© UNICEF/HQ03-0554/LeMoyne
Child soldiers guard a road near the town of Bunia.
Child soldiers
UNICEF correspondent David McKenzie reports on the challenge of rehabilitating former child soldiers.
DRC is at the top of the list of countries where armed forces and militia groups use children as soldiers, sexual slaves or labourers. There may be as many as 30,000 Congolese children fighting or living with armed forces or militia groups; an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of them are girls. Children are forced into service, and many are left with no choice but to join the militias, which may offer some protection and provisions.