GOMA, DR Congo – On Friday the world celebrated International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers. Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to release all children recruited as soldiers, especially females.
Both the national army and the rebels are recruiting child soldiers. Young females are especially at risk of being recruited as sex slaves and are therefore less likely to be released.
“Used as combatants, labor and sex slaves, victims of months-long violence and rape, girls are all too rarely freed by the armed forces and groups,” said UNICEF.
Forced child recruitment and re-recruitment is continuous in eastern DR Congo.
Only twenty percent of those children that have been freed to UNICEF were girls. UNICEF has recognized that a bigger effort needs to be made in order to release more girls who deserve to live like a child and go to school and reunite with their families.
“The place for children, whether boys or girls, is within the family, not in a military environment,” said Pierrette Vu Thi, a UNICEF representative in DR Congo. “All the children forcedly recruited in armed forces and groups, and especially young girls, are traumatized by their experience and need special attention. It is vital that they return to a child’s life as quickly as possible.”
UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, said that almost 250,000 children are serving in armed conflicts around the world.
“Oblivious to danger in the face of death, easily impressionable and vulnerable, children are expendable pawns in a deadly game orchestrated by adults,” said Teresa.
UNICEF is taking all necessary measures to end child recruitment in DR Congo. The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program (DDR) was launched in 2004. Since then, more than 36,000 children have been recovered from armed forces and groups. Of the 6,000 children that were freed in 2000, only 1,222 of them were girls.
Along with MONUC (United Nations Mission in DR Congo), Save the Children, COOPI (Cooperazione Internazionale), and other NGOs, UNICEF is advocating for the release of as many child soldiers as possible, paying special attention to the release of young girls.
On January 10, 2009, the DR Congo government adopted a law that punishes those who recruit children with a twenty year prison sentence. While many children remain in armed forces and groups, this law is an important step in moving away from the use of child soldiers.
For more information, please see:
All Africa – Girls Less Likely Than Boys to Be Freed From Ranks of Child Soldiers – UN – 12 February 2010
Examiner – International Day Against (Recruiting) and Use of Child Soldiers Today – 12 February 2010
Relief Web – Forced Recruitment of Child Soldiers in DRC: Where Are the Girls? – 12 February 2010
UN News Centre – Girls Less Likely Than Boys to Be Freed From Ranks of Child Soldiers – 12 February 2010
