DSWD seeks help
in addressing ‘boy soldiers’
Press Release
February 3, 2023
TAGUM CITY - The
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is seeking help
in the operationalization of care center for boys involved in armed
conflict as combatant, courier, guide, and spy for terrorist and
criminal syndicates including those considered as ‘boy soldiers.’
According to DSWD
Undersecretary for Inclusive and Sustainable Peace Alan A. Tanjusay,
the department is actively seeking help from the provincial and
local government units, private entities, and non-government
organizations in operating the residential care facility for boys
who are Children in Situation of Armed Conflict (CSAC) located in
Tagum City.
“We must utilize the
center and intervene now in the hearts and minds of these boys
victims of violence, crimes, various exploitation and extremism
while they can be molded, wielded and influenced into productive
citizens. And the sooner DSWD expert social workers in the facility
commences its work into the lives of these children then we have
hope these young people could make it through,” emphasized Tanjusay.
Completed with the
collaboration between DSWD and Tagum City local government unit in
2021 through the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program,
the one-hectare center is a 24-hour, 7-day residential facility that
provides temporary care and serves as rehabilitation center for a
maximum of 25 to 30 exploited boys aged 17 years old and below by
administering protection, care, training and rehabilitation
standards for the victims in a home-like environment for a maximum
period of six months before they are reintegrated into their
respective families and communities.
However, the 30-bed
facility is currently inoperable due to lack of manpower and
financial resources following the pandemic crises.
The children are currently
housed in different government facilities across several regions in
Mindanao. Some of them are abandoned by their parents, some are
victims of organized human trafficking and some were rescued and
recovered during military operations and found exploited as couriers
of firearms and explosives. Other children were forced as human
shields, spies and exploited in terrorist extremism activities.
According to the Unicef,
between 2005 and 2020, more than 93,000 children were verified as
recruited, exploited and drawn by insurgents, rebels, extremists and
terrorist groups to conflict and criminal activities.