Ex-combatants to benefit from government skills training and psychosocial support

Gulu: The State Minister for Defence in charge of Veteran Affairs, Huda Olero, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting the reintegration of former combatants through psychosocial counselling, skills training and resettlement programmes aimed at helping them rebuild their lives.

The minister made the remarks during a visit to Gulu, where she met ex-combatants recently received under the Uganda People’s Defence Forces Ex-combatants Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme (UPDEP).

The group, currently under the care of Terra Renaissance, comprises former fighters from Central Africa and Darfur who renounced armed rebellion and voluntarily returned to reunite with their families in Uganda.

“I am happy that they have accepted coming back home, and they have already reached their families,” Minister Olero said.

She explained that the government is prioritising psychosocial healing before equipping the returnees with practical skills to support their livelihoods.

“We are just now trying to take them through psychosocial support, and we even want to give them skills training so that they go back and settle with their people back home,” she added.

Minister Olero emphasized that the government welcomes the returnees and is committed to ensuring they are fully reintegrated into society.

She noted that Northern Uganda has undergone significant transformation since many of the former fighters left the region, pointing to improvements in infrastructure, peace and economic development.

“It’s not late for them. Government is going to support them, resettle them, and they begin from there. Then, as citizens of this country, we see how to develop our country as Uganda. We should all be patriotic,” she said.

The minister urged former combatants, especially those from Northern Uganda, to abandon the legacy of conflict and join fellow citizens in advancing the country’s development agenda.

“As people of Northern Uganda, we spent a lot of time in these wars that have not helped us, but now let’s sit down and join the rest of the country to develop our country,” Olero said.

She also reminded the returnees of Uganda’s Vision 2040, which seeks to transform the country into a high middle-income economy, stressing that every citizen has a role to play.

“By 2040, we should be a high middle-income country. All of us must be able to contribute taxes to develop our country,” she added.

Officials said the returnees are in good health and highly motivated to begin new lives, with many expressing interest in enrolling in Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools to continue their education.

A representative accompanying the minister said the reintegration programme is aligned with the government’s broader human capital development agenda.

“Together with government, we will equip them with skills so that under the National Development Plan IV, they can contribute towards human capital development, making Uganda a developed and better country for all of us,” the representative said.

Government reintegration strategy

Uganda has continued to implement structured reintegration programmes for former combatants through UPDEP, focusing on psychosocial support, vocational skills training, education and economic empowerment.

The programme aims to help returnees recover from the trauma of conflict, acquire employable skills, access education and become productive members of their communities.

Minister Olero pledged continued engagement with the group, saying she would regularly visit them whenever she travels through Northern Uganda to West Nile to monitor their progress and ensure they successfully reintegrate into society.

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