§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what organisations her Department supports which are working for the disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation of child soldiers. [55898]
§ Clare ShortWe are working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence to prevent and manage conflict through the Africa and Global Conflict Prevention Pools. We are contributing £3 million from the Global Conflict Prevention Pool to UNICEF over a three-year period to build its capacity to implement programmes which will prevent children becoming involved in, or otherwise affected by, armed conflict, including the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of child soldiers. This is part of a broader capacity building programme designed to strengthen UNICEF's programming in crises and conflicts.
£3 million is also being contributed from the Global Conflict Prevention Pool to the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children to support his advocacy and research work to reduce the impact of conflict on children, including the use of child soldiers by state and non-state actors alike. The work of these two institutions spans a wide range of countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.
We are also supporting the Quakers Office in New York to carry out a research programme into the experiences of girl soldiers, a little-acknowledged and researched aspect of child-soldiering, including disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration issues.
DFID collaborated with the Government of Sierra Leone, UNICEF and other partners in the DDR programme in Sierra Leone, which resulted in the demobilisation of 6,485 child soldiers. DFID continues to support local communities involved in the reintegration of ex-combatants, many of whom were recruited as children. 697W Through its regional offices, DFID has also supported Save the Children UK in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Sudan to help demobilise and reintegrate child soldiers. Similarly, in Rwanda DFID has supported UNICEF to help reintegrate child soldiers into communities.
On 12 April, the UK pledged £25 million contribution towards the World bank Multi-Country Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme for the Great Lakes region. This programme is aimed at the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration of some 350,000 soldiers and militia in the region. It is envisaged that part of this $500 million programme over five years will include the demobilisation and reintegration of child soldiers.
The UK was among the first 60 states to ratify the statute of the International Criminal Court, which will come into force in July 2002. This statute makes it a war crime to recruit or use children under 15 in armed conflict.