UNICEF, Support to the protection of children in armed conflict, 2020-2022

The final narrative report on Evidence Based Prevention and Response for Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups was submitted on 30 November 2023 (Dox: 20/000544-42) as per the agreement. The report describes results in the three countries South Sudan, Somalia and the Central African Republic (CAR), as well as advances made at global level between 1 April 2020 and 31 August 2023. Summary of results Overall, between 2020-2023, UNICEF provided technical and direct support for community-based reintegration of 8,230 children (1,902 girls) which is slightly above the target at the onset of the project (8,184), indicator 3.1b. While CAR exceeded the target (5,034 with 2,000 in target), South Sudan and Somalia were not able to reach the targeted number of children due to travel restrictions in South Sudan during Covid-19 and the decrease in recruitment following the peace processes, and due to access challenges in Somalia as a result of insecurity and restrictions on dialogue for the release of CAAFAG with Al Shabaab who are responsible for the majority of recruitment and use of children.   In addition, 34,543 children (15,420 girls) in conflict affected areas in CAR received community-based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support assistance through the Sida funding. The number of released children during the project period was 7,009 (1,678 girls). This was slightly lower than the 10,230 target, again due to above mentioned conflict dynamics and the drop in child recruitment in South Sudan (indicator 3.1a). To further support reintegration, capacity building initiatives were provided to 1,728 (294 women) individuals working on CAAFAG and armed personnel who might encounter them. This was more than expected initially (190) and a result of the active engagement with governments on Action Plan-related activities as well as reach into communities (indicator 2.2). At a global level, UNICEF developed and disseminated a range of important technical tools for CAAFAG, particularly through the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and its CAAFAG Task Force. Among these were the CAAFAG Programme Development Toolkit Training Guide and Guidelines; a Capacity Needs and Gaps Analysis: CAAFAG Programming; a Technical Note on Girls Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups; a Resource Pack on MPHSS Operational Guidance for CAAFAG; Operational Guidance on Negotiating and Implementing Handover Protocols for the Transfer of CAAFAG; and technical notes on Livelihood for CAAFAG and Education for CAAFAG. In addition, six reports were developed: in CAR, a formative evaluation of reintegration programming; in South Sudan, a national baseline study on Reintegration Status, Challenges and Opportunities of Ex-Combatants, and Women Formerly Associated with Armed Groups; in Somalia, three reports on CAAFAG including drivers of recruitment, childrens experiences within and separation from Al Shabaab, and reintegration processes; and at global level, an analysis of the UN SG reporting CAAC agenda and Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) to mark the 25 years of the mandate. UNICEF also continued to support the MRM on grave violations, including a roll out of the MRMIMS tool in Somalia and 5 other countries. Results based on the four outputs The work under Output 1 aims to bring consistency in programming through a robust adaptable programme framework to improve the quality of child reintegration programmes globally, with a focus on the specific needs of CAAFAG and other children at risk of recruitment. This has included conducting internal strategic stocktaking of UNICEFs programming for children and youth affected by armed conflict. Through these consultations, and through the engagement in interagency fora such as the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, the Paris Principles Steering Group, and the Global Coalition for Reintegration of Child Soldiers, UNICEF has initiated the development of a joint global programme named the Global Initiative on Child Reintegration (GICR). During 2022, a Steering Committee was formed, consisting of 6 UN agencies, 5 INGOs and 1 donor; consultations were held to gather views and perspectives of children and communities directly exposed to the issue of recruitment and use of children by armed actors as well as their release and reintegration; and a Theory of Change was developed, along with two documents on implementation modalities and a results measurement framework. During the international conference in Oslo in June 2023 Protecting Children in Armed Conflict: Our Common Future, UNICEF committed to continue the development of the GICR. Government, NGO and community actors capacities to prevent and respond to child recruitment and support the release and reintegration of CAAFAG were strengthened in the three countries under Output 2. In CAR, focus was on rolling out standardized tools for case management for child protection through government social workers and child protection NGO partners at national and sub-national levels. The tools were approved in 2021 by the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Families and Protection of Children, and capacities of 273 front line workers (97 women) were strengthened to use the tools. Capacities were also strengthened with regards to the MRM on the six grave violations of childrens rights, with Sida-funding reaching 87 persons (22 female) from grassroots organizations, NGOs and child protection networks. With the 2012 Action Plan and 2019 roadmap to end child recruitment and use in place in Somalia, UNICEF worked with the Ministry of Internal Security, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and the Somali National Armed Forces to raise awareness, strengthen capacities and ensure handover and support is provided to victims. Support was also provided to establish Child Protection Units within the ministries and build capacity of 507 staff  (135 women) on the screening, identification and