Continuation of Preparatory work on the Cantonments

17 Feb 2014

Continuation of Preparatory work on the Cantonments

The Malian government and Malian armed groups have today continued informal discussions on the preparation for a future process of Cantonment. This follows a seminar on Cantonments that was facilitated at the beginning of last week by MINUSMA, and was attended by the international community. 

MINUSMA acknowledges the amount of support there is towards this commitment, and will continue to facilitate consultations until a formal agreement is achieved between all concerned parties.

The Malian goverment and Malian armed groups will have prime responsibility in managing the future cantonment sites. MINUSMA will provide assistance and supervise the implementation of the agreement, as well as inciting contribution from other international partners.  

According to the preliminary agreement signed by the Malian parties at Ougadougou on 18 June 2013, the cantonment is the first stage towards an effective program for the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) that should take place in the form of a final global peace agreement, and that will result in future inclusive negotiations.