Child Soldier update

200 former child soldiers, a few of whom are girls, are receiving therapy and an education on the Rehabilitation Programme this year.

Political situation

The last reported fighting in Malakal, a large town in southern Sudan, was in December 2006. The number of militias around Malakal is still fairly high, although decreasing all the time. For the moment, the situation is stable, and we hope this will remain. The next referendum will be in 2011, and hopefully peace will prevail.

Some tribes and ethnic groups have not been well integrated into the peace agreement, which means they are still fighting with the government forces in southern Sudan. The peace agreement was drawn up between the rebel forces (the SPLA), who are from the Dinka and Nuer tribes, and the government. Other ethnic groups are therefore asking for their views to be heard.

Changes to the programme since 2006

The former child soldiers used to live together in an SOS camp near the SOS Children’s Village in Malakal, but we have now placed them with volunteer families. The main reasons for this are:
• Having lots of boys living together sometimes led to arguments and fights
• The camps were an easy target for soldiers looking to re-recruit the children
• We can now incorporate girls into the programme. It would have been risky to place them in the camps with the male teenagers
• The food payments now go to the families, who will buy nutritious food for the children, and the children cannot then use this money for other purposes, such as buying tobacco
• The family environment is beneficial for the children. Family care and social integration now form part of the support we offer these former child soldiers

Partners

Four major partners support our rehabilitation work in Malakal:
• UNICEF’s Child Protection Office supports us with their ‘Back to School’ programme
• Islamic Relief Worldwide, or the IRW, supports our family retracing programme. Our partner here used to be the Red Cross, but they are slowly pulling out of Malakal
• War Child Organisation supports the counselling sessions. With their support, we have implemented more creative ways of helping the children comes to terms with and understand their trauma. Drawing, dancing and drama are just three of the methods used.
• The South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, or the SSRRC, run by the government, has taken the lead in the reunification process

Successes

Shelter, healthcare and livelihoods:
• All the children are placed with supportive volunteer families
• The children’s food and healthcare needs are all met
• Many of the older children have secured employment
• Visits to the family homes have reported no complaints

Counselling
• All children have received counselling sessions
• In most cases, ongoing counselling has prevented the need for psychological and mental health treatments. The 8 children who need these extra treatments are progressing well

Creative activities and education
• 50% of the children are under 17 years old and we are meeting all their educational costs
• For the remaining 50%, we are holding consulations with the government to determine what education they can receive
• Creative activities were carried out with all beneficiaries

Family retracing
• Recently, 140 former child soldiers were reunited with their natural families; of these, 130 were boys and 10 were girls. For the remaining 60, the SSRRC and IRW are supporting us

Challenges

With such a sensitive programme, we do come across challenges. However we are recognising all these challenges and are working to turn these challenges into successes. Some of these challenges include:

• Finding enough volunteer families. Many families are frightened of former child soldiers
• Lack of educational facilities near the volunteer families’ homes. Many of the educational facilities in the villages around Malakal were destroyed in the civil war, or they never existed to begin with. (This is not only a problem for our children but for all the children in these areas.) The government has promised, as part of the peace agreement, to build these educational facilities within the next 3 years. In the meantime, the children have to travel to reach school
• Political situation in Malakal. As mentioned previously, militias are still looking to re-recruit some of our children. However, we hope this problem will end soon as the number of militias is constantly decreasing