The Role of International Non-Governmental Organizations in the Reintegration Process of the Former Child Soldiers in Colombia

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The Role of International Non-Governmental Organizations in the

Reintegration Process of the Former Child Soldiers in Colombia

(Case Study: War Child, Save the Children, Benposta)

Raden Andrean Sangabie Sancaya S322788

University of Groningen

First Supervisor: Second Supervisor:

Prof. Joost Herman Lars Lofquist

University of Groningen Uppsala University

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Statement

This thesis is submitted for obtaining the Joint Master’s Degree in International Humanitarian Action. By submitting the thesis, the author certifies that the text is from his own hand,does not include the work of someone else unless clearly indicated, and that the thesis has been produced in accordance with proper academic practices.

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Abstract

The signing and the procurement of a peace negotiation not only indicated that the internal armed conflict in Colombia that lasted for more than fifty years was coming to an end, while also marked the commencement of the social reintegration process of the former combatants into Colombian society. These former combatant were not always adults, thousands of children had been associated with the conflict as child soldiers. The reintegration program of these former child soldiers was a very complex and long-term process. The program should aim to give children a viable alternative to their involvement in armed conflict and to help them resume life in the community as a productive citizen. In the realization of a reintegration process, a leading role was logically given to or assumed by, the national government of the country at stake and supported by international entities such as the UN and INGOs. INGOs were not a part of the state nor the UN, though they often received significant sums from government sources, they were substantially autonomous in their policies and activities. Their activities were guided by a mandate, which determined by the visions, or interests of their constituency. This study aimed to reveal the role of INGO in the reintegration process of the former child soldiers in Colombia. The primary data of this qualitative research would be collected through conducting several semi-constructed interviews with three INGOs namely War Child, Save The Children, and Benposta. As the result, this study would descriptively showcase how INGOs work as well as what role they have been playing in the reintegration process in Colombia as well as how they fulfill the needs of the former child soldiers.

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Preface

This thesis focuses on how international organizations play their role in assisting the former child soldiers in Colombia reintegrate to society. When child soldiers leave the armed groups, they perceive to be in a position where they can do so much more in life. However, they soon find out that it is still a tough life outside the battlefield. For that reason, the government should initiate reintegration programs to help these children get back on their feet. My passion on the issue of child protection has prompted me to research this subject. On top of that, working in an international organization has always been my goal. Therefore, I also used the opportunity to understand more how the international organizations work.

I had evolved myself during the process of data collection in Bogota. The intensity of International Humanitarian Action master program had forced me to grow and develop my problem-solving skill. During the data collecting process in Bogota, I have realized that the perfect plan would not always be a flawless execution. I had to improvise and deal with rejection and uncertainty from the INGOs. Though, a lot of great things also happened to me. I used so many opportunities to understand Colombian conflict, I even had the chances to meet some of the actors (FARC) and spent a night with them. Moreover, I had the opportunity to sit for around two hours with three amazing people who inspired me. I have realized that conducting interviews were not as easy as asking questions. Furthermore, my understanding of how INGOs work in a conflicted country as well as reintegration process of even DDR, in general, had expanded.

Through this thesis, I hope people could see and later have some perspectives about how INGOs work in reintegration process of former child soldiers.

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List of Abbreviations

AUC : Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia

COALICO : La Coalición contra la vinculación de niños, niñas y jóvenes al conflicto armado en Colombia

DDR : Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration ELN : Ejército de Liberación Nacional

FARC : Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia ICBF : Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar INGO : International Non-governmental Organization

UN : United Nations

UNICEF : United Nations Children's Fund

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CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION

A. Research Background

i. Colombian conflict and the use of child soldiers in Colombia

The conflict in Colombia finally culminates in a peace agreement signed by the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on November 24th, 2016 (Casey 2016). Moreover, another peace negotiation between the Colombian government and the country's last active left-wing rebel force, the National Liberation Army (ELN) was also recently launched a few months ago. The signing of a peace agreement and the procurement of a peace negotiation not only indicate that the internal armed conflict in Colombia that has lasted for more than fifty years is coming to an end, while also mark the commencement of the social reintegration process of the former combatants into Colombian society. On a different note, the conflict has resulted in great harm to the country. In a transient calculation, approximately 220,000 people have died in the conflict and most of the victims are civilians (Nussio 2016, p.2). In addition, over five million civilians were also forcibly displaced from their homes between the year of 1985 and 2012; with more than a half of the number represent children (UNICEF 2016, p.1).

Gillin (2015) indicates that the conflict is contemplated as a result of various causes such as; inequality, political inclusion, along with the corrupt and unstable government that have taken place for so long in Colombia. At first, the beginning of Colombian conflict started to emerge during the Spanish colonization. The Spanish has bequeathed a land-ownership system to the state. The land system is dominated by powerful elite, ran by the government, and excluding most of the population. Consequently, the system has placed Colombia to an economy with high level of inequality (Zartman 2015, p.1). Oxfam International has reported out that eighty percent (80%) of land in Colombia was in the hands of just fourteen percent (14%) of owners; this concentration has increased over the last fifty years (Gillin 2015). For that reason, the link between the land ownership and the armed conflict appears to be beyond doubt. In fact, most of the various social conflicts, which have swept Colombia from the end of the 19th century to the present day, are caused by the issue of access to land (Gillin 2015). In addition to the land issue, Colombia after its independence is also concentrated in a bipolar political system that consists of the

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liberal and conservative parties. While there are real differences between the two powerhouses, one commonality of both sides is to make agreements that neither represented the interest of the Colombian people. Besides, instead of seeking to build consensus and accommodation with political opponents, the state is always seen as a tool to be exploited by the either party in power. This form of political exclusion has been happening in Colombia also for a long time.

