be done… in particular, the TPLF militants must disarm.”

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The African Union’s Monitoring, Verification, and Compliance Mission had earlier reported the disarmament of heavy weapons to 85-90%, though this had not been accompanied by the complete withdrawal of foreign and non-ENDF forces as originally stipulated.

The Executive Declaration, signed in Nairobi on November 12, specifically outlined that “disarmament of heavy weapons will be done concurrently with the withdrawal of foreign and non-ENDF forces from the region.”

Although the NRC was established by the Ethiopian government in November 2022 for a period of two years to assist with the demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants across the country, the lack of funding to cover the initial estimated cost of more than 29.7 billion birr and the lack of a political settlement to active conflicts in various parts of the country remain the commission’s biggest challenges.

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