Addis Ababa — The African Union (AU) has provided one million US dollar grant to support the Disarmament, Demobilization and Rehabilitation (DDR) efforts in Ethiopia today.

The grant was signed by Commissioner of National Rehabilitation Commission,Teshome Toga and Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the African Union Commission, Bankole Adeoye.

During the signing ceremony, Teshoma said the grant will help to support efforts in the implementation of DDR.

This AU's initiative would encourage other partners to provide resources in implementing DDR, he added.

He assured that this resource will go directly to the beneficiaries and they will work together to maintain the cooperation.

Commissioner Bankole on his part said "we are very pleased that today the commission has signed the grant agreement for the some of a million USD from the crisis reserve facility of the African Union Peace Fund, the first of its kind to member state."

We are also very pleased that we can say charity begins at the headquarters as the AU is here in Ethiopia, he said, adding the peace of Ethiopia is also the peace of the Union.

This is the beginning of efforts to mobilize resources to mobilize partners for the success of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program of the entire Tigray region, he elaborated.

He reiterated that AU is committed to working together with the government of Ethiopia.