Congo (Kinshasa)
In one of her annual reports, the Special Representative of the Secretary-Gen...
In one of her annual reports, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict writes that thousands of children continue to be killed, maimed or abducted, suffer sexual violence, or are denied access to humanitarian assistance or health care in many countries. In several countries, she continues, they have also been used to commit suicide attacks or to serve as human shields. That description corresponds exactly to the ordeal suffered daily by Congolese children due to the presence of numerous foreign and domestic armed groups that plunder the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Indeed, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that has suffered ...
Indeed, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that has suffered for more than a decade of intermittent armed conflicts with the grimmest of consequences, children are among those civilians whose rights are most frequently violated. What is worse, given their immature psychological makeup, they experience great trauma when they are recruited as soldiers. That is the case, for example, when they are forced to kill an adversary in cold blood or a comrade in arms suspected of collaboration, or when forced to burn villages or to stand by helplessly as comrades suffer. All the armed groups operating in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo recruit boys and girls as soldiers, messengers, spies or traffickers or to transport munitions.
Given the scope of the phenomenon, and pursuant to the recommendations contai...
Given the scope of the phenomenon, and pursuant to the recommendations contained in the annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, the Congolese authorities have spared no expense in tackling the challenges. In October 2012, my Government and the United Nations signed an action plan with a series of commitments by both parties, aiming to end the recruitment and use of children by Congolese armed forces and security services in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as sexual violence against children.
Among the wide-ranging actions undertaken by the Government to address the ph...
Among the wide-ranging actions undertaken by the Government to address the phenomenon of sexual violence, I note the law of 20 July 2006. Compared to the earlier criminal code of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the law brings meaningful change, including by raising the age limit for those considered to be victims of sexual violence from 14 to 18 years old. Practices that were formerly considered to be lesser crimes — including forced marriage, forced prostitution or the exploitation of children, sexual slavery, bestiality and genital mutilation — are now punished more severely. Moreover, the new law on sexual violence, includes not only those crimes but also 16 additional crimes under the principle of international humanitarian law.
Moreover, two coordination mechanisms have been created to follow up the impl...
Moreover, two coordination mechanisms have been created to follow up the implementation of the action plan. Results have been encouraging. According to statistics, 2,494 children were removed from armed groups and forces in June 2013, while 2,824 children, of whom 365 were girls, were placed in the care of the transitional support structure. Those numbers fell through 31 December 2013 and perhaps even more by today.