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                                                                                                                                        Reintegration : Part 2



officers and even mobile telephone providers ­ may             credit unions known as mutuelles, which are present
have these capabilities, as highlighted in Box 4. The          throughout the country. While ex-combatants are
specific choice of distribution agent will depend on           not required to open a credit union account in order
the local context, and the range of available options.         to receive their benefits, the program hopes that by
The banking system, for example, may not reach                 promoting an interface between beneficiaries and the
rural areas in many countries. Most important is that          mutuelles,ex-combatantswillbeencouragedtoconsider
the chosen institution be able to provide its services         membership in the credit union ­ through which they
in a simple, timely and transparent manner, apply a            can open savings accounts and access credit.
system of safeguards to ensure proper identification
and tracking of beneficiaries and minimize fraud, and          24.     Cash payments and in-kind assistance to
provide payment points which are accessible, secure            ex-combatants in the months immediately following
and weather-resistant. In the Republic of Congo, for           theirdemobilizationareimportantprecursorsto,but
example, the national program opted to channel cash            not substitutes for, social and economic reintegration
reintegration payments to ex-combatants through                assistance. Reintegration programs which focus solely


              Box 4. Making Cash Reinsertion Payments through a Mobile Phone Network
                                      in the Democratic Republic of Congo

     To provide cash reinsertion support to ex-combatants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the
     MDRP-supported national program needed to find a way to make monthly reinsertion payments of US$25
     dollars to over 100,000 people located at twenty demobilization centers and at the hundreds of locations
     around the country in which ex-combatants settled after demobilization. Limited or absent banking systems
     in many areas, poor transportation and communication infrastructure, the lack of adequate fiduciary controls
     in many financial institutions, and the lack of an established and insurable system for transferring funds all
     combined to present an enormous challenge to the program and its delivery of reinsertion assistance. While
     one local bank accepted to provide payments at eight fixed locations, no reputable banking agency could be
     found to cover the rest of the country.

     Following the signing of the various peace agreements in the DRC and the establishment of the Transitional
     Government, the mobile phone network, which had been limited to the capital and some key provincial
     headquarters, expanded to cover approximately ninety percent of the country. This led to the arrival of
     CELPAY, a mobile telephone company which provides banking and payment solutions through the use of
     GSM mobile phones. CELPAY developed a system by which it could use the cash it receives in local areas
     as payment for mobile phone services to pay out reinsertion entitlements to ex-combatants in those same
     locales. ThissystemenablesCELPAYtoservethewholebeneficiarypopulationofthenationalreintegration
     program while avoiding the risks and difficulties of transferring money throughout the country.

     As mobile phone banking was a new initiative in the DRC, the program experienced some technical delays
     in launching its mobile reinsertion payment system. The system was operationalized in January 2006,
     however, and thousands of ex-combatants are now using a mobile phone to access their cash reinsertion
     benefits. This innovation offers the program both ease of management and coverage - making it possible
     to use a single, reliable, national entity to provide cash payments to all eligible ex-combatants, regardless
     of their location or level of access to the formal banking system. With the individual pin number which is
     given to everyex-combatant,andaGSM mobilephone,beneficiariesoftheprogramhavemoreoverbecome
     part of the larger moving market of cell phone banking, helping to promote local economic development.




                                                                              ReintegrationAssistance for Ex-Combatants: Good Practices and Lessons for the MDRP9