Furthermore, the conflict is assumed to happen due to the existence of several marginalized groups that taking controls in many of isolated and inaccessible territories in Colombia (Gillin 2015). In these areas of peripheral colonization, the state lacks the monopoly on justice and the legitimate use of force. On top of that, the presence of the state's regulatory institutions and interaction with the society is also minimal, leaving the power to organize the communities to individuals and social group. For that reason, the alternative structures such as; local elite landowners, narco-traffickers, guerrillas, paramilitaries emerge to take over the power.

In addition to the roots of Colombian conflict, the bloodiest period in Colombian history called La Violencia is considered as the triggering event that flares up the conflict. The Conservative and Liberal parties orchestrate the bloodshed. It starts in 1948 with the assassination of a charismatic political leader named Jorge Eliecer Gaitan and continued until 1957 when the both elite parties signed a power-sharing agreement called the National Front (Delgado 2016). La Violencia has resulted in more than two hundred thousand casualties (World Peace Foundation 2016).

All of these deplorable conditions together with such triggering events are perfect timing for the creation of Colombia's guerrilla movements to challenge the authority of Colombia. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or in Spanish, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army or Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) were then both established in 1964 (Gillin 2015). These two groups have been considered as the biggest guerrilla movements in Colombia. They aspire to overthrow the democratic government and turn it into a communist. The FARC holds one-third of Colombia's territory and the ELN operated in the southwest region of Colombia. Since the establishment of the rebel groups, the conflict in Colombia has become increasingly vigorous, not to

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mention with the contribution of the drug cartels as well as the foreign interventions to the conflict.

Gillin (2015) adds that drug trafficking plays a significant role in the Colombian conflict, as it has been the primary source of income for the rebel groups involved in the violence. Also, due to the rising issue of drug trafficking, the Castaño brothers established another armed group that imparted to the conflict in Colombia, named the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia or Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) in 1997. The AUC is basically a coalition of right-wing death squads that use the conflict to camouflage their illicit economic activities. These include drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and displacement (Stanford University 2015). The AUC once has operated in two-thirds of the country escorted by approximately three thousand soldiers (Center for Justice and Accountability 2015). The AUC targets left-wing insurgents, left-wing activists, trade unionists, indigenous persons, human rights advocates, rural populations, and religious leaders, who are believed to be collaborating with or supporting the guerrillas. However, in 2006, after a peace agreement with the Colombian government had been achieved, the AUC was demobilized (Stanford University 2015).

Based on the previous description, there have been pinpointed the four main armed groups that had been dynamizing the conflict in Colombia. They are the Government Forces, the FARC, the ELN, and the AUC. Each of these armed groups has been using all courses of action such as threats, homicides, kidnapping, organized military attack, and indiscriminate attacks in order to gain power during the conflict. Apart from these methods of war, there is one illegal activity that has been carried out by the armed groups and is condemned by the international community. The activity is called the use of child soldiers. By definition, a child soldier means any person less than eighteen years of age who is a member of or attached to the armed political forces or an armed political group, whether or not there is an armed conflict (Fox 2005, p. 27). Even though there are no indications of the government forces formally recruiting child soldiers, some findings indicated that numerous surrendered child soldiers has actually been being used by government forces to gather information on opposition groups for intelligence purposes (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers 2008, p .99). On the guerilla side, according to a comprehensive investigation on the involvement of minors and adolescents in Colombian armed

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conflict, fifty percent (50%) of adult combatants of the FARC and the ELN were inducted as juveniles (Springer 2012, p.27). Interim Prosecutor General Jorge Perdomo cites that the FARC have recruited 11,566 child soldiers since the year of 1975 (Alsema 2016). In addition, Human Rights Watch (HRW 2005) has reported that some child soldiers in Colombia are even as young as seven years old. HRW also confirmed that approximately eighty percent (80%) of child soldiers in Colombia belong to the two left-wing guerrilla groups, the FARC and the ELN, while the remainder fights in the AUC.

In regards to the recruitment process, the armed groups captured some of these children through abduction outside the school building at the time after school hours (Child Soldier International 2011). In rural areas, families caught in the crossfire, often are forced to offer their children to guerrilla units in exchange to their life. In some cases, the guerilla groups and paramilitaries took the children, as part of taxes the families must pay (LaFranchi 2000). The families from Despeje, as well as from Antioquia, Arauca, and Valle del Cauca departments have fled their homes because the guerrilla groups tried to forcibly recruit their children (Child Soldier International 2001). One time, there was a mother from Norte de Santander department had to take her 12-years-old son to the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) in order to protect him from being forcibly recruited by the FARC (Child Soldier International 2011). Furthermore, there are also many cases of so-called ‘semi-voluntary recruitment’ where the children join the armed groups due to the lack of employment opportunities and education. The children join the armed groups because they are promised a wage or even just a gift. In addition, some children want to accede to the militant groups as a result of family violence or family loses some also want to join to ‘defend' their families against the attacks from the opponent armed groups.

These conscripted child soldiers have performed a variety of jobs. Among others they have been used as combatants, spies, for kidnapping, messengers, guarding hostages, as human shields, and as ‘mules' to transport arms and place bombs. Some child soldiers are also involved in the assassination of political figures or their comrades. Concerning the girls, they are often subjected to sexual abuse, including rape and forced abortion (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers 2008, p. 102). Given the close links between some of the armed groups and the drug trade, it is also possible that many of these children were active in the production of cocaine.

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All of these traumatic experiences will have a long-lasting impact on the future development of children, aside from their physical and emotional well-being.

ii. Reintegration Process of the Former Child Soldiers in Colombia

Since the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC has been signed, the implementation of the accord, hereafter, needs to be immediately executed. This includes the implementation of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) process. Starting on early 2016, the FARC has been progressively releasing the child soldiers began with those who are under 15 years old and followed by the remaining above 15 years old (Casey 2016). The estimated number of total child soldiers to be released from the FARC is two thousand children (Alsema 2016). It is a big number of children and the process of releasing the children is now still proceeding. The human rights groups see the release of child soldiers as a major victory, though, all parties involved should be aware that effective steps must also be taken immediately to ensure that those released children receive a proper care and do not automatically fall back into violence. The government of Colombia is particularly expected to be able to run the reintegration program for the former child soldiers much better than the previous one. The Colombia’s last DDR process was carried out under former President Alvaro Uribe and the children were mostly from the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Uribe’s reintegration process proved a disaster for paramilitary child soldiers, the vast majority of whom allegedly were simply left out the process and received no care whatsoever, increasing the risk of recidivism (Gill 2016).

