an Eldis Resource
How to fight, how to kill: child soldiers in Liberia
Supporting the demobilisation of child soldiers, Liberia
Authors:
T. Tate
Publisher:
Human Rights Watch , 2004
This report explores the human rights situation of child soldiers in Liberia through a series of interviews with former and current child soldiers undertaken in the country in late 2003.
The report argues that approximately 15,000 boys and girls under the age of eighteen, some as young as nine and ten years old, were involved in the fighting in Liberia. Since the enforced ceasefire of August 2003, an extensive demobilisation program which includes specific provisions for child soldiers, has been put in place. The rehabilitation of child soldiers, however, remains an enormous challenge: whole communities have been destroyed; populations have been displaced; and many children have lost one or more family members.
The report makes specific recommendations to different actors in order to enhance the results of the process. These include:
- To the national transitional government of Liberia:
- make certain that rehabilitation programs for child soldiers are tailored to meet the special requirements of girl soldiers including the creation of special childcare centres for girl mothers and health and counselling programs for survivors of rape and/or sexual assault
- ensure the rights of children to free primary education by progressively eliminating as rapidly as possible all school fees and related costs for elementary education.
- To all donor countries to Liberia:
- ensure that necessary funding is given to fully finance the demobilisation program: specific financing should be pledged for rehabilitation and reintegration programs for child soldiers
- support the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNMIL) so that it has the necessary financing and manpower to deploy throughout Liberia for the proposed two year period to protect children and all Liberians.
- To the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL):
- engage and deploy as soon as possible the two proposed child protection advisors to assist the Secretary General’s office in Liberia with related child protection activities for UNMIL personnel
- have the human rights section of UNMIL properly document the use of children in combat during the last fourteen years of conflict so it may be used in future accountability mechanisms.
[adapted from author]
