R. Coomaraswamy: 48% of the victims of sexual violence in the DRC are children


Kinshasa, April 21, 2009 - Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for children and armed conflict, gave a press conference today in Kinshasa at the end of her eight day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where she gave an account of her visit, which included Goma and Masisi in North Kivu and Dungu in Orientale province.


Ms. Coomaraswamy noticed that “the recent major political developments offer opportunities for the liberation of children associated with armed groups.”

Since January 2009, 1,300 children were liberated during the process of accelerated integration of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defence of the People) and other armed groups into the FARDC (DRC Armed Forces).

After her meeting today with the DRC Minister for Defence, Ms. Coomaraswamy said she obtained his agreement so that the representatives of MONUC’s Child Protection division, and also those of other UN agencies, in particular UNICEF, are present at the FARDC integration sites in order to check for the presence of children.

“The new Congolese army cannot be allowed to have children in its ranks, and the process of integration is a single opportunity to identify and release them,” said the Special Representative.

As for the problem of sexual violence, the Special Representative said that 48% of victims in the DRC are minors, and that 67% of those responsible are men in uniform.

She thus asked Alan Doss, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC, to advocate to the President of the Republic Joseph Kabila for the creation of a post of special envoy within the Presidency, to tackle the fight against sexual violence.

Ms. Coomaraswamy said that the Ministry of the Interior with the support of UNICEF will create a special unit within the Congolese police, in the fight against sexual violence.

She also cited the fight against impunity, which “is one of the priorities for the civilian populations”. In this regard, she underlined the good work of the military auditors of South Kivu province but noted that there was still much to be done.

Furthermore, Ms. Coomaraswamy said that the dependents of soldiers needed more assistance. She cited the need for the creation of military barracks to shelter these families and to give access to education for the soldiers’ children.

Displaced people were also a cause of concern for the Special Representative, and she stressed that it is necessary to include the education of displaced children as one of the programme priorities for humanitarian actors,

Ms. Coomaraswamy finally advocated for the creation of a modern and professional DRC army without children in its ranks, and demanded of international donors to contribute to the funding of programmes for the rehabilitation of children liberated from armed groups.

“Except for the French government’s pilot programme, there are no long term (three year) reintegration and rehabilitation programmes for children liberated from armed groups in the DRC. I met with the ambassadors of donor countries, and explained to them that the need for extra funding was a priority,” the Special Representative concluded.