Reintegration program of the former child soldier is a very complex and long-term process. The program aims to give children a viable alternative to their involvement in armed conflict and to help them resume life in the community as a productive citizen (DCAF Backgrounder 2006). In order to achieve the goal, Maslow suggests five major categories of need that an individual must meet to be a productive citizen (William-Queen 2014, p. 13). From the lowest level of needs or the most prepotent needs to the highest level, these include physiological needs, safety needs, need for belongingness and love, esteem needs, and self-actualization (Maslow 1954; Maslow 1943). Maslow’s theory concludes that humans will only be motivated to do what is “good” when their needs are met. Otherwise, the consequences go beyond the micro-level: failure to reintegrate former child soldiers into post-conflict society can

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threaten economic recovery and social integration; it raises the risk of a continuation of violence because they may rejoin armed groups and can thus undermine post-conflict peacebuilding efforts (Banholzer and Haer 2014, p.111). In other words, reintegration process of child soldiers is a crucial stage for Colombia, and it must focus on fulfilling the needs of the former children. Therefore, all of the stakeholders in the process such as; the children, the families, the government, the UN, the communities, the NGOs, the donors, the media, the educational institutions and the private sectors should work cooperatively and systematically.

In the realization of a reintegration process, a leading role is logically given to or assumed by, the national government of the country at stake. In Colombia, the government has been operating two institutions that assist former child soldiers to regain their footing. The Ministry of the Interior has been running a Reinsertion Program to support deserters, including children, from the rebel groups that are recognized as belligerents by the government since 1999. On the same year, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute or El Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF) have also started to implement an assistance program for the child soldiers. The ICBF is a Colombian state entity, which works for the prevention as well as comprehensive protection of infancy, childhood, adolescence, and well-being of families in Colombia. The ICBF assistance program is divided into three stages. At first, the children receive medical attention, counseling, and psychological help for a few weeks. After screening and evaluation, the children are relocated to one of several specialized care centers located on the outskirts of Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, and Bucaramanga. These specialized care centers are mandated to prepare the children through education and skills training for nine to twelve months. The care centers are some spacious villas with big kitchens, patios, and gardens where there are spaces for pets, livestock animal, and vegetables, even a swimming pool. The children's quarters were segregated by gender, and each child was provided with a bunk with space to lay out some personal possessions. The local NGOs were contracted by the ICBF to operate this facility. The process ends with the follow-up and tracking of the children after they have been reintegrated back to the community.

Furthermore, the United Nations as an international governmental organization usually plays a major role in supporting the national government implementing the reintegration programme. Besides, today’s integrated UN missions

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are typically deployed with a vast mandate that includes reintegration program. The UN comprises some dedicated reintegration-related agencies such as; The United Nations Development and Planning Organization (UNDP), The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), The International Organization for Migration (IOM), and The World Food Programme (WFP). In the case of Colombia, UNICEF possesses a major role in the DDR process as it has been supporting the demobilization and reintegration of hundreds of former child soldiers for years. Moreover, UNICEF has been providing sports and several other programs that give adolescents alternatives to joining armed militias (UNICEF 2003). In 2007, UNICEF decided to support socio-family alternatives for reintegration with the formulation of a new system of assistance: “Hogar Gestor” (UNICEF 2007). A pilot project was initiated in five regions in Colombia. The project began with assigning teams consisted of two professionals, and then, each team should regularly visit and provide psychosocial support to demobilized children and their families. Besides, UNICEF has also been participating in the discussions on how to link the public policy for the attention of adults with the public policy for adolescents demobilized from illegal armed groups. Furthermore, UNICEF created mine-risk education programs that have shown tens of thousands of children how to avoid landmine-related injuries and training programs that have upskilled hundreds of teachers to provide psychological support for former child soldiers who are traumatized by violence. On the donor sectors, the UN also has an important role as a funding contributor besides the foreign state entity such as The United States Agency for International Development (USAID). For instance, both UNICEF and USAID have been not only financially supporting the Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) to reintegrate child soldiers but also that also providing operational assistance. The national and local NGOs in Colombia also had been significantly contributing to the reintegration program. They are the ones who possess the local knowledge and competent human resources to support the government and the UN agencies to execute the reintegration programs. One of the examples of the great involvement of the national NGOs is the existence of The Coalition against the Involvement of Boys, Girls and Youth to the Armed Conflict in Colombia or La Coalición contra la vinculación de niños, niñas y jóvenes al conflicto armado en Colombia (COALICO). COALICO is a national civil society platform that was established in 1999 with its mission to protect and promote the rights of boys and girls affected by the armed conflict in Colombia. COALICO also coordinates the

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Observatory on Children and Armed Conflict that monitors and reports on violations against children. Moreover, COALICO participates as a permanent member of the UN-led national Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) country task-force. As it has been pointed out, the Colombian government together with the UN agency and local NGO have already well-structured and organized reintegration programs for the former child soldiers. However, what about the International NGOs? It seems some of the routine service activities that INGOs have historically implemented can now be carried out by local operators at a lower cost. This fact also leads to another question such as; where do international NGOs in Colombia fit into the equation of the reintegration process? Especially, there are vibrant and dynamic international NGOs operating in Colombia; they even are considered to be a part of civil society (Fernández et al., 2006). The INGO itself is not a part of the government nor the UN, though they often receive significant sums from government sources, they are essentially autonomous in their policies and activities. Typically, their activities are guided by a mandate which determined by the visions, or interests of their constituency. The work carried out by INGOs is extremely varied, but can be summarized broadly regarding three main overlapping sets of activities and roles: implementation, partnership, and catalysis. In a more specific and relevant case, Douma (2008, p.25) mentioned that INGOs could potentially contribute to reintegration process 1) as an advocacy agent; 2) as an implementing agent; 3) as an intermediary, and 4) as a complementing agent. Therefore, this research will be focusing on showcasing the role of the International NGOs in the reintegration process of the former child soldier in Colombia. It has been one year since the peace agreement between the government of Colombia and the FARC was signed and has been over ten years since the demobilization of the AUC, yet the work of INGOs in Colombia has not been thoroughly exposed. Also, there are at least twenty-two entities set global standards for child protection internationally, including some INGOs such as Child Soldier International, Save the Children, War Child, and the rest. Some of these INGOs have been working in Colombia for years, implementing their mandate.Therefore, it would be very absorbing to have a deeper understanding regarding what are the role they are playing in the reintegration process of the former child soldier in Colombia that has been going on over 10 years (Terres de Hommes 2012).

