He used to be a child soldier
Peter* is a 14-year-old who loves school, especially maths, drama and drawing. But only a year ago, he was living as a child soldier with an armed group in South Sudan.
As a young boy, Peter lived in South Sudan with his aunt and sister. But when fighting broke out in their neighbourhood, Peter fled alone. Separated from his aunt and sister, he lived in the bush with other displaced people. He was ten.
An armed group recruited Peter into their ranks. He was taught to load and shoot a gun and made him cook, wash clothes and carry equipment.
“They gave us weapons for shooting. They trained you how to load a gun, how to put in the bullet and release the trigger for the gun to shoot.”
The escape
After more than two years, Peter managed to escape his captors. He eventually made his way to Uganda, via the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now 14, he lives in a refugee camp with another family.
Peter is now going to school and is keen to continue his education. He has a group of friends, and breeds pigeons to sell, taking great pride in them.
Save the Children provides psychosocial support
Peter is still affected by what he’s been through. He misses his family and fears the armed group he escaped. But he has big ambitions and is optimistic about the future – he wants to be president of South Sudan one day. Save the Children is providing psychosocial support to him and other young people at the camp.
Facts about child recruitment
- Between 2005 and 2018, a total of 65 081 children are verified to have been recruited and used by armed forces and groups
- In 2018 alone, more than 7,000 children were recruited
- Out of the 7 206 cases of recruitment documented in 2018, boys account for 84%, girls for 11%
- The risks girls face within armed groups – such as forced and/or early marriage, sexual abuse and exploitation – are different from and less recognised than those faced by boys
- Many of these children were abducted, used as combatants, forced to act as human shields, sexually abused and exploited, used to transport explosives or deployed as suicide bombers
- Children are recruited for strategic reasons; because they are cheaper to recruit and train or because they are more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse
* Names have been changed to protect identities.