Topic: Reintegrating Former Child Soldiers
Country: South Africa
Delegate Name: Olivia Venus
School: Kalamazoo Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All South Africa position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
In 2013, The United Nations formed a proposal to eradicate child soldiers by 2016, but with an estimated 300,000 under aged soldiers worldwide in 2014, it is clear existing efforts have not been enough, and further action must be taken. In 2007, South Africa signed on to the Paris Principles, along with 58 other nations, but believes these principles are not being enforced enough and the reintegration of child soldiers has been greatly neglected, especially in Africa, since the Principles were signed. Africa is home to almost half of the world’s child soldiers, and South Africa has housed many former child soldiers from our neighboring nations in asylums and rehabilitation centers.
When reintegrating child soldiers, it is important to recognize the need for psychiatric assistance before reintegration into the community and home. Asylums and rehab centers that focus on reestablishing a sense of self and of community, established by UNICEF internationally and in South Africa by the South African government have been able to successfully reintegrate these children into the community, but there are too few of these centers internationally. With collaboration between UNICEF and the nations in which under aged soldiers are present, more of these centers can be established and child soldiers can be abolished worldwide. Centers can be established in neighboring nations, like we have done in South Africa, and at a regional level the children can be moved into the community through adoptions, education, and safe homes within neighboring nations. Centers that simply provide a safe place for these children to stay, considering many of them are orphaned, in poverty, or both, are also a priority. The prevention of these children from affiliating with armed gangs or other similar groups in the future is just as important as tending to their health and safety, an issue we have seen often in other nations, as well as our own.
On the national level, the UN and signers of the Paris Principles can fund the establishment of these centers and see out their success. The use of child soldiers may only be at a regional or national level, but their reintegration and well-being is a worldwide effort, and cannot be ignored.