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B. Research Questions

The main question of the research is “What role are the International NGOs playing in the reintegration process of the former child soldiers in Colombia?’. The answer will be constructed by responding to these sub-questions;

1. How do the INGOs get involve in reintegration process of the child soldier in Colombia?

2. What kind of reintegration projects have the INGOs been working on in Colombia and to what extent do these projects cover the needs of the former child soldiers?

3. To what degree do the mandates of the International NGOs determine the organization’s direction in the reintegration program?

C. Aims and Objectives

This exploratory research aims to investigate the function and capacity of the INGOs in the process of reintegration of the former child soldiers in Colombia. More broadly, the study addresses to inform a wider audience of academics, policymakers, and practitioners about the activities, strengths, and weaknesses of the INGOs the process of reintegration of the former child soldiers in Colombia. The objectives of the research are to identify the type of involvement of the INGOs in Colombia regarding the reintegration process of the former child soldiers. It also examines the focus of each INGOs on fulfilling the needs of the former child soldiers through their programs. In addition, it also argues that despite the role INGOs play in the reintegration process, they have not been able to participate meaningfully in the reintegration processes, nor have they been influential enough to contribute to the reintegration process. According to Robson and McCartan (2016, p. 60), the answer to this kind of exploratory qualitative research is expected to be descriptive texts that show the reality of what the INGOs do during the reintegration process of the child soldier in Colombia. It should provide a better understanding for the researcher as well as the reader (Robson and McCartan, 2016, p. 25; Booth et al., 2016 p. 23).

D. The Importance and Relevance of the Research

This research covers three important issues that are very relevant to the humanitarian field, which is; the role of INGOs, reintegration process, and the issue

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of child soldiers. Firstly, the topic that related to INGOs has always been an important information for the humanitarian and development field. Humanitarianism itself is the product of years of practical institutional evolution, not first principles (Hoopgood 2008, p. 100). The INGOs have always been relevant actors within the international development architecture as well as a powerful force in the delivery of aid as they are significantly providing more and more aid to developing countries. They also represent a major presence in many developing countries and become an increasingly influential actor in policy processes and the global governance of aid. On the other hand, INGOs require much money to operate. The budgets of particularly large INGOs have exceeded those of some Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) donor countries. Ronald (2010, p. 6) indicates that eight INGOs (World Vision International, Save the Children International, Plan International, Oxfam International, Médecins Sans Frontières, CARE International, ActionAid International and CARITAS International) had combined revenue of over US$ 11.7 billion in 2011, up forty percent (40 %) since 2005. In addition, the scale of global humanitarian needs, and the legitimate need for independent and neutral humanitarian actors in many contexts, particularly in emerging from war countries, civil society dynamics and 'development politics' tend to be complicated, therefore the need for international NGOs that will not soon, if ever, disappear. The INGO scene thus becomes interrelated with pre-existing processes and problems, while adding its dynamics and dilemmas. This research is therefore very relevant to help in exposing the role of INGOs in the humanitarian field, which in this case is their role during reintegration process.

There has been some researches done related to the role of NGOs in a reintegration process. One of the previous study called "The struggle after combat: the role of NGOs in DDR processes: synthesis study" written by Bart Klem and Pyt Douma. The study has managed to present the role of NGOs in DDR process in Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The findings have also successfully shown that it is widespread to mistakenly view NGOs as mere executors of donor-funded projects. In regards to the previous study, this research therefore is intended to utilize the obtained findings as well as to intensify the previous research by looking at different country. Moreover, by only focusing on the reintegration phase

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of DDR process and only focus on the former child soldiers, this study is expected to be able to provide more detail information.

Secondly, it is only in the past few years that the reintegration phase of DDR process has received more interest in both research and practice (Torjesen 2013). For that reason, this research would academically contribute to developing the issue of DDR program in general. Some previous studies such as “Life Challenges Among Ex-Offenders: A Needs Assessment” by Williams-Queen (2014) and “Counseling Children in Crisis Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Basic Needs by Harper” (2003) have indicated that the crucial aspect of reintegration process is to fulfill the needs of the beneficiaries. The failure to fulfilling the needs in the process of reintegrating former child soldiers into post-conflict society can threaten economic recovery and social integration; it raises the risk of a continuation of violence because they might rejoin armed groups and can thus undermine post-conflict peacebuilding efforts. Accordingly, this research would explore to what extent the participation of INGO in fulfilling the needs of the former child soldiers. Knowing the role of INGOs is important because they are one of the actors during the reintegration process. Moreover, the reintegration process is predicted to be present in the future because there are still many on-going conflicts in some countries. There is also no guarantee that these conflict-affected countries are or will not make use of child soldiers. For that reason, the INGOs should be able to see the result of this research as a reflection and evaluation material of their existence in the reintegration process of the former child soldier. The Government and other related actors in the reintegration program in Colombia should also be able to utilize this research as a supporting material.

