…we’ve posted many articles and facts on disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation (DDR) for child soldiers on this blog, but not enough can be said about the importance of proper treatment programs for former child soldiers to ensure a productive life and a return to mainstream society.
Long term and follow-up treatment is essential for DDR to work:
From Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers: “Demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) programs specifically aimed at child soldiers have been established in many countries, both during and after armed conflict and have assisted former child soldiers to acquire new skills and return to their communities. However, the programs lack funds and adequate resources. Sustained long-term investment is needed if they are to be effective.”
From Jesuit Refugee Service: “[Programs need to] establish long term follow up to accompany children after they leave the centre. It would certainly make sense to visit more regularly those children who have reintegrated into their communities, and especially to assist those who have started their own revenue-generating activities. This aspect is completely neglected by the operational framework when in fact it is the measure of the success of the undertaking. Follow up of this kind requires substantial financial means, due to the cost of travelling in a region without roads and where infrastructure has been destroyed by years of conflict. Nonetheless the expense, although considerable, is justifiable and should definitely be funded to ensure real efficiency in the reintegration aspect of the DDR programme.”
From the United Nations DDR Center: “Reintegration is the process by which ex-combatants acquire civilian status and gain sustainable employment and income. Reintegration is essentially a social and economic process with an open time-frame, primarily taking place in communities at the local level. It is part of the general development of a country and a national responsibility, and often necessitates long-term external assistance.”
More postings on this topic:
DDR – Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs need long term support and funding
Back to the topic of reintegration; stigmatization faced by former child soldiers
Key concerns with DDR (disarmament, demobilization and reintegration) programs
“Are reintegration programs still needed years after a war is over?”
Filed under: DDR, Educational, Treatment Centers , child soldier, children, DDR, news, treatment, United Nations, War
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.
For more information:
Filed under: Central African Republic, DDR, Girl Soldiers, Treatment Centers, United Nations , CAR, Central African Republic, child soldiers, DDR, UN, UNICEF, War
“Using counselling sessions, art and acting“, former abductees, child soldiers and child victims of war are being rehabilitated and reintegrated back into their communities in war-torn Uganda. The Children of War Center in Gulu, operated by World Vision Canada, has helped to rehabilitate more than 15,000 children. Many of the children arriving at the center exhibit post-traumatic stress symptoms. Says Dirk Booy, executive director of World Vision Canada, of the children at the center:
They come to us traumatized, stigmatized, some of them experienced signs of post-traumatic stress. The centre works with them on these issues helping them draw out their experiences and get back to a normal routine.
The decades long war in Uganda has produced a prodigious number of child soldiers; estimates range from a minimum of 25,000 to close to 60,000. Most have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced to serve as soldiers, laborers and sex slaves.
Endre Vestvik, CRN/Hope In Action – Nicole is ten years old. She was raped by rebel soldiers in DR Congo.
According to Booy, a combination of of modern science and traditional cleansing practices are essential to the children’s healing process. Says Marc and Craig Kielburger from Free the Children, ”the process of rehabilitation and giving them a new life is complicated and requires personal and cultural forgiveness.” For example, there is the egg ceremony in Uganda.
The egg ceremony has a distinct purpose in acknowledging the foreign elements that crushed the community and the child. In addition, the child must jump over two twigs. The first, called the layibi, is used to open the granary, symbolizing a return to where one once ate. The second, from the opobo tree, is traditionally used to make soap. It represents cleansing.
Filed under: DDR, Treatment Centers, Uganda , child soldiers, children, Congo, DRC, rape
University of Wyoming professor Susan McKay is in the third phase of a research project studying former girl soldiers in Uganda, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Her findings have been wide-ranging, but her most recent discoveries have been concerned with the “stigma and marginalization” faced by the women, many of them young mothers, attempting to transition back into their old communities and lives with their small children.
McKay said that often the girls with children live alone in dire poverty and sometimes must resort to prostitution because they have a hard time becoming part of the community.
McKay, working with 100 local academics and agency workers, as well as several child welfare organizations, has conducted her study in 20 research sites and involved 700 participants. The project, titled ‘People in the community told us we are good for nothing:’ Community-based participatory research to empower war-affected girl mothers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Northern Uganda’ in addition to being a research study, has also helped to aid the women in reintegration and empowerment.
To start, the researchers got the girls together and had them define their problems. Just that first step was valuable, McKay said…
Then the girls create plans to address their problems. Many have started small businesses together. They’ve also created dramas that they act out for their communities to help people understand how they’ve been marginalized, and that has resulted in changed behavior, McKay said.
More more information on the project, please see PARGirlMothers.
Filed under: Educational, Girl Soldiers, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Treatment Centers, Uganda , child soldiers, children, education, girl soldiers, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, university
Grace Arach was “abducted by rebels, raped, coerced into marriage, forced to kill” and finally escaped when she was 23 years old from the Lord’s Resistance Army from northern Uganda, one of the worst offenders of using child soldiers.
Since then, she has joined Children/Youth Peace Builders (CAP) a local organization in Gulu, Uganda, where she uses her personal experiences to educate the community how to help reintegrate the former child abductees into their communities.
Through Children / Youth Peace Builders (CAP), a local advocacy community organisation, Arach is teaching her community how to treat the former child abductees, help the reintergrate into society and learn their responsibility towards the community.
In addition to working at the center with the children, Arach also attends Gulu University, where she is working towards a degree in development studies.
Filed under: Girl Soldiers, Treatment Centers, Uganda , abductee, child soldier, girl soldier, rehabilitation, Sudan, Uganda
…Deborah George, writer and radio producer travelled to Sierra Leone in 2001 and met a young girl soldier, Baindu. Carrying her picture home with her, George located the child again and paid her school fees, later settling her into a boarding school. Says George of her now, “she’s in 11th grade and loves hip hop and hamburgers. She doesn’t like to talk about the past. She doesn’t forget, she says. When she’s old, she’ll still remember her stories. But, it’s better, she says, to look to the future…”
Filed under: Educational, Sierra Leone, Treatment Centers , child soldier, girl soldier, npr, Sierra Leone
