Saturday September 23, 2017
Trainees, many of whom were former child soldiers or affected by armed groups, test the shower head they installed during a class at the training centre ELMAN, a non-government organization (NGO) which cooperates with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in Mogadishu, Somalia, March 22, 2017. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)
MOGADISHU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said Wednesday it has trained 60 officers from the Somali security forces in the prevention of recruitment and use of child soldiers.
Francisco Caetano Madeira, the Special Representative of the AU Commission Chairperson (SRCC) for Somalia, noted that the use of child soldiers in conflict was widespread in Somalia and expressed the need to establish the exact numbers of children fighting wars in the country.
"It's difficult to know exactly how many underage children are involved in this battle. We have to say it's widespread, particularly within the Al-Shabaab ranks," Madeira said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
The two-week training drew participants from the Somali military, police and intelligence services. Representatives of non-governmental organizations, federal and regional level member states also participated in the training which ended on Wednesday.
"We should spare these children from being recruited into radicalism, from being recruited into committing acts of violence against their own people, against their own country and against their own neighbors," Madeira said.
The training focused on the identification of child soldiers, the prevention of their recruitment, their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
Simon Mulongo, Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia, said the training would equip Somali national security forces with skills and knowledge to effectively contain the problem.
British Ambassador to Somalia David Concar attributed the widespread recruitment of child soldiers in Somalia to violent extremism propagated by the Al-Shabaab militant group.
"It does a huge harm to communities and it's holding back the cause of peace in this part of Africa," Concar noted.