KATANGA CHILD SOLDIER DEMOBILIZATION HARDER THAN

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001095 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR G/TIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPKO CG SUBJECT: KATANGA CHILD SOLDIER DEMOBILIZATION HARDER THAN IT LOOKS ¶1. (SBU) Two thousand and six children associated with armed groups in Tanganyika district, Katanga have gone through the disarmament, demobilization, and reinsertion (DDR) program since February 2003. According to the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) Kalemie office director (Note: In north Katanga, IFESH is the DDR focal point for children. End note.),1,499 of these children have been verified and/or certified by their agency; 408 are supported in training activities, and 53 are supported in vocational education activities. ¶2. (SBU) According to MONUC Kalemie's child protection officer, at least 1,500 children remain in Mai Mai militia groups. In such cases, it is very difficult to get access to the child soldiers, she said, because often the entire family is part of the militia. Separating out the child when there are no funds and no centers for separated children or orphans in the area makes little sense. Many families and children, she added, come out of the bush themselves, i.e. they auto-demobilize without entering the official DDR program. In so doing, they receive none of the assistance or benefits provided by CONADER, have no access to education, and face the continued stigma of being associated with an armed group. MONUC and local NGOs have great difficulty reaching these families, she said. However, during the three and a half months it was open (septel),the Kalemie CONADER center received more than 120 children. ¶3. (SBU) The IFESH director also listed several additional difficulties in demobilizing children related to armed groups. First, the situation in certain parts of north and central Katanga is too dangerous for NGOs to carry out their work. Second, fraud in the DDR process is rampant. Third, children may be related or married to ex-combatants, making it difficult to verify whether they played a role in the military or were simply family members. Only those associated with armed groups can benefit from the DDR program. According to IFESH, the verification process is quite complex, and their NGO has refused some children for being either community children (not associated with armed groups) or for having been through the DDR program already. Finally, the lack of assistance to all children in vulnerable situations, not just children in armed groups, creates an unequal dynamic. Although child soldiers may not have received an education, more than 50% of the children in Tanganyika province are not in school either. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: MONUC and NGO efforts to demobilize child soldiers in north Katanga illustrate just how difficult and entrenched such a problem can be. Adult demobilization and child demobilization, especially with Congolese armed groups such as the Mai Mai, must function in concert. Furthermore, the problems that plague adult DDR programs also play out in child soldier programs (fraud, issues of fairness within the community, security). Only with full integration of the FARDC and the disarmament and demobilization of all illegal armed groups will all children associated with them be guaranteed a normal life. End comment. MEECE