Youth in combat: Rehabilitation of child soldiers
OpenForum | July 2, 2009 | 1 Comment
A former child soldier from Uganda, Grace Akallo, recently spoke at the UN Security Council about her experiences being abducted, sexually assaulted, and forced to fight for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) at the age of 16. She described being sent into battle with an AK47 and forced to kill other children who attempted escape. The Security Council is now discussing using stronger methods to stop “repeat offenders” from recruiting children.
It is estimated that 250,000 children, some age 10 or younger, are currently recruited into armed conflicts around the world and used as soldiers, guards, messengers, or sex slaves. Such recruitment of children occurs most often in conflict zones such as Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Sri Lanka. The use of child soldiers has been officially prohibited by a UN treaty ratified by 126 countries since 2002. Children in conflict areas are guaranteed special protection under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention.
It is no surprise that rehabilitating child soldiers is a difficult and lengthy process. Because of the severe trauma they suffer, children who have been in combat require extensive long-term support to be re-integrated into communities, says UNICEF spokesman James Elder. He explains that child combatants “live in a theatre of violence and suffering…Instead of hope, fear defines their childhood.” Read more