The rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers is defined by Child Soldiers International as: "The process through which children formerly associated with armed forces/groups are supported to return to civilian life and play a valued role in their families and communities".
Generally, reintegration efforts seek to return children to a safe environment, to create a sense of forgiveness on the behalf of the child's family and community through religious and cultural ceremonies and rituals, and encourage the reunification of the child with their family. Often the first step is to reunite the former child soldier with their family and provide adequate monetary and institutional support. Access to education is one of the most requested forms of support in post-conflict environments, but is often unavailable for economic reasons. Some studies have shown that community-led reintegration is more beneficial than Western-driven trauma healing in dealing with the psychological challenges of reintegration.
There is often a stigma that children who belonged to armed groups are immoral, untrustworthy, or dangerous and therefore many individuals are rejected by community members, making reintegration difficult. Reintegration efforts can become challenging when a child has committed war crimes, as in these cases stigma and resentment within the community can be exacerbated.
Female child soldiers commonly face additional barriers to successful reintegration. Girls report significantly higher rates of rape and sexual abuse during a conflict and are, therefore, confronted with unique, gender-specific challenges. They often face stronger stigmatisation on their return to the community since they are often considered tainted by sexual relationships that occurred outside of marriage. They are often ostracised upon return, ridiculed, verbally and physically attacked and prohibited from marrying.
Child soldiers
As defined by the Paris Principles, a child soldier is:...any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. The document is approved by the United Nations General Assembly. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities.Child soldiers can take on many roles, including active fighting, acting as spies or lookouts, or acting in support roles, such as medic, porter, cook, or agricultural labourer.Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit. "Child Soldiers: Prevention, Demobilization, and Reintegration" May 2002 While some child soldiers are abducted and forced to serve, others choose to serve. In many countries choosing to serve in an armed group is the best alternative for the child. Many children join the military because these groups will provide food, shelter, and a sense of security. For instance, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the choices facing children are often "to join the military, become a street child, or die" (Refugees International 2002). Similar situations face children throughout the world, with cited instances in Columbia and Sri Lanka. There is often a stigma that children who belonged to armed groups are immoral, untrustworthy, or dangerous and therefore many individuals are rejected by community members, making reintegration difficult. Former soldiers often have to fabricate "second stories" and live in fear of their former identity being discovered and it leading to loss of status, discrimination, exclusion, or even retaliation.There are also two areas of reintegration that warrant special consideration: female child soldiers and drug use among child soldiers.Norman Davies, Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw, Pan Books 2004 p.603 Child soldiers under the influence of drugs or who have contracted sexually transmitted diseases require additional programming specific to their unique needs.
Reintegration
Child Soldiers International defines reintegration as: "The process through which children formerly associated with armed forces/groups are supported to return to civilian life and play a valued role in their families and communities".
To facilitate the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration of former members of armed groups, the United Nations introduced the Integrated DDR Standards in 2006. Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) are applied strategies for executing successful peacekeeping operations, especially after civil wars. Disarmament entails the physical removal of the means of combat from ex-belligerents (weapons, ammunition, etc.), demobilisation entails the disbanding of armed groups, and reintegration describes the process of reintegrating former combatants into civilian society, reducing the possibility of a resurgence of armed conflict. DDR programmes usually have a number of components including a focus on psycho-social care, the return of ex-child soldiers to education, job training, and supporting local initiatives, usually through various regional partnerships). Such programmes usually aim for children to either go back to their families or be placed with foster families.
Programs that aim to rehabilitate and reintegrate child soldiers, such as those sponsored by UNICEF, often emphasise three components: family reunification/community network, psychological support, and education/economic opportunity. These efforts take a minimum commitment of 3 to 5 years in order for programs to be successfully implemented. Generally, reintegration efforts seek to return children to a safe environment, to create a sense of forgiveness on the behalf of the child's family and community through religious and cultural ceremonies and rituals, and encourage the reunification of the child with their family.
Reintegration efforts can become challenging when a child has committed war crimes, as in these cases stigma and resentment within the community can be exacerbated. In situations such as these, it is important that the child's needs are balanced with a sense of community justice. If such situations are not addressed children face an increased likelihood of re-enlistment.
