Africa: Germany Supports UNICEF in Reintegrating Child Soldiers

By staff Writer

BERLIN–The government of Germany is making available 1 million euros to the United Nations Childrens’ Fund (UNICEF) in order to help the victims of violence from paramilitary combat units in Africa, says its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

UNICEF is implementing projects to protect and reintegrate child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

Minister of State Cornelia Pieper issued the following statement in Berlin today (7 November):

“The extreme brutality of the Lord’s Resistance Army against civilians in these countries is alarming. Murder, kidnapping, sexual enslavement, maiming and the destruction of countless houses through arson as well as the plundering of refugee camps are the order of the day. Many young people are still being abducted and used as child soldiers.

By supporting UNICEF, the Federal Government wants to make a contribution to bringing stability and peace to the region and to protecting human rights.”

Germany supports the work of the United Nations (UN) in the region and throughout the world in many ways. In 2012, the Federal Government is providing some 15 million euros for measures focusing on Africa. For example, Germany participates in the United Nations Peacebuildung Fund and helps the UN with the development of training modules for African peacekeepers. Furthermore, Germany is involved in building a Family and Child Protection Unit within the framework of UNAMID in Darfur (Sudan).