Special event for former child soldiers

March 19, 2016 - Children officially discharged from the military were given the opportunity to share their experiences and raise their voices for stronger assistance at a special event, organised by World Vision Myanmar and UNICEF Myanmar.

The children and youth were mistakenly placed into the military, and the event provided a place to voice their concerns regarding the reintegration assistances and to improve the support based on the recommendations.  

Officials from the army, representatives from concerned government departments, members of Country Task Force for Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR), and 36 discharged youth presented at the event.

The children and youth were mistakenly placed into the military, and the event provided a place to voice their concerns regarding the reintegration assistances and to improve the support based on the recommendations.

Colonel Soe Lwin, Senior Liaison Officer from the Ministry of Defense addressed in his opening speech that, “The Tatmadaw does not impose the law for the citizen to serve in the military. It is youth’s decision and permission from the parents to join the army. Those who were in the army were just mistakenly recruited. Since the signing of the Joint Action Plan (JAP), 744 minors were already discharged. We thank UNICEF and World Vision for providing enough support for those children.”

Mr. Aaron Greenburg, Technical Co-Chair of CTFMR as well as Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF Myanmar thanked the government officials at the event and young people for sharing their experiences. “Since 2012 until today, we’ve seen the excellent progress between the government and CTFMR. However, there’s still more work to be done,” Mr. Greenburg says.

Myat Min Thu, Child Protection Officer, Children and Armed Conflict, UNICEF Myanmar, made a presentation on the progress of JAP implementation and the strong collaboration and partnership of CTFMR members. He also presented the economic difficulties and social issues faced by the discharged children when reintegrating into the community.

Later, children presented their experiences by performing role play. A poem composed by youth was recited and presented at the event.

A great discussion followed about lessons learned to improve the future arrangement and to strengthen the partnership and supports.  

“This learning event enabled us to gain self-confidence. We learned a lot from this event. We thank World Vision and UNICEF Myanmar for organizing such event and supporting us to rebuild our lives,” says one of the discharged youth.

The event was concluded by the word of thanks from the National Director of World Vision Myanmar, Mr. Suresh Bartlett. Mr. Bartlett thanked the collaboration of the CTFMR members and encouraged to continue the partnership. He also thanked youths and encouraged them to work best in their normal lives and pursue success.