Description
Concept Note: Breaking the Cycle – From Recruitment to Reintegration of Child Soldiers in Africa
This panel will critically examine the persistent challenge of child soldiering in Africa, where an estimated 40% of the world's child soldiers are found, often recruited through abduction, coercion, or as a perceived escape from poverty and violence . Moving beyond a singular focus on legal prohibitions, the discussion will explore the full cycle of this phenomenon, analyzing the complex socio-economic drivers that fuel recruitment and the comprehensive, transformative justice approaches required for sustainable reintegration . Grounded in the latest continental commitments, such as the 2025 Rabat Declaration, the panel will bring together experts and practitioners to interrogate successful strategies—including community-based dialogue, psychosocial support, education, and economic empowerment—that treat former child soldiers not as passive victims, but as agents of change . The objective is to propose a holistic, context-sensitive framework for prevention and reintegration that can guide policy and practice across the continent.