The People’s Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) – since April of this year – has released 166 boys and 16 girls aged between 10 and 17. The promised release follows a visit by Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict UN Radhika Coomaraswamy and a signed peace agreement where a commitment to release the children was made. UNICEF has been a major player in coordinating the surrender of the children and “nearly all those child soldiers have since been reunited with their families.”
The UN agency has been working closely with the CAR Government and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to plan and coordinate the release of the children, who mostly hail from Ouham Pendé province in the north of the country.
To aid in the rehabilitation process, two centers have been constructed for initial processing , medical care and psychological counseling of the children. At the centers they are also given a package that includes “clothes, sleeping mats, blankets and personal hygiene items” and are provided with opportunites for classes in literacy and math.
Recognizing the importance of long-term rehabilitation programs, “UNICEF is calling for an additional $1 million to ensure that the demobilization and reintegration of the child soldiers can continue.” While longer-term recovery classes are available in their former communities once they have been reintegrated – including catch-up classes for school for younger children and technical training for older children - there is often a “limited access to basic services and few employment opportunities”. In addition, “sporadic fighting continues in northern CAR, particularly near the borders with Chad and Sudan,” further complicating the reintegration process. Says Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s representative in Bangui, the CAR capital:
Reintegration is a long and often difficult process in any circumstance, and the prevailing climate of insecurity adds to the challenges. We need to keep up our assistance to these communities if we want the demobilization programme to succeed.
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Filed under: Central African Republic, DDR, Girl Soldiers, Treatment Centers, United Nations , CAR, Central African Republic, child soldiers, DDR, UN, UNICEF, War
…112 boys and two girls, after “two grueling years” of negotiations, were released early April by the Agathon Rwasa FNL in Burundi, as part of their commitment to legitimacy and registration as an official political party. “Negotiations for the release of the children…” was “conducted by the United Nations, the World Bank, UNICEF, the African Union and others in the international community”.
UNICEF Representative in Burundi Gloria Kodzwa, a Olympic bronze medalist in basketball, visited the children, listening to their stories and requests for clothing, shoes, separation allowances, and a return to their communities. Kodzwa emphasized the importance of proper rehabilitation first.
Rehabilitation services, she stressed, will provide the psychosocial, medical and material support necessary for their successful reintegration into their families and communities.
Filed under: United Nations , burundi, child soldiers, children, UNICEF
Chief Minister Chandrakanthan of Sri Lanka has pledged that the “child soldier issue” relating to the children being held by the Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikai (TMVP) Party will be “concluded in the next three months.” According to the minister, the TMVP party has already handed over the children to their parents and relatives. However, UNICEF still accuses the party of still holding upwards of 100 children in its ranks.
In addition to opening three offices to deal with finding, rehabilitating and returning the children to their families, Sri Lanka is publicizing the plight of child soldiers in their new campaign “Bring Back the Child“. The program “targets armed groups, vulnerable communities, and the children affected.”
Filed under: Sri Lanka, United Nations , bring back the child, child soldier, Sri Lanka
…Commanding Officer in the Ghana Armed Forces, Lt. Col. Isaac Awuah- Mantey recently briefed Vice President John Mahama on increasing evidence of several factions using children to fight.
Challenging Heights (CH), an NGO advocating for children’s rights, condemned the recruitment of the children. Mr. James Kofi Annan said, “We condemn the organized recruitment and use of children for the purposes of killing and causing destruction to properties in those conflict areas.”
Filed under: Human Rights, United Nations , child soldiers, ghana, news
…”Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” was at the United Nations on Monday filming portions of an episode being shown on March 24. Spokeswoman Marie Okabe said that the “episode “brings to the fore the themes of children in armed conflict as well as refugees.” Typically the United Nations shies away from television and film, but since the episodes plot “centers around a child soldier from Northern Uganda” -the UN has been trying to eliminate the use and recruitment of child soldiers in that country – they were amenable to the filming.
Filed under: Media/TV/Films, Uganda, United Nations , child soldier, law and order, special victims unit, svu, television, tv, Uganda, United Nations
February 27, 2009 • 11:27 am
Issa Hassan Sesay and Morris Kallon, two accused war criminals from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the civil war in Sierra Leone, were convicted of 16 counts of war crimes at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, including “acts of terrorism,” against the civilian population, mutilation, terrorism, rape, forced marriage, sexual slavery, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
The statute establishing the Special Court of Sierra Leone includes a provision prohibiting conscription of children under the age of 15 punishable under Article 4.c. of the Statute.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone is a collaboration between international and national justice, set up to try those accused of committing war crimes in the civil war in Sierra Leone. AP reports: “The court was set up in 2003 after the end of the 11-year war that began in 1992.”
The last case to be tried is against Charles Taylor and is currently underway in the Hague – the trial was moved there for security reasons. Serious funding issues due to the global economic crisis have sparked talk of a possible early end to the trial, allowing Taylor to “walk free”.
Filed under: C. Taylor Trial, Intl Criminal Ct, Laws, Treaties, Sierra Leone, United Nations , charles taylor, child soldiers, court, International Criminal Court, law, news, Sierra Leone, War
