Rehabilitating Child Soldiers

By Mélanie Montinard

Since 2003, many Haitian youth have willingly become involved in direct armed conflict. Child soldiers—as they are called by the community and also among themselves—play different roles, which vary according to age, gender or even abilities. They may serve as "antennae" for transmission of information, or mules for weapons and drugs. But most worrisome, they can also cause conflict.


The idea of creating a youth rehabilitation project for these children was inspired by the project Tanbou Lapè, which in May 2007, led to the first peace agreement between rival "bases" (a base here is defined as powerful community groups that are nevertheless, currently illegal) located in the Bel Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, where Viva Rio operates.

In July 2010, the Brazilian NGO, which has worked on security and development issues in Haiti since 2006, started the project by reissuing identification cards to youth. In doing so, aid workers learned that many of these youth had been or were still involved in "base" conflict.


One of the teenagers, for example, said he wanted to become a policeman because he knew how to handle a gun. The very communities where these children live are doubtful that the project will change gang members: as long as youth identify themselves as "base" members, there will always be a risk that they will be involved in conflict.


Some of them are or have been incarcerated. Many of them were abandoned as children, and turned to violence due to political turmoil, natural disasters, poverty, family problems, or the death of a parent. These children end up being "adopted" by the "base".

According to Robert Montinard, program coordinator for community security
at Viva Rio in Haiti, who participated in the Disarmament,
Demobilization and Reintegration program (DDR 2) in Cité Soleil, Bel Air
and Martissant, there are no gangs in Haiti. "The approach that Viva
Rio developed in Bel Air is, above all, cultural," he explains. "Several
projects such as the Depoté arts program, Capoeira and Dance allow
young people to express themselves, find their identity, but above all,
recover their self-esteem and (re) learn the rules of society."

He says in the past, young gang members in Haiti became reintegrated citizens with jobs and dignity; that they have become true "soldiers of development." "The task of social and professional reintegration is done case by case, to guarantee success, because each case has a price and that price is expensive. This process demands that the soldier regain stability and trust in his community, with his family, and with other "bases" in the neighborhood, but also with the police (and if possible, with higher authorities), and moral authorities, like the Church. Above all, this requires a break with violence," he added.

On March 1, 2008, 36 child soldiers were selected to participate in the project. Activities included: psychosocial activities, school and/or vocational training, free meals, medical attention, and pre-reintegration leisure. In 2010, 20 participants proved that real and sustainable reintegration is possible.


Junior, 17, interned for ​​two months with a civil engineer in 2008. At his own initiative, he moved to the countryside, in Baradei, to continue his schooling. Today, he works as an office attendant in a company.

Boniface is certainly the pride of the rehabilitation project. In 2004
and 2005, he was involved in almost all acts of violence in Bel Air.
Today, he has reunited with his mother and lives with her ​​in Esther,
in the department of Artibonite, where he has retaken his birth name,
Jean Israel.

Another participant, Daniela, seven, was involved in transporting weapons and drugs, and today, cannot return to her biological family. Today, she lives with an adopted family in the countryside, where she has returned to school and is an outstanding student.


But there are also some disappointments and failures. Some child return to being "soldiers", and are involved in fights and kidnappings.


In October, the project was overhauled and brought in 32 new children. The beneficiaries of this new phase of the project are younger and are involved in cases of theft and prostitution. The focus of this project is the reintegration of children into their families—a huge challenge that will require: the child's permanent escape from the criminal environment, removal of bad influences, and a new mindset that does not include weapon use.

Translated by Danielle Renwick