The provision of basic needs such as food, shelter, security, identity and recognition is central in the rebuilding and reconstruction of the war-torn areas of Africa and indeed around the world. The war in northern Uganda, in particular, has taken its toll on the people of that area for more than 20 years and in the process, has witnessed the children facing some of the worst effects of armed conflicts known to man. This study investigated the role played by the Gulu Support the Children Organisation (GUSCO) in the reintegration of former child soldiers in Northern Uganda. GUSCO is however in favour of the term Formerly Abducted Children (FAC) as this is less prone to acts of stigmatisation against those who have faced some of the most horrific abuses known to human kind. It focused on the process of reintegration of the FAC in relation to the human needs theory which has been used as a basis for conflict resolution practices. The researcher conducted extensive face-to-face interviews with the employees of GUSCO who work in various fields as social workers, counsellors, health workers and teachers, who tend to the needs of the FAC daily. The researcher was also able to carryout observations of the activities that take place at the GUSCO reception centre where the children are rehabilitated. The organisation’s official documents were also consulted in order to carryout this triangular study and collect data. The major themes constructed from the study include: the empowerment and development of the FAC through education and skills training; health care provision to meet both physical and psychological needs; community empowerment and development and finally peacebuilding and reconciliation which involves the participation of whole communities to meet their needs and rebuild the war-torn northern Uganda. The researcher highlights some challenges that GUSCO faces in trying to reintegrate the former combatants albeit children into a routine of a community that struggles to recover from a war that continues to persist after twenty years. Several recommendations are made for GUSCO and civil societies who have given themselves the mandate to work towards salvaging the future generations of Uganda and Africa as a whole.

This study explores Security Sector Reform as a concept to address peace building or post-conflict reconstruction in a country attaining independence or emerging from a major conflict as in the case of South Sudan. Although various descriptions for a security sector exist, it is a common term applied to refer to structures, institutions, and personnel who are responsible for managing, providing, and overseeing security within a state. In general it refers to the armed forces, law enforcement agencies, national intelligence agencies, border control agencies, and civil protection entities. SSR refers to actions aimed at strengthening legitimate institutions and governance to provide citizens security, justice, and jobs which is crucial to break the cycle of violence. SSR is also conceptualised within the enlarged definition of security which includes human security. This emphasises the approach that SSR is not only restricted to defence and the role of law and order, but is also included in wider political, economic, and social issues. Within the concept of SSR, various prerequisites are stated for the effective execution of SSR within a state. For an analysis of effective SSR in South Sudan, the following aspects were identified to apply as a theoretical model to analyse the execution of SSR in South Sudan. These aspects were the necessity of a formalised peace agreement; the execution of a clear and effective DDR programme; the importance of foreign involvement and international military involvement; the importance of the institutionalisation of security sector structures, and civil oversight. The study concludes that certain aspects of the SSR plan contributed to peace building and post-conflict reconstruction such as certain provisions of the peace agreement, the involvement of the international community, and financial support. However, SSR in South Sudan mainly failed due to a failure of the DDR process, the inability of the international involvement to address outstanding security issues, a failure to address border demarcations, and a total failure to install effective security sectors and civil oversight mechanisms over the military. The study on the other hand suggests SSR as a concept for post-conflict reconstruction, specifically within a state acquiring independence such as South Sudan, should be viewed as a workable concept. As a model to address peace building or post-conflict reconstruction, SSR can indeed be effective. It provides for a wide spectrum of measures to address security, political, and economic disparities within a state emerging from a conflict and aspiring to democratise as a new state such as in the case of South Sudan. The failure of the SSR concept in South Sudan is not ascribed to an insufficient SSR process or plan, but due to the non-adherence of the provisions of the plan by the signatories of the plan and the socioeconomic, ethnic, and security challenges in independent South Sudan that would have complicated any SSR attempt. SSR as a concept can be applied for peacebuilding if certain conditions such as enforced DDR, commitment by international role players, the enforcement of provisions of the peace agreement, and effective measures to institute the de-politisation of the military are provided. / Mini-dissertation (MSecurity Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Political Sciences / MSecurity Studies / Unrestricted