release of children. In addition, 28 Child Protection agencies were trained on the CAAFAG Toolkit to strengthen the skills of field practitioners. UNICEF also supported the Inter-Ministerial Committee on CAAC, chaired by the Ministry of Defence, by presenting grave violation trend analysis to inform dialogue with Government counterparts. Through this coordinative committee, the Government in turn shares their own analysis of where they anticipate future risks/violations may occur based on planned military operations, thus advocating for increased service delivery to these areas. High-level advocacy was also maintained through the Group of Friends of CAAC, co-chaired with Denmark. Somalia passed the Federal Child Rights Bill and the Juvenile Justice Bill in August 2023 and UNICEF supported the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to develop and disseminate the National Age Verification Policy that sets guidelines for age assessment using child friendly processes in alignment with international standards. As reported in previous years, the lack of a juvenile justice system had put former children associated with Al Shabaab at risk of prosecution in military courts, which has had serious ramifications to the ethos of reintegration programming. Support to the implementation of the South Sudan Action Plan (2020) to end all six grave violations of the CAAC agenda was central in the work on eliminating child recruitment. UNICEF supported the establishment and capacity building of a High Level Inter-Ministerial Committee and a National Level Committee to improve the protective environment for children and advance the implementation of the action plan. Support was also provided to the National Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration Commission (NDDRC) to train Child Protection Units in the South Sudan Peoples Defence Force (SSPDF) and the Sudan People Liberation Army in Opposition. UNICEF also provided technical support in drafting a command order which was then issued by the SSPDF and disseminated through training and capacity support initiatives. In total, 5530 armed forces and groups were provided with child protection capacity building. This has resulted in a substantial reduction in children recruited, as reported through the MRM. At global level, the project has continued to develop the CAAFAG Programme Development Toolkit Training Guide and Guidelines that provides evidence on how to design, implement and evaluate programmes for CAAFAG and other vulnerable children in communities through the prevention, release and reintegration phases. Contributing to the Toolkit were a Capacity Needs and Gaps Analysis: CAAFAG Programming, and a Technical Note on Girls Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups. The Toolkit was tested in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, CAR and Iraq, and feedback fed in to the final version which was officially launched in early 2022. Between July and September 2022, the roll-out of the Toolkit started in partnership with Plan Canada throught Training of Trainers in Nigeria, Mozambique and Colombia, followed by in-country trainings in October-November. In addition, the Toolkit was rolled-out in Somalia with trainings completed in August 2023. The toolkit has been complemented by a self-paced Massive Open Online Course, available in English, French and Spanish. In South Sudan, the reflective process prompted through the toolkit has allowed partners to focus on individual child needs rather than implementing narrowly defined reintegration programmes. In a context where recruitment has diminished but children still are easily mobilized and living dangerous lives through gangs, inter-communal clashes and cattle rustling, the toolkit provides a methodology for providing longitudinal case support and referral services to children vulnerable to recruitment. Additional tools produced include a Resource Pack on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MPHSS) Operational Guidance for CAAFAG; Operational Guidance on Negotiating and Implementing Handover Protocols for the Transfer of CAAFAG; Livelihood for CAAFAG; Education for CAAFAG. In total, 9,407 practitioners accessed CAAFAG resources over the course of the project, either through webinars, trainings, the online course (1640), or by downloading CAAFAG resources. Output 3 aims to directly support girls, boys and communities with release and reintegration by reunifying CAAFAG with their families or place them in foster care families; provide them with community-based psychosocial support; assist them with birth certificates when needed; support them to reintegrate into schools/attend vocational training/start generating income activities. In CAR, 5,034 children (1,373 girls) were reached and 46 community child protection networks and 148 foster care families supported. In addition, 225,756 children received community-based MPHSS between 2020 and 2022, out of which 35,543 children (15,420 girls) was through Sida funding. In Somalia, 2,360 children (320 girls) received support with community-based reintegration, which is lower than the target of 4,024 children. Restrictions on dialogue with Al Shabaab, who is responsible for the vast majority of recruitment and use of children, hindered opportunities to directly engage for the release and handover of children. To support mental health and well-being, partnership was established with Waves for Change both in Somalia and South Sudan. With the successful work of the NDDRC in enforcing the military Command Order in South Sudan, recruitment diminished and reintegration support was therefore provided to a total of 836 children (209 girls) which is lower than the targeted 2,160. However, seeing a substantial rise in grave child rights violations, as explained above, resulting in the emergence of large numbers of arms-carrying children and youth mobilized outside of the parties of conflict, an additional 115 children (50 girls) received MPHSS support. With the aim of developing new evidence on programme impact, UNICEF conducted a wide range