Reintegration of Ex-child Soldiers for a Peace Process: the Experience of Southern Kivu Province, the Drc (1996-2009)

This book is a result of a survey research carried out in the eastern DRC, especially the south Kivu province. This is a zone which has been terribly affected by recurring violent conflicts since the inauguration of the reign of destructive violence in 1996. The experience of south Kivu reveals how children have been both victims and impassive authors of destructive violence after having negatively been programmed as devastating machinery by untouchable war-lords. Child soldiers, are not only socially but also morally destroyed and abusively turned against their own peoples. Girls are the most vulnerable mainly because besides the fact that they are forced to play combatant roles, they also serve as a pool of sexuality. The study found out that the failure of effective reintegration of ex-child soldiers in a setting like the DRC susceptible to continuing social disturbances augurs badly for the future of social peace among different ethnic groups on one hand, and between ethnic based militias and the government on the other. The research explored different reasons explaining why the process didn't succeed and assessed the impact of the failure on the peace process.