• Reintegration of child soldiers

Reintegration of child soldiers

This document reports on a project that engaged former child soldiers as participant researchers examining the experiences and psychosocial effects of children’s involvement in armed conflict in Sierra Leone. The study is based on focus groups – some led by adolescent former child soldiers – and in-depth interviews, with 40 girls and 40 boys formerly involved in armed conflict, parents or guardians of many of these children, and institutional stakeholders. A community conference brought together all those who participated in the study to share findings and develop recommendations.

The report outlines the complexities of the experiences of children involved in the conflict, the processes of socialisation, indoctrination and training, and their experiences after they escaped or were released.

Key findings regarding young people’s experiences include:

• formal demobilisation programmes had failed to meet the needs of those young people who had participated in such programmes and failed to meet the needs of former girl child soldiers
• the majority of boys and girls formerly with the Revolutionary United Front reported experiencing some form of rejection and/or stigmatisation by their families and the wider community. Children conceived as a result of rape were also rejected by the community
• young people had been left with disabilities, pain and other health problems, as well as psychological problems
• many young people were unable to find their families after they left the forces
• the vast majority of young people expressed regret that they had been unable to continue their education

The report provides a list of the range of reports and articles produced from the project, and then discusses the ethical and methodological issues involved in the study, its impact on capacity building and the partnership approach used by the study.

The authors particularly emphasise the value of engaging children as active participants in the research and the positive impact on these children, both to the study and to the children themselves. They find that, besides being an educational experience, the methodology and results of the research have served to validate the children’s own experiences and perspectives, and contributed to their self-esteem, and sense of empowerment. The experience also enabled them to form friendships and bonds with the other children, which was particularly important for former combatants who often feel stigmatised and rejected by their communities. The experience of participating in the conference was an empowering exercise for all young participants, and strengthened ties among those children who participated in the study with various donor and civic organisations.

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