A history of fragility and conflicts in Somalia has had severe impact on the security of citizens, most notably children. Different non-state actors and armed militias have appeared in Somalia’s timeline impacting the region’s, neighboring and global security. The prevalence of child soldiers in Somalia is alarming and so is the presence of armed groups that regularly recruit them. This paper focuses on studying the causes of child recruitment from a human security lens, examining the impact of fragility in Somalia and the ways by which one particular group; al- Shabaab exploits the fragile environment to recruit children. Qualitative data from different online sources is analyzed indicating that the instability in Somalia and the recruitment of children remain closely interlinked, and human security and development in the region are compromised by corruption, poor governance, societal division, ongoing conflicts and displacement.

The issue of child soldiering continues to be a significant part of armed conflicts. The research on children in conflict has not fully been able to understand how children not only experience but also actively participate in war. This thesis is premised in the pre-condition of low civilian support which in varying rates of child soldiering are expected to explain different outcomes in rebel violence against civilians. The examination is done through the lens of socialization theory. During the 1990’s the rates of child soldiering were extreme, causing rise to groups such as the RUF, AIS and brought attention to the KNU. These three cases are compared using Mill’s method of difference and structured focused comparison. The thesis finds that low civilian support is instrumental but ultimately inefficient to explain the variation in outcomes and proposes to look further into the influence of natural resource dependency and political ideologies.

Note:

The Northern region of Uganda has been plagued by violent conflict for over two decades. The Lord¿s Resistance Army (LRA) has been waging war against the current government of Uganda under the leadership of President Museveni. The Acholi community resident in the North of Uganda has been most affected by this war. In recent years however Northern Uganda has enjoyed relative calm following an agreement for the cessation of hostilities between the LRA and the government to allow for peace talks. Following the anticipated end of this conflict, the international community, the government and local organisations have engaged in a number of interventions and mechanisms that would assist in peace building. A fundamental intervention that has been formulated and administered to this end is the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme for the ex-LRA combatants. The DDR process has had the sole objective of enabling formerly abducted children to transform their lives from violence into civility and community. It has been the premise that if this transformation were to occur then societies could be made peaceful. There has been growing support for these programmes but there has been very little analysis done of the utility of these programmes and the consequential impacts that these programmes have on the local indigenous communities. Though well intentioned, there is much work to be done to assess the utility and success of reintegration initiatives in granting the formerly abducted children and local populations¿ lifestyles that are reasonably free from fear and want. / John & Elnora Ferguson Trust

This thesis contains a qualitative content analysis of Daily Monitor, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet’s articles about children, and child soldiers in Uganda. In total, there were 26 articles that have been applied to this study. The purpose of this thesis was to compare all 26 articles with each other to see potential diffrences or similarities. Theory based answers were applied when I was analyzing the articles' differences and similarities. The thematic content analysis applied and used to catagorize the concerning theames in the articles are: children or soldiers (as the major theme), and heroes and victims (as undercategorial theme). Postcolonial, childhood and childsoldier theories were used as the theoretical framework to the thesis, and they were all applied in the analysis. The chosen theoretical framework contributed not only to a critical viewpoint about children, and child soldiers, but also to Western power relations, which appeared in many newspapers. Furthermore, the theoretical framework contributed with different views about children, and child soldiers in different social and cultural contexts.

