I am not Trash
10/23/2007
- The Democratic Republic of Congo is larger than the whole of North West Europe
- It is a country that has not had free and fair multi-party and Presidential elections in its recent history
- In one way or another, war has ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998
- This war has involved forces from 7 other countries and fighting continues in the east of the country
- Four million people have died as a result of the war
- Upwards of 30,000 children - boys and girls - have been conscripted into the various militia
- A minimum of 35% of the children that War Child is working with in northern Democratic Republic of Congo have been unable to reintegrate with their families and communities.
- These children face similar conditions to children elsewhere in the country suggesting that at least 10,000 children are struggling to reintegrate country wide.
There are some 300,000 children involved with fighting forces worldwide. Many of these children live with the same conditions as those children War Child works with in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This suggests that some 100,000 are not successfully reintegrating with their families and communities. War Child's research strongly implies that this is a conservative estimate.
This report presents the findings of research carried out by War Child on the effectiveness of reintegration programmes for children who have been involved with armed groups. It complements research that has already been carried out in this area by academics and other non-governmental organisations. War Child has been able to add a new perspective on reintegration programmes, because of our ongoing presence in countries, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, where these programmes have been set up. War Child has been able, for the first time, to examine at first hand the success and failure of reintegration programmes over an extended period. This long-term view informs this report.
War Child has played an important role in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) projects in northern Democratic Republic of Congo, and this experience forms the basis for this report. War Child's work in this area has raised questions concerning the effectiveness of current efforts at reintegration, especially where family reunification is the accepted measure of success, identifying the lack of long-term follow-up and community support as a key factor.
This report focuses on those children who are being failed by current disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration processes, and the policy implications of this challenge. In addition to being a major child welfare challenge, this problem is also a significant value-for-money issue because of the amount of UK tax payers' money that is invested in supporting disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes across the globe. The effectiveness of DDR programmes is, therefore, the central point of emphasis for War Child's call to action:
- A national strategy for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This must explicitly feature the need to ensure the genuine reintegration of children formerly associated with fighting forces.
- Donor support for the development and monitoring of this strategy, and especially for the strengthening of local capacity to deliver it.
- Increased public awareness and understanding of the challenges facing the reintegration of children formerly associated with fighting forces, as well as relevant political and donor institutions.
