ARTICLE: AMISOM and Somali government

to join hands to tackle use of child

soldiers
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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DATELINE: 8/12/2016, NAIROBI, SOMALIA
ARTICLE
Nairobi, 7 December 2016 - The African Union Mission in Somalia
and the Federal Government of Somalia have resolved to work
together to tackle the use of child soldiers in the country .
The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union
Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Madeira,
said armed groups in Somalia had many child soldiers within their
ranks, hence the need for a collective approach to security to
enhance the war against the vice.

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,
said Ambassador Madeira.
Madeira spoke in Nairobi, Wednesday, when he presided over the
opening ceremony of a three-day workshop on the prevention of
recruitment of child soldiers.
Among the participants were officials from African Union Mission in
Somalia (AMISOM), Somali National Army (SNA) and the Federal
Government of Somalia (FGS).
The SRCC said key in the campaign would be to counter
radicalization and extremist ideology used by militants to influence
young people into joining armed groups.

If we manage to make the extremist ideology unattractive, and if

we manage to tackle the problem of child soldiers, Al-Shabaab will
be wiped out because they will have nowhere to recruit soldiers. The
guns will then go silent, he added.
Militant groups such as Al-Shabaab have for long exploited the high
poverty rates in Somalia to recruit vulnerable children by
hoodwinking them with false promises of a better life.
He said that the African Union was committed to working with the
Federal Government of Somalia in achieving peace through various
initiatives such as capacity building for officials.

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 in Somalia.
The diversity of the people at high level in this meeting was
deliberate so that they can go back and educate the others, added
Mr. Kareem.
AMISOMs Child Protection Advisor, Musa Gbow, called for a multiapproach involving various players to effectively tackle the problem.
Mr. Gbow noted that AMISOM forces would not work with any group
that uses children as soldiers, adding that exploitation of minors is a
violation of human rights.
He cited Somalias vast and rugged terrain as one of the challenges
AMISOM had encountered in trying to liberate children in armed
groups.

The African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
prohibits the recruitment of children as soldiers. In addition,
according to the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef), there could
be as high as 5,000 child soldiers in Somalia as Al-Shabaab
continues its recruiting campaigns.