No / The arrest and prosecution in March 2006 of the former Liberian warlord-President Charles Taylor by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, for war crimes including the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and the arrest and prosecution of the Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, by the International Criminal Court, accused of enlisting child soldiers in the DRC war, have raised expectations that finally international conventions and customary international laws protecting children in conflict zones will now have enforcement powers. But why has it taken so long to protect children in conflict situations despite the volume of international treaties and conventions? What do we know about the phenomenon of child soldiering, and why are children still routinely recruited and used in Africa's bloody wars? This article argues that against the background of unfolding events relating to prosecution for enlistment of child soldiers, the international community is beginning to wake up to the challenge of enforcing its numerous 'paper protection' instruments for the protection of children. However, a range of challenges still pose serious threats to the implementation and enforcement of the international conventions protecting children. Extensive research fieldwork in Liberia and Sierra Leone over three years reveals that the application of the restrictive and Western-centric definition and construction of a 'child' and 'childhood' raises inherent difficulties in the African context. In addition, most war-torn and post-conflict African societies are faced with the challenge of incorporating international customary laws into their domestic laws. The failure of the international community to enforce its standards on child soldiers also has to do with the politics of ratification of international treaties, in particular the fear by African governments of setting dangerous precedents, since they are also culpable of recruitment and use of child soldiers.

本論文は、現代韓国で朝鮮戦争に参戦した少年兵がどのように記念され、記憶されているかについて考察した。本研究の特色は、近現代世界史の中の少年兵の動員と現代のグローバルな人権問題としての子ども兵問題を視野に入れ、その脈絡から朝鮮戦争期の少年兵を考察したという点である。少年兵同志会、記念館、戦争映画を研究対象に、少年兵参戦者の当事者の記憶、記念館のナラティブとしての記憶、映画が映している記憶を検討することによって、戦争英雄としての少年兵の記念と人権問題としての子どもの戦争動員問題が併せ持つ記念と記憶の様相を考察した。 / This study examines how child soldiers in the Korean War are remembered and commemorated. In particular, this study sets the scene both of children mobilization in modern history and of child soldiering in contemporary armed conflicts. By examining the memories of the child soldier participants, the narratives of the memorial halls, and the scenarios of the Korean War movies, this study looks into the memorial complexity in the context of commemoration of war heroes and global human rights issues of children war victims. / 博士(現代アジア研究) / Doctor of Philosophy in Contemporary Asian Studies / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

The level of brutality and violence against children abducted and forcefully conscripted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda pricked the conscience of humanity. The suffering of the people in northern Uganda was described by Jan Egeland, the former United Nations Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, as 'the biggest forgotten humanitarian crisis in the world'. This study is primarily concerned with the plight of child soldiers in northern Uganda and how their effective reintegration and rehabilitation (RR) could lead to successful peacebuilding. The study is premised on the hypothesis that 'the promotion of the RR of former child soldiers by providing psychosocial support based on traditional and indigenous resources may contribute to conditions of peace and stability in northern Uganda'. The main contribution of this research is that it explores the relevance of psychosocial support based on the traditional and indigenous resources to the RR of child soldiers and peacebuilding of war-torn societies. Psychosocial support based on traditional and indigenous resources as an element of peacebuilding has been the neglected element of peacebuilding by the liberal peacebuilding interventions in most war-torn societies. For example, while traditional and indigenous resources in northern Uganda have been instrumental in the RR of former child soldiers, most scholars and policy makers have largely paid attention to the usual official government and United Nations structured top-down interventions that emphasize Western approaches of peacebuilding. More so, the official approaches have tended to marginalize the plight of former child soldiers in the reconstruction and peacebuilding of northern Uganda. Yet, failing to pay sufficient attention to effective RR of child soldiers could undermine the peace dividends already achieved in northern Uganda. The study also analyses the limitations of psychosocial support based on traditional and indigenous resources in the RR of former child soldiers. It further examines why Western approaches of psychosocial support in the RR of child soldiers have remained in use in spite of the criticisms levelled against them. The study examines other peacebuilding interventions, both official and unofficial, that have been implemented in northern Uganda. In terms of key findings, the study establishes that traditional and indigenous resources are still popular and have been widely used in northern Uganda in the RR of child soldiers. Majority of former child soldiers who were interviewed observed that they found traditional and indigenous resources more helpful than the Western models of psychosocial support. However, it was also established that there is a significant section of former child soldiers who found Western models more relevant in their RR processes. Based on these findings, the study recommends an integrative and holistic model of psychosocial support that blends good elements from both traditional and indigenous resources and Western approaches with greater emphasis on the former.