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CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Qualitative Approach

The explorative character of this research is reflected in the qualitative approach that has been used throughout the research. According to Hammersley (2013, p.12), a qualitative approach is a form of social inquiry that tends to adopt a flexible and data-driven research design, to use relatively unstructured data, to emphasize the essential role of subjectivity in the research process, to study a small number of naturally occurring cases in detail, and to use verbal rather than statistical forms of analysis. Therefore, this research places more emphasis on generating and developing descriptions and explanations of the overall role of the INGOs in the process of reintegration of the former child soldiers in Colombia than upon testing pre-defined hypotheses. Moreover, a flexible research design is adopted, rather than one in which a detailed plan is laid out at the start of the research and then ‘implemented.' It is also reflected at the stage of analyzing data, where the task is to generate categories rather than to place data into pre-determined ones. In addition, the categories initially developed tend to be open-ended and flexible, so that each data item can be assigned to more than one of them. The characteristics of qualitative methods fit well in this kind of research, as it consists of considerable advantages compared to other research methods such as it is useful for describing complex phenomena like the position of an INGO in a government-led reintegration program in Colombia into a limited number of cases (Johnson & Christensen, 2008).

B. Data Collection Methods

The primary data of this qualitative research was being collected through conducting several semi-constructed interviews with three INGOs namely War Child, Save The Children, and Benposta. These three chosen INGOs were working closely with the reintegration program of the former child soldiers in Colombia. The interviews were being conducted based on some guided questions that have been approved in advanced by the research supervisor (Robson and McCartan, 2016, p. 25). The guided questions were constructed to ensure the uniform standard of the interview and to keep the interview flowing on track. In this case, most of the questions were destinated to find out about the reintegration projects done by the three organizations to a greater extent. Moreover, interviews with the former child soldiers

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about their experience during the DDR process in Colombia were not undertaken due to moral constraints. As many of these children are traumatized, their recovery process should not be disturbed by interviews for a purely academic purpose. Furthermore, every interview was taken place in the special district of Bogota where the main office of each organization located. The purposes to conduct an interview at the offices were to particularly facilitate the interviewees in the interview process, given their busy working hours.

Additional information for the research also be obtained through another semi-constructed interview with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Colombia. IOM is an institution under the UN that had been collaborating with the government of Colombia to reintegrate the former child soldiers. The interview with the IOM had given a significant contribution in providing a different perspective and information regarding the reintegration program.

In addition to the interviews, this study also utilized textual analysis of any material provided by the INGOs, the UN and the Government such as narratives, reports, statements, and declarations as sources of secondary data. These secondary material were used to design the subsequent primary research. Moreover, the materials did not only provide more explicit information but also lays out a baseline with which to compare and complement the primary data collection results.

C. Selection of Material and Respondents

Due to the data were being taken directly by interview process, the selection of participants phase was very crucial part in this study. This study used two process of filtering in order to obtained the appropriate as well as relevant interviewees. As previously mentioned, the subject of this research is focused on the INGOs in Colombia. Therefore, the first step was to track down the INGOs in Colombia as many as possible. Then, the first filtering process was being done to acquire a list of INGOs that specifically work on the issue of child protection. Since there was no reliable list provided by the government of Colombia, the selection process then should be done independently by researching on each candidate INGO. As the result, a list of several INGOs that presumably on child reintegration-related projects was created. Within the list, there were War Child, Plan International, Save the Children,

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Mercy Corps, World Vision International, Norwegian Refugee Council, Benposta, and SOS Children Village.

Furthermore, the second filtering process was to select the right person to represent the organizations. The interview was intended for the people in the INGO that were working on the reintegration of former child soldier; they could be a project manager, project coordinator, M&E coordinator, or even a country director. These several positions were considered the experts of the projects and presumably having the most experiences as well as awareness of the reintegration of the former child soldier issue. The relevant sources were expected to give the right information to shape up the answer of the research question (Robson and McCartan, 2016, p. 364). In this study, the interviewees were Gloria Camilo (Program Director of War Child in Colombia), Juan Campo (Program Manager of Benposta Colombia), and Inaki Borda (Program Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of Save the Children in Colombia). On top of the participants, the selection of the secondary data material for this study was also essential. Textual substances such as journals of previous studies, news spread in the media, as well as annual reports from NGOs and UN were used to complement the interview. Particularly, information relating to numbers or other things that could not be answered during the interview process, because the interviewee were not sure to answer or simply did not remember.

D. Data Analysis Method

The analysis of the information from the data collection process was undertaken by using thematic approach. The thematic approach would break down the information from the interview into several labels (Robson and McCartan 2016). Two theories were used as foundations of the labels. Firstly, the concept of the ‘third sector’ has its roots in Etzioni’s (1961) work on the theorization of organizational difference. By using the concept, Lewis (2001) stated on his study, that the work carried out by NGOs is extremely varied, but can be summarized broadly regarding three main overlapping sets of activities and roles: implementation, partnership, and catalysis. In a more specific and relevant case, Douma mentioned that INGOs could potentially contribute to reintegration process 1) as an advocacy agent; 2) as an implementing agent; 3) as an intermediary agent; 4) as a complementing agent. Each

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of these roles of an INGO was utilize as the labels for analyzing the data obtained from the interview.

Secondly, the use of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Theory of Human Motivation expresses five major categories that an individual must meet to be a productive citizen (William-Queen 2014, p. 13). The five needs are physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization (Maslow, 1954; Maslow, 1943). Based on Maslow’s theory, humans would only be motivated to do what is “good” when their needs are fulfilled. This Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory had been developed into the concept of the reintegration projects by Buxton (2008) and Torjesen (2013). The concept concludes there are three areas of reintegration that the ex-combatants and their dependents need to be assisted, which are: social (building new relationships and trust), political (become part of the decision-making process), and economic (engage in sustainable employment and livelihood). In most of the previous cases, the literature and practical programs focus on the economic aspect or reintegration such as employment, income generation and sustainable livelihood (Torjesen, 2013; Wilén, 2012). Similar to the previous study, data obtained from the interview were analyzed to produce conclusions describing what kind of the reintegration programs that have been done by the INGOs in Colombia for the former child soldiers.