of research and data collection under Output 4. At global level, UNICEF produced an analytical report in June 2022 on the information relating to grave violations against children included in the annual reports of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict since 2005 - 25 years of children and armed conflict: Taking action to protect children in war. Apart from analysing data and presenting trends of grave violations across the world and over time, the report examines how information is being used to respond to childrens needs, and how engagement with parties to conflict enables ending and preventing grave violations. UNICEF also continued to support the MRM and developed an updated version of the tool MRMIMS in December 2022, which is now being rolled out in Afghanistan, Colombia, Mali, Somalia, Ukraine and Yemen. CAR will be included in the next phase. In collaboration with the United Nations University, research has been possible on individuals journeys into and out of armed groups. Focus countries currently are Colombia, Iraq, Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, and Somalia. Sidas funding has allowed UNICEF to remain engaged in the project from a global perspective. In CAR, an assessment of UNICEFs CAAFAG reintegration programming was finalized which enabled a strategic dialogue with government and implementing partners for more involvement of government on coordination of actions of reintegration through the National DDR programme. Findings among others include the need to also support families and communities during reintegration, apart from the affected children, for more effective reintegration; involving communities in the identification of CAAFAG, which limited risks of reprisals against the children; providing economic reintegration of children along with return to school, which limited the risk of re-recruitment as gained skills were recognized by the communities and positive community figures were made aware of the dangers of recruitment and participation in conflicts. The study also reconfirmed the need for long-term community building approach across the humanitarian-development nexus, where UNICEF particularly appreciates Sidas contribution over the years.  UNICEF Somalia commissioned a study in 2022 to understand the drivers of child recruitment, experience of children with Al Shabaab as well as their experience during and after escape/release. Preliminary findings shed light on factors as drivers, including living in Al Shabaab-controlled territory or conflict-affected communities, lack of opportunities for children to improve their lives (social services, school), lack of parental care etc. Findings are expected to help improve understanding of the experience of children and mobilise resources while informing programmatic response. In South Sudan, a national baseline study and assessment on The Reintegration Status, Challenges and Opportunities of Ex-Combatants, and Children and Women Formerly Associated with Armed Groups to assist the DDR Commission to refine programming to current realities, was concluded in August 2023. Among the findings and recommendations are the need to include other conflict affected groups, such as IDPs, returnees, and people with disabilities; address drivers of conflict, including access to natural resources, cattle raiding, poverty and unemployment; ensure voice and representation of both male and female programme participants; engage traditional authorities to address grievances of victims and reduce inter-communal hatred, violence and mobilisation; provide market-responsive economic reintegration opportunities; invest in service delivery capacity of the Government; and address violent masculinity and needs of women.

PROGRAMME RESULTS To account for contemporary conflict contexts and to address the identified key challenges, this project will support children exiting armed forces and armed groups through a formal or informal process to receive higher quality, sustained, evidence-based reintegration services through the four following outputs: Output 1: A robust adaptable programme framework for reintegration of children exiting armed forces and groups is in place and being implemented in at least three countries. UNICEF will 1. Hold internal and external stakeholder consultations to support development of a global framework on child reintegration. 2. Develop foundational documents for a programme framework: - Outcome(s) and Output(s) that are realistic, adaptable and evidence based. - A Theory of Change for child reintegration programming based on the identified comparative advantages of UNICEF and other key partners and stakeholders. - A results framework for child reintegration that can be used across the humanitarian, development and peace nexus and in a variety of contexts, including in the context of counter-terrorism Output 2: Program practitioners have the knowledge, skills and tools to design and implement quality and coordinated programmes to prevent and respond to child recruitment and support release and reintegration of boys and girls associated with armed forces and armed groups. UNICEF and partners will pilot test and roll out Capacity Building and Programme Resource Toolkit for reintegration to children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups in at least three countries with a special focus on girls. Output 3: High quality, community-based reintegration services are available for children disassociated from armed forces/groups and children released from arbitrary detention in the Central African Republic, Somalia, and South Sudan. UNICEF and partners will use the developed programme framework and toolkit to deliver high quality reintegration services in at least three countries. Output 4: New evidence on programme impact and monitoring and reporting on grave violations of child rights is available to inform advocacy and programme planning. UNICEF will strengthen the monitoring and reporting mechanism on grave violations of child rights and build evidence through monitoring and evaluation on CAAFAG programming.