AMISOM and Somali government to involve local leaders in fighting

recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups

Nairobi, 10 December 2016 - The African Union Mission in Somalia
(AMISOM) and the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) will engage parents
and community leaders to combat radicalization and help end recruitment of
child soldiers.
The parents and community leaders will also help AMISOM and FGS map out
areas where children are vulnerable to abduction and recruitment into armed
groups.
The mapping, the two parties observed, would help starve Al-Shabaab,
Islamic State (IS) and clan militias of combatants and aid liberate those
within their ranks.
The resolutions were part of a raft of measures agreed upon at a three-day
workshop, held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, this week.
Mr Musa Gbow, the African Union Commission Child Protection Advisor, said
preventing the enlisting of children and rescuing them from armed groups
would significantly reduce the number of combatants and by extension the
intensity of the war in Somalia.
Armed groups such as Al-Shabaab have over the years replenished their
ranks by abducting children. We need to prevent, minimize and arrest those
who may attempt to abduct the children, Gbow added.
He said that part of the strategy would be to involve teachers, community
leaders and Muslim preachers in countering the militant groups ideology of
radicalization.
The war is about winning the hearts and minds of the locals and we cannot
win it when the minds of the young people have been brainwashed, we must
show them the right path, observed the AMISOM official.
He noted that to achieve the objective, there was need for cooperation
among government, community elders, religious leaders and AMISOM
officials.
The children are being used for suicide bombing missions and very
dangerous operations which the adults are not willing to undertake. If we
resolve to protect them and make them aware of the dangers of joining the
armed groups, then we shall not only be protecting their rights but starving
the armed groups of combatants, said Gbow.

He added that treating those who have been rescued from armed groups
humanely, would encourage others to surrender and be integrated into
communities.
Mr. Adebayo Kareem, the AMISOM Acting Chief of Staff, said the workshop
was a sign of AMISOMs commitment in combating the problem of child
soldiers.
The participants agreed there was need for socio-psychological support to
children rescued from the armed groups in order to help them reintegrate in
to the communities.
Africa Union Special Representative Francisco Madeira supported the move
by both AMISOM and the Federal Government of Somalia to work together to
fight the recruitment of child soldiers.
The continued recruitment and use of child soldiers by certain elements is a
contributing factor to the protracted nature of the conflict in Somalia.
Children are fighting wars created by adults, Madeira said.
He said key in the campaign would be to counter radicalization and extremist
ideology, which young people fell for before joining the armed groups.
The seminar brought together representatives from AMISOM, the Federal
Government of Somalia and Somali National Army and Police Force.
It was supported by the Romeo Declare Child Soldiers Initiative, the British
Peace Support Team, the British Embassy in Mogadishu and the International
Peace Training Centre.

End