Over 250 ex-child soldiers reintegrated

More than 250 children have been reintegrated so far in a Save the Children (SC UK) demobilisation and reintegration project in South Kivu, eastern DRC. In an emergency report on the DRC, SC said the programme - initiated in 1999 in conjunction with the social affairs department in South Kivu (DIVAS) - had been successful because it had the support of local military commanders in south Kivu. “With the recent change in military command and in political posts in the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), it is hoped that such a level of success can be maintained,” SC said. The organisation said it adopted a holistic approach to vulnerable children, integrating demobilisation projects into the new child protection programme.

There has been a renewed focus regionally on the repatriation of unaccompanied Rwandan children, of whom more than a thousand remain in the east, SC said. Training the military in child rights had also been successful. Furthermore, it said, SC UK in Kinshasa had been instrumental in trying to ensure collaboration between NGOs, the UN and ministries on establishing a framework for child demobilisation and reintegration policy and programming for the DRC. Training in life skills was given to 500 demobilised children in 32 military camps in Kinshasa, SC said. “The work focuses on small income generating projects, which enable children to contribute to the household economy,” it added.