In the end, this study would be able to provide some conclusion regarding the role of INGOs in the reintegration of the former child soldiers in Colombia by understanding how INGOs work and by knowing the programs that INGOs initiate for the former child soldiers in Colombia.

E. Research Ethics

According to Robson and McCartan (2016, p. 208), it is very crucial to consider the research ethics since the early stage of conducting a research project, especially the one that is involving a person as the participant. In the case of this research, there were several academics, experts, as well as NOHA Ethical Review Board that are responsible for supervising this research. Regardless, some matters needed to be given a serious thought by the researcher before conducting this research such as the consent of the interviewee and the reporting procedures.

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Before interviewing the representative of the selected INGO in Colombia, a consent form was required to be signed by the participants. The interviewee had the right to know everything related to the research as well as to be aware of their rights during and after the interview process (Robson and McCartan 2016, p.212). Therefore, the form was necessary to be signed by all parties (the researcher, the participant, and the supervisor) in order to ensured that the interviewees understands the purpose of their involvement and that they had agreed to the conditions of their participation.

The result of this research also would be sent to the INGOs that have participated in the process before being published or submitted. Besides, it would be an important matter to do. Some of the participants may have some concerns with how they and their answers would appear in the result and whether their interests, individually or collectively (as an organization), are affected by publication (Robson and McCartan, 2016, p. 489).

F. Limitation of the Research

Although the subject of the research is INGOs, which presumably the workers speak and understand English, a language barrier apparently was still possible to be present between researcher and the interviewees. The basic level of Spanish of the researcher was not sufficient to conduct interviews using a local language. Consequently, some of the interview processes having some deficiencies such as the interviewees were not able to fully express themselves due to lack of English vocabulary. The language barrier then could frequently be mediated through the use of an interpreter. However, the interpreter used during the interview was not a certified one. It is because the researcher did not have sufficient funds to use the services of a certified interpreter. Additionally, the language barrier also applied to written information, like reports and news. Because of these limitations, the result of the interview might not be flawless, although it would still completely adequate to be used as research data. The result also can still be thoroughly analyzed to answer the research questions.

Furthermore, the eventful schedule of the INGOs in Colombia was also raising some challenges such as; difficulties in scheduling an interview with the INGO’s representative(s) as well as the limited time given by the INGOs to proceed

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an interview due to their tight schedules. All of these obstacles made it difficult to get the prospective participant who was willing and able to take part in the research. In the end, only three INGOs that were willing and able to participate in the research, the rest of INGOs probably did not have the time to participate.

Another limitation was about the time, the location and the security matter in Colombia. Due to safety reasons, the researcher decided to only stay in Bogota, which fortunately was the location where most of the main office of many INGOs in Colombia located. However, most of the reintegration programs for the former child soldiers were being implemented outside of Bogota. The quality of the data obtained might have been better if the researcher could have travelled to the areas to directly observe the execution of some reintegration programs, which unfortunately could not be done. In addition, the three months time limit to stay in Colombia felt too short to conduct a field research.

Lastly, Robson and McCartan (2016, p. 351) explain that literature or text-based source of information can be very biased. This problem would be likely to happen since every organization usually does not want to appear incompetently in public. The same problem also would emerge in the interview process for the identical branding reason.

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CHAPTER III. LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Understanding Child Soldiers

i. Definition of Child Soldiers

As a form of the effort to solve the tragic and growing problem of the high number of children serving in armed forces and groups, UNICEF together with the NGO Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of the Child once conducted a symposium in Cape Town, South Africa in 1997. The Cape Town Principles, as well as Best Practices, are the results of that symposium, which inside it provides a definition of a child soldier. It says a child soldier is ‘any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to cooks, porters, messengers, and anyone accompanying such groups, other than family members’. A decade later, at the ‘Free Children from War’ international conference in Paris, the Paris Principle was adopted. The Paris principle provides a definition that was constructed based on the previous Cape Town Principle. However, the term used has changed from a child soldier to a child associated with an armed force or armed group. The Paris Principle defines a child associated with an armed force or armed group as ‘any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes’. As specified by the definition in the Paris Principle, classification as a child soldier arises at the point of entry-level, not at the point of exit from the militarized life. Hence, a former child soldier is a person initially associated with armed forces or armed group while under the age of eighteen, even he or she is eighteen or older at the time of release, demobilization, escape, or rescued from armed forces or groups (May and Forchehimes 2012, p. 141). Regardless some differences between the definitions in the Cape Town and Paris Principles, both still share considerable textual overlap regarding the actual persons they protect (Drumbi 2012, p. 4). Terminology matters, to be sure, but debates over it may devolve into distractions. For reasons of convenience and brevity, this research therefore primarily uses the term child soldiers but understands its definitional scope as based on the 2007 Paris Principles.

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Furthermore, as shown in both principles, all definitions of child soldiers promote a ‘straight-18’ approach, the crux of which opposes anyone under the age of eighteen engaging in any armed hostilities. The two principles are also careful to stress that the interpretation includes a child participating in direct combat as well as an extensive range of military-related activities. These activities include scouting, acting as messengers, and any military preparedness training, as well as in a support capacity, ranging from carrying weapons, camp maintenance, or those suffering the abuses of forced labor or sexual slavery. Additionally, they cover the children who recruited for sexual purposes and forced marriage, which mostly happened to girls. Overall, the definitions under both principles are intentionally broad to extend protection to as many children as possible and to ensure their inclusion in demobilization and reintegration programs.

ii. The Legality of Child Soldiers

The international law has developed to better protect children from military exploitation for over the past 40 years. The Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions disallowed the military recruitment and use of children under fifteen years old, which the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002) additionally constitutes it as a war crime. The protocol applies to not only government-controlled armed forces but also non-state armed groups. Furthermore, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) prohibited the use of children under 15 was reaffirmed in which also defined a child for the first time as any person under the age of eighteen. On top of that, The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (OPAC) then raised the standard on the involvement of children in armed conflict again in 2000. OPAC was the world’s first international treaty that entirely focused on ending the children exploitation in the military. The treaty not only bans the recruitment of children under the age of eighteen and their participation in hostilities, but it also elaborates on the prohibition of voluntary recruitment of children by non-state armed groups. However, OPAC still allows state armed forces to conscript children from age 16, with a condition; the children recruited must not be sent to the battlefield. At the moment, most states have signed OPAC, which is gradually driving the world to a de facto prohibition on the use of children in warfare. However, the double-standard that applies to non-state and state recruitment of

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children is hindering international efforts to convince non-state armed groups to release their conscripted children.

