DRC / CHILD SOLDIERS

Fourteen-year-old Raul was kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) Province Orientale and this year, returned home to his family. Since 2004, the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program (DDR), more than 36,000 children formerly associated with armed forces and groups have been released. Saturday 12 February is the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:03:17
• Production Date: 10 February 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; HUMAN RIGHTS; CRIMES; CRIMINAL JUSTICE
• Geographic Subject: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
• MAMS Id: U110210b

Description

STORY: DRC / CHILD SOLDIERS
TRT: 3:17
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: PAZANDE / FRENCH / LINGALA / NATS

DATELINE: 17 JANUARY 2011, DUNGU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, Raul walking to hug aunt
2. Pan left, Raul and aunt sitting and talking
3. Zoom out, Raul and aunt sitting and talking
4. Close up, Paul’s feet
5. Tilt up, Raul sitting on chair
6. Close up, Raul’s hands
7. SOUNDBITE (Pazande) Raul, an ex-child soldier
“I killed people. I didn’t dare refuse because a friend of mine, who refused to kill, was killed. Nowadays, if I don’t pray before going to bed, I dream of the LRA coming to kill me, or to kidnap me again.”
8. Wide shot, two walking past child
9. Med shot, Charlotte Gnasungawe, aunt of ex-child soldier
10. SOUNDBITE (Lingala) Charlotte Gnasungawe, aunt of an ex-child soldier
“The day I heard that my sister’s child was kidnapped in Bangadi, I was filled with sadness and fear. I cried all night. Today, I thank God he is back, but when I see how my nephew has changed, I can’t help crying. The intelligent boy is now mentally deranged, suffering a lot.”
10. Wide shot, man walking and greeting Charlotte and Raul
11. SOUNDBITE (French) Guy Guillaume, COOPI/Dungu social worker:
“These children witnessed killings and other terrible exactions. Some of them have even killed people. That’s why they come here for psychological care and support. We must listen to him to de-traumatize them so they don’t carry the burden of what they lived all alone.”
12. Wide shot, man and girl walking in the street
13. Wide shot, family sitting in the kitchen
14.SOUNDBITE (French) Andrea Burelli, UNICEF/Dungu head of office:
‘We use work with the community to host children who come out of the armed groups. Putting children together in a centre could cause a security, a protection problem. There could be an LRA attack with consequences on the children.”
15. Wide shot, Charlotte and Raul walking arm in arm to hut
16. Wide shot, people walking on dusty road

Storyline

This was a year for Charlotte’s family to remember. It was when Raul, her 14-year-old nephew came back home.

In September 2008, Raul was kidnapped in Bangadi by the Lord’s Resistance Army or LRA, an armed group that terrorized the civilian population in Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Province Orientale. Today, Raul finds it hard to sleep because of the killings he was obliged to commit, the horrors he witnessed.

SOUNDBITE (Pazande), Raul ex-child soldier:
“I killed people. I didn’t dare refuse because a friend of mine who refused to kill, was killed. Nowadays, if I don’t pray before going to bed, I dream of the LRA coming to kill me, or to kidnap me again.”

Since the LRA attacks started in 2008, the security situation in Dungu Territory has become volatile. Hundreds of boys and girls are abducted by the LRA and are used as child soldiers or sex slaves. For the past two years, Charlotte, Raul’s aunt who welcomed him in Dungu, prayed and cried every night.

SOUNDBITE (Lingala) Charlotte Gnasungawe, Raul’s Aunt:
“The day I heard that my sister’s child was kidnapped in Bangadi, I was filled with sadness and fear. I cried all night. Today, I thank God he is back. But when I see how my nephew has changed, I can’t help crying. The intelligent boy is now mentally deranged, suffering a lot.”

From 2008 to the end of 2010, UNICEF and its partner COOPI assisted more than 1,500 children formerly associated with armed forces or groups in Dungu. Children like Raul are given medical and psychosocial care for their trauma.

SOUNDBITE (French) Guy Guillaume, COOPI/Dungu social worker:
“These children witnessed killings and other terrible exactions. Some of them have even killed people. That’s why they come here for support We must listen to him to de-traumatize them so they don’t carry the burden of what they lived all alone.”

For fear of LRA attacks, UNICEF does not run a transit and orientation center for ex-child soldiers in Dungu, Instead, children are hosted in UNICEF assisted families.

SOUNDBITE (French) Andrea Burelli, UNICEF/Dungu head of office:
‘We use work with the community to host children who come out of the armed groups. Putting children together in a centre could cause a security, a protection problem. There could be an LRA attack with consequences on the children.”

Since 2004, and the launch of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program (DDR), more than 36,000 children formerly associated with armed forces and groups. In 2009, about 6,000 children have been demobilized in Eastern DRC at the time of the rapid integration process of armed groups into FARDC (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo).

Since 2004, and the launch of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program (DDR), child protection actors have facilitated the release of over 36,000 children formerly associated with armed forces and groups. In 2009, about 6,000 children have been demobilized in Eastern DRC at the time of the rapid integration process of armed groups into FARDC (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo).