Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration DDR is the main framework aimed at helping child soldiers safely leave armed groups, and making sure they can reconnect with their families and communities.
The reintegration process helps children get access to social and economic opportunities to provide them with more prospects for their future. But the DDR process is not perfect. There is no one-size-fits-all answer based on the different contexts War Child UK works in.
Children have different experiences: their friends and family may be a part of the group, or they may have no stable family environment to reconnect with. Support from parents and the feeling of facing challenges together, as a family, can be effective in preventing children from joining an armed group.
But some children may not have any family. The little support present at a community level is vital in providing guidance, activities, and opportunities to prevent further recruitment. Clemence is in our Africa Programmes Team. She works with our teams in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to ensure that they receive the necessary project and operational support to run our programmes effectively.
Why do children become child soldiers? What made one child more susceptible to joining an armed group Our research was central to understanding this. Credit Zute Lightfoot. What are 'push' and 'pull' factors? Push factors are circumstances in a child's community that drives them to join an armed group. Joining an armed group. What do we mean by joining an armed group 'voluntarily'? The journey from childhood and adulthood has a key role to play. At this point it is important to clarify one thing: We are committed to helping all children affected by war.
We make no distinction between those who are recruited by force or who join an armed group willingly. Our experience and research shows us that former child soldiers face increased risks in all areas of their life, and often suffer from psychological problems. There is a higher chance of post-traumatic stress disorder - as well as emotional and behavioural complaints.
Reintegration into society can be tough. Former child soldiers are often rejected and stigmatized and are shown to struggle with years of learning disadvantages. As far as we are concerned, there is no lost generation. In the coming years, we will organise even more of our work around sustainable methods of prevention. Providing alternatives for children, in situations of violence or conflict, will be a key priority. In , we will conduct research into the reintegration of child soldiers in Colombia and South Sudan.
Read more about our interventions to help a group of former child soldiers in eastern Congo. It's possible that certain functionalities within the website, related to categories that have been turned off, no longer work as they should.
You can always change your preferences at a later date. More information. Join Us. Give Now. Although there are no exact figures, hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 18 serve in government forces or armed rebel groups. Some are as young as eight years old. Since , the participation of child soldiers has been reported in 21 on-going or recent armed conflicts in almost every region of the world. Children are uniquely vulnerable to military recruitment because of their emotional and physical immaturity.
They are easily manipulated and can be drawn into violence that they are too young to resist or understand. Technological advances in weaponry and the proliferation of small arms have contributed to the increased use of child soldiers. Lightweight automatic weapons are simple to operate, often easily accessible, and can be used by children as easily as adults.
Children are most likely to become child soldiers if they are poor, separated from their families, displaced from their homes, living in a combat zone or have limited access to education. Many children join armed groups because of economic or social pressure, or because children believe that the group will offer food or security.
Others are forcibly recruited, "press-ganged" or abducted by armed groups. Both girls and boys are used as child soldiers. In some countries, like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uganda, a third or more of the child soldiers were reported to be girls.
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