Furthermore, other international laws also contributed to raising the standards. For instance, The African Union’s Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 182 of International Labour Organization (1999), both prohibit state armed forces from compulsory enlistment volunteers under the age of eighteen.

iii. The Life of Child Soldiers

Children have been involved in military campaigns for centuries. In the past, they had been used as child ratings on warships, or as drummer boys on the battlefields of Europe. The frightening thing nowadays is the high escalation in the use of children as they are being used as the fighters. The children now are the weapons that are sent directly to battlefields facing the enemies. In 2008, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers estimated that there were as many as three-hundred thousand children under the age of eighteen who had been serving in government forces or armed rebel or militia groups in more than thirty countries around the world (Fernando & Ferrari 2013, p. 108). These countries include Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, the DRC, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda (Dabir and Athale 2011, p. 45).

For some people, the benefits of recruiting child soldiers seem to be concealed when first approaching the topic. Some typical questions such as; Why would any military movement rely on the inexperience and inferior physical power of children? Why have children been the “weapon of choice” in many countries? As stated by Wessels (2006, p.36), the armed forces or group use younger children in particular because they lack a sense of fear, they might be preferred over adults because they accept more dangerous tasks without scrutinizing them. Another reason for employing child soldiers is that they are viewed as expendable, replaceable as well as cheap to maintain (Dudenhoefer 2016). Dudenhoefer (2016) further explains that children are also psychologically more vulnerable than many adults, who already have a more shaped personality. Moreover, not only children’s identities are still being formed, but

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they are also dependent on protection and guidance, meaning they can be more easily controlled and influenced. Children can be psychologically manipulated through a deliberate programme of beatings, starvation, thirst, indoctrination, fatigue, the use of drugs and alcohol, voodoo, and even sexual abuse to render them compliant to the new norms of child soldiering (Wessels 2006, p.36). Furthermore, when children lost their parents and family, they usually would transfer loyalty to another adult, especially one who holds the power of punishment and reward.

Furthermore, according to rebel leaders of the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the adult soldiers had been the most skilled fighters, but also they were most likely to desert (Schauer and Elbert 2010, p. 316-317). Meanwhile, despite being weak fighters, young children have been most likely to stay, because they find it more difficult to plot escape strategies.

Regarding the recruitment of child soldiers, there are two methods that usually used by the armed forces or groups; forced recruitment and voluntarily recruitment. Regarding the forced recruitment, there are two common ways children can become child soldiers: first, they are abducted or conscripted through coercion and severe threats; or second, they are born in the armed forces or groups.

In many cases, the children also voluntarily become the member of armed forces or groups. This method usually raises many questions; why do they decide to join the armed forces or groups? According to Hauge (2011, p. 92), there are push factors that first drive children away from their original environment and pull factors that encourage them to join the fighting forces. The push factors include repression, discrimination, grievances, poverty, abuse at home, having no community, as well as lack of education and employment (Hauge 2011, p. 92). The pull factors include seeking provision of food and security in fighting forces, a sense of belonging and group identity (Hauge 2011, p. 92). Also, the armed forces and groups often promise the children some payoff. There are two kinds of payoff, the pecuniary one such as money, drugs, and alcohol and the non-pecuniary rewards such as achievement of rank, bonding with comrades and commanders, as well as forming a group identity” (Gates and Reich 2011, p. 81). All these factors are used to motivate group members, which is why allegiance is seldom achieved by pecuniary rewards but rather by certain socialization processes (Vermeij 2011, p.184). For this reason, not all children are merely forced at gunpoint to become combatants. In some cases, they decided to

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join and stay with the armed forces or groups based on the opportunities and their social, cultural and economic environment.

After joining the armed groups or armed forces, these child soldiers are regularly demanded to perform a range of tasks. The duty of the children usually includes direct participation in combat, scouting, spying, and acting as decoys. They also required to laying mines and explosives, training, guarding, drilling or other preparations, doing logistics and support functions, portering, cooking, as well as doing other domestic labour (The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers 2007). For example, in the DRC the child soldiers could be tasked with unloading weapons. The children also received DRC military training at the camps in which they learned how to handle and transportation of weapons and ammunition and receive either bladed weapons or firearms fought like adults, attack and kill civilians, as well as destroy houses (ICC 2014, p. 390-392). The children also used as bodyguards or members of the escorts of Germain Katanga and some of his officers.

Other than directly participate in the armed conflicts, the child soldiers, especially the girl are also often subjected to sexual slavery or other forms of sexual abuse. According to Springer, for these children, it is a duty to sexually serve their commanders (Romo 2012). For instance, in the DRC, after the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted young girls, these girls are later often forced to become the “wives,” or sexual slaves of LRA combatants (Falkenburg 2013). The girls usually stay with the same combatant during their entire time in captivity. Regular LRA combatants are allowed one “wife,” while commanders have numerous “wives” and are given the first turn to pick a girl after an abduction operation. One of the victims was Jennifer Atira who recounts in a halting voice how she was given as a “wife,” when she was only thirteen years old, to a much older commander who would beat her if she refused to have sex with him (Parelman 2005). On the other hand, the boys are also subjected to sexual abuse. They are usually forced to rape and to watch others raping people. In the case with Boko Haram, rape was encouraged not only after a battle but also in the military training camps (Obaji Jr. 2016). The Boko Haram jihadist told the young fighters to capture as many women and children as they could, and that the young fighters would be allowed to “have fun” when they returned to their base. After the operation, these young fighters had to watch their commanders raped the abducted women and young girls. The commanders wanted to educate the

