DR Congo: Minister condemns utilisation of child soldiers

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - Democratic Republic of Congo's junior defence minister Noe Irung-Awan has urged warring sides in his country's armed conflict to stop the recruitment of minors and formally ban the utilisation of child soldiers.
The deputy minister was addressing workshop organised as part of a national campaign to sensitise civilians and soldiers on the process of demobilisation and re-integration of child soldiers and vulnerable groups.

President Joseph Kabila officially launched the seminar in Kinshasa on Wednesday.

Speaking on Monday when the first of the two workshops opened, Irung-Awan underscored the importance of taking measures to protect minors within the armies before their demobilisation and return to school.

Addressing the same workshop, human rights minister Ntumba Luaba said the demobilisation process was a major government concern.

He urged the civil society to offer counsels on ways to ensure the protection of the well-being and rights of demobilised child soldiers.

Luaba promised that the government would observe all international legal instruments it had ratified concerning the defence and promotion of human rights, particularly the Convention on Children's Rights. Meanwhile, UNICEF's resident representative in the DRC, Martin Mongwadja commended the government and several children-related NGOs for showing interest in the seminar.

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