Congolese child soldiers identified in Kyankwanzi

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday reported that a joint UN, Ugandan government and NGO mission had identified and registered 163 Congolese child soldiers, including three girls, at Kyankwanzi political education school in central Uganda. The children ranged in age between 9 and 17, it said. All of the children - part of a larger group of 694 individuals airlifted from Bunia in eastern DRC last August "for political education and drill training in Uganda" - said they wanted to return to their communities in and around Bunia, which has been wracked by inter-ethnic conflict for several months, a UNICEF press release stated. The agency had dispatched clean water, essential drugs and sports equipment to Kyankwanzi camp and would continue to make daily trips throughout the week to deliver assistance to the children, it added. UNICEF Representative Michel Sidibe said that a multi-agency task force established last week would pave the way for a smooth family reunification and resettlement of the children. "We have to take every measure to ensure these children are not returned home to be thrown into combat situations. This is why UNICEF and its partners will provide these children with both the psycho-social care and schooling they require in the interim, before they are reunited with their families," he said. The Ugandan government is due to place the 163 children in UNICEF's care at a ceremony in Kayankwanzi on Thursday, and plans are underway to remove the children to a transit camp where they can be cared for pending reunification and resettlement, according to the agency. UNICEF estimates that there are some 20,000 child soldiers in the region.