Reintegration programme components
Family reunification
Often the first step in the reintegration of child soldiers is family unification, that is reuniting the former child soldier with their families and providing adequate monetary and institutional support. When this is not possible attempts can be made to place former child soldiers in foster families or to assist the former child soldier with independent living. In Angola a family reunification project was implemented entitled "self-building program" which supported former child soldiers and their families in constructing a house.Beth Verhey, "Child Soldiers: Preventing, Demobilizing, and Reintegrating", Africa Region Working Paper Series No. 23, World Bank: November 2001, p. 16 There may be concerns as to whether the family will accept the child after they have been a soldier. In Uganda this acceptance was assisted through the use of cleansing ceremonies, which assisted in the removal of community stigmatisation by "decontaminating" the child.
Community support and acceptance
Community networks can also be instrumental in the reintegration of former child soldiers with their families and communities. Reintegration programs often aim to find a constructive social role for the former child soldier. Working in partnership with local NGOs can be important for capacity-building and to facilitate sustainable efforts that will last after international actors have left. In Angola a community-based network called Catechist has a partnership with approximately 200 churches. The Catechist was perceived as being neutral, having a sense of authority, and adherence to international humanitarian law. Given this, the network, respected by the community, has the capacity for outreach and was able to provide ongoing support the reintegration process. The broader community has also been witness to and a victim of the armed conflict. A focus on community healing is also an aspect of reintegration, because community healing can lead to community acceptance. Many armed conflicts occur among collectivistic societies and therefore this can be a better-suited approach. By involving the community in the healing processids outsider imposition of values and understanding. Before community healing can occur a more comprehensive approach is needed to remedy many systemic problems in war zones such as the short supply of water, food, shelter and other basic necessities. There is often a lack of professional, institutional, and economic support for this form of family and community reintegration.
Psychological support
As part of their training child soldiers undergo a process of asocialisation and, consequently, may be resistant to changing their identity from that of a child soldier. Studies have shown that psychosocial approaches, a psychological process that takes place in the community, are more beneficial than Western-driven trauma healing in dealing with the psychological aspects of reintegration. Some of these approaches encompass emotional expression, group and individual counselling, cultural rituals, social reconstruction and emotional reintegration. These psychosocial approaches support physical health as well as cognitive, emotional and moral development. Through partnerships with local NGOs clinical psychologists are often able to train locals to administer these interventions empowering the community more directly in the healing process, instead of silencing local healers and local practices. Given this reintegration programs emphasise the opportunity for former child soldiers to establish trusting and consistent relationships with adults and also emphasise a family-based environment. Traditional rituals and family and community mediation can help to address the antisocial and aggressive behaviour a child soldier may have developed, and help the child recover from stressful and traumatic experiences.
Education and economic opportunity
Education and economic opportunities help former child soldiers to establish new identities for themselves and to empower them to take active control of their lives. Access to education is one of the most requested forms of support in post-conflict environments. It is often unavailable for economic reasons. Access to formal education remains a challenge for a multitude of reasons as the need to earn an income can supersede the desire for education, families may not be able to afford education, schools are often destroyed in conflicts, teachers may have fled or have been killed, or there may be difficulty in obtaining documentation to enroll in educational institutions. In addition child soldiers frequently feel shame for their actions or there is resentment between the former child soldiers and their classmates. It is important to strike a balance between education and economic opportunities. Key aspects of striking this balance often include the creation of accelerated education programmes which suit the needs of the former child soldiers, focusing education on approaches that can generate income, such as market-appropriate vocational training and the inclusion of child soldier reintegration in the post-conflict economic policy of the country in question.
Female child soldiers
Girls report significantly higher rates of rape and sexual abuse during a conflict and are, therefore, confronted with unique, gender-specific challenges. They often face stronger stigmatisation on their return to the community since they are often considered tainted by sexual relationships that occurred outside of marriage. They are often ostracised upon return, ridiculed, verbally and physically attacked and prohibited from marrying.