(UN News Centre) – Former child soldiers and girls used as sex slaves in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) desperately wish to be reunited with their communities – to return to school or get jobs a United Nations envoy said today, urging authorities to seize every opportunity to better protect children affected by conflict-related violence. In her first press conference since returning from the eastern DRC, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui told reporters in New York that there are positive signs the Congolese Government has taken steps to aid children caught up in the conflict.