The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in the DR Congo, Martin Kobler, has once again reiterated that "Children belong in school and not on the battlefield". The Head of MONUSCO was speaking in Goma on 12 February 2015, during the ceremony to mark the International Day against the use of Child Soldiers.

The ceremony was organized on the theme of “Children are no soldiers”, by the MONUSCO Child Protection Section in collaboration with the local NGO Centre d'Orientation et de Transit des ex-Enfants soldats (CAJED).

Some 83 ex-child soldiers participated in the event, and two of them were given the opportunity to recount their experiences with the armed groups. The boys recounted how they were abducted by the ACPLS armed group in Nyabiondo, Masisi territory, and by the Mai Mai Checka in Walikale territory. They said they were captured while working in their farms and were forcibly recruited and obliged to carry loads and booty of the armed groups.

Thanks to MONUSCO peacekeepers deployed at the operating bases in Nyabiondo and Kiwanja, they were liberated and taken to Goma in the transit camp (CAJED) where they are receiving some assistance ,counseling and training.

Special Representative Kobler was attending the ceremony along with the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Said Djinit, the Executive Secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes region, Alphonse Ntumba Lwaba, the Vice Governor of North Kivu, Feller Lutahichirwa, and other dignitaries. In his remarks at this occasion, Mr. Kobler said they came to show their solidarity with ex child soldiers. “I listened with emotion as the children recounted their bitter experiences during their captivity by the armed groups who committed them to forced labor and other forms of child abuse,” he said. The Head of MONUSCO condemned the use of children by the armed groups for their selfish gains. While reassuring the children that MONUSCO will continue to protect them against armed groups, he stressed that any recruitment of children in armed conflict is a war crime.

The Vice Governor, like other speakers, said he was moved by the testimonies of the ex- child soldiers. He insisted that "children are not soldiers” and should not be treated as such. There are about 30 thousands child soldiers in the DRC, he said before commending the efforts being made by MONUSCO and the local and international community to help curb this phenomenon of child soldiers.

Other high points on the agenda of the ceremony included animation with a song composed by a young artist DUBE DAVID "Enfants pas Soldats" and a common meal shared by the ex child soldiers and the guests.

Martha Biongo PIO/Goma.