War not a child’s game

28 nov 2013

War not a child’s game

Bukavu, 24 November 2013 – In Bukavu, the provincial capital of South Kivu, the Child Protection section of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), together with its partners, commemorated on 22 November 2013 the 24th anniversary of the International Children’s Rights Day.

The ceremony was an opportunity for children formerly associated with armed forces and groups to engage in cultural activities, supervised by the Bureau pour le volontariat au service de l’enfance et de la santé (BVES) (Office of volunteer for children and health), a UNICEF-assisted local NGO offering shelter, health and education services to children who are abandoned, neglected or affected by conflict or HIV/AIDS

It also provided an opportunity for all partners active in the field of child protection, the Congolese government and its armed forces, civil society and the international community to remind everyone that there exist legal instruments, national and international, that protect children’s rights, and that stipulate, among other things, that any child, regardless of place of birth, has the right to education, health care, freedom of expression and protection.

In his remarks on this occasion, the head ad interim of MONUSCO’s office in South Kivu, Christine Kapalata, noted that « every child has the right to play, but not with a gun or guns” and that “war is not a child’s game”. She then called on each and every one to participate in the fight against the phenomenon of child soldiers. In a similar message, the provincial minister of the Interior, Jean-Julien Miroho, who represented the province’s governor at this ceremony, said: “Child soldiers never again, for the recruitment of children is a crime!”

After these messages which reminded everyone that children must be treated as children, the celebration continued with boys and girls, who had been separated from armed forces and groups and were now supervised by BVES, participating in cultural activities which included plays, songs and dances dealing with the horrors of war and the consequences of using child soldiers in armed forces and groups.

The celebration ended with a round-table discussion that brought together civilian administration officials, traditional authorities, representatives of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and of civil society around the theme “ The role of the community in preventing the recruitment of children by armed forces and groups”.

MONUSCO/Tahina Andriamamonjitianasoa