Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 16 december 2004 / Time Line December 16, 2004
Version 3.515. December 2004, 17. December 2004
12/16/2004
UN: Afghan demobilization marks milestone with one whole region
disarmed
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12831&Cr=Afghan&Cr1=
For the first time since Afghanistan's disarmament, demobilization
and reintegration (DDR) process was launched more than a year ago,
all units in an entire region have been declared disarmed, the
United Nations mission reported today.
With more than 6,700 soldiers and officers of the 7th and 8th Corps
in Mazar-e Sharif, northern Afghanistan, now disarmed and their
units decommissioned, nearly 29,000 military personnel countrywide,
or about 60 per cent of the total expected to lay down their
weapons, have now done so.
Of these nearly 25,500 have entered Afghanistan's New Beginnings
Programme to reintegrate them into civil society with jobs or
skills training and support for establishing small businesses, UN
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) spokesperson Ariane
Quentier told a news briefing in Kabul, the Afghan capital.
DDR teams have also secured 7,360 working or repairable heavy
weapons in guarded compounds, representing the bulk of heavy
weapons in Afghanistan apart from Panjshir in the east where talks
are still underway to start the collection.
In answer to questions Ms. Quentier acknowledged that not all the
demobilized soldiers receiving training had already found jobs, but
she voiced optimism that they would. "Are we confident? Yes we
are," she said. "Is it going to be done tomorrow? It might not, it
takes time and we are in a rebuilding process."
Among the demobilized are nearly 4,000 boys, 14 to 17 years old.
Each child receives a package of support, including medical and
psychosocial assessments, briefings on mine risks, drug abuse,
HIV/AIDS prevention and basic health education, and training in
such fields as agriculture and animal husbandry, tailoring,
carpentry, electronics and masonry, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
spokesman Edward Cawardine said.
UNICEF estimates that there are approximately 8,000 former child
soldiers in Afghanistan. Most of them were forcibly conscripted to
various fighting forces in the last years of the two decade-long
conflict. While many have left their units voluntarily, few have
had the chance to rebuild their educational and life skills, and
risk being marginalized, Mr. Cawardine said.
The agency now hopes to complete the demobilization programme in
provinces of the south, west and south-east of the country not
covered in 2004.
12/16/2004
Health lobby blasts DND for outsourcing care : Group says
public system undermined by contract with Ottawa technology
firm
By: Glen McGregor and Bert Hill
The Ottawa Citizen
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=618d4985-2a75-48d0-8867-ca392d273f3a
The federal government is undermining the public health system by
allowing the Department of National Defence to outsource medical
care for Canadian soldiers to a private company, a health lobby
group says.
The Canadian Health Coalition yesterday denounced the
decision by DND to contract out health care for military personnel
to an Ottawa technology firm, saying the move conflicts with Health
Minister Ujjal Dosanjh's claim to oppose privatization of health
services.
"The federal government needs to lead by example in supporting
public health care and stemming the tide of privatization," said
Michael McBane, the coalition's national co-ordinator.
Calian Technology Ltd. yesterday announced it had won a
$400-million, five-year contract to provide and manage health care
professionals for DND. The company will hire doctors, nurses,
dentists, physiotherapists and psychologists to treat personnel at
36 bases.
Calian is the second private company to manage health care for DND.
The first three-year contract was awarded to Med-Emerg
International in 2001.
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