PRESS RELEASE

Embargoed until 22/05/2018 “If you are in an armed group, others won’t touch you. If you don't join, you are abandoning your parents to the mercy of the bandits”

Why do children voluntarily become ‘child soldiers’? New report from War Child UK goes beyond clichés

There is an assumption that children in armed groups, or ‘child soldiers’, join almost exclusively in terms of forced recruitment, yet in the Democratic Republic of Congo the vast majority of them are joining ‘voluntarily’, reveals a new report launched today by War Child UK. War Child is the specialist charity for children affected by conflict and has been working with children affected by war for 25 years.

The report examines the push and pull factors that influence children’s engagement with armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the use of children in armed groups continues to be a problem.

While improvement has been made with the State army FARDC over the last 10 years, the numbers of children recruited by armed groups and militias are on the rise again, particularly since the start of the conflict in the Kasai region at the end of 2016.

The report shows children are not abducted, but ‘forced’ to join groups because of the limited choices available to them.

Military recruitment of children is gradually being outlawed, but 50 countries still allow it and many act outside the law when it has been banned. Many non-state armed groups in states such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and the recruit children as young as four or five, initially as porters, spies or messengers.

The report found that during times when the ongoing conflict in DRC is considered low-level, virtually all children who join an armed group in the DRC do so ‘voluntarily’, with forced recruitment the exception.

Children’s joining, even if not coerced, seems, however, to be less about desire and more about a choice made within a limited set of social and economic options.

‘Push factors’ - defined as negative conditions or circumstances in a community and environment that children escape by joining an armed group – included household poverty and unemployment, hunger, tribalism, seeking refuge to escape arrest, mistreatment at home, mistreatment by the police or other armed groups, or the desire to seek vengeance. "Imagine, with the problem of tribalism, a Hutu kills my mother while she’s in the field with machetes. Me, as a Hunde, I want to avenge my mother’s death at all costs, hence why this war never ends,” said a 17 year old girl from Kitchanga, Masisi.

‘Pull factors’ - positive rewards or incentives that children anticipate for joining an armed group – included readily available food, greater access to money, increased protection, improved status in society, better options for day-to-day living, and the ability to defend and protect family and communities.

“Children join to be a protective force for their family, their ethnic group and their community. They join to protect parents. If you are in an armed group, others won’t touch you. If you don't join, you are abandoning your parents to the mercy of the bandits,” noted a woman, aged 34, from Kitchanga, Masisi.

‘Child soldiers’ are children under the age of 18 who are used for any military purpose. Some children are used for fighting – to kill and commit other acts of violence. Others are used as cooks, porters, messengers, informants, spies, or for sexual purposes.

Precise figures related to children joining armed groups (forced and not forced) in eastern DRC do not exist. Some broad estimates, however, suggest that significant numbers of children participate in the armed conflict. Since 2000, MONUSCO has documented the involvement of more than 31,000 children in armed groups in the country.

Alexandre Becquevort, Country Director for War Child in the Democratic Republic of Congo says, “Children associated with armed forces and groups are some of the most vulnerable and marginalised children affected by conflict, experiencing multiple rights violations.

Currently, the difference between numbers of children formally released and those who receive reintegration is stark.

It is essential that political and financial barriers for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes are removed so that all children, regardless of the affiliation of the group they are associated with, have their rights respected and needs served.”

War Child supports children who have been released from armed groups in countries such as the Central African Republic and the DRC to reintegrate and go back to their families, schools and communities.

War Child aims to reduce the psychological impact of children's experiences by providing safe spaces where they can play, learn, develop life-skills and thrive with other boys and girls.

War Child ensures that children are supported back into education, either in schools or through accelerated learning programmes. Older children are also given vocational or work skills training, to present them with future opportunities.

Editors notes

Case studies available upon request.

Methodology

The following four tools were used to explore the research questions.

1. A review of relevant documentary sources 2. Semi-structured interviews

In total, 29 semi-structured interviews were conducted in person with adults in all five research sites (23 male respondents and 6 female respondents).37 Respondents included local authorities, DDR employees, village chiefs, religious leaders, frontline workers, staff with UNICEF, MONUSCO and civil society organisations working with former child soldiers.

3. Focus group discussions

Focus group discussions were conducted with community members in each of the research sites and in DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration) centres in Goma and Bukavu to learn more about the general opinion among a group of people regarding children’s participation in an armed group. They were designed as a purposeful discussion among people with similar characteristics. This tool was chosen to learn more about children’s engagement in and experience with armed groups. Boys and girls aged between 11 and 18 took part in group discussions. Adults, including groups of female and male parents and caregivers (of children who had joined and who had not) also took part.

4. Testimonies

This tool was used to gather targeted life stories from girls and boys about themselves or other children who had voluntarily joined armed groups or who had deliberately decided not to do so. These in-depth testimonies were designed to illustrate and give meaning to salient issues that emerged from the primary and secondary data.

ABOUT WAR CHILD UK

War Child is striving for a world where children’s lives are no longer torn apart by war.

We protect, educate and stand up for the rights of children caught up in conflict. We aim to reach children as early as possible when conflict breaks out, and stay to support them through their recovery - helping to keep them safe, give them an education, and equip them with skills for the future.

We understand children’s needs, respect their rights, and put them at the centre of the solution - from supporting Syrian children to access education, to reintegrating child soldiers in the Central African Republic and promoting justice for young people in detention in . Together with our partners we work in 15 countries across , Asia and the , and .

We also work with children and young people to change systems and practices that affect them – campaigning on the root causes of conflict and demanding that children are at the centre of humanitarian response.

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Charity number: 1071659