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boys how to subdue a struggling victim during a sexual assault. After that, the boys are encouraged to rape the abducted women and girls. The cases of abuse of children in war have been more significant. Many children were trained and performed as torturers and killers, sent into combat with little training or arms to die by the thousands, forced to destroy their own families, mutilate civilians and kill other children (Ressler 1993, p. 118). Even in Afghanistan, these children are trained to be suicide bombers.

iv. The Risks of Being Child soldiers

Being a soldier, in general, is a precarious situation. All of the fightings on the battlefield, following the military training, and living under a severe and stressing situation will negatively impact every person who experiences it. Because of its high level of risks, children are forbidden to participate in war. The children probably are not aware what they will be experiencing as soldiers, as well as how the experience of being soldiers will affect them entirely.

a) Loss of Life

The Child soldiers, as combatants who directly participate in a warzone share the same risk of being killed as all other combatants and many times, a more significant risk. For instance, eight young (all estimated to be between the ages of 13 and 15) FARC guerrillas were killed in a January 2000 attack on the town of El Castillo, Meta department, Colombia. Moreover, in Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) child soldiers were issued with cyanide capsules and hand grenades to use as suicide tools if captured. Also, in Afghanistan, the children are often deployed in suicide missions as they are less likely to be searched and the idealism of youth coupled with a child's inability to comprehend the consequences of their actions make them willing executors of these fatal acts.

Moreover, a risk of being killed is not only for those who are in the frontlines but also those who are not participating directly. Punishment and torture are some of the causes child soldiers lose their life, from refusing to engage sexual activities until trying to escape will cost the life of the children. Furthermore, staying still in a camp could also cost the life of the children, because the camp could be constituted as a military target, which means the opposite group of the armed conflict could launch a

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missile and destroy all of the areas including the people in it. Overall, having combat or noncombat roles, both are in a high level of exposure to death.

b) Physical Injury and Disability

Child soldiers are often physically injured. At least a third of former child soldiers have sustained injuries during combat. The injuries include untreated bullet wounds, bullets lodged in joints or leaving fragments in the brain, joint destruction, loss of limbs, loss of sight and loss of hearing due to continued proximity to artillery fire (Stevens 2013, p. 459). These injuries also have major effects on the children's lives. They could become physically disabled from these injuries, and may not be able to function independently in their daily lives.

Other than combating in a battlefield, some of the children also are injured due to torture and punishment perpetrated either by the enemy groups or their commanders. Ressler (1993, p.114) described the children are often beaten and left vomiting blood, sexually abused and raped, electrically shocked on many parts of the body, beaten to purposefully inflict severe pain, bruised and injured, hit to break bones and injure internal organ, partially suffocated with plastic bags, tubing or water; suspended by chains from the ceiling, poisoned, forced to hear the screams of tortured parents, intimidated and humiliated, forced to eat excreta, continually beaten while being interrogated, deprived of food and sleep, and left alone hooded. As documented by some monitoring groups like UNICEF and Amnesty International, these are only a few of the many ways children are being tortured. In some cases, the torture is followed by secret executions or extrajudicial killing. All of these punishments and tortures are intended by the commander to instill fear in the child or to desensitize them in preparation for the extreme violence they will be expected to conduct.

Child soldiers, particularly girls, are also often forced to perform excessive manual labor for which they are unsuited including digging trenches, working in kitchens or carrying food, ammunition, supplies, injured or dead comrades for long distances. The children often suffer exhaustion and long-term back problems.

c) Health issues and Malnutrition

The children who are associated with armed groups are often facing health problems as well as malnourished, causing stunted growth and fragile bodies. A review of conflicts in Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe and the Middle East

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confirms that conflicts everywhere have strikingly similar effects on health environments (Enzler 2006). Conflict can be said to affect the health in three fundamental ways. It commonly threatens the community food supply. It creates many obstructions to the delivery of health services, and it increases the need for health services. The health of children is further threatened by squalid conditions, unsafe water, unsanitary arrangements and inadequate shelter (Ressler et al. 1993, p. 81).

Many girl soldiers live in poor conditions in crowded army camps in remote locations putting them at high risk of morbidity (Stevens 2013, p. 459). Child soldiers are often considered disposable, and consequently, their food rations and medical treatment may be significantly worse than other soldiers. There is evidence to suggest there is little or no healthcare in the field but conversely, studies by Hanks et al. (2001) and Keairns (2003) reported that the child soldiers they interviewed had received treatment in the armed group. While healthcare access may vary between armed groups and countries, provision is usually inadequate. Hospitals and clinics are often destroyed, medical supplies are diminished, health professionals are lacking, and immunization programmes are disrupted. According to Machel (1996), the girls in an armed group are particularly at risk because of their vulnerability and assumption that they are less likely to have sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV or AIDS. In Uganda, nine out of ten girls who leave the LRA are diagnosed with STDs or HIV (Dunson 2008, p. 21). In addition, HIV has adverse physical, emotional and social consequences and is often fatal as countries in conflict or post-conflict are often unable to afford antiretrovirals. Furthermore, the girls are also exposed to systematic and violent rape with terrible physical consequences. According to Save the Children (2004) in West Africa, thirty-two percent of all girls in the armed group reported being raped. Rape carries the risk of chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and incontinence (Stevens 2013, p. 460). Qualitative research with former girl soldiers has recorded anecdotal evidence of abdominal pain suggestive of damage to the reproductive tract. Studies of former girl soldiers have documented high rates of STIs (Keairns 2003).

Moreover, another health issue such as pregnancy also has become a considerable concern. Unwanted pregnancy is a consequence of forced sexual relations, and girls may undergo dangerous abortions. Anaesthesia and antiseptic are

The Role of International Non-Governmental Organizations in the Reintegration Process of the Former Child Soldiers in Colombia