VSF-Suisse, 17.02.2012
On Sunday, 12th February was the international day against the use of child soldiers and the 10th anniversary of the Optional protocol to the Convention on the rights of the child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. According to UN estimates approximately 250’000 children remain active in armed forces and groups. The children are used as porters, cooks, messengers and also as combatants. Many are recruited forcefully and especially girls suffer from sexual violence and they often return from the war either pregnant or with small children. The return to their families and communities is difficult for these children as they are stigmatised. Their families are also often poor and that poses a risk of returning to the armed forces out of sheer economic despair.
Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse has been active for several years in the social re-integration of former child soldiers through goat rearing both in the DR Congo and South Sudan. The families accommodating former child soldiers receive a small herd of goats which allows them to generate additional income. With this income they can cover basic family needs.
Read what Lucien, a beneficiary of the social re-integration project in North Kivu, DRC, has to say:
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africa
Child Soldiers
DR Congo
Goats
VSF-Suisse
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VSF-Suisse, 31.01.2012
In East Africa the majority of the rural population depends on livestock for their livelihood. One of them is Jillo Jirma Guyo: the 62 year old is the head of a family of 14 and during the drought periods between 2007 and 2009 he lost 38 cows and 60 goats - the livelihood of the family.
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Camels
Drought
Horn of Africa
VSF-Suisse
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