Demobilisation phase launched, targeting 650 children

At least 650 children in Burundi are due to be freed from military service by 14 December, following the launch on Monday of a second demobilisation phase by the National Structure for the Demobilisation and Reintegration of Child Soldiers, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported. It said these were children in the ranks of the six armed movements and political parties that had signed ceasefire agreements with the government of Burundi. UNICEF is supporting the national structure for the demobilisation and reintegration of child soldiers. The agency said since the launch of this demobilisation effort on 23 January, the national demobilisation body had reintegrated 2,261 children with their families and communities. Most of these children were in the ranks of the army and the civil defence force, known as "Gardiens de la Paix". UNICEF said the leaders of the six armed movements and political parties involved in the process had submitted official engagement letters, recognising the guiding principles for child soldier demobilisation. Under the engagement letters, these movements agreed to stop recruiting children under 18 years and to demobilise those in their ranks. Since then, each group is represented in the national structure by a coordinator to supervise and plan the demobilisation. UNICEF said focal points from the six groups had been trained to implement the demobilisation of children and prepare them for their departure. It added that the official launch of the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Reintegration and Reinsertion process on 2 December and the opening of a demobilisation centre in the central province of Gitega, where all the children will be gathered for a short transition phase, boosted the demobilisation of children in the six groups. "The recruitment of children is one of many violations - in armed conflicts," UNICEF said. "These children lost an important part of their childhood and need to be successfully re-integrated in the community." UNICEF said it would collaborate with the Burundian government and the demobilisation body, as well as with other UN agencies and partner NGOs in following up on the demobilised children for up to 18 months "and provide basic services such as education, psycho-social assistance, professional training and income generating activities," according to UNICEF Burundi's representative, Catherine Mbengue.