Watchlist

Of all the six violations, child recruitment, abduction of children, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian assistance are the main challenges in the CAR. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is active in the southeastern region of the CAR and is responsible for numerous abductions and forceful recruitment and use of children as combatants, porters and, in the case of girls - “wives”. Recruitment of child soldiers has also been reported in the ranks of the CPJP, the only armed group still fighting the CAR Government, as well within self-defence militias supported by the CAR Government. Such militias are primarily conducting day-to-day patrolling in the quasi-absence of a functioning army in certain regions, but they often come in the line of fire, when confronted with armed groups and criminal gangs, which has led to the involvement of children in active combat. Damage and destruction of schools, as well as their occupation by armed forces and groups have deteriorated an already fragile educational infrastructure. Communities have sought to find alternatives to ensure sustained education of their children, for instance through informal “bush schools”. However, general insecurity has considerably hampered such efforts. In addition to this, security-related restrictions in the Northeast and Southeast regions of the country have blocked all humanitarian access to children in those areas and have left them without urgent protection and assistance.