Teshome Toga, National Rehabilitation Commissioner, said that more than $554 million are needed to rehabilitate former fighters and reintegrate them into society.
The commissioner said this during a discussion held with media experts on the role of the media in sustainably rehabilitating ex-combatants and other related issues.
The head of the commission’s office, Mr. Gemeda Alemi, added that, the amount of money was initially planned, but it has now been increased.
According to a joint study by the Ministry of National Defense and the Center for Rehabilitation , there are 372,000 ex-combatants in Ethiopia.
Although this is only the registered number and pointed out that the number may increase.
The commission said in the same agenda that ex-combatants will not escape responsibility even if they disarm and join the society.
The members of the special forces who were armed and fighting with the government at the regional level are seen in a different framework.
Since November 2020 to 2022, Ethiopia was in war with TPLF in the northern part of the country.
The signing of a peace agreement between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF in Pretoria, South Africa on November 2, 2022, in order to provide a peaceful solution to the war in the north.
The war in the north cost Ethiopia more than $28 billion dollar damage and killed of close to one million Ethiopians.
