Newsletter
A recent Global Report* elaborates on progress that over the past four years tens of thousands of child soldiers have been demobilized during this period. But, during the same period, tens of thousands more have remained in or been newly recruited and used in armed conflicts – primarily by non-state armed groups, but also by some national armies. Governments have failed to prevent the use of children by proxy forces and child soldiers who have escaped or been captured have been used as spies or sources of intelligence rather than provided with rehabilitation and reintegration support. Numerous governments persist in recruiting under-18 year olds into national armies, exposing them to military discipline, hazardous activity, bullying, abuse and possible deployment to war zones.
There is an urgent need to increase all our efforts to prevent and eradicate the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.
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Southern Sudan
ChildVoice has been invited to replicate its program in Southern Sudan, which is recovering from a decades-long civil war. The region has been devastated -- nearly 2 million dead, and millions more displaced. With a peace agreement in place, people in southern Sudan are now resettling and rebuilding. There is a clear need for basic education, vocational training, and counseling among the war orphans who populate the area. Indeed, the future of southern Sudan depends on the resiliency of its people - their capacity to recover from the acute trauma of violence and fear and loss. ChildVoice leadership has conducted country visits and met with local officials to determine the feasibility of implementing the ChildVoice program model in Sudan.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
ChildVoice is negotiating with local leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to bring the program there. In the eastern part of DRC, a mishmash of militias has tortured cities and villages - even after the country's civil war officially came to an end in 2003. Millions have been displaced, and resource depletion has led to widespread malnutrition and disease. During this time rape became a common weapon used by military and militia men against women, thereby inflicting deep psychological and physical wounds, spreading disease (including HIV/AIDS), and tearing apart families. The population of war-affected women and children in DRC is similar to the groups ChildVoice empowers in Uganda.
* Child Soldiers Global Report 2008